30 YEARS &
THIS SUMMER
Rita: Hey, hey schoolboy sing me a song. Lolita:
Hey, hey schoolboy follow me home. Rita: Hey, hey schoolboy give me a gift. Lolita:
Hey, boy I might give you a kiss. Rita: The Noise is now in its 30th year of publishing
and we’re kicking off our yearlong celebration with WILLIE
“LOCO” ALEXANDER, T MAX
(CD release), and BARBARA
KOEN at the Blackburn Performing
Arts in Gloucester on September 18.
Lolita: We had a great summer and we are anticipating
a tremendous fall season because every way we look there are bands and
acts of every genre playing out. Rita: But before we jump too far into the future,
let’s look back on the summer of 2010 and check out the highlights
that our friends experienced. Lolita: Hey JPo! Hold up there. Can I touch your
hair? I have a new Question of the Month for you… What was the highlight
of your summer? JOHN POWHIDA (The Rudds/ John Powhida International Airport):
The highlight of my summer was the Joe Coughlin benefit at the Midway
in late July. A legion of artistic musical misfits paid tribute to the
great one. *** NICOLE TAMMARO (Nicole Tammaro Photography): After six long
months of bike building, my choppahead triumph bobber has arrived. On
August 1, 2010, I drove to New Bedford, loaded the bike up onto my truck.
Got the lil’ bike home, tooled around Q Division parking lot and did
a loop around the block. The bike is loud, low, and sooo cool looking.
Thanks to Choppa Jay and Choppa Josh, you did a great job building her!
*** RICK BERLIN (himself): The highlight of my summer: the
roof. *** BILLY CARL MANCINI (Bird Mancini): Ruby and I made a pilgrimage
to the Woodstock concert site in Bethel, NY, in June. The site remains
the same today as it was in 1969. It was good to see that they hadn’t
paved it over and put up waving Jimi Hendrix statues. We could feel
the energy of that place—very spiritual. We sat there for a long time
and let our hair grow. Also, stood on the stage area and imagined. *** KEN FIELD
(Revolutionary Snake Ensemble/ Birdsongs of the Mesozoic/ Agachiko):
The highlight of my summer was playing a show with Willie Alexander
& his Persistence of Memory Orchestra on Sunday August 29th at Halibut
Point State Park in Gloucester from 3:00-5:00 pm. *** FRANCIS
DIMENNO (Wrong Hero/ the Noise):
Almost breaking my toe. *** DAVID
KIRKDORFFER (the Blank Attack/
UNDO): The great summer heat, a week on Block Island and watching the
World Cup. *** SUSAN EMERSON (Gloucester Music): The highlight of my summer
came when I opened the door to the refrigerator which sits precariously
on a shelf atop the supply of cat food in the back room of my music
store, and a tiny, half-inch white tile from the hundred words of the
magnetic poetry game slid down onto the shelf before me. I was shocked,
sucked my breath in sharply. My request for a Providential sign to explain
how to process the wrenching events of an impossibly difficult week
arrived in the form of an actual word. It said: “Grow.” And I did.
*** CASEY DESMOND (Casey Desmond): On my 24th birthday
my friends and I jumped off the Cape marsh cliffs into the ice-cold
ocean. I was good and baked. *** SUSAN
SCOTTI (Last Call Publicity
& Promotion/ Club Passim): The highlight of my summer was the Newport
Folk Festival. This was the best one yet! Amazing line-up, awesome weather
and hanging out with some of my favorite peeps for the weekend.
