365 days

A year of faves; plus, the new Ameobic Ensemble

by Michael Caito

Another good year, though heavy on band dissolutions. Splits include Throwing Muses, Thee Hydrogen Terrors, One Ton Shotgun and Flora Street. Dave Auchenbach (ex-small factory, What Now, flora street) does engineer the new major label debut of Providence residents Purple Ivy Shadow's no less the trees than the stars (Slow River/Rykodisc), who appear at the Century Lounge on January 10. Auchenbach's former bandmates, Phoebe Summersquash and Alex Kemp of the Godrays, were scheduled to ship their new Well Constructed Death Sentence (Sit & Spin) on December 7.

Others out but not yet covered here include the heavily-touring Arab On Radar's LP/CD (on Heparin; apologies for slowness on that report), the Illustrious Day CD, a Landed record on Load, a new Mother Jefferson LP, Tripod Cats' debut EP, a new Superface CD, a Chaw Mank demo, and an excellent single by Blues Outlet, who include Harmonica Robert, Chicago Vin, Bigtime Bucky and vocalist Kelly Knapp.

Too much happened in '97 to squish into one column but here goes. Muses broke up, Kristin Hersh has another solo record in early '98 and Dave Narcizo later played Waterplace Park with Tanya Donelly (who got typically decent UK radio play for the underrated Lovesongs for Underdogs but little airtime Stateside), while former Muses bassist Fred Abong joined Chris Gorman (ex-Belly) and Chick Graning (ex-Scarce) for other one-offs. Gail Greenwood (ex-Belly, Boneyard) and L7 opened for KISS in Europe. Original Scarce drummer Jud Ehrbar had a solid year with both the Parker brothers of Varnaline and his Reservoir project. Tasty releases on Zero Hour.

In very rough chronological order: January found Runt of the Litter II (Fan Attic) in stores. The mail-order label's inclusion of Toss-Offs, Gringo, Fess, Brooklyn Steamer, the F.I.D.s and the Degenerates made it a worthy bookend to Repopulation Program (Load), which had the advantage of a Dropdead track. Dropdead at the Met (seconded by QAZ at CAV and then the Terrors at the Met): fave live local '97 shows. In Newport, startup Flydaddy Records continue to offer tour support and domestic releases of several of the Terrastock bands which graced Olneyville in April, including V Majestic (Record of the Year, '97). Had I not been Best Man at an uncle's wedding out of state that would have been the event of the year. Meanwhile, Ptolemaic Terrascope co-founder/editor/columnist Phil McMullen, on his home turf near Bath, gave my favorite quote of the year: "Always the thing fanzines [and] magazines fall down on is the quality of the journalism. I don't see any reason why a record review couldn't be in itself a short story effectively." Thanks for the coffee, Phil. '97 saw John Larson (Marlowes) continues to improve Amplifier, his non-stop pop magazine based in Pawtucket, which is the title of the first song on the Purple Ivy Shadows disc. La.

Best live shows: Freedy Johnston at Lupo's, Sinéad O'Connor and David Byrne at the Strand, Ani DiFranco at the Providence PAC, any night at the Philharmonic except the most recent one.

Violent Anal Death's 12-song vinyl on Roachender was a hilarious blast through TV-theme land, while on a more serious note Korean violinist Chee-Yun's RIPO stop had the hall riveted. Roomful of Blues scored with Under One Roof (Bullseye) and drummer John Rossi quoth, "Rock and roll has really never changed. It remains wild."

Thee Hydrogen Terror's Terror, Diplomacy & Public Relations (Load) scorched ground, with Matt White waxing molten on guitar. Erin McKeown's demo proved that the next generation of folk performers will lean hard into, as opposed to dance around, folksongs. A fine release followed by numerous Pork Chop Lounge appearances. In March, the Philharmonic pulled off a split choir scene straight outta St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice in a Gabrieli canzona from his Sacred Symphony, followed by Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring. Seasider's One Ton Shotgun released two full-bore singles, Songs for Sucks (Sike) and Arena Days (Negi Youth), and folkstress Mary Ann Rossoni hit with Half Slips & Garters. April's second annual Gospel Fest was epic but rewarding, with an exquisite performance by Providence's Cathedral Choir. Second quote of the year, from Sonny Isom from Gospel Fest's PPAC stage: "Do you wanna have church right here?"

Springtime: Beltaine single on Middletown's Atomic Action label was a tasty sampler for their following Crowning the Caged Kid. Heavy and hard. Harmonica player Lee Fortier's Danger Multitrack-produced Turn It Up (Fine As Wine) was a genuine trek through Willie Dixon, Ellington and Charlie Musselwhite, while Paul Geremia's Live from Uncle Sam's Backyard (Red House) was unstoppable. Geremia is the man. V Majestic's self-titled debut somehow meshed the talents of the diverse quintet into an amazing, provocative and extremely fun disc in May, and South County's Arson Family, who released La Cosa Nostra (Mobcore), raised the roof on their sharp debut. Jetpack's vinyl/comic book combo for Investigator Man was fantastic headed into summer, but the hot weather found Derick Prosper's (a.k.a. Mastermind) Brainchild single ("Waited All My Life" b/w "Hip-Hop Heads") fixed on the turntable til Master P knocked it loose later. (Props to my upstairs neighbors for year-round rap sharing with NAS, Biggie, lotsa Snoop, Mary J., Wu, Chuck D. and, thankfully, no Puff Daddy). DJs Lefty, Buck, Acme, and Hula Bomb kept toes moving whether you sought rap, hip-hop/jazz, R&B or rockabilly. Hats off to those four talented masters of the One and Two.

