Spencer Albee

Latest Articles

Lighting up again

The Wax Tablet
The HOUSE OF FIRE may have gone up in smoke, but JACOB AUGUSTINE has emerged unscathed.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | August 03, 2011

Dean Ford is Deaf. Dumb. In Love.

Say, say, say
Dean Ford renews, this week, his membership in the cult of pop with the release of Deaf. Dumb. In Love. , a six-song EP filled with love songs and general guy-girl drama in the classic poodle skirt tradition.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 09, 2011

The digital delight of Space versus Speed

Out of this world
Since 2000, we've had the Popsicko, Rocktopus, As Fast As (three albums), Spencer and the School Spirit Mafia, and now Space versus Speed. All with Spencer Albee as principal songwriter and frontman. Seven full-length records.
By SAM PFEIFLE | January 27, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Bubblegum pop, legendary sax, and a taste of Trails

Sibilance
Though they didn't win the ROCK-OFF this year, pop band FYVE did turn more than a few heads, with a bubblegum pop sound bolstered by twin-sister harmonies.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | August 18, 2010

Maine Songwriters Association ramps up, Pat Colwell's record, and more

Sibilance
The MAINE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION are trying to ramp up their happenings a little.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | July 21, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Home and away

Zach Jones's diasporic Fading Flowers
For many songwriters, home is where the art is.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 17, 2010

Holy rollers

Ten pounds of rock in a six-song Boo Box
This record grabs you by the throat from measure one.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 10, 2010

We heart these people

Meet Portland's most influential
We all know Portland is a busy, exciting place to live. It takes a lot of people's amazing energy to keep it going, though. Who's doing the moving and the shaking?
By JEFF INGLIS | February 10, 2010

Days of the New

The orchestral stylings of Rustic Overtones 2.0
When drummer Tony McNaboe delivered the burned copy of Rustic Overtones’ new full-length album, he tucked it inside the packaging of the re-released and re-mastered Long Division.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 05, 2009

What of the Beatles?

Jazz, pop, and circumstance
Spouting off during downtime in an interview with jazz drummer/composer Steve Grover, I once put forward my ill-researched idea that the third song is almost universally the best song on a great album.
By SAM PFEIFLE | September 02, 2009

Back to basics

MENSK revisits its original purpose
Sometimes the biggest stumbling block for our fantastic ideas is a small, seemingly insignificant hurdle — a missing piece of paperwork, a logistical snafu, one degree of separation too many.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 12, 2009

So good

Spencer Albee's got Spirit. How 'bout you?
One way to experiment with songwriting is to throw convention out the window, eschew verses and choruses, try to be completely unique. Sometimes the idea appears that if a song sounds like anything that came before it, well, that's points deducted like a gymnast who missed her landing. It's derivative!
By SAM PFEIFLE | July 30, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

What are the odds?

Best bets for this year's Best Music Poll
Ten years! When we organized our first Best Music Poll, way back in the day, we could only hope that it would one day wind up the institution it is today, with the annual Portland Music Awards ceremony drawing the best collection of musical talent Maine can produce.
By SAM PFEIFLE | May 27, 2009

Spring cleaning

Three discs you should hear as the weather warms
Without beating around the bush, here are three EPs worth hearing that have been sitting around the office a bit.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 18, 2009

Portland scene report: October 31, 2008

Sibilance starts now
Civil Disturbance drummer Nick “Nikko” Villaci, who’s been in the local rock scene long enough to have produced progeny to fill out other local bands, has announced his retirement from the original music scene.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | October 29, 2008

Picnic + Homecoming

Music seen at Lincoln Park and SPACE Gallery, September 13, 2008
We’ll hope that both of the first-time ever events that took place last Saturday will return annually, and be as successful in the future as their debuts.
By SONYA TOMLINSON | September 17, 2008