If anything, the members of St. Helena, Jessie and I can agree on one thing: Allston bars, you’ve gotta knock it off with the Top 40 radio bonanza.  Patrick, Shawn, Chaeten, Magen and Keith all mirrored our distaste for the onslaught of Britney and Katy and Rihanna our ears were met with over the course [...]

When I think about the Boston music scene, I think of a big, boisterous group of people who support local music by going to each other’s shows, who promote the releases and events being put on by friends of theirs who also happen to be in local bands, and who can play the “Oh, you [...]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people collectively try to light a cigar as I did the night that Jessie and I wound up talking with MEandJOANCOLLINS in a deserted parking lot in Central Square. Jessie, Bo, Jen, Jen’s girlfriend, Kathleen, and I tried to assist at various points in the lighting [...]

“So, where are we going, Matt? What’s going on?”

As the fog rolled in off of Narragansett Bay and onto the main stage of the Newport Folk Festival, Jessie and I found ourselves scurrying up one of the hills contained within the walls of Fort Adams in hot pursuit of Deer Tick and the Ice Cream Man…

We first heard of Annie and the Beekeepers from the list of local favorites given to us by Rhode Island-based experimental folk upstarts The Low Anthem during an interview and, after their subsequent, awe-inspiring Brattle Theater performance, we absolutely trusted their opinion when it came to quality musicianship. So, when Annie Lynch, Ken Woodward and Alexandra Spalding came through Boston in support of their latest EP, The Squid Hell Sessions, recorded locally in Jamaica Plain, we we jumped at the chance to check them out.

Okay, so maybe we didn’t break the bank. But, golly it would have been an easy thing to do at the swanky BOND restaurant and lounge, located in the Langham Hotel in Post Office Square– that’s in the Financial District for those of you who are unfamiliar. The grassy square itself serves as a midday oasis for many a lunching office drone desperate for an escape from over-amped AC and fluorescent lighting but, you know, sometimes a patch of grass and some sunshine just doesn’t get the job done after a hard day at the office.

On May 22nd, Hallelujah the Hills took the stage Downstairs at the Middle East in front of a rowdy crowd… at 12:30 in the morning. Though the five bands on the bill that night were collectively responsible for filling the floor of the basement venue, the fact that the fans of You Can Be A Wesley, the Bon Savants, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Magic Magic all stuck around to see the set of the reputable headlining act speaks volumes about the appeal of Hallelujah the Hills and the nature of their city’s independent music scene in which they’ve maintained a popular status over the course of the past year.

There’s no denying it: The Antlers are indie darlings and have been since the release of their first album, Hospice, this past March. The band may be based in Brooklyn, but Pete, Mike and Darby have hardly spent any time recently in New York’s hipster haven: When we caught up with them before their Sunday set Upstairs at the Middle East a couple of weeks ago, Jessie and I were faced with three content, though slightly bewildered, guys who were making the last stop on a memorable jaunt about the country.

The past year has been a good one for the Luxury. Between playing for a packed house at the BankNorth Garden last August while opening for Coldplay, snagging the spotlight and the coveted title at WBCN’S reputable Rock N’ Roll Rumble and putting the finishing touches on In the Wake of What Won’t Change, their highly anticipated sophomore album, this Boston-based Brit pop quintet is in a prime position for musical prowess of epic proportions.

Jared Marsh of Taxpayer. Photo: Gabrielle Petraglia.
The men of Taxpayer are popular fellas.  In the hour and a half we spent with them sitting at a back table by the side door of the Middle East, a handful of moms clad in Taxpayer t-shirts and other excitable friends came over to say hi to [...]