Acquired tastes: Lightning Bolt/Forcefield split single (Load) was a reason to celebrate, as was Organs vs. Furniture, the later release by John Ryan (aka John Von) on the same label. The Strand closed but . . . props to Ben for shakin' up the Safari Lounge, Bob for doing the same thing at One Up, and ditto the Ian/Draper duo at the Century Lounge.

Dave Howard

Newport native Laurie Gunning is half of Dogwood Moon, who released the cogent, relaxed Call to Infinity, and Dave Howard & the High Rollers checked in with the mighty Ride Past Midnight (Salad), one of the very best of the year. Rollers' drummer Mike LaBelle said, "Sometimes bands don't take into account where they're going versus where they've been. We all know where we've been and take everything we've done and put it into our music today, whether it be heavy metal or folk. It's there, but it's just scrambled eggs. We've gained rather than lost." Wisdom. Kevin Mack's Blackberry records single proved the scuffling, bedraggled bluesy champ of the year, and Brooklyn Steamer invoked the Jam on Rock & Roll Part Three, their debut. John Crawlin' Snake Mac's End O' Time Blues (Laughing Mountain) showed splashes of brilliance throughout the most enigmatic and knotty blues release of the year, and Black & White chipped in with their first CD featuring singer/guitarist Mark Wagner, the feisty Hepcat (C&D Records). Greg Abaté's Broken Dreams (Seaside) was another bebop-tinged winner, with Greg later philosophizing over lunch that "It's mechanical at first, and after you go through maybe 10, 15 years of being mechanical you start to get an idea of what it is to play jazz." On Empire Street, AS220 debuted their recording label with the release of the Smoking Jackets' Bammo!, which finds the original barrelhouse trio (piano/upright bass/snare) bolstered by a newish, zippy horn trio. Cold Zipper's Cat Next Door (Big Noise) stalked

Delta Clutch

big game in the vein of Mark Cutler, with nice darkling moments from guitarzan Jimmy Warren and singer Katia Cabral, and Delta Clutch checked in with Hard Luck Machine (Blackberry) before losing bassist Aaron Burr to New York. Nevertheless, Hard Luck Machine was probably the most accomplished rock album of the year: heartfelt, colorful and memorable with confident playingnsinging.

Breakout '97: The Amazing Royal Crowns. Blanket touring and awards, and still working in a new drummer. Tell me six years ago that a Flower Gang alum is torchin' the Centrum on New Year's Eve and I would have said, "Only one?" Ask their guitarist, the Colonel, how long he was a roadie. It isn't like they haven't paid dues.

Of course, there was much more. One thing, despite rumors to the contrary (and I've heard fascinating, stupid rumors): this columnist is not on the verge of retiring. Sorry (heh-heh-heh). And we haven't yet cemented our promised live reviews for the website (as spouted on March 6). The internet versus recorded music versus live music is another column at least. Opinions always welcome at mec484@aol.com. Use it.

Amoebic Ensemble

ONE FOR THE ROAD. Re: the Amoebic Ensemble's Amoebiasis (Stupeur & Trompette). Omigodvocals. Mmmm . . . not so good, but sporadic, so that's cool. The rest is excellent, and expectations of this band are very high given the talented composers within. Having always posited that their lineup is going to change (the Amoebic part), its no shock to hear that the rhythm section (Jonathan Thomas on percussion, Paige VanAntwerp on mostly drums) and trumpeter Shawn Wallace are no longer with the band. They do appear on Amoebiasis, and sound great, especially Wallace, whose progress in a very short time was huge.

Little hasn't been chucked in the path of this band in the past coupla years. Drug addiction and rehab, cancer and chemotherapyyou name it, they've survived to release another profound record. Steve Jobe, librettist for Jeanne d'Arc and mainstay of the Pan-Twilight Circus, is now busy writing a piece to accompany a modern dance, inspired by a painting of Hieronymus Bosch, and his "Ubu U" is perhaps the high point of Amoebiasis.

The band's presence at the avant-garde Festival MIMI drew raves from the French press (I've read the clips), which provided the impetus for the Stupeur & Trompette label, based in Marseille, to release Amoebiasis with assistance from the French Ministry of Culture. Those unfamiliar with them usually notice their instrumentation first: accordion (Alec Redfearn), violin (Laura Gulley), bouzouki/mandolin (Matt Everett), trad and kitchenware drums (VanAntwerp and Thomas), trumpet, and bassoon/vielle/guitars by Jobe, who has studied Medieval and Early Music extensively. Mesh Redfearn, with his fractured pop/rock background, then Gulley of the R.I. Philharmonic, then Thomas, whose avant-music pedigree includes the trio It, who debuted Amoebiasis' "Lelonia" and "Who's that Glamourpuss?" in New York.

The disc offers panoramic snapshots of several Euro-centric trad arrangements sent through a Cuisinart, especially in Redfearn's songs. Those of Jobe and Everett have an ebb and flow that's easier to follow, counterbalancing Redfearn's oft-chaotic musical ruminations. Unnerving as those puckish time changes can be, they also boast an ability to evoke strong imagery . . . of slow walks alongside strange foreign rivers, of the heartbreak of some unfortunates bad luck string hundreds of years ago or just last week. There are few touchstones with popular music in America, except to say that it remains at its core emotional, if a bit frantic at times. Imagine if Chekhov and Beckett had worked in an ad agency, using the art of Bosch, Matisse and Dali to construct a billboard to sell the services of a chimney sweep to an average Joe selling flowers on the Left Bank. Take that billboard and set it to songs played by talented risk-takers, make that music more accessible than it has any right to be, and you may begin to get the picture.

The Amoebic Ensemble CD release party is Saturday at the Century Lounge.