Charles, Barnacled's new full-length, and first outing for ESP-Disk', is a rollicking, propulsive offering featuring the band in some of its most intricate formations. This deftly arranged record follows Barnacled as it tightens itself into high corners, only to purposely fall down, find new ground, and pick itself back up again. This work is highly playful, even at its most intense—and it does get intense, with saxophone battles surging over electronics and highly distorted accordion fire offerings. Then all of a sudden the sound drops out, save for a plaintive lone bassoon call, or static from a short-wave radio that sounds soothing by comparison. Intertwining rhythms and melody lines then revolve around a pulse that creates a new frame of reference while also complicating it. This music invites deep listening, and rewards the curious. Often it is simply mesmerizing—essentially what adventurous minds have come to expect from the legendary ESP-Disk' oeuvre.
Featured Artists:

Frank Difficult: electronics/keyboard
Michael Jeffries: bass/baritone saxophone/modified Speak & Spell
Jason McGill: alto saxophone/percussion/shortwave radio
Matt McLaren: drums/percussion
Alec K. Redfearn: accordion
Ann Schattle: horn in F
Erica Schattle: bassoon

http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3707

If you're not familiar with Alec K. Redfearn and his Eyesores ensemble by now, you should be. Since 2004, the Providence accordionist has treated audiences to a new full-length each year, ever-expanding his band, their sound, and the brooding arrangements that they create. Fresh for 2007 is The Blind Spot, a record more intimate, demented and heart-breaking than any of their past releases, mainly due to a greater emphasis on songwriting and harmonic tug-of-war, rather than the punk-infused technical romps exhibited on their past five full-lengths. Taking center-stage is Redfearn's eight-part song-cycle, "I Am the Resurrection and the Light" – a work dedicated to loved ones lost to drug overdose, written with a close-to-home account of personal addiction and bewildered imagery. Not the most uplifting of topics, sure, but the group's work here is gorgeous, weaving a host of horns, strings, percussion, voices and electronics into rich compositions that possess an eerie innocence in the face of impending doom.

It's interesting to see the ensemble gravitate further toward an altogether gentler sound, veering away from the frantic instrumentals practiced since the group's inception and focusing on a more contemplative and concentrated brand of Balkan-rooted opera. Redfearn's involvement with Providence theater glows in the progression of the album, taking the listener through a snaking play of tormented characters, constantly searching for a glimpse of mercy through the dissonant opposition. Disoriented by the multi-tracked mouth harp and mounting buzz from distorted keys, it's hard not to get lost in the group's bizarre little stage play that constantly takes turns toward heroin-laced soundscapes, emanating unsettling groans of bad choices and a sack of regrets.

Though the first three tracks stand somewhat separately from the song-cycle, they still fit the mood. "Queen of the Wires" introduces the album with a tale of Bettina, an ill-fated mistress who meets an untimely demise after long teetering on a proverbial tight-rope. She could be the disheveled-looking girl on the album's cover, with her "cold vacant stare" violently giving way to a ghostly swan – a representation of the beauty that the album strives toward in the face of hopeless reality. The emphasis on songwriting is probably the most impressive improvement here, evolving from the snarky, religious-oriented lyrics of old and delving into developed abstractions that place the vocals at the forefront. The rising voices sing through the violin's whines, breathing in the accordion's keys and melting all the elements together in a mind-numbing hum of churning electronics. Both Redfearn and longtime collaborator Frank Difficult are credited with the loops and incorporated noises within, adding an ominous depth to the chorus of acoustic instruments and overtaking the sound much more than previously allowed – an evolution that complements the album well.

"I Am the Resurrection and the Light" begins with "Blue and White," carrying a melody that glimmers with the possibility of hope, but dangles nervously on Bettina's high-wire with an underlying uneasiness. Things get a bit more intense from there, diving into gypsy rhythms and working through downtempo dirges of interwoven musical influences. The melodies resonate beautifully, but more often than not they soon grow into a pulsing drone of voices lost in a whirlwind of sound, brought on by wayward electronics that sear the pieces together at the ends. A much stronger female presence often takes hold of the songs, with the layered vocals of Laura Gulley, Ellen Santaniello, and Fern Knight's Margie Wienk harping beautifully in contrast to the dark instrumentation. Though a bit cheesy on the surface, the vocals soon give way to an involving pool of multi-tracked mayhem that comes on slow but dances as frenetically as the distorted accordion instrumentals did on Eyesores' albums past.

Tarnished by wayward souls and an inevitable fall from grace, The Blind Spot creates a world filled with flesh-eating monsters that lurk at the edges. But the angels are there, too, floating in every now and then, just to show that they do exist. It seems that the demons win out though, overtaking the album's closer, "Blue and White (reprise)," with a cascade of radiator hums and nightmare furnace growls. But just before the album ends, the morbid drone of Steve Jobe's self-built hurdy-gurdy is cut short by a flicker of rising strings – a brief glimmer of merciful possibility just out the eye's reach.

By Cole Goins

Anyone who hung around AS220 in the early 90s probably remembers this guy. He was a hell of a piper and a hell of a guy. Pour some single malt on the sidewalk for Mr. Eric M. Armour...

ARMOUR, ERIC M., 34, passed away Sunday after a courageous battle with long term effects of childhood cancer. He was the husband of Simone Feaster-Armour.

A lifelong resident of Pawtucket. He was the son of Everett M. and Judith A. (Bryson) Armour of Pawtucket.

Eric received a B.S. and an M.E.D. from RI College and at the time of his passing, he was a doctoral candidate at Pepperdine University in the EDOC Program. Eric was chosen to represent Pepperdine at the AOM world conference in Honolulu, Hawaii in August 2005. Eric was well known as a bagpiper. He began his exploration of music at the Gaelic College in Nova Scotia and went on to study at the College of Pipping in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1990, Eric was ranked #1 in his grade in North America by the EUSPBA. Eric worked with Roger Williams University from 1997-2003 to create the RWU Pipes and Drums and he was thrilled to be their Pipe Major. Eric cherished all of his performances and sought every opportunity to share his love of the pipes with students and friends.

For the past 14 years, Eric has been employed by the North Smithfield School Dept. as a Social Studies Teacher. Eric loved the Red Sox, Maine, bad jokes, great food and traveling the world in search of new adventures. Eric was always grateful for the childhood care that he received from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. As an adult; he served as a resource in many ways, including research and as the bagpiper for the Pan-Mass Challenge. He was a member of the Pawtuxet Athletic Club and National Educators Association.

He is also survived by two sisters Sheila J. Lee of MA and Cynthia A. Coyne and her husband Gerald of Barrington, uncle of Katie, Patrick, Ian and Meghan Coyne, son-in-law of Brigitte Feaster of N.P., brother-in-law of Michel Feaster of San Francisco, CA.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at St. Leo the Great Church, 723 Central Ave., Pawtucket. Calling Hours Wednesday 4-8 p.m. at the Jones-Walton-Sheridan Funeral Home, 1895 Broad St. at Park Ave., Cranston. Burial will be at Riverside Cemetery in Pawtucket. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St., MA 02115