Highlights included Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Ben Sollee,
Daniel Martin Moore & Yim Yames, Dawes, Sharon Jones and the Dap
Kings, Andrew Bird, and many more. *** JOE
COUGHLIN (the
Noise): Some of my favorite
players in the world arranged and performed a benefit for me at
the Midway. Completely overwhelming by itself, but a friend I hadn’t
seen in 18 years, who lives far away and is not a club person, made
the trip. Far and away the coolest night of my life, let alone the summer,
no joke. *** ERIC BAYLIES (Baylies Band/ Temple of Bon Matin): The highlight
of my summer was driving 30 hours non stop to Iowa, resting in the pouring
rain for 10 minutes to be sick, playing to 20 people and jumping right
off stage to drive four hours to play on the radio
in Chicago that night. *** AJDA
THE TURKISH QUEEN (Black Fortress
of Opium): The highlight of my summer has been going back and forth
to New York to work on our second album with dear friend Martin Bisi.
I love being in the studio and checking out all the city has to offer.
*** SAMMY MIAMI (Houndstone): So far I’d have to say it
was pulling off a successful gig after rebuilding the band the day before
performing. Out of nowhere and without explanation Roger Moon and Leather
Vic decided to retire. I recruited Don Morrison (Booty Vortex) to handle
the bass but couldn’t find a solid drummer that could sing harmony.
Adam Aufiero (x-Shööt the Möön) stepped in to sing the harmony parts
while also adding a third guitar to the mix. I pulled a John Powhida
and played the damn drums myself! Moral of the story; you can’t stop
rock ’n’ roll! Lolita: Oh Sammy, you could have asked me to drum.
I have no sense of rhythm but I’m told I look fabulous sitting on
a drum stool.
NEWS DE MUSIQUE
Rita: While Lolita fantasizes about being a rock
star drummer, I’ll deliver the news that you won’t get from any
TV channel. Why do we love GAVIN, host of WZBC’s local music show Mass. Ave. and Beyond? Because he makes cookies for all his musical
guests. *** The Alchemist in Jamaica Plain closed in June and is looking
for a new home. *** While in Lowell we saw a political poster that read
Chris Doherty for State Senate. This couldn’t be the beer-guzzlin’
Chris Doherty who leads Gang Green? *** JORDAN
TISHLER has moved his operation
of Digital Bear studio from Jamaica Plain to Cambridge (1035 Cambridge
St). *** Armegeddon Shop of Providence has taken over Twisted Village
in Harvard Square. *** CASEY
DESMOND was signed as Harpo’s
new composer and was chosen as the 2010 Sonicbids.com marketing model.
She was named one of New Music Seminar’s 2010 Artists
to Watch and is currently co-writing
with ROBERT ELLIS ORRALL (Ke$ha, Taylor Swift, Lindsay Lohan). She also
got to open for the B-52s at the Cape Cod Melody Tent this summer. ***
THE NEIGHBORHOODS have released a 29-track two-CD set, The Last Rat,
of live cuts from their last show at the legendary Ratskeller in 1992.
*** The WFNX (101.7fm) local music show hosted by DAVE
DUNCAN has taken on a new name
and time. Listen to Boston
Accents on Sundays 8-10pm.
*** The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has put together
a prestigious judging panel (including Peter Gabriel, Tom Waits, and
Steve Winwood). ISC is giving away more than $150,000 in cash and prizes
(shared among the 66 winners), so if you’ve got a good song, head
over to songwritingcompetition.com. *** Punks for a Princess is a nonprofit
charity organization started in memory of seven-year old Kaitlyn Ferra,
who tragically passed away on August 7, 2008. On September 3rd
and 5th at Club Hell, and September 4th at the
Beachcomber (in Quincy) the third annual benefits will take place. For
a list of the participating punks, go to punksforaprincess.com. ***
SWITCHBLADE SUICIDE had a good summer—they got to open for KISS, CHEAP
TRICK, and SQUEEZE. *** Could local musician STEVEN
TYLER (Aerosmith) be the next
judge on American Idol? *** Stingray Body Art celebrated its fifth
anniversary in August. *** To celebrate the 50th Bandwidth
TV episode, CCTV had a 25-hour Bandwidth TV
marathon. *** FRED SHRIGLEY has been running the Rhumb Line in Gloucester
for 32 years. Before that he owned the Wayward Duck, and before that
he started In A Pig’s Eye in 1972. *** CLUB GALLERY in Providence
celebrates its 45th anniversary of bringing music to the gay community.
