Catching up and previewing...

Last night was the 1st time I was in Cafe` 9 since they remodeled. When I say it's a whole new place, I say that in a very good way. Cafe` 9 Rocks!
And so did The Reducers and The Manchurians.

So, while I will be spending most of March promoting SWAN Day...

This did make me look forward to April, when both The Reducers and The Manchurians play the Meriden Daffodil Festival. Enjoy!

The Manchurians ~ Patricia Don't Want It.

Live @ Cafe` 9
Sat. Mar. 5, 2011

"Song of the Week" ~ Sleep Alone by: Mollycoddle

The IndepenDisc "Song of the Week"
for 03-02-11 is:
Sleep Alone*
by: Mollycoddle

off the CD: Lucky

In Tribute to Swan Day 2011

Over the next couple of weeks I will be telling you about Swan Day 2011 – Support Woman Artists Now Day. And I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the month of March with what was the 1^st Female fronted band from New Haven, CT that was Featured on IndepenDisc. Mollycoddle, and their CD: Lucky
was the March 2001 Feature.

Heather Orser (McDonald) and Ralna Ramse
the first of many CT SWANs on IndepenDisc.

©Kathleen Cei photo

This year Swan Day CT will be held on Sat Mar. 26, 2011 at
The East Hartford Community Cultural Center  6pm-11pm.  Get more info HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" ~ I Can't Add You To My List by: Saint Bernadette

The "Song of the Week"
for 02-23-11 is:
I Can’t Add You To My List
by: Saint Bernadette

off the CD: Word To The Lourdes

Featured on IndepenDisc in Jun. of '09

and here's what I (G.Gone) had to say about it then...

...Not many independent bands in this day and age have this belief in their convictions. The true love and spirit of the music gets lost in translation due to the greed of the business. Too many sheep fall by the wayside and are lost. Yet every now and then, a teacher comes forth to shepherd the flock. With Word To The Lourdes, Saint Bernadette continues to fulfill the prophecy as the ones chosen to spread the gospel of Rock. The power of the word can be found in the hell-bent deliverance of Meredith’s angelic vocals rolling over the heavenly intensity of this hammer of the gods outfit.

Have you suffered at the hands of the false idols of Rock-n-Roll?
Then let Saint Bernadette’s Word To The Lourdes be your saving grace...

Read the entire review HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" ~ above the weather by: Eula

The "Song of the Week"
for 02-16-11 is: above the weather*
by: Eula off the CD: language of threat

Featured on IndepenDisc in Jun. of '09

and here's what I (G.Gone) had to say about it then...

...Equivalent to a Mythical Beast, New Haven’s Eula uses the gigantic rhythm section of Jeff and Nate to lumber in with intense grooves that are the body of this beast. Thick and heavy, these guys have a cosmic awareness of how to slam their “in-your-face” punk attitude across the soundscape with a very knowledgeable, polished, and raw feeling that is unique in today’s modern music. While Jeff and Nate keep this beast crunching forward, it’s Alyse’s innocent, yet experienced, sharp-edged vocals and guitar that are the teeth of this beast... Read the entire review HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

CD Review: The Sawtelles ~ TRYPTYCH

TRYPTYCH

by: The Sawtelles

"Song of the Week" for 02-09-11 is:
Ghost of Johnny Cash*
by: The Sawtelles

Passion, Love, Fire.

TRYPTYCH is the 4^th release by the husband and wife musical team of Peter & Julie Riccco under their moniker The Sawtelles. Totally DIY from the writing, recording, engineering, mastering, and production of the album/CD right down to the manufacturing, packaging and distribution, Peter & Julie show their passion for their art. Add to that their love and dedication, coupled with an almost unheard of 83+ live shows in the past year, in addition to full time day gigs, and it’s no wonder that they are on fire.

