Most up-and-coming indie rock bands would be thrilled just to land on revered Omaha-based label Saddle Creek, which grew up around longtime friends turned breakout acts Bright Eyes and the Faint. But it was a particularly sweet homecoming for Stephen Pedersen in August when Saddle Creek released ”When We Break,” the sophomore album by his […]
CAMBRIDGE — It’s not just any rock musician who earns cheers for pulling out a flute. But Gustav Ejstes, the mastermind behind Swedish psychedelic rock band Dungen, has got something special going on. Downstairs at the Middle East Thursday night, he held a good-size crowd rapt during an hourlong set, sung entirely in Swedish, that […]
Madeleine Peyroux showcased the supremacy of a powerful song — and the remarkable instrument the human voice can be — at the Berklee Performance Center Tuesday night. She may be young, but her smoky vocals bear an uncanny resemblance to the late Billie Holiday’s. Her wise, emotionally resonant renditions of blues and country standards manage […]
It’ll be a real toss up as to what’s lovelier at the Hatch Shell on Thursday night: The view of the Charles River on a late summer’s evening, or the music drifting down from the stage. The free show features indie stalwarts Spoon (right), the quartet from Austin, Texas, that broke free of a reputation […]
”I am a confused, sloppy, childish, conflicted mess,” Juliana Hatfield confesses in the personal statement accompanying ”Made in China,” her first solo album for her own label, Ye Olde Records. The local singer-songwriter has made a career of such candor since breaking out with the Blake Babies in the late ’80s and as a prolific […]
Commercials don’t necessarily mesh with indie rock’s free-spirited autonomy, but just try to argue with their power to propel unknown acts into the mainstream consciousness. It happened for the Dandy Warhols when ”Bohemian Like You” landed in a European cellphone ad campaign. And now, the sinuous organ scratch and cantering beat of ”Jerk It Out” […]
Lo-fi pioneer Lou Barlow is nothing if not candid. That approach applies both to his literate, heartfelt songwriting for seminal indie-rock bands Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, and the Folk Implosion, and to the barbs he aimed at his former bandmates after they parted ways. And so he uses the title of his first proper solo album […]
Sarah Tomlinson The Pogues, “Fairytale of New York,” If I Should Fall From Grace With God(Island, 1988): “An obvious holiday favorite, sure, but I got into the Pogues because my mom was a big fan of their music, so this song has been a classic at my house for years. I can’t hear the opening piano melody […]
“It’s a Miracle” on this, the fourth full-length album by Scotland’s long-time jangle-pop practitioners, attests to what Trashcan Sinatras do best — blissful, lushly orchestrated pop. It could also be a comment on the album’s existence. The band members must be pinching themselves as they release their first new album in eight years on indie […]
Sometimes a band just nails it, like a moment early on this, Rilo Kiley’s third album. It’s in the song “Does He Love You,” which expands from lush, string-laced ballad to sinuous rocker as singer Jenny Lewis roars: “And your husband will never leave you, he will never leave you for me.” It captures the […]