*** TIM CASEY (Low Budget Records) has a new Boston cable
TV show on BNN called Transmission
Hour—Boston Music. *** The
Rhumb Line in Gloucester is celebrating its 30th year of operation.
*** Cellist KRISTEN MILLER is composing a soundtrack, to be performed
live, for the short film At
Land by Maya Deren. It will
premier on Sunday, October 17, 6:00 pm at the Shalin Liu Performing
Arts Center in Rockport, as part of the Cape Ann Film Festival. Kristen
is opening for the ALLOY ORCHESTRA who will be doing their wonderful
live score to Metropolis. *** SHAUN
WOLF WORTIS and PAUL AHLSTRAND
are re-scoring an old Fleischer Studios cartoon from 1930 called Swing You Sinners! The live performance of the score will be
on Sat. Oct 30, at the Lizard Lounge, as part of Wolf’s
Rhythm & Blues Halloween.
*** On a serious note, our
writer AJ WACTEL was rushed to the hospital straight from the
House of Blues. In emergency surgery he had 25 percent of his colon
removed. And had two more emergency returns to the hospital. He was
stabilized when we spoke to him and he was right on his assignments.
*** Two of our friends had knee surgery this summer: DIANE
YOUNG (the Center for the Arts
in Natick) and CHUCK ROSINA (WMBR/ WMFO). Lolita: We know we’ll see them running again soon.
HOW DID WE GET
TO BE 30?
Rita: Speaking of running, how the heck did this
magazine manage to keep running for 30 years? Lolita: I’ll have to take all the credit, mainly
because of my modesty. Everyone just loves me! Rita: Why don’t you get some more realistic answers
from our friends? Lolita: Will do. I love it when people talk about
me. Hey Liz, please tell everyone how the Noise managed to stay afloat for 30 years. LIZ BORDEN
(Liz Borden Band): The fact that the magazine has written and supported
all types of local music. It is not a closed-minded publication that
caters to one type of music. It also helps that T Max is a musician
and a big part of the music scene. The writing and photography duties
have been shared with other musicians, writers, and photographers but
T Max has always kept a creative eye on the magazine. I like the gossip,
the reviews, and that fact it helps keep me up on the scene. *** PETER RINNING
(QRSTs): The Noise has always been awesome. They tell it like
it is. If the music sucks, the writers have no problem saying so. If
the music is awesome, they will let you know. There are ALWAYS interesting
letters to the editor. The people who read the Noise are passionate, have a voracious appetite
for music and are rabid followers of what they like. There are always
good interviews with new bands that you might not have heard of, but
would like instantly; great live reviews and music reviews are just
the norm for this paper! The one bad thing is the centerfold—boring.
Put a flexi disc in the paper once in a while... No wait—that is so
’80s—put a website where you can get an exclusive free download
courtesy of the Noise in the paper. *** LINDA
VIENS (Angeline): The Noise
has maintained its special status as Boston’s longest running music
magazine because of its unwavering devotion to current, vibrant, original,
LOCAL talent. The Noise has consistently championed the incredible
wealth of music that is always happening right
here, right now in our fair
city, regardless of the wider world of the music “industry” and
its recognition or not of our supremely talented artists. As an artist
who put down roots in Boston many moons ago, I am deeply grateful for the support
I have always received from the Noise, and for access to information about the bright
and beautiful talented ones who continue to illuminate and entertain.
Thank you so much, T! *** MR.
CURT (Mr. Curt Ensemble): Dedication,
perseverance, humility, inclusion, relevance, growth and development,
community connection, (hi-n-low) humor, small talk and gossip, profound/useless
information and perpetual interest in all things local and musical,
and a truly gracious love for the hometown scene and what it achieves
month-by-month. A fine writing staff that displays wisdom, opinion,
talent, and personal flair for critique. Also, maybe low-overhead with
some self-sacrifice, a great advertising base of businesses and bands,
and never-ending opportunities for egotism and major/minor mass adulation.
