The joke inherent in Wilco’s new record Ode to Joy – the band’s eleventh full length – is that it’s actually kind of a downer. The Chicagoan collective who perpetually straddle the lines of indie, art-rock and alt-country have never been the cheeriest band to begin with – the centerpiece of what’s arguably their sunniest […]
MUSIC
WAR GOSPEL: WALTER SICKERT & THE ARMY OF BROKEN TOYS MARCHES ON THE WORLD
The ARmy is designing a live spectacle for the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science, all while sticking to its annual seasonal schedule of live-scoring Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde in New Hampshire, and performing a music and dance tribute to The Nightmare Before Christmas at OBERON.
’80S GLORY DAYS AND THE GORY DEMISE OF THE CHANNEL
A weekly calendar might look like this: all-ages hardcore matinee on Sunday, up-and-coming rock showcase on Tuesday, Afro-pop extravaganza Wednesday, head-banging metal on Thursday, vintage blues on Friday, all topped off with a ’60s rock legend in town on Saturday night.
DUMP HIM: NORTHAMPTON PUNK QUARTET SWINGS TAIL END OF TOUR THROUGH CAMBRIDGE
“We write accessible music because it’s fun and we like to, but also lyrically we try to be thoughtful,” Jac said. “It’s for anyone that can relate.”
FOTOBOM: BORIS, UNIFORM @ THE PARADISE
Around the time in the early 90s when I became aware of bands such as Acid Mothers Temple, Ghost, Zeni Geva and The Boredoms, I’ve come to live by one simple rule. If a Japanese band is playing in your town, go see them. It’s not that complicated, it doesn’t overrun your social calendar, […]
FOTOBOM: MASSIVE ATTACK @ THE WANG THEATRE
Looking backwards over two decades can be a belly-gazing exercise in self-indulgence, but the Mezzanine XXI tour succeeded on nearly every level. The pioneering trip-hop record from Massive Attack was gussied up for tours of Europe and North America, with this stop being rescheduled when the entire tour was postponed in March. Not content to […]
MASS MANIPULATION: STEEL PULSE, ACTIVIST REGGAE, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF NAMING NAMES
“To speak universally about pain and suffering we will call out injustice. That’s what we do.”
MATTAPAN JAZZ & UNITY FEST: A Q+A WITH FESTIVAL HOST AND BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR ANDREA CAMPBELL
“It’s an opportunity for Mattapan to showcase to other neighborhoods in the Greater Boston area that this community is not just what people tend to see in the media, which is usually negative.”
FOTOBOM: THE WHO @ FENWAY PARK
Without disparaging the good name of The Pretty Things, The Who really put the term ‘rock opera’ on the musical books when they created not one but two enduring works in Tommy and Quadrophenia. So what do you do when you’ve done countless tours and it seems like you’ve done it all? You go full […]
THE BRIDGESIDE CYPHER, WHICH TAKES OVER CENTRAL SQUARE ONCE A MONTH, IS MORE THAN A RAP BATTLE
From a white suburban father in an olive bucket hat and open-toed sandals to a young hispanic girl in a white T and Jordans, Bridgeside encompasses the unpredictable demographic that rap has inspired from the start.
