Sean Rowe

Get Back And now, the moment you (or at least some of you) have all been waiting for: announcing the lineup for Feedback 2008, Metroland’s annual Food Pantries Benefit and Local Music Bash. This year’s event, as previously announced, will take place on two stages at Valentine’s (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany) on Saturday, Jan. 19. On the upstairs stage, it’s business as usual, with live music from a host of Metroland favorites. Among the performers: our 2007 pick for Best New Solo Artist, Ashley Pond, who will perform with her newly assembled backing band; Scientific Maps, 2006’s Best Pop Band; 2007’s Best Male Vocalist Sean Rowe; Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, 2007’s Best Freak-Folk Band; and the return of Knotworking, who we picked for a bunch of stuff over the years, and who are still more local than not, lest you question our judgment. Additional acts have yet to be confirmed.

On the downstairs stage, we’re doing things a bit differently this year. Rather than pack in more bands, we’ve asked the fine folks from Troy-based collective (or network, or whatever they call it) Goodship to bring their AV-club extravaganza to downtown Albany. The Troy Dance Freak Out, as they’re calling it, will feature artists from the popular Troy Night out afterparties, including, but not limited to, JesseStiles3000, Back from Japan, skfl, and LMNOPF. Expect a mind-melding mix of live video and DJ sets, and lots of dancing. Check out www.goodship.net for more on what they do; keep your eyes on www.metroland.net for more on the show. And start stockpiling those canned goods now.

A Little Bit of Alright The British classic-rock publication known simply as Classic Rock recently published their picks for the 50 best albums of 2007, and lo and behold, in there at No. 30, right between the Chris Cornell solo disc Carry On (31) and Ted Nugent’s execrable Love Grenade (29), is 30 Seconds Over You, the latest from Albany rock stalwarts the Erotics. (For further perspective, they beat out Dream Theater and Coheed and Cambria, but came in behind Radiohead and Rush.) CR calls 30 Seconds “the filthiest, meanest sleaze metal this side of a hungover Motley Crue. For real.” Catch the Erotics in action on New Year’s Eve at Savannah’s in downtown Albany. To see what Metroland music writers picked for their own year-end lists, check out our Year in Review issue, which hits newsstands (and all of our other distribution outlets) on Jan. 3, 2008.

—John Brodeur

Let us know about local-music news and happenings for inclusion in Rough Mix: E-mail John Brodeur at jbrodeur@metro land.net or call (518) 463-2500 ext. 145.