The Noise has been right for so long, it seems second
nature. It always starts at the top, with vision and desire. So glad
you’re here! Bravo to T Max, of course! *** KIER
BYRNES (Three Day Threshold):
I think the main reason for the Noise being around so long is that T Max needed
a good excuse to take pictures of scantily clad, hot local rocker chicks,
and thus, the Noise centerfold. Lolita: Kier, I think you’re right. I was the centerfold
one time. And yes, T Max shot me scantily clad in Fenway Park.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
Rita: Actually if you check the centerfold of Lolita
very closely you’ll see that she isn’t in Fenway Park at all. It
was all a Photoshop job. CHRIS
PEARSON is now playing with
the psych/shoegazy pop MAGIC SHOPPE. *** BABY STRANGE (who was on the
cover of the Noise issue #239) reunited with the help of SHRED
bringing them to the Middle East on July 9 and July 10. *** THE SUN
LEE SUNBEAM broke up over the summer playing their last two shows at
the Middle East and Great Scott. Look for new beaming projects in the
works. *** ABUNAI! did their reunion thing this summer at Deep Haven
Now in Union Square. *** BIM SKLA BIM did a four-day reunion string
of New England gigs in early August. *** DAVE
TREE is leading a J. Geils
Band tribute called BLOW YOUR FACE OUT. *** MATT
GRATON has replaced ADAM CROTEAU
on bass in PINSKY. *** ROGER
MILLER (Mission of Burma/Alloy
Orchestra) is part of MMW (not to be confused with Medeski, Martin &
Woods) with his brother BENJAMIN
MILLER (modified guitar with
preparations and electronics), and MATT
WESTON (percussion and electronics).
They released Post Out, a live performance from 10/19/08 at the Outpost
in Cambridge. *** THE PRENUPS, “the best wedding band that isn’t
really a wedding band,” consist of MIKE
GENT (the Figgs), JED PARISH
(Gravel Pit), PETE CALDES (Gravel Pit), and ED
VALAUSKAS (Jenny Dee &
the Deelinquents). Almost makes you want to get married just to have
them play at the reception. *** CASEY
DESMOND has a duet folk side
project with ROBERT
“JESS” DETTMANN called
THE WOODS COLT. They have a CD release party on 9/19 at the Magic Room. Lolita:
I don’t think we should give any publicity to Casey because I wanted
to be the SonicBids marketing model. I mean, just because she’s a
lot younger than me, and a lot prettier, and okay, maybe I have a bad
attitude but still I would have picked me because of my modesty, and
because I really deserved it!
I VOTED FOR
O’BOMBER
Rita: Wow, Lolita is on the floor flapping around
like a fish out of water. She’s enacting a classic hissy fit. Well,
I can find something much more worthwhile to get upset about. President
Obama is taking credit for keeping his promise to wind down the Iraq
war—when all he’s really done is moved the war over a couple of
borders and escalated it. He tries to impress us with figures of how
many soldiers have returned since he’s been in office. He doesn’t
mention how many more have been sent to risk their lives. The question
is, what are we really doing in the Middle East and why is this war
worth the trillion spent on it and over a million lives lost because
of it? Lolita: (quickly out of her fit) Are you kidding
me? That is such a loaded question. But let’s see what others have
to say about it. CHUCK
U. ROSINA (WMBR/ WMFO): Wow.
That’s a mouth full, but the short answer is that it isn’t worth all that money and lives lost. We are
the only remaining superpower, with military bases around the world.
