The picks in pop music in Boston this month all have something in common: storytelling. How did Deadmau5 get stuck with that 5 at the end of his name? What does a Portuguese acronym have to do with the band CSS? And what does Minus the Bear have against bears?
Coming Attractions in Popular Music: September 2011
Disaster can come in many forms. Whether it’s a hurricane, an earthquake or an MTV award show, we don’t like them. Luckily, there’s a lot of great music coming to New England this September; the disasters can stay away. Here at the picks in pop music for the month.
Coming Attractions in Popular Music: March 2011
It could be easy to say the outlook is grim, what with all that’s going on in the world. However, even though the Ides of March are quickly approaching, that would be overlooking all the good things happening this month. For example, it was in March, almost 100 years ago, that the first American successfully […]
Coming Attractions in Popular Music: February 2011
After January’s brief hibernation, the pop music coming attractions column is back for the month of February to deliver what you crave: music, sweet music. (Cue dancing in the street.) Wait . . . what’s that you say? The streets are covered in snow? No problem: there are plenty of places to dance indoors while […]
Coming Attractions in Popular Music: December 2010
The Ups and Downs of the biz. At this time of year it’s easy to question your choice of residence in sun-deprived New England. The cold, the wet, and the absence of vitamin D in your skin rattles through to your bones and leaves you asking, can we just skip to June already? You are […]
Coming Attractions in Popular Music: November 2010
Boston’s pop music scene in November has an international flair. Multiple groups from the UK who specialize in folk and electropop join bands from Spain and Ireland in coming to Boston this fall. While the picks for this month all have roots abroad, these acts make the Fall months of Boston that much more inviting. […]
Coming Attractions in Popular Music: September 2010
Even though it’s the time of year when the T is clogged with wide-eyed college freshman trying to find Faneuil Hall, there are still lots of great shows to go see in Boston. By Thomas Samph This month’s selection of pop music begins with an up-and-coming female pop act from the UK whose Family Jewels […]
Coming Attractions: Popular Music in August 2010
Ambient indie-pop and summery surf sounds take over Boston in the second half of August. By Thomas Samph August 13, Deerhunter at Royale At a Deerhunter show, the sight of frontman Bradford Cox’s skeleton-like figure striding on to the stage through a thick mist (sometimes wearing a dress) is as ethereal and spooky as his […]
Coming Attractions: Popular Music in July 2010
July Music/Musica en Julio/Musica em Julho By Thomas Samph With the temperatures peaking into the 90s in New England, here is some pop music that’s meant to be enjoyed in the heat. These acts (with the exception of one) all have their roots in warmer places: Latin music infused with funk and jazz, Spanish electronic […]
Film Review: The Karate Kid — A Preteen Rumble
The remake follows the same plot as the 1984 original, but the new version is more like watching a bunch of twelve-year-old kids in a steel cage death match. Reviewed by Tom Samph In a time when baby-faced Michael Cera and whiny John Mayer are cultural icons, Americans still can’t get enough blood and guts. […]