Freak Scene #13: bobbie Beams Into Your Subsconcious
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, bobbie brings us an immersive album experience with Rhododendron, and there’s a ton of stuff to do in Northampton in May as part of the second MICAfest.
“Dream-like” barely begins to describe Rhododendron, the first album from Northampton musician bobbie. Listening to the layered musical textures and bobbie’s murmured vocals is more akin to beaming directly into their subconscious. Or maybe bobbie is beaming into yours.
Either way, Rhododendron exists on the threshold between awareness and oblivion. These nine tracks find a balance between the dull ache of remembrance and the blissful nescience of letting it all go. Nothing here seems fully real, or even rooted to one spot, which is largely because the music floats and shifts: silvery chimes of Omnichord arpeggios fade into dark, lustrous guitar chords wrapped in a thick cover of reverb.
Though bobbie’s vocals are buried in the mix, there is nothing diffident about their lyrics. They draw on memories and dreams, which are a recurring theme on the album. So is underwater imagery, including mentions of having fins (on the melancholy “When I Knew”) and, later, wanting to not have them, on “I’m Trying.” The latter song is perhaps the most straightforward on the album, with bobbie playing guitar and singing backed by drums and bass from Rick Spataro.
Most of the tracks on Rhododendron aren’t as distinctly drawn. There’s poetic abstraction on “Picture Liar,” where a tick-tick beat runs beneath a blend of guitar and Omnichord as bobbie breaths out lyrics that build gently into a cascading chorus. The next track, “That Feeling,” finds bobbie returning to the first line — “Oh how do I describe it?” — and repeating it for much of the second half of the song, their voice refracting in prismatic beams. Elsewhere, “Hold My Own” is more direct as bobbie recounts a dream, their voice rising and falling over guitar parts at once subtle and distorted.
If you let it — and you should — Rhododendron becomes immersive (so does “Spiral,” a single bobbie released in December). The album can sound unassuming and sometimes even ethereal on the surface, but it’s a deeply self-assured effort from a musician with a sound that is at once enigmatic and compelling.
MICAfest: M/others of Invention
MICAfest Art for Change: The M/others’ View returns for the second year to venues around Northampton throughout May. Though there’s music, MICAfest is a multi-disciplinary event that also includes visual art, literature, theater and dance.
Lyza Fennell founded MICA (M/others Institute for Collaboration and Art) in 2022 to battle gender stereotypes in the arts and provide a platform for “m/other” artists to showcase their work. “M/other,” Fennell says, is an inclusive term. The festival, which runs from May 1-31, “is about making a statement, amplifying silenced voices and creating a more just and inclusive arts landscape. At a time when women and the LGTBQ community are having their rights stripped in this country, I'm determined more than ever to bring these stories to light.”
The full schedule is here, along with ticket information. Musical events begin Saturday, May 4, with Verses & Vibes Poetry and Music Night at Anchor House of Artists, 518 Pleasant St., Northampton. Arts Night Out on May 10 includes live music from Elena Ciampa, a jazz musician working toward a Master’s at the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford. She’ll be at the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley St. May 12 brings the MICA Mother’s Day Artist Bash: Poetry, Jazz and Mingling at Northampton Center for the Arts, with a performance from Lark Jazz Trio. On May 17, Anchor House hosts Mom-ologues Unfiltered: Stories, Poetry and Music Jam. The closing ceremony, May 31 at Northampton Center for the Arts, also features live music from Christa Joy & the Honeybees, who performed their song “Kindest Devil” at the Parlor Room in Northampton in February:
River Roads Returns
The River Roads Music Festival, which doubles as a “source to sea cleanup,” returns Sept. 7 to Millside Park in Easthampton. Festival creator Dar Williams headlines once again, at the top of a lineup that also includes Paula Cole, Hayley Heynderickx, Sunny War, Cheryl Wheeler, Jill Sobule, Gail Ann Dorsey and local duo High Tea (more on them next week). Tickets are available here.
This Weekend
On Friday (that’s tonight!), it’s an evening of jazz, R&B and fusion when MANUKA, Avery Joi, Michael Carabello, Dakota Gill and Jahian Steps play Bishop’s Lounge in Northampton; there’s a $5 cover and music starts at 10 p.m. Saturday, Fantastic Shows presents Grasshopper Green, Graveyard of the Atlantic and Amulette at JJ’s Tavern in Florence. Because it’s May 4, Star Wars will be projected as the bands play. It’s $10 to get in, music starts at 7:30 p.m.
Next week: We haven’t forgotten about Original Cowards’ 2023 release Country Club Creeps, plus some recent singles.
To submit your music for coverage consideration, send a note to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first. You can find previous issues of Freak Scene in the archive. (Freak Scene is free, but donations are gratefully accepted, and have no bearing on coverage.)