Album of the Week: Chadwick Stokes' the Horse Comanche,Album Of
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Album Of The Week: Chadwick Stokes’ The Horse Comanche He’s an integral part of Boston-based acts Dispatch and State Radio, but Chadwick Stokes has also built a reputable solo career. Straying from the jam rock of Dispatch and the reggae-infused punk of State Radio, Stokes’ solo material revolves around folk music that sounds like something you’d listen to while sitting around a campfire with a few close friends. His new album, The Horse Comanche, is a continuation of Stokes’ solo style in the most excellent form. With a few added dimensions, Stokes’ take on folk is broadened and expanded with each track. Produced by Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam, the quality of sound in The Horse Comanche is impeccable. Stokes doesn’t limit himself to just one type of music; there’s a great variety of styles exhibited and you get an introduction to Stokes’ versatility when it comes to writing a song and strumming his guitar. Some tracks have an infectious groove while others have a lot of heart and passion, making The Horse Comanche pleasurable in all sorts of ways. There’s a certain catchiness with a few songs as well, but not in an annoying way where you’re praying to the heavens to get those meaningless lyrics out of your head. Don’t let all of this New England snow get you down. Take the opportunity to nestle in your favorite blanket and snuggle with my top tracks off of the Album Of The Week. It might not warm you up, but your music taste will benefit. As a lover of deep tracks in an album I don’t usually gravitate to the lead single, but “Our Lives Our Time” has definitely left a positive impression on me. A simple strum and intelligent lyrics about the issues facing the world today give this track a feverish quality that you can’t help but enjoy. A song for all you lovers out there, the chorus of “I Want You Like A Seatbelt” will make your heart jump for joy once you give it a listen. Featuring the assistance of Brooklyn indie-pop act Lucius, “New Haven” is a great ballad that has a lot of feeling and sincerity that you don’t get with a lot of ballads these days. Chadwick Stokes will stop by The Met on Feb 24 for what should be an amazing night that any New England music fan shouldn’t miss. While you’re at the show, grab a copy of The Horse Comanche. It’s a beautiful album with a lot of heart and soul, and it shouldn’t be overlooked. chadwickstokes.com Album Of The Week: Two Gallants’ We Are Undone San Francisco might be getting a lot of attention in the independent music world for its burgeoning psychedelic and garage rock adorned music scene these days, but Two Gallants is one duo from The City By The Bay has been kicking ass since the early 2000s with an exquisite mix of electrifying blues and heart-on-the-sleeve folk. Consisting of Adam Stephens on vocals and guitar with Tyson Vogel on drums, Two Gallants are back with their fifth studio album We Are Undone, and it’s already in the running to be one of the best albums to come out in 2015. They’ve really turned it up a notch with a bunch of scorching rock ‘n’ roll tracks, along with a few ballads. Being brothers in the name of rock ‘n’ roll since their early teens, Stephens and Vogel show how much they’ve come along the artistic path since their debut album, The Throes, hit the music scene in 2004. Still raw but rhythmically forceful, Two Gallants keep a dark edge that has always stuck with their sound, but they achieve the near impossible by putting even more feeling into songs that exude heart and soul. Haunting lyrics that shoot shivers up your spine are all over the album as well. It’s bound to give you all sorts of feelings, but that’s what good music does. Snow, snow, snow and more snow. New England has become a shade of white, as if it was part of the planet Hoth in Star Wars. Before you saddle up your tauntaun and try to make it past the first marker, give a listen to my top tracks off of the Album Of The Week. That opening riff on “Incidental” has a certain groove that stays with you, and the tale of a woman’s surgery at a hospital gives the track a taste of the macabre. Catchy in all the right ways, “Fools Like Us” is another anthem for the outcast. The chorus of “fools like us just don’t belong” is bound to stick in your head after the first listen. The title track off of We Are Undone has an introduction that’s a tad avant garde and then kicks things into high gear when the guitar and drums combine for some truly powerful stuff. One of a few tracks that includes a grand piano, “Invitation To The Funeral” is a deadly ballad with eerie tendencies and spooky vibes. On April 29, Two Gallants will set Brighton Music Hall ablaze in Allston, Mass. Until they come through your friendly neighborhood music venue, grab yourself a copy of We Are Undone. It’ll grip your soul with haunting effect. Two Gallants’ Website: twogallants.com Interview with Tanya Donelly Over the past few weeks Newport musician Bob Kendall has curated a series of acoustic shows at the brand new upstairs venue located at The Salvation Cafe on 140 Broadway in The City By The Sea. Rhode Island-based musical acts and artists such as Haunt The House, Allysen Callery, The Silks’ Tyler-James Kelly, Jess Powers, Smith & Weeden, Luke Randall and William Schaff have been part of the series so far and on Jan 29 and 30, a highly influential Newport native will be headlining. You might know her from ’80s alternative rockers Throwing Muses or ’90s alt-pop act Belly, but Tanya Donelly has also forged a path as a solo musician. I had a chat with her about being entwined in both music scenes in Boston and Providence, nervousness on stage and the Swan Song series. Rob Duguay: What do you enjoy most about playing in your hometown? Tanya Donelly: It’s been a really long time; I guess it’s been about 15 years or maybe longer. It’s interesting because in looking forward to it I feel comfortable and also really terrified. I think because it is a room full of people who have watched me grow up and vice versa. It can be a very nice feeling and I’m really looking forward to that and most specifically looking forward to playing with the musicians I grew up with and who sort of made me the musician I am now. It can also be nervewracking to sit in front of these people.   RD: Around these parts, musically it’s always been a tale of two cities with Providence and Boston. You’ve made your mark in both areas by putting yourself in both music scenes, sometimes at the same time. People say that there’s a little rivalry between the cities, especially now when both Providence and Boston have so many talented local musicians performing and honing their chops. What’s your opinion on what’s happening in both cities right now? Is it any different than when you were starting out in the early ’80s? TD: I think that scenes always regenerate themselves generationally; that just happens and it’s always been the case. I can’t really speak about what’s new about what’s coming out of either city, which is sort of shameful, but for the most part when I play out and when I go out, it is to see the old guard of people that I continue to write with and play with. Occasionally there will be somebody new who floats into my limited orbit, but for the most part I’m not as on top of things as I used to be. Rhode Island has the most amazingly fertile, creative soil. There’s non-stop artistry and there’s this musical reinvention that always happens, which is pretty amazing. Boston has that too, but most of the people there came from somewhere else where in Rhode Island there are a lot of natives, which makes it a little bit different. RD: You mentioned earlier that you feel a little “terrified” about performing at The Salvation Cafe. Some musicians I know have said that they feel a little more nervous performing by themselves than performing with a band. So what do you do to calm the nerves when it’s just you and an acoustic guitar? TD: I’ve remedied that by asking people to come play with me tonight. I have Dave Narcizo, who I played with during my time in Throwing Muses; Fred Abong, who has played with me in both Throwing Muses and Belly; Gail Greenwood, who was in Belly with me; Bob Kendall and his brother are going to play; my husband is going to play; and Craig Jordan, who I’ve collaborated with a lot, is going to be on stage with me. So I’m having people stepping on and off with me all night. RD: So you kind of have an all-star collaboration thing going on. TD: Yea, I am a collaborator and a team player.