Still a work in progress, the newly expanded Slainte stage area (walls busted down, but sightline-killing pillars still intact) has seen vast improvement in recent weeks. According to owner Ian Farnsworth, a dance floor, stage lighting (finally!), and proper sound setup are all on the way. This fresh real estate for performers and audience members alike works wonders, as for a seated show chairs can be pulled right up to the “stage,” while couch-dwellers can stay toward the front of the venue and keep their conversations (or heated matches of Apples To Apples) going without being too disruptive. For Burlington’s Seth Gallant’s opening set — think Bon Iver with more of a penchant for rock and roll noise — this worked well, with enough of the audience being attentive while the regulars could talk without detracting much from the show.
For this occasion, Jakob Battick had three Friends in tow, setting up in a line adjacent to the kitchen — and 75 percent in full view of the audience now (up from what would have been about 50 percent pre-sledgehammer). Lacking a drummer for the night, the band made do with bass, guitars, accordion, and some trumpet. Music as recorded on the new EP, Heavy the Mountains, Heavy are the Seas suffered little from the adapted arrangements, as the drums found there are sparse at most. The crowd was thin, but those who paid attention were fully consumed by the haunting waves of delayed guitars and vocals that filled the room — especially during a stunningly dreamlike rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.” Battick’s sound is developing at an alarming rate, getting bigger and darker with each move. Though still a young musician, it’s clear that the prolific songwriter has a lot of musical ideas inside him that will manifest publicly in the coming years.
Related:
Ghost stories, Wanting more, Photos: Most popular slideshows of 2009, More 
- Ghost stories
For all of the excitement that surrounded Wilco on the Maine State Pier or Sufjan Stevens at Port City Music Hall or the various sold-out Ray LaMontagne shows of the past year, there is no question that last Sunday's Phish show at the Cumberland County Civic Center was the biggest thing to hit our fair city in a very long time.
- Wanting more
After its triumphant traversal of the complete Béla Bartók string quartets at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Borromeo Quartet was back for a free 20th- and 21st-century program at Jordan Hall, leading off with an accomplished recent piece by the 24-year-old Egyptian composer Mohammed Fairuz, Lamentation and Satire.
- Photos: Most popular slideshows of 2009
Our most popular slideshows from the last year: including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Dale Bozzio's crazy cat house, and much more.
- 2009: The year in Classical
This was a queasy year for classical music.
- The future is now
Even with all the promise of the new year ahead, it's hard not to feel a little stiffed in the Future of Mankind department. Here it is, 2010, and there's nary a flying car to be seen.
- Swing, etc.
The music may suffer plenty of economic slings and arrows these days, but it's still full of thrills galore. As usual, it's looking outside of its orthodoxy for invigorating ideas. Here are titles you truly need.
- Beyond Dilla and Dipset
With a semi-sober face I'll claim that hip-hop in 2010 might deliver more than just posthumous Dilla discs, Dipset mixtapes, and a new ignoramus coke rapper whom critics pretend rhymes in triple-entendres.
- Local flavor
Local journalist and acclaimed hip-hop scribe Andrew Martin has corralled a flavorful roster of Rhody-based rap talent on the Ocean State Sampler , 10 exclusive tracks available for free download.
- John Harbison plus 10
Classical music in Boston is so rich, having to pick 10 special events for this winter preview is more like one-tenth of the performances I'm actually looking forward to.
- Best in their field
The jazz scene continues to struggle — along with everyone else — through hard times.
- Royal pain
Jesse Lortz is always ready to lay something heavy on you. As the primary architect and male half of Seattle indie-folk troubadours the Dutchess & the Duke (who come to T.T. the Bear's Place this Sunday), he spent their 2008 debut, She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke , contemplating loneliness, disgust, and death.
- Less
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New England Music News
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