"At the other end of the state, in New London, another under-recognized singer-songwriter, Matt Gouette, plays a rare live set as part of the New London Music Festival series. Gouette's recently released a CD via the Cosmodemomic Telegraph imprint, Living with the Ghost. The disc could all go by in a flash, with its effortless hooks and entirely accessible melodicism, but it shouldn't—Gouette is a gifted craftsman, and his entirely self-recorded (even with its frequent full-band instrumentation) CD rises and falls with the expert dynamism of someone who knows how to craft both a song and a song arc.
Gouette can be as straightforward as the best of 'em, but in his quirks he really shines—the off-kilter song structures and surprising builds create tension and display great imagination and confidence, the many moments of strange beauty where he goes for the haunting, weird pop-gut of it all, the recognizable yet new sensibility that lifts him above the sum of his classic pop influences."
-Brian LaRue (New Haven Advocate)-
"Living With The Ghost" album review
"Matt Gouette contributes a world-class guitar-pop lost-love song that just happens to be set, lyrically, around the holidays."
-Brian G. LaRue (New Haven Advocate)-
"Chimneys of New London" Christmas compilation review
"I'm one of the lucky few that have scored a pre-release copy of Matt's longtime-coming LP," she says of the New London musician's work. "It's introspective, fun, poppy, sad, hopeful and true."
-Daphne Glover "What's On Your Ipod" (The New London Day)
"Gouette's 'Picked Up' is an introspective yet observational ballad, hauntingly beautiful in its simplicity of form and power. Gouette's voice hovers ethereally above the music, meandering from thought to thought in a soliloquy which encompasses growth, death, birth, life, love and other everyday symptoms of our humanity. Gouette's closing line, 'this is what I've noticed while waiting to be noticed/this is what I've picked up while waiting to be picked up' would surely win the best ending award'"
-Derek Olsen (The Scope)-
"Towers of New London 3" compilation review
"Matt Gouette is an incredibly talented musician and amateur filmaker who came with us on our national tour. He filmed constantly and hours of footage of the tour are floating around in his possession somewhere."
-Doug Schaefer of the Cankickers-
Excerpt from "Making Good Time:65 Days on the Road With the Cankickers"
"The crowd seems genuinely intent on hearing whatever Matt wants to play, as his legend around the scene grows. If he can rock the shit outta a house party w/ 100 people, he must have the talent to make 'Picked Up' come alive as well. There is a general ruckus of equipment being moved, and the general biz of running a big night, and the solo singer/songwriter was having trouble: the mic was feeding back and even though the room was packed, it was hard to hear the delicacies of the Gouette solo material. So he did it. Turning on the trusty sequencer, Matt unleashed a torrent of wicked cool and funny versions of TV theme songs. Banging orchestrations came out of the speakers as Matt did his white funk vocal bit, rangy and piercing, through Charles in Charge, the Love Boat, and a few others I can't remember because I was off my kilter completely. To top it off, MG brandishes a cover of Low-Beam's 'Tuffy Rhodes' from the 'Towers' comp, and absolutely nails it-gets the crowd to sing along to the chorus as he stands atop the PA speaker column waving his hand urging the crowd to sing. Precious."
-Rich Freitas (The Scope)-
Hygienic 25 Rock Fix at Station 58 review
"As a special segue after the totally amazing Pine Hill Haints who left fans in disbelief, was Matt Gouette's rendition of 'You Can't Touch This' as he handed out cell phones to the entire crowd."
-Christopher Kepple (The Scope)-
Station 58 Sailfest show review
"Matt Gouette is closing the room. This is evidence of two different things: house parties and quality. Matt helped build his local presence by bringing down the house at parties across the Greater Southeastern Connecticut Autononous Zone. Matt eschews the drum machine-TV theme set of many a late night, and instead opts to present his singer/songwriter mode, which went well for Dan Rodriquez earlier in the night-will it work for Gouette? As if there were any question.The receptive crowd has been waiting patiently for Gouette to nail it live with his material, and tonight is the showcase we have all been looking for. Sitting casually on the edge of the stage with only an electric guitar and a voice, Matt sends his tales of longing and hope into the night where all of us are hoping for a tomorrow that includes everyone; the Room as well. Gouette does a stellar version of the Verve classic 'The Drugs Don't Work', which includes the poignant line: 'I know I'll see your face again.' A perfect choice."
-Rich Freitas (The Scope)-
Station 58 final show review
"Matt Gouette's song, "Last Night's Dream", was recently released on Towers Of New London 4: Eminent Domain. Matt Gouette is a local solo artist known for his guitar playing and experimentation with electronic music."
-Wailing City.com on Myspace
