Holy Fuck is a Toronto-based band that is always doing something just a little different. The electronic ensemble came into their style of music as a sort of challenge to themselves—to try something a little more experimental than a guitar band. The sound is structured around their aggressive beats, which they often craft from found rhythms from old Casio keyboards.

I’ve now officially seen it all at the Middle East. I had seen everything from rap to punk to belly dancing go down at the Cambridge venue, but I had never seen a 26 piece orchestra pack the downstairs stage. Christopher Pappas, a familiar Boston face for his work with the Everyday Visuals as well [...]

When Dan Snaith, the mastermind behind Caribou, slowly ascended onto the Middle East Downstairs stage last Thursday night, there was a stillness in anticipation of his signature kaleidoscopic, electro-psyche pop that would soon be filling the muggy, crowded air. Touring behind the newest album, Swim, released April 20th on Merge records, Snaith and his band, were all clad in matching white t-shirts and white pants.

Friday night the stage of the Middle East Downstairs was the site of an interstellar visit from math pop band, The Apples in Stereo. Captain Robert Schneider was adorned in a lab coat made of the same gleaming silver material worn in various styles–shoulder pads included–by the rest of his crew.

Elephant 6 Collective co-originators, The Apples In Stereo, have allegedly returned from the future to release what will be their seventh album, Travellers in Space and Time, out now via Yep Rock, Elephant 6, and Elijah Wood’s Simian Records.

Portland, Oregon’s The Thermals are all about reflection. On The Body, The Blood, The Machine, the group told of a post-apocalyptic society destroyed by the corruption of politics and religion. 2008’s Now We Can See gave us the story of dead man looking back on his life as he dissolved back into the earth. Wasting no time, the band jumped right back into the studio early this year to record their fifth L.P., titled Personal Life.

Tonight the Maia McDermott Memorial Concert will be held at the Middle East Nightclub Downstairs. Local acts Red Bellows, Faces on Film, Tony the Bookie, and Micah will take the stage to celebrate the life of Clinton, MA native, Maia McDermott, who tragically lost her life in a car accident several weeks ago.
“She had a [...]

It’s tough to fully emphasize the impact that The Feelies have had on modern music. Though the majority of their material was released in the 1980’s, the band’s surprising 2008 reunion has led to a new evaluation of their catalog (which is being remastered and reissued) and recast a light onto this legendary New Jersey band.

The last time I saw Ted Leo in concert, he was bleeding after inadvertently smashing his forehead into his microphone. “You’re bleeding!” someone in the audience cried out after an intense version of “Ballad of the Sin Eater.” Leo wiped his forehead, said “Oh… thanks,” and then proceeded to play two more songs, closing out his encore, unfazed. It is that level of of drive and intense devotion that fans have come to expect from the live show of Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, and at their most recent swing through Boston, none were disappointed.

Crossing the Williamsburg Bridge is an action required of those looking to observe Pitchfork favorites and college radio standard-makers in their natural habitat of Brooklyn.  Here in Boston, walking over the Longfellow or Mass Ave bridges will land you smack in the heart of Boston’s indie rock headquarters at the intersection of Brookline Street and [...]