ANIMAL COLLECTIVE’S AVEY TARE DELIVERS MEMORABLE ALBUM
By Emily Votaw In late 2012, Animal Collective satiated eager fans with “Centipede HZ,” the follow up to 2009’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” an album that had received overwhelmingly positive review...
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CIGARS, PSYCHO KILLERS AND ANTELOPES AT JAZZ CAFE
20140417-DSC_6144 By Michael Lello Photos by Pati Bobeck PLAINS, Pa. – On paper, the Pink Talking Fish concept sounds intriguing – pay tri...
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ESCOVEDO AND THE SENSITIVE BOYS DELIVER DARK BRILLIANCE
By Michael Lello WILKES-BARRE – When you hear certain songs, you can also hear the compositional process, the structure and the intent. Here’s the verse, there’s the hook, here’s the bridge and chor...
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SIMONE FELICE’S UNINTENDED FOLK PARODY
By Emily Votaw The bombastic, bloated folk rock genre that preys on miseducated high schoolers and middle-aged women is powerful. Mumford & Sons aren’t rock ’n’ roll, and they obviously aren’t t...
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JOAN OSBORNE’S SIMPLE AND DIRECT KIRBY CENTER OUTING
By Michael Lello Photos by Jesse Faatz WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Just a day after the release of her ninth album, “Love and Hate,” musical chameleon Joan Osborne continued the FM Kirby Center’s “Live f...
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DIRTY HEADS BRING REGGAE ROCK TO STROUDSBURG
IMG_3453 By Jesse Faatz Photos by Jesse Faatz STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- After gaining an adequate following with their No. 1 Billboard h...
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SIGMAN DOESN’T DELIVER ON PROMISE WITH “VIRGINIA EP”
By Emily Votaw It’s hard to decipher whatever intention Jacob Sigman had throughout the process of writing and recording his five-track “Virginia EP,” released in December. Did he want to write a co...
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THE HOLD STEADY’S ‘MASSIVE NIGHT’ IN ITHACA
By Michael Lello ITHACA, N.Y. – At first glance, it seemed like a glorified dive bar where your elbows stick to the tables and the décor includes a Jagermeister banner and dartboard might not befit...
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THE HOLD STEADY DELIVERS ANOTHER KNOCKOUT PUNCH
By Michael Lello There was never any question about the quality of The Hold Steady’s swaggering brand of beer commercial guitar riffs and barstool sermons. But it never seemed like an aesthetic that...
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WES ANDERSON’S “HOTEL” A LOVE LETTER TO LOST TIMES
By Greg Popil Has there ever been a writer/director whose films bridge a wider gulf between what should not work and what does work than Wes Anderson? In the years since his 1998 breakthrough master...
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