Stripped down bare to guitar (Peter) and drums (Julie), The Sawtelles unleash dreamy pop into a sparse soundscape that allows the instrumentation to breathe and expand into the airy corners, filling your senses without crowding them. Peter’s production of each of the 3 main guitars used – 3 songs with electric guitar, 3 with electric banjo, and 3 with electric slide – adds to the depth and dimension that Julie’s strategically amped drums carry forth on the shoulders of the Bernie Taupin style poetic tale lyrics.

Love, Fire, Passion.

A magnificent album of lost love, new love, tragic love, ultimate love, and more, TRYPTYCH rediscovers Stereophonic and fires it up in a mod style that brings back lyrical content as a passionate instrument used a lá street-corner powered, disjointed harmonies and airy backgrounds that draw to mind The Jam, The Velvet Underground, and REM conjuring The Brill Building.

To get into the depth of the lyrics, as well as the importance of the music and the chosen instrument for each song, would require a dissertation on the passion involved in every nuance of this record. It is a piece of art in which each song commands its uniqueness, yet when heard collectively they become even more unique as a whole. TRYPTYCH is a listening experience that expands further into your reaches, much in the way that The Sawtelles’ passion expands further into the musical reaches…

“A change is about to begin
Toward a shift to faith that comes from within
Let the detractors have no doubt
That the fire I’ve started can’t be put out”

Fire, Passion, Love.

TRYPTYCH by: The Sawtelles.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

"Song of the Week" ~ Riffy by: Jellyshirts

The "Song of the Week"
for 01-26-11 is: Riffy* by: Jellyshirts

off the CD: Sail On Sally

Featured on IndepenDisc in May of '09

and here's what I (G.Gone) had to say about it then...

... Riffy takes the pick-n-soar guitar rock, combines it with a vintage 20’s microphone style vocal and angelic harmonizing to extol the virtue of spontaneous love and the glorious benefits of pursuing a euphoric Shangri-la within ones conscious life efforts. When Jellyshirts hit the soaring vocal homily of “Heaven… Heaven… Heaven… Heaven,” we truly understand that Heaven can be found within a lifetime. That it can be experienced in multiple lifetimes, or whatever it may account for in accordance to your spiritual beliefs, if you allow it to… Read the entire review HERE.

*Link is a direct .mp3 audio stream.

CD Review: Not Before My Time - The Amy O'Neill Songbook

Not Before My Time

The Amy O’Neill Songbook
(Various Artists)
"Song of the Week" for 01-12-11 is:
The Third Time’s The Charm
by: Christine Ohlman

The good folks over at Golden Microphone have quietly released a hidden gem of a compilation album. A benefit for Amy O’Neill, who was born with a rare and progressive skin disease known as Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). All proceeds from the sale of this CD are donated to the Amy O’Neill Fund. It is a tribute not only to Amy, but to Golden Microphone as well, that all the songs on this CD, and more importantly, the time and effort to create them, were donated by all the artists involved. Special mention must go to Shandy Lawson, who not only penned and performs the title track – an instant classic in its own right – but also recorded and mixed a good majority of the album at his Shandyland Studios.

What makes this project even more worthy (besides the goodwill) is the quality of the music involved (again, kudos to Shandy). Here you will find the very first official release of a song by New Haven’s legendary trio,  The Who Whos (Barbara Shepard, Kriss Santala, and Anne Donohue): Boy in the Hallway is a must own by anyone who knows what perfect 3-part harmony is all about. Add the slow burner, The Third Time’s the Charm, by Connecticut own Bee-Hive Queen Christine Ohlman, and we’re already justified in stating that this local New Haven/Connecticut scene compilation should not be overlooked.

Consisting of 12 more singer/songwriter compositions created and donated by artists, ranging from the local, popular, favorites - each with their own place on the area’s musical map - to those that fly relatively under the scene’s radar, Not Before My Time delivers each artist’s musical interpretation to complete a collection that stretches the boundaries of the genre.

Quietly and metaphorically, Not Before My Time, The Amy O’Neill Songbook, represents its namesake and its purpose as beautifully as the good folks at Golden Microphone represent its cause.