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Photos: The Darkness + Foxy Shazam at the Paradise Rock Club

February 3, 2012
The Darkness + Foxy Shazam perform live at the Paradise Rock Club on February 3, 2012.
By JOSH BERLINGER | February 06, 2012

From nukes to necro with Toxic Holocaust

Thrash and glow
Once in a while, a name can conveniently give you an accurate sketch of what a band sounds like.
By REYAN ALI | February 07, 2012

Out: Speedy Ortiz come together

Building a Dreamhouse in Allston
The kickoff weekend of new local show bookers the Dreamhouse Collective was coming to a close a week ago last Monday night at Great Scott, but the walls of the Allston venue were still vibrating thanks to the grungy guitar reverb of Northamptom trio Speedy Ortiz.
By EMMA DESSAU | February 07, 2012

Inside the theatric folk appeal of You Won't

Willing Participants
"It's about trying to let things come without judgment," says You Won't frontman Josh Arnoudse.
By RYAN REED | February 07, 2012

Tim Berne composes himself

Freedom Writer
It's been almost exactly four years since Tim Berne's last visit to Boston— March 2008, to be precise, with jazz-prog guitarist David Torn's band Prezens.
By JON GARELICK | February 07, 2012

J the S | The Last Days

Same Plate/Greater Good
J the S has been promising The Last Days since he went by Jake the Snake.
By CHRIS FARAONE | February 07, 2012

The Punch Brothers | Who's Feeling Young Now?

Nonesuch (2012)
For a group full of virtuosos, the Punch Brothers refuse to dole out prodigious string-murdering sessions.
By ZETH LUNDY | February 07, 2012

Ital | Hive Mind

Planet Mu
If there was a broken-record knock against electronic music in the last decade, it's that it all sounded the same.
By MICHAEL C. WALSH | February 07, 2012

Tennis | Young & Old

Fat Possum (2012)
Denver's Tennis, the husband/wife duo of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, are back with another slab of dreamy, feather-light pop.
By RYAN REED | February 07, 2012

Die Antwoord | Ten$ion

Zef Recordz
Moreso than any "controversially-lipped" chanteuse (to borrow from one of Lana Del Rey's many observers), South African rap/rave/meme/satire/knuckleheads Die Antwoord beg the question:"Is that all there is?"
By DAN WEISS | February 07, 2012

Van Halen | A Different Kind of Truth

Interscope
Who would've thought Eddie Van Halen would still be innovative in his late 50s?
By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | February 08, 2012

The Big Hurt: The miracle of Japanese Wikipedia

The miracle of Japanese
In a break from my usual bad-jokes format, I bring you something so strange and wonderful that I just had to share it with the world.
By DAVID THORPE | February 08, 2012

Vive la France

French music at the BSO; French opera at Boston Conservatory; plus, Peter Wispelwey, Judith Gordon, Russell Sherman and Frank Kelley, and Collage New Music
French music is tricky. It has an unmistakable accent, inflection, scent.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 08, 2012

All emo is local

Five scenes that grew organically
Remember the years before blog-rock, when scenes and sounds developed geographically?
By LIZ PELLY | February 08, 2012

A punk phenomenon grows up

Punk is dead, right?
It's time we faced it: the vanguards of rock have gotten really old.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | February 08, 2012

Emo: it might as well be a four-letter word

De-evolution
Back in 2001, when Bleed American was exploding all over modern-rock radio, I sat down with Jimmy Eat World guitarist Tom Linton and frontman Jim Adkins and asked about the emo label with which their group had been saddled.
By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | February 08, 2012

Interview: Alice Bag of Stay at Home Bomb

Once a punk rocker, always a punk rocker
Alice Bag (nee Armendariz), who shone bright in the Los Angeles punk scene of the late-1970s, will be in town Saturday to read from her book Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage and to play a few tunes at 7 pm at Rochambeau Library.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | February 10, 2012

Photos: Tool at the TD Garden

January 28, 2012
Tool performs live at the TD Garden on Saturday, January 28, 2012.
By TIM BUGBEE | January 30, 2012

Air | Le Voyage Dans La Lune

Astralwerks (2012)
It was inevitable that Air would one day be asked to soundtrack a colorized version of an iconic 1902 silent French film about moon exploration, right? There's the French thing, the moon thing, the kitsch-cool factor.
By ZETH LUNDY | January 31, 2012

Schoolboy Q | Habits & Contradictions

Top Dawg Entertainment (2012)
Without much that can be considered "structure" in terms of the verse-chorus-verse standard, Q confidently wobbles through an album's worth of jaded bangers.
By MICHAEL C. WALSH | January 31, 2012

Mark Lanegan Band | Blues Funeral

4AD (2012)
Unlike a few of his early '90s Seattle contemporaries who made tons of money, erstwhile Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan has not died, put out shitty records, or made a self-deprecating cameo on Portlandia.
By BARRY THOMPSON | January 31, 2012

Grimes | Visions

Arbutus (2012)
The debut record from Grimes, an alias of the Montreal-based Boucher, kicks off the peculiarity parade by presenting song titles steeped in cutesy affectation.
By REYAN ALI | January 31, 2012

Dr. Dog | Be the Void

Anti- (2012)
With Be the Void , their sonically raw sixth album, these Philly psych-pop oddballs have pulled a fussy, self-conscious about-face, indulging in their weirdest ideas in years.
By RYAN REED | January 31, 2012

Off the record: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour | Out of Frequency

BMG Rights (2012)
Getting a boost with songs from their 2009 debut, Fruit , featured in iPod and Heineken ads, and getting handpicked as concert openers by a then-still-functioning Amy Winehouse in their native Copenhagen, the Asteroids Galaxy Tour rode a lucky streak out of the gate.
By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | January 31, 2012

Helios Early Opera's Charpentier; plus, the BSO's Mendelssohn Lobgesang

Hello, Helios!
There's a new group in town doing Baroque opera — not an easy ambition.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 01, 2012

Juan Deuce and Falside get down to work as The Mechanics

Impossible to ignore
The stars have aligned and the Rap Gods must be smiling down at Juan Deuce and Falside.
By CHRIS CONTI | January 31, 2012

Kumquat Jam

Hoopleville
Dinner date gone awry.
By DAVID KISH | January 31, 2012

Must-see music, comedy, and more

Where the fun is!
Welcome back! The holiday break has you reenergized and ready to hit the books, but first things first. Break out a fresh No.2 and pencil in some fun.
By CHRIS CONTI | January 24, 2012

Brite Futures | Dark Past

Turnout (2011)
A few years ago, the cutesy teens in Natalie Portman's Shaved Head slid out of Seattle on the hot pink shoulders of robo-bounce kinda-hit "Me + Ur Daughter" and the cheap intrigue of a ridiculous moniker.
By MICHAEL MAROTTA | January 24, 2012

A young jazz master looks to a personal hero

Moran's Monk
Jason Moran — 37-year-old MacArthur Fellow and New England Conservatory teacher — epitomizes what's best about the current jazz scene: a composer and pianist who can — and does — draw on all eras.
By JON GARELICK | January 24, 2012