Charli XCX has single-handedly rendered it impossible to associate the color neon green with anything other than her latest release, “BRAT.” Her sixth studio album,…
Posts published in “Music”
On Sunday, Oct. 20, nineties shoegaze legends Drop Nineteens will be playing the newly reopened Iron Horse in Northampton, MA, with Olivia O. as their…
Self-described “witchy feminist rockstar” Maggie Rogers is hitting the road again.
I discovered Rogers by chance in early 2019, shortly after her first studio album, “Heard It in a Past Life” came out. Since then, Rogers has released two albums, “Notes from the Archive: Recordings 2011–2016” (2020) and “Surrender” (2022). During this time, I have grappled with simultaneously wanting to gate-keep Roger’s musical genius and impose it on all of my family, friends and acquaintances. Despite my greatest efforts, I have been unable to keep Maggie Rogers to myself.
Just dance. Please don’t stop the music. The whole club was looking at her. Tonight’s going to be a good night. 15 years ago, pop music was concentrated on the elation of dancing, drinking and desire in the club. Now, Shygirl is part of a wave of artists bringing it back with her new EP, “Club Shy,” a delightfully crafted collection of songs that revel in their danceability.
On Nov. 3, the Valley Light Opera (VLO) opened their fall opera “Iolanthe” by Gilbert and Sullivan at the Academy of Music, marking the organization’s sixth staging of the comic operetta since 1976. The production boasts delightful performances from Valley Light Opera veterans Elaine Crane and Thom Griffin, and captivating ensemble numbers that kept the audience laughing.
On Nov. 3, singer-songwriter Amelia Day released her sophomore EP (Extended Play), “Little One.” Coming off the heels of her 2022 folk EP “Eastward of Eden,” “Little One” is a love letter to the stages of growing up, wrapped up in a 6-track eclectic patchwork of genres.
In her debut album, Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? 23-year-old Smith alum Kara Jackson grapples with colossal concepts of love, death, and self-worth, delivered with delicate hands and an eternally powerful voice. The prior Youth Poet Laureate has incorporated her skillful penmanship into a new medium, her hard-hitting lyrics underscored by smooth acoustics and flourishing arrangements of guitar, piano, and banjo. Pitchfork awarded her “Best New Album” with a whopping overall score of 8.2, a testament to her impressive musical abilities.
Attending a two-hour concert for a band when you only know one of their songs could be a letdown. However, if that band is Houndmouth, you won't be disappointed. The American alternative rock band played a nineteen-song set at Northampton’s own Academy of Music on April 27, 2023. Though the theater only holds 800 concertgoers, Houndmouth brought the audience to their feet, and me to their Spotify “This Is Houndmouth” page.
On April 6, indie-pop band The Aces graced the John M. Greene stage as part of Smith’s annual Celebrations, an event dedicated as a response…
On Sunday night, April 16, The English Beat closed a warm spring weekend with a lively performance at Race Street Live in Holyoke, MA. Hailing all the way from Birmingham, England, frontman Dave Wakeling is the only original member left of what used to be known as The Beat, the iconic ska-soul-punk fusion band that defined the genre back in the 1980s. At 67 years old, Wakeling has been touring with a backup band of ska musicians in an effort to keep “the beat” alive and well. Holyoke was one among many stops on their current US tour.