Matthew Keefer's Blog: Music Ravings by Matthew Keefer, page 8

New Pornographers a Bit Lost in “Whiteout Conditions”

The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions Concord Records – out now 3.5 / 5 To understand our frustrations with the New Pornographers’ latest album, we’re going to have to summon two older ones of theirs. So, frustration: Whiteout Conditions, while perhaps one of their best albums in terms of performances, and in terms of musical ability, feels cluttered with too many sounds. Literally. It’s a fun album, yes, but perhaps one of the weakest in their 17-year repertoire. And while we tend to a...

RG Lowe: “Music Comes Together On Its Own Time”

Mon. 6-26-17. O’Brien’s, Boston, MA. Doors @ 8p. $10. Further dates starting 6-21-17 on his site.   Robert Griffin Lowe has a ten-year career with instrumental band Balmorhea. But the 32-year-old Austin-based musician decided to spend four years of his musical life listening to pop records and recording one. We talk about Stevie Wonder, Lowe’s own Slow Time, and politics influencing music.     M Keefer: You started playing music at seven years old. I remember being around nine or ten, going “...

Pop High: RG Lowe’s Debut Solo

RG Lowe – Slow Time Western Vinyl – out now 4.5 / 5 This Austin, Texan pianist/guitarist, who is the fountainhead for the instrumental group Balmorhea, decided to take a trip through the 70s and 80s. Citing Prince, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder, his previous ten years of work came through the vocal-less, introspective, quiet Balmorhea. Thus, one would assume RG Lowe would be entirely out of his element on a pop-rock album. But you know the saying about assumptions: turns out Slow Time, Lowe’s...

Massimo’s “I Got A Song”: He Got A Voice

  “I Got A Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival” by Rick Massimo Wesleyan Press – out tomorrow 4.5 / 5   We are a hard sell on reads, especially nonfiction. We are incredible biased. And we feel that Rick Massimo, formerly of Providence Journal fame, is one of perhaps two reporters we could imagine who’d put together such a fine history of our favorite festival. (The other being the oft-quoted Jim Gillis in this book, retired from The Newport Daily News.) This history is coming out to...

Imaad Wasif Rocks From A to “Dzi” On Latest

Imaad Wasif – Dzi Grey Market – out June 16 4 / 5 Imaad Wasif is the musician you haven’t heard of that you’ve already loved. As a former member of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, he performed on Show Your Bones, their second full-length; he also co-wrote the soundtrack to Where The Wild Things Are with Karen O as well as toured with her and the crew. The Los Angeles-based pysch rocker is on his fourth full-length solo album, and perhaps like you, we’re surprised his name hasn’t jumped out at us sooner:...

Fleet Foxes’ Third Doesn’t “Crack-Up”, Nor Shine

Fleet Foxes – Crack-Up  Nonesuch Records – out June 16 3.5 / 5   Fleet Foxes can’t seem to get out from the shadow of their debut self-titled LP. But don’t despair: their third LP Crack-Up is still a solid offering from the Seattle-based “baroque pop” quintet. While Crack-Up doesn’t rely as heavily on the whiskey smooth harmonies unleashed in 2008’s Fleet Foxes, the latest release does something that we greatly appreciate from a band: Crack-Up experiments, it expands. Most of the waters the F...

Larkin Grimm’s Free Jazz Mostly “Illusion”

Larkin Grimm – Chasing an Illusion  Northern Spy Records – out June 16 2.5 / 5   We respect Alice Coltrane. We like Ornette Coleman. We love Pharoah Sanders. And New York City-based Larkin Grimm references them all on her latest full-length, Chasing an Illusion. But somehow, with all this free-form Jazz woven into Illusion, it’s not enough to get us to enjoy her ostensibly folk-ish album. We’re not saying one can’t work a little of Sanders’ magic into modern folk (or what remains of folk, her...

A Sold-Out Paradise: Laura Marling in Boston

Last Tuesday, we headed over to the Paradise Rock Club in Boston to catch introspective Brit Laura Marling, with Valley Queen as her opener. Valley Queen, based in L.A., was something of a shocker: vocals that remind us of Lady Lamb and arrangements that feel vaguely like art-rock, a good complement to Marling. Here are two of the quartet:   We aren’t going to say they are a perfect band – Wogensen hit some “juicy notes” on bass (that is to say, we prefer our notes a bit more dry, *ahem*) and...

Marling Makes New England Feel “Femina”

Relaxing in the garden. Laura Marling takes a break from her tour to smell the… ivy. (C) Hollie Fernando. The Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton, MA. Sun. 5-14-17, Doors 7p, Show 7:30p. $25.Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA. Tues. 5-16-17, Doors 7p, Show 8p. $25. As soon as we listened to Semper Femina, we knew we had to see this British folk songstress. Recording music as a nineteen-year-old, Laura Marling’s career includes impressing Ryan Adams enough that he threw away an album and re-reco...

Plenty of “Magic” on Goodbye June’s Debut LP

Goodbye June – Magic ValleyInterscope Records– out now4 / 5 Time for a bit of rock and roll. That must be the impetus behind this Nashville trio’s debut LP. Goodbye June, we must say, sounds like they’re already on their third or fourth album – Magic Valley is a polished piece of record right here. They’ve got cookers (“Good Side,” “Bamboozler”), quiet ones (“Darling”), and just generally a good chex-mix of rock singles. Musically, think of aggravated vocals taking a hint from Angus-Young, si...