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photos at Best Music Poll awards party with Peter Wolf, Amanda Palmer and more

Photos: 2011 Best Music Poll awards party

June 15, 2011 | Brighton Music Hall, Allston
The first-ever Best Music Poll awards party came to life at Brighton Music Hall emceed by DJ Paul Foley with Bodega Girls as the house band plus an all-star cast of Boston music heroes including Bill Janovitz, Peter Wolf and Amanda Palmer.
By PHOENIX STAFF | June 20, 2011

Review: La Roux at the Paradise

Paradise Rock Club, January 31, 2010
"I could have been singing this at the Grammys — but I'm here with you tonight," declared Elly Jackson, the public face of La Roux, with a detectable dash of annoyance folded into several dollops of playful sarcasm.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | February 03, 2010

The Big Hurt: Lambert works it, 50 blows it, Moz ends it

The Big Hurt: Music news in brief
ADAM LAMBERT 's spicy AMA performance continues to dominate entertainment headlines, weeks after it first scandalized the nation — but why does America care what a man does with another man in the secluded privacy of the American Music Awards?
By DAVID THORPE | December 09, 2009

Photos: Boston Music Awards 2009

Boston Music Awards 2009, live from the Liberty Hotel, December 2, 2009
Photos of Will Dailey, Mean Creek, Dear Leader, Lisa Bello, Bad Rabbits, and more from the Boston Music Awards.
By CATHERINE LEE | December 07, 2009

Ocean + Desolate Grace

Music Seen
At Geno’s, November 13
By DAN CLARK | November 24, 2009

First annual We Push Buttons Festival

Sibilance
The successful first-annual WE PUSH BUTTONS: ELECTRONIC MUSIC FESTIVAL wrapped up on Saturday night.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | September 30, 2009

The Bigmouth strikes again

Kanye acts like himself; nation loses shit
Given all the conflicting emotions, it was tough to form an opinion on Kanye West's VMA bum rush against Taylor Swift.
By DAVID THORPE | September 22, 2009

More than guitar

Julian Lage's talent isn't just in his fingers
"I like using songs to change the environment — to get the listener's ear to be a little skewed."
By JON GARELICK | September 08, 2009

The Wiz arrives in Boston

Not truly spectacular, but significant
"If you believe in yourself, you will have brains, heart and courage to last your whole life through. . ."
By PHOENIX STAFF | June 30, 2009

Britney Spears and Michael Jackson fight it out

Who's #1?
Cue up track six on the new Britney (Jive) and prepare yourself for the Technicolor disco flash-back of the year, swooning string section, chunky Nile Rodgers guitar riff, and all. The song's called "Anticipating," and it captures the most famous 19-year-old girl in the world at her guileless, sentimental best.
By SEAN RICHARDSON | June 30, 2009

Levon Helm | Electric Dirt

Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard
Helm's 2007 Dirt Farmer won the Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy for its acoustic arrangements of songs plucked from the Delta soil of the Band drummer and singer's rural Arkansas youth.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | June 23, 2009

It Does Come Easy

Ringo Starr At Chabot, Quinn Taylor At Stairwell
Ringo Starr was the best artist in the Beatles. And, I believe, the best artist to appear on Shining Time Station too. (Sorry, George Carlin.) It feels really weird to say, but it's the undisputable conclusion I drew from seeing "Ringo Starr — Artist" at Chabot Fine Art Gallery (379 Atwells Avenue, Providence, through June 27).
By GREG COOK | June 16, 2009

What are the odds?

Best bets for this year's Best Music Poll
Ten years! When we organized our first Best Music Poll, way back in the day, we could only hope that it would one day wind up the institution it is today, with the annual Portland Music Awards ceremony drawing the best collection of musical talent Maine can produce.
By SAM PFEIFLE | May 27, 2009

As young lovers do

Spring Awakening's musical bruises
The rock extravaganza Spring Awakening promotes the cliché of adolescent pain to serious grown-up status.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | April 22, 2009

35. Lil Wayne

CHEESE WEEZE
He may be the best rapper alive, but Lil Wayne’s starting to look like an extra from the “Thriller” video. And now, on the heels of his awful “Let It Rock” collabo with emo wannabe Kevin Rudolf, the erratic N’awlins spitter is threatening to morph into a guitar hero — even though his ill-fated SNL foray into shredding was hailed in the blogosphere as the worst solo, ever.
By Boston Phoenix Staff | March 25, 2009

Ol' Dirty's dirty side

Jaime Lowe's Life and Death of ODB
Sometimes it takes an outsider to understand the inside.
By CHRIS FARAONE | January 09, 2009

They'd like to thank their producers...

Selected winners of the Boston Music Awards
Selected winners of the Boston Music Awards
By CHRIS FARAONE | December 16, 2008

Portland scene report: November 28, 2008

Sibilance
The results of the WePushButtons Awards came in just a tad too late to get them in the last paper, so here's a quick recap of who took home what last Saturday at SPACE Gallery.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | November 26, 2008

The Big Hurt: Weezy unplugged

Plus Auerbach unbound and Glitter undeterred
Our dream of a post-racial America moved one space closer to "king me" on the checkerboard of terrible metaphors this week
By DAVID THORPE | November 24, 2008

Expressions of war

Don't miss the Takács Quartet at UNH
One of the best string quartets in the world will be within a D-string's distance from Portland, come Monday night.
By EMILY PARKHURST | November 12, 2008

Mood swing

The emotional gamut of Festival Ballet’s Giselle
She is Giselle, the peasant girl of Adolph Adam’s ballet, and she’ll come to the VMA Arts & Cultural Center once again via Festival Ballet Providence.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | October 22, 2008

Annie

Don’t Stop | Island
Annie is adept at balancing bratty tweener kiss-off ’tude with dance-friendly bliss — meaning that someone over 16 can listen to her music without wincing.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 16, 2008

’Round the outside

The most popular artists in our BMP have indie roots
Although music isn’t necessarily getting more political in content these days, it does seem to be borrowing a trope from the political world.
By MATT ASHARE | May 19, 2008

Soul purpose

The BellRays get us all kinds of worked up
The BellRays — whose married core is singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist/bassist Bob Vennum — have been making music since 1990.
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | May 19, 2008

Portland Phoenix Best Music Poll local winners 2000-2007

By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | May 14, 2008

Nine is fine

Portland's Best Music Poll 2008
Thanks to the hundreds of you who ventured out right after work (or perhaps played hooky from work) on Wednesday night to attend our ninth annual Best Music Poll Portland Music Awards Show.
By JEFF INGLIS | May 14, 2008