Popular Music
With Returnal, Daniel Lopatin proves that noise can be beautiful and original. The album is a piece of (Neo?) New Age psychedelia, taking cues from the electronic experiments of the Berlin School. Returnal by Oneohtrix Point Never. Editions Mego By David Cooper In Returnal, Oneohtrix Point Never (OPN), aka Daniel Lopatin, advances the stagnant noise…
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…
Escape the cold with some good live music this February. These are the shows I would be going to if I had the time and resources. While some fit into the cultural zeitgeist more than others, I predict that all these shows will rule. I’ll show you the door; you take the trip. And say…
April brings lifted spirits, the Together Electronic Music Festival and psychedelia. The Deep Heaven Now Festival features psych, ambient and shoegaze music. The Together Music Festival has a heavy lineup full of dance and electronic music.
@Discographies is closer to marketing jingles or consumer guide advice than it is to reviewing—the exercise is fun but limited because it deals with the least valuable part of criticism: the opinion, the verdict. By Bill Marx. Further tongue-in-cheek (?) proof that the traditional conception of arts criticism—that there’s a difference between critical judgment and…
I never knew I needed to own a book like this, but I undoubtedly do. If there is anyone you know who loves singing and isn’t a snob about genre, this book would be a great holiday gift. It’s a colossal achievement that is also marvelously idiosyncratic. A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and…
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…
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.…
As a musical, Rock of Ages may not be an innovative or brilliantly written work of art, but the show’s delightfully cheesy enthusiasm, self-deprecating humor, and talented cast make it very hard to resist, especially for fans of 80s rock. Rock of Ages. Book by Chris D’Arienzo. Directed by Kristin Hanggi. Music Direction by Brandon…
Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage. Written and performed by Banana Bag & Bodice. At Oberon, Cambridge, MA, tonight (September 6). Reviewed by Chantal Mendes AF interview with Big Banana & Bodice Oberon is not the kind of place where you think you are going to learn something about what it means to be human.…
Arts Commentary: These Goose Steps Don’t Lie — Shakira in El Salvador and the “New Security” Aesthetic