On November 7 & 8, Boston Hassle Fest 6 will be taking over Cuisine en Locale in Somerville, Massachusetts, bringing with it an incredibly talented lineup of underground and not-so-underground acts from the States and abroad. After the immense success of last year’s festival (sell-out crowds gathered to see the likes of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt), this year’s offering is shaping up to be even more impressive. Headliners include No Joy, Chris Corsano/Bill Orcutt Duo and Body/Head, the latest project from Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) and Bill Nance.

The focus won’t be entirely on the nationally-known acts–local and regional favorites like Guerilla Toss, Pigeons, Couples Counseling and Pile are among the will be among the roughly 40 performers to take the stage over the two-day aural extravaganza.

Advance tickets are no longer available, but tickets will be sold at the door each night of the fest until the venue reaches capacity. $17-20 sliding scale, ALL AGES. Friday’s performances run from 6PM to 12:30AM; Saturday 3PM-12:30AM. After-parties will be held each night at a “secret” location, announced at the fest.

For more info about Hassle Fest 6 (and to check for updates about set-times, etc.) visit the Boston Hassle Facebook page or check out the Boston Hassle website.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

 

This Sunday, October 26, Magic Man will be returning to Boston for a sold-out show at The Paradise. After a spring and summer that saw the release of a new record, playing the Boston Calling Music festival and their first-ever headlining tour, the band have certainly found a way to keep busy over the past few months. “Summer was great,” says guitarist Sam Lee. “It was our first time headlining and it was great to have a lot of people [at the shows] who knew the lyrics to the songs.” 

Still riding the crest of their latest album, Before the Waves, the band are trying to let the music they’ve written speak for itself. “We’ve been writing [new] stuff–we love writing–but we’re trying to focus on our live performance [at the moment],” explains Lee. The band has several more stops on this leg of their tour before wrapping up in Vancouver just before Thanksgiving.

For more information about Magic Man (and if you’re looking to try and score tickets to any of their remaining East Coast dates), check our their website.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

This Friday, October 24, Boston’s Zip-Tie Handcuffs will be premiering their new record, Sundream, in its entirety over on WEMF radio. The album will air at 7PM, accompanied by interviews with the band. However, if you’re impatient like me and are interested in hearing a sample of their new tunes before then, you’re in luck. I was able to get my hands on a single from the record and I have posted it below in an effort to satisfy your collective curiosity. The single, “Fwench”, is a great, gritty punk song. I really liked the production–everything sounds huge and open, a rare find among most 3-chord punk tracks. All I could think about when I first heard this song was hauling ass on the back of a pickup truck in the desert, speeding through dirt roads with the radio on full-blast. I hope the rest of the new album is even half as good as this.

Sundream will be released on November 4th at Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge, MA. The show, presented by Eye Design, will feature support from local favorites Nice Guys and Midriffs. $5 cover; show starts at 9PM; 21+ with proper ID.

For more info on the show, check out the Facebook event page. For more info about Zip Tie Handcuffs, visit their Facebook page.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

On October 12, Frostheave dropped Extraordinary Headwear EP, the perfect bite of indie rock for your fall playlist. The six-song release kicks off with the New Hampshire band’s recent single “Bend,” a pleasant ballad that takes some cues out of the Bon Iver playbook – namely its repeating riff and backing falsettos. “Forever More” finds the band’s vocalist singing in a nonchalant wail, drowned out by grinding guitars and fuzzy bass before the song launches into a guitar-pedal-gone-haywire guitar solo, while closing track “Fresh Air” features another weirdo guitar solo (clearly one of the band’s strong suits) and makes good use of a shaker and a tambourine. Extraordinary Headwear can be downloaded for free over at Bandcamp now. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)

Boston Does Boston, a music series designed to benefit the Animal Rescue League, is set to release its third and fourth volumes over the next two weeks. The series, which began in 2013, has a unique approach for raising money–gathering some of the Boston area’s best musical acts and having them cover each other’s work. Some of my favorites on this year’s compilations include Ruby Rose Fox covering Lovewhip and The Rationales covering Mary Lou Lord. I’ve seen a lot of different benefit shows, but I find myself especially drawn to this one because it not only raises money for a worthy cause, but strengthens the Boston music scene in the process. Having artists take a step back from their own music and let others create their own interpretations of what they hear demonstrates a lot of trust between artists, and highlights the collaborative nature Boston area musicians.

The songs will be released during two shows: October 17th and 24th, respectively. Both concerts will be held at TT the Bear’s Place in Central Square, Cambridge, MA.  Doors at 8PM, 18+, $10 cover. All proceeds will be donated to the Animal Rescue League.

 -Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

Back in August, I debuted the video for Rosary, a new song by Troy Ramey. At that time, he was just starting a PledgeMusic campaign to fund his first solo EP. I checked-in with him this week and he seems to have been very busy over the last two months. At the time of this posting, Ramey’s PledgeMusic campaign has been 99% funded, indicating that he will be able to move forward with the production of his debut EP. It’s great to see passionate local musicians succeeding with their projects and I’m excited to hear what Troy does with his final mixes.

