The Music Scene

LIVEWIRE: Northampton music fest boasts 100 bands

By DONNIE MOORHOUSE

Union-News

Music writer

4/29/99

Promoters of this year's Northampton Music Festival call the city's live music scene its "ambrosia and soul."

They must have been talking about Hospital. Introducing their sophomore CD "16 Endings," the Western Massachusetts quintet will be one of more than 100 bands occupying 12 different venues during this second annual event which kicked off last night and runs through Sunday.

Hospital's sound is indeed the nectar of the gods and is rooted deep in the Valley's pop, folk and noise-rock traditions. Those influences, filtered through the songwriting of guitarists Mark Schwaber and Rusty, have produced an ambrosia-like sound for "16 Endings."

"I think it is more rock-friendly," Schwaber said of the disc. "There is more instrumentation than our first recording (a self-titled disc released in 1996), and there are more upbeat rock songs."

It is not by accident that the recording is entrenched in lo-fi elements of bands like Sebadoh. Hospital's cellist Abby Barlow is the sister of Sebadoh's Lou Barlow. Several band members either have lived, or do live in Westfield, generally considered a breeding ground for lo-fi sounds.

But there are other pieces to this puzzle, such as the jangly-rock of "Never Surprised," the conversational, singer-songwriter stylings of "Passive Punchline," and the almost-noise rock of "Addict." The song "Punk Rock Sweater" has qualities associated with great angst-rock anthems.

It may be rock-friendly, but simply calling it rock falls short of a decent description.

"We are definitely getting a bigger buzz than last time around," said Schwaber, who presides over Hospital along with Barlow, Rusty, bassist Paul Kochanski, and drummer J.J. O'Connell. "We have made some great connections, but I don't want to jinx them. There is nothing to write home about ... yet."

Hospital will play the Bay State Hotel in Northampton tonight at 10 p.m. as part of the ongoing Northampton Music Festival.

-- Donnie Moorhouse