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Walter Sickert leads a band of musical misfits

A Broken Toy story
When Walter Sickert and his Army of Broken Toys played an official First Night show at the Hynes Auditorium on New Year's Eve, they ran overtime and the soundman pulled the plug — which isn't quite the smartest way of shutting down an acoustic band.

By: BRETT MILANO | February 05, 2011

Guided by Voices return with self-inflicted nostalgia

The club is open, once again
When Guided by Voices announced their reunion tour this year, it marked a milestone of sorts for the Dayton band. This is arguably the first conventional career move they've ever made.

By: BRETT MILANO | November 07, 2010

Dando and Hatfield rekindle a musical courtship

Waiting for heaven
Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield were never a serious couple, and they never played music together for very long.

By: BRETT MILANO | November 01, 2010

Review: Rock of Ages

Strip Mauled: Rock of Ages doesn't rock
At the start of the hair-metal musical Rock of Ages (at the Colonial Theatre through October 17), narrator Lonny (Patrick Lewallen) promises a night of sexy decadence and general kick-assery.

By: BRETT MILANO | October 12, 2010

Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn revives a classic

Medicinal properties
At the end of 1983, I was writing for Boston Rock magazine, and in one issue, we predicted the defining releases of the year to come.

By: BRETT MILANO | October 12, 2010

Squeeze | Spot the Difference

XOXO (2010)
Squeeze are a great pop band who've made some lousy career moves, and this may be the lousiest.

By: BRETT MILANO | August 10, 2010

Jackie Greene comes alive

Guitarist breaks from the Dead
It doesn't take much to prove that modern-day Americana owes more to the Grateful Dead than it ever wanted to admit — one listen to Wilco's two most recent albums ought to do the trick.

By: BRETT MILANO | August 03, 2010

Glam makeover

A reborn Alejandro Escovedo hits the Streets
As a songwriter, Alejandro Escovedo is steeped in deep, brooding, film-noir Americana. But he's also a devout fan of cheap-thrill glitter rock, especially the fast and flashy singles that T. Rex and Mott the Hoople made in the '70s.

By: BRETT MILANO | July 19, 2010

Tommy Keene | Tommy Keene You Hear Me: A Retrospective 1983 - 2009

Second Motion (2010)
If you've heard one Tommy Keene song, it's probably "Places That Are Gone," a certified power-pop classic released in 1984.

By: BRETT MILANO | July 16, 2010

Review: Carole King and James Taylor

Live at TD Garden | June 19-20, 2010
From the name of the tour to the all-oldies setlist to the inevitable set-closer "You've Got a Friend," Carole King and James Taylor's "Troubadour Reunion" tour promises musical nostalgia of the warmest, fuzziest kind.

By: BRETT MILANO | June 22, 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

Mary Chapin Carpenter | The Age of Miracles

Zoë/Rounder (2010)
Mary Chapin Carpenter made her best albums when she was breaking from Nashville and testing what country radio would let her get away with.

By: BRETT MILANO | June 16, 2010

Review: Michael Jackson | Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix

Epic (1997)
Personally, I'm fascinated by Michael Jackson, who may be the only truly deviant artist in modern pop: who would you really find scarier in a dark alley, him or Marilyn Manson?

By: BRETT MILANO | July 01, 2009

The Dresden Dolls

No, Virginia | Roadrunner
No, Virginia ranks with Elvis Costello’s Taking Liberties as a B-sides/leftovers album that turns out to be more fun and more revealing than a thought-out official release.

By: BRETT MILANO | May 27, 2008

No bull

Herb Alpert at Scullers
There was nothing campy or kitschy about Herb Alpert’s local appearance this week, and in a way that’s a shame.

By: BRETT MILANO | May 19, 2008

Muck and the Mires

Dorren EP | Dirty Water
If Phil Spector could produce the Ramones, then Kim Fowley can produce Muck and the Mires, local faves whose sound has always been two parts Ramones to five parts British Invasion.

By: BRETT MILANO | April 15, 2008

Joe Jackson

Rain | Rykodisc
Joe Jackson always sounds best when at least some of his original quartet are on board.

By: BRETT MILANO | April 01, 2008

Here and now

R.E.M.’s ‘back-to-basics’ disguise
No band ever made a late-career statement of purpose just by quoting “Louie Louie” — but it never hurts.

By: BRETT MILANO | March 24, 2008

Low and slow

Van Morrison at the Wang Theatre, March 14, 2008
Van Morrison has joined the ranks of ridiculously expensive artists.

By: BRETT MILANO | March 17, 2008

Van Morrison

Keep It Simple | Lost Highway
You might call this the Van Morrison equivalent of Bob Dylan’s Modern Times .

By: BRETT MILANO | March 11, 2008

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[ 02/17 ] Festival Ballet Providence presents UP CLOSE ON HOPE @ Black Box Theater

[ 02/17 ] "Dana Levin: A Classical Realist In the 21st Century," an exhibit of paintings @ Bert Gallery

[ 02/17 ] Mary Poppins @ Providence Performing Arts Center

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