Month: June 2006

Some NEARfest final thoughts

You could write a book on the 8th Annual NEARfest, but I’ll just give you a few words. Chad Hutchinson and company run a first class operation in a perfect venue catering to fans who are there for one thing, the music. Rarely will an artist find a more rapt and attentive audience, ready for…

NEARfest Day 2-Ozric, FM, and more

The second day of NEARfest 2006 was nearly perfect, beginning and ending with two utterly different bands trafficking in radically different brands of virtuosity. KBB is a relatively young Japanese quartet who crafted a melodic brand of Pontyesque fusion. Their set was a kinetic ride from beginning to end, driven by a synchronized rhythm section…

Michael Brook Returns

Well, he never left. Although it’s been 14 years since he’s put out a proper album, Cobalt Blue, he’s been recording up a storm, producing and performing with people like the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Djivan Gasparyan, Hans Zimmmer and a host of others. But finally Brook has a new album of his own,…

Lanterna Layers Ambient Guitar

Today on Echoes, we’ll be hearing Lanterna playing live (Tomorrow for Philly listeners on WXPN). Lanterna is essentially one guy, Henry Frayne and he’s been around for about two decades, playing in Cocteau Twins influenced groups like The Moon Seven Times and Area out of the midwest. Henry has a new CD called Desert Ocean.…

Mysteria and Digital Samsara-Sample Aesthetics

There are no special features on Echoes tonight, but listen for two interesting new CDs operating towards opposite ends of electronica. One is Tempting the Muse by Mysteria. Mysteria is a studio project headed up by Mark Allison who has also records as Phobos and The Spirit Level. Mark makes a slick brand of electronica,…

An Assault of Guitarists

Who says you need banks of effects, racks of synthesizers or the complexities of a laptop computer to make incredible music. Certainly not the wave of guitarists who’ll be pouring through the Echoes Living Room in the next two weeks. These are musicians who create symphonies on 6 strings. On June 16, Tommy Emmanuel comes…