Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews: Wait, “Higher and Dry” and Tuesday Morning Wrestling, “Cuts a Promo” (Bangor)

Wait, a five-piece post-rock band based in Bangor, has done very little of what the name of their band suggests. The band, comprised of Travis Davis, Mathias Hillborn, Chris Mathews, Justin Kovacs and Dan Dawson, has only been together for about a year, and just this past spring recorded “Higher & Dry,” their debut album, on their own, and released it […]

Review: Kafari, “Knockturnes” and Micromasse, “Anthropocene” (Jazz, Portland)

Calling either Kafari’s “Knockturnes” or Micromasse’s “Anthropocene,” two new albums from a Portland solo artist and a Portland trio, respectively, by the simple genre name “jazz” is a bit misleading. Yes, they are both “jazz,” in the sense that jazz in the larger sense is encoded in both albums’ DNA and foundational to their existence. […]

Review: The Fogcutters, “Flotsam” (Portland, big band/soul)

I’m a sucker for good arrangements. Well-placed strings or a clever combination of instruments other than the standard guitar-bass-drums can elevate what might otherwise be a mediocre song into something spectacular. Which, of course, is why I’m thrilled by The Fogcutters new album, “Flotsam,” a collection of all-original songs from the Portland-based 19-piece contemporary big […]