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Last we’d interviewed Balmorhea fountainhead RG Lowe, he’d given us a heads-up on the band he was touring with. And rightly so. But we’ll get to that in a second. Nellie Fitzgerald (whose FaceBook page can be found here) was the second in O’Brien’s lineup in Boston. She followed a mostly covers section by Dan Barracuda (who was pretty good! Though we didn’t really dig his original, “Something Crazy”). Fitzgerald herself, right here: … has a voice. A good voice. We liked the bit of funkiness that her band opened with, and greatly appreciated not only her voice, but her stage presence. She’s certainly aRead More →

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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 appreciate layering and depth of sound, we find a lot of these extra sonic bits to be extraneous. Let’s bring in that earlier albumRead More →

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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 “Man, do I really have to practice today?” RG Lowe: For me, too, it was definitely like that. It was like a chore atRead More →

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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 debut solo LP, is pure, unadulterated bliss. Coming seemingly out of nowhere, Lowe’s nine tracks here are some of the least self-conscious,Read More →