That fact alone gives recruitment to the terrorists. End war now by
removing the American targets in foreign lands. ***
DAVE TREE (SuperPower): The
reason why we are where we are in the Middle East is because of oil,
and the oil companies have our government in a death grip, Bush/Cheney
were in the oil business and profited off the war for oil it really
doesn’t matter what party is in power. Big Oil gets what it wants
and if Obama tries to stop them they will drop him with a shot. *** KAREN DeBIASSE (Girl
On Top): Just keep remembering that Obama is not doing anything. He
is just a puppet and was put in power by an invisible network and he
is just carrying out “their” agenda. He is the fall guy. So, it
has nothing to do with Obama or his administration... it has to do with
what agenda’s his bosses wanted to carry out and that is why they
put him in as president in the first place. He probably was groomed
from birth and probably a blood relative in some way. Since this is
a lie, everything else is. If you’ve never listened to Alex Jones
check him out at infowars.com. *** WILLIE
LOCO ALEXANDER (Persistence
of Memory Orchestra/ the Boom Boom Band): The war is business as usual.
The death industry vs life. Oil trumps children, oceans, words... ahhgghhh.
*** PETE CASSANI (the Peasants): First, and let’s be perfectly
clear, I love our black, socialist, Muslim president! I think he’s
doing the best job any man could possibly do given the horrendous mess
he inherited from the previous failed, incompetent, corrupt, unelected
administration. Oil companies, together with weapons manufacturers,
financial and insurance companies, banks and other large corporations
run the United States. This hasn’t been a representative democracy
since the end of World War II, so that’s why we’re still in Iraq.
It’s not up to us. The USA is run by corporations and this is what
the corporations want. *** BRIAN
KING (What Time Is It, Mr.
Fox?): For many years the U.S.A. has basically been a dumb cop. We try
to intervene in conflicts with little knowledge of the situation and
a less than superficial “strategy” for a solution. Then we
try to repair the escalation we caused by using the same technique that
started it. Unfortunately, our nationalist “team spirit” won’t
let us collaborate with the world in any meaningful way, so our single-minded
ideology continues to ruin lives and betray the trust of those who have
dedicated their lives to our broken system of government. But hey, the
TVs are good. Rita: Let me quote the 34th President of the United
Sates, Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence by the military complex. The potential for the disastrous
rise of misplaces power exists and will persist. Only an alert and knowledgeable
citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military
machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security
and liberty may prosper together.” I think Dwight didn’t realize
that the military complex would take on a powerful partner in greedy
corporations once the corporations saw that war was profitable.
ALL GOIN’
OUT TOGETHER
Lolita: It looks like a great time for us to go out
together. Rita: Yeah, better take in the good music while
we can. JENNY DEE & THE DEELINQUENTS bring the ’60s girl-group
sound to Johnny D’s on Thursday, 9/9. *** I HAVE EARS plays the Midway
on Friday, 9/10. *** On that same night MELLOW BRAVO and GOZU execute
a double CD release at the Middle East Downstairs. *** JORDAN VALENTINE & THE SUNDAY SAINTS
release their debut CD, Van
Van & Cleo May, on Saturday,
9/11, at the House of Blues. *** INGE
BERGE activates the Dogbar
in Gloucester on Sunday, 9/12. *** ERIC MARTIN & THE ILLYRIANS play LISA CONOLLY’s
Birthday Bash at the Cantab on Friday, 9/17. *** The Noise 30th Anniversary Party featuring T MAX (CD release), WILLIE "LOCO" ALEXANDER, and
BARBARA KOEN is at the Blackburn
Performing Arts in Gloucester on Saturday, 9/18. *** Last month’s
covergirl ANAIS MITCHELL is at the Colonial Theatre in Bethlehem, NH,
on Saturday, 9/25. *** Same night IAN
ADAMS is part of the Midriff
Records showcase at Precinct Bar. *** On Sunday, 9/26,
THALIA ZEDEK’s COME,
the original lineup, is at T.T. the Bear’s. *** Every Sunday night
at the Grog in Newburyport check out Parker’s Blues Party. Lolita:
Hey, hey, schoolboy hope to run into you. Rita: Please not with your car. Support New England
musicians—they are the best.
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