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Music

4752 Festival Coming To New Bedford On October 19!

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A one-day Gonerfest of the North is coming to New Bedford on Saturday, October 19. 4752 Festival. Located about an hour drive south from Boston and 40 minutes south east of Providence, New Bedford has long been the home of a bevy of underground and eclectic (dare I say outsider) artists and bands. Remember the old Traphaus scene?

Devin from the great no-nonsense post-wave NB outfit Picniclunch has organized this doozy of a festival and here’s how it works: 13 musical acts perform in 6 venues. All the venues are within less than a mile so from 3:30 PM to 1 AM you can hop around, get some exercise, a bite to eat, maybe a libation or two, and see a lot of weird performances. More information forthcoming, but mark your damn calendars and get excited for what we do know:

Schedule:
Circa Vintage Wear – 204 Court Street
3:30 – Moist Boy (NB)
4:15 – Scare City (Worcester)

Alison Wells Gallery – 106 William Street
4:45 – Silent Fields
5:25 – Tal Vez (Western, Ma)
6:00 – Carl Simmons (NB)

Destination Soups – 149 Union Street
6:30 – Heavy Gaze (Vermont)
7:10 – Johnnie and the Foodmasters (Boston, Ma)

Solstice Skateboarding – 801 Purchase Street
7:45 – Baylies Band (NB)
8:30 – Hill Haints (Albany,NY)

Paradise McFee Gallery – 104 William Street
9:10 – Picniclunch (NB)
9:50 – Leap The Dips 

No Problemo – 813 Purchase Street
10:30 – Bunnies (Western, Ma)
11:15 – Lazertuth (NB)

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Classic CD Review: Greatest Hits

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Band: Wesley Willis
Year: Various
Label: Alternative Tentacles

Comments: Wesley Willis was (death, 2003) a joke. The man himself was not a joke…in fact, he was a paranoid schizophrenic who consistently had to deal with the “Warhellride,” or demonic encounters. He was a great story teller, as evidenced in many of the songs in this collection. Wesley was a master at combining vivid descriptions with catchy (but, very monotonous)  outsider pop riffs and phrases. Go to his Wikipedia page and there you find how his songs are structured. This is precisely what makes Wesley’s music a joke. He built a career out of ranting over music. You don’t get a lot of that from musicians today and that’s why people will always react to his music in a wtf kind of manner. Whereas critics say fellow outsider Daniel Johnston’s music ranges from “spotty to brilliant,” Willis doesn’t fit on a paradigm that’s worth evaluating. How do you judge a man who can’t be judged? The demons got to him and got to him damn well at that. If I absolutely absolutely absolutely had to slap a grade range on his Greatest Hits, I’d probably dish out between a C+ and a B. It’s music for a good laugh now and then…not the kind that’s constantly on repeat. Rest in peace, Wes.