Music

Review: California Smile | Roof Came Off House

California Smile's magnificent controlled chaos
"There isn't any presupposed concept to our music," says California Smile keyboardist/piano man Victor Mansella while promoting the band's upcoming sophomore release Roof Came Off House (Limbus Infantus). "The music is intended to take the listener on his or her own adventure."

By: CHRIS CONTI | September 08, 2009

The Big Hurt: Don't look back in anger

The best of times with the worst of bands
"You don't know what you've got till it's gone," Janet Jackson once famously sampled, and how true it is. Only now that Noel Gallagher has left in a firestorm of brotherly acrimony can I truly take stock of my feelings toward Oasis.

By: DAVID THORPE | September 08, 2009

Better all the time

Get these Beatles reissues into your life
In 2006, Apple/EMI released the Beatles-soundtracked Cirque du Soleil companion piece Love , which mashed together songs from the band's repertoire in stunning remastered sound.

By: ZETH LUNDY | September 08, 2009

Review: Jesse Fuller | Move on Down the Line

Fledg'ling (2009)
If you were a real hip folkie circa 1961-'64, chances are you were into the inimitable Jesse Fuller.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | September 09, 2009

Review: Wild Beasts | Two Dancers

Domino (2009)
It would be easy to overuse singer Hayden Thorpe's ebullient falsetto and dilute its campy majesty. Wild Beasts, a dreamy English quartet with a penchant for licentious lyrics and showy flourishes, know better.

By: MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | September 09, 2009

Review: Whitney Houston | I Look to You

Arista (2009)
It's tempting to wonder whether super-producer Clive Davis, in another of his music-biz machinations, arranged for Whitney Houston to whiff last week on Good Morning America , which is reported to have altered Houston's vocals for broadcast after she sounded hoarse during her Central Park mini-concert.

By: MIKAEL WOOD | September 09, 2009

Review: The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker | Burn It Down

OuttaSight (2009)
These Nashville-based high ministers of retro-groove — known for their muscular live sermons — broaden their gospel on CD #2.

By: TED DROZDOWSKI | September 09, 2009

Review: David Dallas | Something Awesome

Dirty Management (2009)
In the 1990s, every rap album had mellow bangers buried in the tracklist.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 09, 2009

Common-ers

Off the Couch
Six Star and friends get raucous in Bristol

By: PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | September 08, 2009

The Empire strikes back

AS220's loose and lively revue
The Empire Revue is a monthly event at AS220, happening every first Sunday at 8 pm, as predictably as political malfeasance and as reliably funny, only without the urge to strangle the perpetrators. It's only eight bucks, which is still cheaper than a movie, they like to remind us, and way cheaper than a trip to the Borscht Belt, they might add.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | September 02, 2009

3 Inches of Blood | Here Waits Thy Doom

Rough Trade (2009)
An outsider would peer into the ridiculous world of 3 Inches of Blood — which is inhabited by orcs and advancing scimitar-wielding hordes — and giggle.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 02, 2009

In the red

SEXCoffee amp it up on The Morning After
A handful of Phoenix readers questioned the parameters of what exactly defined a "Breakthrough Act" in our recent Best Music Poll, decided in dominant fashion by alt-rock quartet SEXCoffee. What exactly constitutes a band playing together for six years as finally "breaking through?" Well, it isn't titled "Best "New" Act," if that helps.

By: CHRIS CONTI | September 02, 2009

Pawtucket calling

Off the Couch
The long weekend starts THURSDAY (the 3rd) with a 7 pm set from local singer/songwriter GREG LATO at Hot Topic in Providence Place Mall. He's touring the region behind his recent full-length debut Monday Morning Breakdown .

By: PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | September 02, 2009

M.O.P. | The Foundation

E1 (2009)
M.O.P. were en route to hip-hop's greatest track record.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | September 02, 2009

Taken By Trees | East of Eden

Rough Trade (2009)
Truth be told, I get a little crumply whenever I hear of Western indie types going off on East-bound inspirational jaunts.

By: MICHAEL BRODEUR | September 02, 2009

King Cannibal | Let The Night Roar

Ninja Tune (2009)
King Cannibal is the latest incarnation of the artist formerly known as Zilla, a mixtape prodigy (check the supremely eclectic mid-'00s One Foot in the Fire, One Fist in the Air , if you can track it down) who managed to impress even the jaded Warp Records honchos a few years back.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | September 02, 2009

Beat Circus | Boy From Black Mountain

Cuneiform (2009)
The subjects of the stories sung on this second installment of Beat Circus's "Weird American Gothic" trilogy attain greater awareness of family, culture, and the world by voyaging across schisms in perception.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | September 02, 2009

It's still summer

Off the Couch
From the Low Anthem to Mastamindz

By: PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | August 25, 2009

Up for the challenge

Rhythmafia: a new breed of mashup
Rhythmafia have been on the scene for about four years, and in that relatively short time the Providence natives — Rob Cinami (drums and backup vox), Jamie Kearns (guitar), Zack Chagnon (bass), and frontman Sam Montes — have successfully delivered a blatantly unique sound through the course of three albums.

By: CHRIS CONTI | August 25, 2009

The Big Hurt: Checking the Billboard Hot 100

Who charted?
As usual, I won't be able to make it through the full 100, but seven is just as good, right?

By: DAVID THORPE | August 25, 2009

Review: Monty Python's Flying Circus: 30 Musical Masterpieces from the Infamous Television Series

DeWolfe (2009)
Such is the legendary status and posthumous influence of the original run of Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC One in the early '70s that it's easy to forget how low-budget British comedy production was in those days.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | August 25, 2009