Music news
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Braids The ticket: Pop musicSunday, May 29, 2016 BRAIDS There likely was no song issued in 2015 that was more intimate or painful than “Miniskirt,” an unflinching account of abuse, resilience, and healing on “Deep in the Iris,” the third LP from a Canadian trio best known for dizzy, dreamy electropop. The story continues with…
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Rhys Chatham, by Roland Owsnitzki The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, May 26, 2016 RHYS CHATHAM The 2nd SHIFT Music Series welcomes the punk-minimalist visionary, an auteur of symphonies for armies of electric guitars. Paradoxically, in his first local appearance since 2007 he’ll play enhanced solo-guitar music of the sort found on his entrancing new…
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Weakened Friends The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, May 19, 2016 BENT KNEE “Say So,” the third album from this young Boston art-rock sextet, is due on Friday; one night earlier, the wise, witty, and skillful group heralds the landing of a record that confirms its eloquence and ebullience, while also breaking new stylistic and…
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The Kills The ticket: Pop musicSunday, May 15, 2016 TOGETHER BOSTON This weeklong festival of technology, art, and music opens with a live set from Floating Points (May 15, 8 p.m. The Sinclair, Cambridge), launching a don’t-miss series that includes the Black Madonna (May 17, 8 p.m. Middlesex Lounge, Cambridge), France Jobin and Tim Feeney…
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The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, May 12, 2016 HALLELUJAH THE HILLS Boston’s favorite rocker-litterateurs have a lot to celebrate right now: 10 years of making friends and influencing people; five fine albums, including the newest, “A Band Is Something to Figure Out”; and at last a drummer who’s stuck around for two straight LPs.…
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Justin Bieber, by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP The ticket: Pop musicSunday, May 8, 2016 JUSTIN BIEBER The process of a juvenile pop phenom’s maturation into an artist of staying power (or not) is never less than fascinating. If the jury’s out on where Bieber will land after his occasionally too-public growing pains, there’s no denying his 2015…
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Mr. Lif, by Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, May 5, 2016 MR. LIF Storming back from a lengthy, unplanned hiatus, Boston MC and Def Jux survivor Mr. Lif celebrates the release of “Don’t Look Down,” his first solo album in seven years and a compelling testament to his artistic resilience. May…
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Santigold, by Donald Bowers/Getty Images The ticket: Pop music Sunday, May 1, 2016 BOB MOULD “Patch the Sky,” released in March, finds this punk-rock veteran swinging for the fences with his customary mix of buzzy guitars, bubblegum melodies, and ferocious drive. Ted Leo, another indie-rock perennial, raises the curtain. May 1, 7 p.m. $25. Paradise…
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Horse Lords The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, April 28, 2016 DOPAPOD Last year’s three-night homestand by this charismatic Boston-born jam band ended with a nearly hourlong Pink Floyd cover that twisted through reggae, trance, and disco mutations. Will Dopapod attempt to top that feat? Find out here. April 28-30, 8 p.m. Tickets: $20, advance…
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WHO: Lea BertucciWHAT: Axis/AtlasWHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 8 p.m.WHERE: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, 230 The Fenway, BostonHOW: Non-Event Axis/Atlas by Lea Bertucci I caught wind of composer/sound artist Lea Bertucci first when she was roughly half of TwistyCat, an improv combo that played lots around New York's artier fringes. I say roughly…
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Julien Baker, by Ben Sklar/The New York Times The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 24, 2016 JULIEN BAKER She just played Cafe 939 in January, and already this Memphis singer-songwriter, who specializes in sweetly voiced memories and intimacies, is back again to play a bigger room. Listen to her latest album, “Sprained Ankle,” and the appeal…
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Slum Village The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, April 21, 2016 THE KING’S COURT TOUR: A TRIBUTE TO J. DILLA It’s been 10 years since James DeWitt Yancey, the gifted, influential Detroit hip-hop producer better known as J. Dilla, died of a rare blood disease at age 32. A prime mover behind neo-soul’s syncopated bump,…
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Tom Carter The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 17, 2016 Due to space concerns, these listings were trimmed in print. These are the untrimmed versions. MICHAEL HURLEY This roots-music maverick taped his 1964 debut LP on the same reel-to-reel machine used to capture Lead Belly’s last session; seems entirely plausible that some rare element stuck to…
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Melvins, by Mackie Osborne The week ahead: Pop & rockThursday, April 14, 2016 PRINCE RAMA A near-death experience on an Estonian island, a mountaintop album debut, a Central Park raccoon attack. . . hard to know where mythology ends and reality starts for psychedelic pranksters Taraka and Nimai Larson. One thing we know for sure:…
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Esperanza Spalding The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 10, 2016 RIHANNA The most surprising thing about this arena date with the potent Barbadian R&B star is that tickets can still be had. Don’t take it as a sign that Rihanna’s star has dipped since her last solo trek in 2013; view it as proof that her…
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Cloud Cult, by Graham Tolbert The week ahead: Rock & popThursday, April 7, 2016 2016 ROCK & ROLL RUMBLE Long viewed as the World Series of Boston rock, the Rumble rolls through the second half of its preliminary round, pitching heated battles among four worthy acts on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. (Semifinals will be…
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Gogol Bordello The ticket: Pop musicSunday, April 4, 2016 2016 ROCK & ROLL RUMBLE Long viewed as the World Series of Boston rock, the Rumble rolls out its preliminary-round shows on Sunday night, pitching heated battles among four worthy acts every night except for Wednesday. (Semifinals will be held April 15 and 16, and the…
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Tau Cross The week ahead: Rock & popThursday, March 31, 2016 SAVAGES Having put itself on the map everywhere with the short sharp shock of 2013 debut “Silence Yourself,” this explosively innovative London postpunk quartet broadens its perspective on the newly issued “Adore Life.” The musical attack remains edgy and lacerating, but the sentiments now…
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Flatbush Zombies, by Theo Wargo/Getty Images Since last week, when Boston Globe staff music critic Sarah Rodman departed for sunnier climes, I've taken over writing the paper's twice-weekly concert picks in the pop and rock category. Anyone who knows about the 13 years I spent at Time Out New York also knows that I've had…
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David Del Tredici, among the bravest composers I've come to know over the years — and among the most personable, too, as this candid and chatty 2012 interview with Seth Colter Walls shows — celebrates his 79th birthday today, March 16. Next year, with luck, will bring a plethora of round-anniversary-year performances, but right now…
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