Boston Scene Magazine

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KATE KLIM & ERIC HUTCHINSON - SHOW REVIEW The Paradise Lounge 6/6/07 Review by: TL FontanillaTen dollars was a small price to pay for an evening with Kate Klim and Eric Hutchinson. Former WERS artist of the week and Toad regular, Klim held her own in a sea of after work drinkers, confined booty shakers, and Hutch-heads. At the beginning of her set, Klim gave a breakdown of her songs, including instructions of when to drink and the assurance that once she played one of her downer songs, she’d follow it up with a funny one. Her ability to hush the crowd with her skills on the piano and her melodic voice was quite impressive. But don’t let her sweet face or small frame fool you. Klim was quick to inform that broken relationships fuel her and her cover of The Little Mermaid’s “A Part of this World” shows just that. Her version tells the story of a woman scorned and takes shots at the nether regions (among other things) of an ex and the mustached woman that stole him away. Yet another reason not to mess with musicians.Eric Hutchinson can be commended on his comedic stylings as much as his musical ones. During his set, he took time from a mix of songs from his previous album, Before I Sold Out and his new album Sounds Like (a play on MySpace perhaps), to dissect Justin Timberlake's affinity for the same topic in each one of his songs (cleverly using the same beat and a thesaurus). You know those lyrics that you magically know because of that 4th grade poetry class where you had to list all the words that rhymed with bad? Many radio darlings teeter on the line between being natural and being predictable but Hutchinson isn’t like that. Songs like, “Food Chain” and “Ok It’s Alright With Me” get stuck in your head because they’re actually good and well thought out. Three fourths into the show, Eric informs the audience that after a past encore gone awry, he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving stage completely. Hutchinson stood off to the side with his bass player while the crowd laughed and cheered for him to start playing again. Ending the show with a remix of “My Girl” and “Ignition (Remix)”, I felt almost changed. Maybe it should have been called the Klim Hutchinson Experience.

MAX G AND THE SPOTS - CD REVIEW Bright Shiny New Apartment Release Date: 4/15/07 Review by TL FontanillaLocal Somerville band Max G and the Spots’ debut album Bright Shiny New Apartment is a worthy first effort. Frontman Max Glantzman had been a solo artist before getting together with his Spots to form what he’s dubbed “a supergroup of sorts” combining the talent of seasoned musicians Steve Breman, Mark Lipman, Shaun Leonard, and Lance Vallis. The record also features saxophone player Dana Colley and backup vocals by Christian McNeill (who also produced the album). In a sea of bands that are being praised these days for merely being able to find the G chord (no puns intended), Max G and the Spots rise above and are definitely a band to watch for. The songs on the album, described by Max on the inside cover, seem to be love letters to Boston from his early 20s. The tunes are catchy and have MySpace byline worthy lines like “I’m getting older there’s no denying it and yet I sure as hell am not getting less confused” which comes from the song “Hope”. After one listen, you’ll feel the need to play “The Rent Song” at the first of every month and start conversations by talking about “Existentialism and Hot Naked Fun”. Bright Shiny New Apartment, will have you humming bass lines for days (in my case, weeks) and hoping for a bright, shiny, new future for Max G and the Spots.

Julian Velard, The Damnwells, and Ari Hest - SHOW REVIEW The Middle East (downstairs) 6/1/07 Review by TL FontanillaMost people know that opening acts on nights when the Red Sox are in town, are supposed to play a background role to the game and not pose any type of distraction. Witty banter and killer songs are to be saved for commercial breaks. I don’t think the memo was passed along to Julian Velard and his band. Lucky for him, the crowd could recognize good music when they heard it. Guys with dreadlocks and others with popped collars danced to Velard’s unique lryrics while their ladies swooned. Slower sweet songs like “A Dream” and upbeat tunes like “Joni” kept the crowd entertained and marveling at Velard’s keyboard skills. People walking in seemed to be in a state of confusion. Should the first opener be this good?As The Damnwells took the stage, the crowd seemed to thicken. Damnwells frontman Alex Dezen seemed to plow through the set song after song with little banter in between, just as the crowd had gotten used to Velard’s comedic side routine. The sound quality while they were on stage was less than desirable, but that didn’t matter to the crowd that was singing along. A Sox fan next to me (wearing an Alex Rodriguez lady mask) raised his glass to them and explained to me the similiarities between The Damnwells and Live. I’ll take it.Then like a delicious musical night cap, Ari Hest played for those unafraid of missing the T. And of course those there for the music. He and his band started straight off by playing several songs from his new album, The Break-In. And if his raspy vocals weren’t enough to win the crowd over, he even invited a woman from the audience to sing with him to the sweet ballad “I’ve Got You”. Dropping in some covers, like Bruce Springstein’s “I’m on Fire”, Hest and his band rocked until after 1am.

SYD - CD REVIEW The Way We Found It Released: April 2007 Review by TL FontanillaIt looks as though Syd did a lot of growing between his 2004 album Fault Lines and his new album The Way We Found It. Three years seems to be the perfect formula to success in a time when other musicians are popping out albums every six months. In blogs, Syd comments that he feels like he’s telling the truth on this album and I have to agree that he has found his stride as a singer-songwriter. “On a Friday”, an electric spin off his “old style”, is a radio hit waiting to happen. Other songs like “All Time High”, “Far Away”, and “You Said” pull off a weathered feel without sounding forced. Coupled with other tracks like “Lady” which will make you dance around your room and “Still Life” a different take on the standard pop song, Syd shows he’s not down and out. Ending with the elevated ballad, “It Was You”, he gives the girls a new song to sing themselves to sleep. Me, Syd? Was it me you felt like talking to?