The Beach Boys

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Review: The many tentacles of Jason Spooner's Sea Monster

Get kraken
Jason Spooner is an amalgamation of John Prine and John Mayer — great songs and great hair, all in one package. Their aesthetics are similar, too. Sure, there are important and wounded songs in the bag, but these guys aren't afraid to have a good time, either.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 16, 2010

Brian Wilson | Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin

Disney Pearl Series (2010)
George and Ira Gershwin's music may have been the pop music of its day, but — like much of the Great American Songbook — it was more sophisticated than most of the pop of the '50s and '60s.
By JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 18, 2010

Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby | Two-Way Family Favorites

Southern Domestic (2010)
This is a sweet tearjerker of an album disguised as a lowly covers set.
By BRETT MILANO | June 24, 2010

Fresh heirs

Dr. Dog have no Shame in their game
A tip for bands out there trying to impress people with blogs: when choosing the decade you’d like to be mistaken for hailing from, choose wisely.
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | May 04, 2010

The final four

The Wandas hit the ground running at the ’BRU Rock Hunt
From Yiddish speed-rhymes to Latin funk, the 2010 Rock Hunt finals once again delivered a musically diverse and thoroughly-entertaining show at Lupo’s last Saturday.
By CHRIS CONTI | April 14, 2010

Ride that wave

Are Surfer Blood the only band from Florida?
Like a killer wave or a lousy metaphor, success can really sneak up on you.
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | February 23, 2010

Focus group: Labeless Illtelligence

CasUno and ESH the Monolith streamline the cipher
It's NBA All-Star Saturday and Labeless Illtelligence representatives Chris Andrews and Tyler Edwards, better known as CasUno and ESH the Monolith, settle in for one last marathon studio session at Edwards's East Providence apartment (dubbed FrESH Ear Studios).
By CHRIS CONTI | February 17, 2010

Laura Veirs | July Flame

Raven Marching Band (2010)
Thanks to the string of albums she's released over the past decade or so, this Portland-based folkie has cultivated a reputation as a gifted chronicler of the outdoor experience.
By MIKAEL WOOD | January 19, 2010

2009: The year in local pop

The '09 mixtape
When I think back on 2009, I feel the same pleasant discomfort you get at the end of a John Hughes movie, when suddenly all the jocks and dorks and punks are good friends. This year, hardcore denizens of time-worn niches came out of hiding and acted all presentable and all sorts of scenes and sounds went behind the bleachers for some unlikely scores.
By MATT PARISH | December 28, 2009

Crossword: ''Initial reaction''

Letters, not words
Letters, not words
By MATT JONES | November 25, 2009

Rear-view mirror

Albums you shouldn't let slip by
After a few days of Indian Summer to remind us of the summer we nearly didn't have, it's timely to shed some warm light on albums released recently that didn't get their proper due.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 11, 2009

Crash proof

Arms and Sleepers are more than just a hard drive
I've never trusted music that's too engineered, too perfect. Headphones on the drummer and a hundred tracks running off a laptop? Most bands practice and practice to get things just right, but it's that threat of the unexpected that makes a show worth seeing.
By MATT PARISH | September 29, 2009

Tropicália storm

The long awaited return of Os Mutantes
When Sérgio Dias takes to the Somerville Theatre stage this Sunday with the current incarnation of Os Mutantes, it's a safe bet he'll be beaming with gratitude. "I'm riding the same wave," he says of his band's legendary Brazilian albums, "but this time I have my eyes open."
By GUSTAVO TURNER | September 28, 2009

Mixed moods

Big statements at Top Drawer Art Center
The painting that sticks in my mind from "Beyond Will Power: The 5th Annual Top Drawer Group Show" at Top Drawer Art Center (2731 Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence, through September 4) is Anthony Brun's mixed-media painting Jason Killed Freddy .
By GREG COOK | August 18, 2009

Interview: Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit

Cleaning up with this year's BMP winners
In 2008, Passion Pit won Best New Artist in our Best Music Poll.
By CARLY CARIOLI AND RYAN STEWART | October 01, 2009

So good

Spencer Albee's got Spirit. How 'bout you?
One way to experiment with songwriting is to throw convention out the window, eschew verses and choruses, try to be completely unique. Sometimes the idea appears that if a song sounds like anything that came before it, well, that's points deducted like a gymnast who missed her landing. It's derivative!
By SAM PFEIFLE | July 30, 2009