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New England Music Reviews
Welcome to New England Music Reviews!
The first concert Justin Shatwell ever saw was Hootie and the Blowfish about two years after they stopped being famous. He's still trying to live that down. As part of his musical penance, he now writes New England Music Reviews, a showcase for small (and some not-so-small) indie artists with roots in New England.
Justin believes that, like vegetables, the best music is grown locally.
Read the reviews, listen to the music, and get a taste of the local flavor for yourself.
Eilen Jewell: Sea of Tears
May 7, 2009 at 5:51 PM | Post a Comment
Eilen Jewell is finally back with her much anticipated third album, Sea of Tears. This Boise-born singer has made a big splash over the last few years bringing her western affinity for open roads and lonely drifters to the Boston folk and country scene. This new record marks a slight departure and a big risk for Eilen as she reins in some of her country flare and takes some tentative steps into the realm of classic rock.
Emilia Dahlin: Rattle Them Bones
April 16, 2009 at 2:02 PM | Post a Comment
Quirky Portland siren Emilia Dahlin is back this month with Rattle Them Bones, a brand new album that has her up to her old tricks. Emilia takes to music the way trendy shoppers take to flea markets, picking through the discarded past and assembling a genre-bending ensemble that is both vintage and entirely new. What is most endearing about this approach is she shows no particular loyalty to any musical form. She tries them on because they call to her, sees where they can take her, then moves on to something new. With this album, she is showing an increasing willingness to take risks. Whereas in the past her guitar and accordion have plied the relatively calm waters of samba, jazz, and folk, on this album she drops a bona fide sea shanty and, surprisingly, it's good. I've had it stuck in my head for three days now and I'm actually okay with that. I can't say when the last time that happened was.
Mercuryhat: Blinding Blues, Stinging Bees
January 27, 2009 at 5:26 PM | Post a Comment
While not actually a blues album, Mercuryhat's Blinding Blues, Stinging Bees serves the same purpose. Composed by lead singer Eric Ott during a death-and-divorce-plagued period, the record treads into some pretty dark areas. Lonely nights, second thoughts, and sleeping pills are the common images that tie these songs together.
Richard Stoltzman: Phoenix in Flight
January 7, 2009 at 5:52 PM | Post a Comment
Richard Stoltzman's Phoenix in Flight is pretty much what you'd expect from the world's foremost clarinet soloist: a solid hour of classical repertoire that reminds us why he won the two Grammys and we didn't. A world away from the squawks and squeaks of our high school band memories, Stoltzman manages his instrument with the kind of breadth and ease that makes composers write music specifically with him in mind. While this isn't one of those CD's, it's still a great disc. With a solid assist from the Slovak Symphony Radio Orchestra, Stoltzman breaths new life into pieces by Weber, Bottesini, Debussy, and Tchaikovsky.
Bird Mancini: Funny Day
September 10, 2008 at 3:38 PM | Post a Comment
I really didn't know what to make of Boston-based Bird Mancini when they slid their last album across my desk a few weeks back. They're introduction letter described themselves as kind of a quirky accordion classic-rock band. After about 50 minutes of listening to their music, I was still pretty confused, but relieved that the accordion wasn't the main attraction.
