Watching the Ghanaian-born drummer Paa Kow (pron PAH-Koh) perform with his Afro-Fusion Orchestra last Thursday evening, 7 October, at the Redstone Room in Davenport, one wondered briefly if he functions on pure enthusiasm. His fellow-musicians were alert to every key- and tempo-change, and Paa Kow often surprised his audience by leading them down different melodic paths when a song seemed instead to signal its conclusion.

A. Riggen, half of Quad Cities doom metal duo Murnau, has released Sugarcane, an album of indie-rock/dream-pop compositions under the moniker Wilhelm. Though the yearning, reverb-heavy vocal style he employs in Murnau remains intact here, his arrangements in the context of this project have shifted to the world of a more conventional “rock” band built around more relatively straightforward piano, guitar, bass, and organ lines.

Horseburner

If you have any energy left after the Halloween weekend, head over to the Rock Island Brewing Company for an early show on Sunday night. Wake Brewing and LoPiez Pizza are sponsoring the show, which will paint the brick walls of RIBCO with three distinct shades of heavy.

Buzz Osbourne of Melvins @ RIBCO 2013 photo by Matt Erickson

After thirty years in the game, one might imagine Melvins would slow down, burn out, or fade away. Having pioneered the grunge rock and sludge metal styles of the early nineties, and inspiring a wide-eyed young Kurt Cobain and his contemporaries to follow in their footsteps, the Washington-based trio (sometimes quartet) led by guitarist/singer Buzz Osbourne and drummer Dale Crover still show no signs of fatigue in 2017.

Ellen Kempner of Palehound on: NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert in April 2016

While Palehound frontperson Ellen Kempner started the project in 2013 as an outlet for her diaristic solo songwriting, the band has since expanded to a proper rock trio that packs a punch to match her emotionally devastating lyrics.

Nova Singers invites you to slow down, take a break from the holiday pressure, and listen to our beautiful singing. Let us give you some precious moments of serenity and beauty in this fast-paced world.

Tickets will be available at the door. Admission is $18 for adults and $15 for seniors. Students are admitted free of charge.  Discounted 3-concert Season tickets are still available for purchase at the door: $45 for adults and $35 for seniors.  For information about tickets, recordings, or other Nova Singers' events visit our website at www.novasingers.com!

A Nova Christmas is sponsored by The Register-Mail.  Nova Singers' 2015-2016 season is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Galesburg.

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Magna Carta Records has just released a snarling six-string shredfest specially designed for metalheads in need of a blazing beat-down. Guitars That Ate My Brain is a dozen ax-grinding instrumentals that signify the state of the metal arts with a devil-horns salute. The who's who of squeal merchants include Guns N' Roses' Bumblefoot, Testament's James Murphy, Daath's Eyal Levi and Emil Werstler, Korn's Shane Gibson, and Strapping Young Lad's Devin Townsend.

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The Flight of the Conchords should look over their shoulders, as the comedy-music department gets some stiff competition next week from Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg and staff writers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, calling themselves The Lonely Island. Their new CD, Incredibad on the Universal Republic imprint, features the smash Saturday Night Live hits "Lazy Sunday" and "Jizz in My Pants," plus new songs with guests Jack Black, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, T-Pain, E-40, and Norah Jones. The cover spoofs the film E.T., and the CD adds a bonus DVD with eight of the group's videos, including the new singles "Just 2 Guys" and "We Like Sportz," and the YouTube sensation "Dick in a Box" with Justin Timberlake.

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Willie Nelson is "on the road again," spending next month touring the East Coast with Asleep at the Wheel and their new album of western swing. Austin's own Bismeaux Records releases Willie & the Wheel this coming Tuesday, an album that the late producer Jerry Wexler had been imagining for 30 years, now fully realized with his hand-picked song list. One selection, the 1927 instrumental favorite "South," features guests Vince Gill and Paul Shaffer. A deluxe edition is also available, with bonus postcards and stamps tucked in the digipack CD and vinyl LP.

Dark Was the NightA new collection in the "Red Hot" series benefiting AIDS research is due next month. Dark Was the Night promises two CDs curated and compiled by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, who contribute their own "So Far Around the Bend" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Was Young When I Left Home." Like previous Red Hot releases, the lineup is topnotch with notables Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, Cat Power, Iron & Wine, the Kronos Quartet, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. A number of intriguing collaborations highlight the set, including Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch, Dirty Projectors and David Byrne, the Books and Jose Gonzalez, Blonde Redhead and Devestations, and Feist with Ben Gibbard.

 

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