 For more info about his EP (and the PledgeMusic campaign), click here. You can also stay up-to-date about his latest plans on his Facebook page. In case you missed it the first time, you can check out the video for "Rosary" below.

 -Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)

Cameron Boucher, vocalist of Hartford indie punk quartet Sorority Noise, announced yesterday that Kevin O’Donnell and Jason Rule, the band’s bassist and drummer, respectively, would be leaving the band. In his statement, Boucher calls O’Donnell and Rule “two of the most talented dudes I know and the best rhythm section in the world,” attesting that all four bandmates remain close friends following the split. Rule later released his own statement citing that aside from some personal reasons, he and O’Donnell had no interest in moving forward stylistically with Sorority Noise. Boucher and Scuff, the band’s guitarist, plan to continue making music and working on a new Sorority Noise LP, while O’Donnell and Rule will likely take this time to focus on their band Queen Moo. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)

A boy band trying to make it in the local scene, dance moves, pop hooks and all – it might make you laugh at first, but it’s actually kind of awesome. Eyes to the Skies, a trio from Providence College, is bringing the One Direction craze to the college music scene, taking on the hard task of pushing pop music in venues that typically host rock bands. Last month the band released its debut two-track EP, and while it’s tough to say whether the whole thing is a joke, their dance moves certainly aren’t. Download the Eyes to the Skies EP over on Bandcamp and check out a live performance of “OMG!” on the band’s Facebook page. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)

Released on September 30, Weekend Waves’ Space Sounds is a great listen for a relaxing evening or a road trip with friends. Across four instrumental tracks, the band explores sounds from post-rock and metal (“Halloween”) to poppier indie rock on the EP opener “Fall.” It’s time to switch your playlist up from carefree summer anthems to songs that mirror the crisp new air of fall, and Space Sounds is the perfect place to start. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)

Seeing as The Deli New England usually covers local bands/artists, I’m excited (and a bit overwhelmed) to be announcing an experimental electro-pop show comprised of three all-female international acts. Tonight, Lilypad in Cambridge, MA will be hosting Letonia Records labelmates Alex June (French-born, raised in Chile) and EDH (Emmanuelle de Héricourt, from France). Joining them will be Camilla Sparksss, a side project from Barbara Lehnhoff (of Swiss/Canadian punk band Peter Kernel). Even though all three acts will be miles away from their respective homes, their songs will fit right in among the Greater Boston music scene.

I was particularly drawn to Camilla Sparksss and her captivating vocals on tracks such as “You Are Awesome” and “I’ll Teach You To Hunt” from her debut record For You the Wild (April, 2014, Africantape, On the Camper Records) Her use of distortion on her voice adds a harshness and abrasiveness to her songs that is so unique you can’t help but be drawn in to her music.

The Letonia crew has a knack for intricate drum loops, as is evident in EDH’s “Shall We Go.” The semi-industrial/tribal drum beat coupled with the distorted synth melody played throughout the song gives off a hauntingly-modern vibe – a feeling I found in the music of all three of these acts.

If you’re looking for an atypical way to break into the second half of the week, I’d highly suggest checking this show out. The eclectic mix of sounds and rhythms is sure to leave you with a positive impression about the state of experimental electronic music being made around the world.

Show starts early (6PM); $10 suggested donation at the door.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)   

Fall is in the air: the Red Sox have completely tanked, ugly sweaters are being taken out of musty closets, and “pumpkin spice” is being placed in every food and beverage known to human-kind. One of the few things I love more than pumpkin bread is music, and this year’s Boston Hassle Fest 6 has heaps of it to go around. The fest (slated to take place November 7 & 8 at Cuisine en Locale on Highland Ave. in Somerville, MA) boasts some mammoth headliners, including Body/Head (Kim Gordon/Bill Nance) and No Joy. Local and regional acts will be getting in on the action as well–Free Pizza, Downtown Boys, IAN and Pile will be there, along with a host of other regionally and nationally-known musicians.

Anyone interested in scoring advance tickets to one or both days of the shows can head over to the Boston Hassle Fest 6 Indiegogo campaign. Donating through Indiegogo is the only way to secure tickets in advance (as well as receive some other wicked cool perks), so be sure to grab your tickets early for these (most likely) sell-out performances.

For more info on Hassle Fest 6, check out the Boston Hassle Facebook page. For more info about Boston Hassle, check out their website. -Dan McMahon(@dmcmhn)
  

After working on it for nearly a year, Connecticut’s Cheem released its debut EP, Elka, on September 10. The pop punk set starts off with the spunky “Chicks Love Gongs,” a track boasting two choruses basically sung at the same time. (It works to great effect though – just listen!) The mood shifts on the EP’s title track, a love song of sorts that promises “I’m never far” and details a romantic runaway over beautiful chords. Later, the band shows off its knack for catchy, tight guitar riffs on “Reward” and pushes its instrumental boundaries on the spacious outro track “Apollo.” Download Elka for free now over on the band’s Bandcamp page. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)