Carroll-Rhodes-Testa-Dragan w/ Hissquiet and The // Moon 7/25/25 Neverending Books

 The // Moon is a solo computer DJ project. A young man in a baseball hat sidles up to the card table. His rig is an effects box and MacBook. He produces dreamy beats flecked with sampled vocal snippets. The backdrop was an impressionistic video projection controlled by a young techie. I could watch him slide from icon to icon producing hypnotic visuals on the lo-fi bookstore projection screen, okay it is a white sheet tacked to the window frame. Some vocal samples sounded like library spoken word, but he leaned heavily on what sounded like a voicemail from his grandma stating that she “may have hit her head, so her memory isn’t great, but she would never forget your birthday”. This series usually leans on noise and experimental offerings, The//Moon owed more to DJ Shadow than Xenakis and the music was thoroughly enjoyable.

hissquiet is another solo project from the artist Ash Farrand. They/them are a sound engineer, web developer, and graphic designer who hits the card table with a circuit box and a crockpot. It wasn’t really a crockpot, but a large steel lobster pot. They started their set with an iPad depicting some young Latino kids singing in their native tongue. They dunked the iPad into the pot to give off a weird echoey effect. The circuit box had a tangle of patch cords that were manipulated in conjunction with the pot. Metal objects, a macrame widget were swished around the pot to ethereal effects. Their partner and a small Korgi sat lovingly in front of the card table until a loud apparently unplanned screech forced them out of the store. The music is self-described as dark ambient.

The headlining troupe was Anne Rhodes on voice and computer, Carl Testa on standup bass, Jeff Dragan on computer/ effects, and Marie Carroll on koto. Rhodes is a local avant scenester who I have seen at the Firehouse with NHIC and gargling with local accordionist Adam Matlock at the State House. She takes her place on the elevated stage as a kind of ASMR master of ceremonies. Her treated giggling and whispering made for excellent percussion. Testa is a regional pro who anchored the group on bass. He tapped the bass body in addition to plucking and bowing. Jeff Dragan runs this series at the bookstore and goes by the name FiFacs House.  Meant to give Jeff a recurring gig, FH has given spotlight to local outsider musicians who aren’t easily pigeonholed. Carroll has no pigeonhole. Her instrument is an 8’  Japanese koto. The instrument looked like a stringed diving board with a sigmoid spine of bridges to give the strings multiple sounds. The koto was 2.5 times the size of Carroll, with no obvious helper, I am amazed at how she must transport the thing.  I quipped to my seat mates “that’s no koto, that’s a Komodo koto”, my joke fell flat. A set of free improv with a truly unique set of instruments made for a compelling listen.

Beck with the Westville Philharmonic 7/15/25 Westville Music Bowl

 A career that could have easily rode into the sunset on the proceeds of the rap slacker anthem “Loser”, has thankfully pinged through a myriad of styles, collaborations, and years to grace us with mononomic Beck. Over 30 years, I  have had the pleasure to view his live shows. Be it the seminal punk rap mashup of the Odelay record at Lollopalooza 2, the cheesy Kmartfunk of the Midnite Vultures record at Massmoca, and now the” wouldn’t it be cool to get an orchestra” to flesh out the Sea Change and Morning Phase records at the Bowl. A 60 piece orchestra allowed for lush arrangements of the ballad heavy recordings. Beck, still the nerdy waif of his 20s, fronts the troupe with an acoustic and a snarky sense of humor. He regales us with stories of stupidly turning down stints with the lucrative Shrek soundtracks and the ominous career twilight use of an orchestra. The setlist didn’t disappoint: Cycle, The Golden Age, Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime (Korgis, cover),  Lonesome Tears, Wave, Tropicalia, Blue Moon, Lost Cause,  The New Pollution, Missing, Tarantula (Colourbox cover dedicated to the tennis goths),  It’s Raining Today and Montague Terrace ( both Scott Walker tunes),  Round The Bend, Paper Tiger, We Live Again, Waking Light, and concluded the orchestra set with Where Its At. He does a lengthy encore with just band, the bluesy harmonica One Foot in the Grave, Devils Haircut, Mixed Business, and closed with the anthemic Loser.  The nosebleed seats were the perfect place to view on this steamy evening. The arrangements, assisted by Beck’s father, were expertly delivered by the orchestra. Strings, brass, percussion added a dimension to the catalog usually reserved for headphones. As the orchestra leaves the stage, the ever kooky Beck waves “bye bye trombones”, tries to pick up a gaggle of flautists “ where’re you guys going now?” and goofs at the percussionists “this dude left his phone on the smoke machine”. A true musical chameleon, he didn’t even touch my personal fave Guero. Many artists kneel at the altar of cult 60s crooner Scott Walker and Beck used the orchestra to scratch that itch. Very happy this artist did not stop at the unwitting success of Loser.

Blink 7/12/25 Neverending Books

Chance googling and an interesting bio  for Blink leader Jorrit Dijkstra led me to the bookstore. The abysmal website indicated this show was to happen sometime between 6 and 10. Arriving at 8ish, I thought to catch the tail end of the set. I caught the very tale end, like the last tune. If there are any concert promoters reading, please describe the event accurately. In this instance, doors at 6, show at 7, and if you arrive at 830, you almost miss. The event listing should not be driven by spreadsheet geometry. Dijkstra is a sax player who was joined in the tiny bookstore space by two guitarists, electric bass, and drums. A friend mentioned a distinct Ornette vibe, which was evident for my brief viewing. Jorrit, from Amsterdam, has retained the European jazz sound from his youth. Now an Associate Professor at Berklee in Boston, Jorrit has many avenues to explore and improvise. His recent projects include a quartet Bolt, The Porch Trio, and the large ensemble Bathysphere in Boston. He helms a group called The Whammies who celebrate the music of soprano legend Steve Lacy. After the show, Jorrit explained his desire to command a guitar-centric group. Berklee is a melting pot of musical ideas, and it seems Jorrit is happy to tap in to the multi-faceted scene.

PAKT w/ Head With Wings 7/8/25 Spaceland

 Head With Wings are local progsters who jumped at the chance to open this show. A quintet with lead guitar, rhythm guitar, five string bass, drums, and singer. These guys are available whenever a top tier outfit sails through the area. They look to be in their 30s, so the prog had a touch of grunge mixed in. Lead guitar gave some nifty slide work and the 5 string bass added nice color. The singer was a character, engaging with the obligatory prog heckler. He had a normal singing voice that often elevated to a higher register, I mean a kick in the balls octave jump. He also switched gears into a creepy horror movie squelch. The lyrics followed the cosmic prog vibe, I mean mountains come out of the sky and were supposed to believe they, what, just stand there?

PAKT are an instrumental supergroup led by fretless bass phenom Percy Jones, Alex Skolnick on guitar, Kenny Grohowski on drums and electronics, and Tim Motzer on guitar and electronics. Jones played on some of the seminal Eno recordings and helmed the group Brand X. The fretless bass is a wonder to view allowing for rubbery runs. Jones hands were so large, they were necessary for his sound. Skolnick was mentored by Joe Satriani and did time in the progmetal band Testament. Grohowski had the Crimson mammoth kit and was in constant motion. Motzer played multiple guitars and moved his sound through an effects box that could bend the sound in many ways. The other members thanked Motzer for wrangling this tour. The music was all improvised but had an effortless feel in the hands of these pros.