Music

Bring on the major leagues

Fairhaven are officially on the hunt
There ain't enough lighter fluid in your Bic to keep pace with Fairhaven's piano-driven anthems on their full-length debut Origins.

By CHRIS CONTI | January 27, 2010

The Big Hurt: Billboard Top Hip-Hop and R and B songs

Who charted?
This week, a jolly traipse through one of Billboard 's most artistically fecund charts: "Top Hip-Hop and R&B Songs." What wonders await?

By DAVID THORPE | January 26, 2010

The belles lettrist tells all
Long before he bit the heads off bats and doves, Ozzy Osbourne worked in a cheerless abattoir in the hardscrabble Aston section of Birmingham, England, where for 18 months he held such titles as "cow killer," "tripe hanger," "hoof puller," and "pig stunner."

By LANCE GOULD | January 29, 2010

Those drums and wires

Off the Couch
Makeupbreakup + Jon Hope + more

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | January 26, 2010

Fresh Vetz | Vet Status

Top Shelf (2009)
It's a bright sign for hip-hop when at least three promising subterranean sluggers ride flows comparable to that of the almighty Nas.

By CHRIS FARAONE | January 27, 2010

Various Artists | Pop Ambient

Kompakt (2010)
It'd be easy to understand a resistance to "ambient" music — beyond all of its unfortunate Enya and dusty Eno connotations.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | January 27, 2010

Pit Er Pat | The Flexible Entertainer

Thrill Jockey (2010)
Pit Er Pat, the minimalist duo of Fay Davis-Jeffers and the dubiously named Butchy Fuego, have pared down their sound in search of simple beauty, but the result is an icy album utterly lacking in energy.

By MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | January 27, 2010

Basia Bulat | Heart Of My Own

Rough Trade (2010)
Like a Laurel Canyon Billie Holiday or a pixilated Tracy Chapman, Bulat sports a voice rich with vibrato, hearty oomph, and dignified lonesomeness.

By ZETH LUNDY | January 27, 2010

Priestess | Prior To The Fire

Tee Pee (2009)
Now Priestess are back in Indieland, rubbing denim-clad elbows with the likes of Nebula and Black Math Horseman.

By MIKAEL WOOD | January 27, 2010

The Magnetic Fields | Realism

Nonesuch (2010)
This will be labeled as the Magnetic Fields' folk album, and fairly so.

By JONATHAN DONALDSON | January 27, 2010

Tight but loose

Jangly + angular = Glowkid
I had never come across the adjective "jangular" until I visited the Glowkid website.

By CHRIS CONTI | January 20, 2010

MC Paul Barman | Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud

Househusband (2009)
Note how the title of Paul Barman's third and latest sounds corny at first glance but deserves a "ha" — or at least an "I smell this dude" — on further contemplation.

By CHRIS FARAONE | January 19, 2010

John Heartsman | Music Of My Heart

Jazzman (2010)
John Heartsman's career had two modest peaks.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | January 19, 2010

Los Campesinos! | Romance Is Boring

Arts & Crafts (2010)
Toward the end of "In Medias Res," the first song on Los Campesinos!' third album, Gareth Campesinos (the entire Cardiff septet have adopted the surname) asks, "Is this something that would interest you?"

By RYAN STEWART | January 19, 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

Beach House | Teen Dream

Sub Pop (2010)
Before I talk about Beach House's third album — the top dreampop album of 2010 until further notice — I should reveal that I had the big gay whirlwind romance of my life under the influence of a steady stream of Beach House Mania at SxSW three years ago.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | January 19, 2010