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No sleep ’til Brooklyn

Maine ties to Slumberland Records’ 20th anniversary weekend
There’s a lot to love about Slumberland Records, the DC-born, Oakland-based label that celebrated its 20th anniversary last weekend with sold-out shows in Washington, DC, and Brooklyn.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | November 18, 2009

The Big Hurt: Another Brown bagged

Plus Stockman sickened, Sublime subpoena'd,
Ian Brown: lady hitter?

By DAVID THORPE | November 11, 2009

Days of the New

The orchestral stylings of Rustic Overtones 2.0
When drummer Tony McNaboe delivered the burned copy of Rustic Overtones’ new full-length album, he tucked it inside the packaging of the re-released and re-mastered Long Division.

By SAM PFEIFLE | November 05, 2009

Blind ambition

Brother Ali is more than just albino
The only thing less common than Brother Ali–caliber MCs are profiles that don’t credit dude as “blind” and “albino” in the first graf.

By CHRIS FARAONE | November 05, 2009

Annie in Wonderland

St. Vincent gives an otherworldly performance on Actor
There wasn't much to know about St. Vincent when I first happened upon her in concert, in the middle of July 2007.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | October 21, 2009

Americana: land of progress

Califone’s peerless take on the future of roots-rock
You can listen to 30 seconds of any Califone song and get a fair idea of what the band is all about.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | October 14, 2009

Stars aligned

Cult heroes and superstars dot the region's fall concert calendar
The days are growing shorter, the magazines are (well, barely) getting larger and meatier, and the first batch of cider doughnuts is on the way real soon: all sure signs of autumn, as is the bountiful crop of prestigious concerts coming our way this season.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | September 16, 2009

Ripple effect

The 10 most influential bands of our first 10 years
The Portland Phoenix launched in 1999, just as the Portland music scene was turning.

By SAM PFEIFLE | September 16, 2009

Off the record?

Ten albums to get . . . while we still have albums
Pity the album. After a half-century of embarrassingly public body issues, our essential rock unit has not entered the new millennium looking very healthy. EPs are way more in vogue, MP3s have intangibility on their side, and 12-inches just sound impressive.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | September 14, 2009

The Big Hurt: Don't look back in anger

The best of times with the worst of bands
"You don't know what you've got till it's gone," Janet Jackson once famously sampled, and how true it is. Only now that Noel Gallagher has left in a firestorm of brotherly acrimony can I truly take stock of my feelings toward Oasis.

By DAVID THORPE | September 08, 2009

Better all the time

Get these Beatles reissues into your life
In 2006, Apple/EMI released the Beatles-soundtracked Cirque du Soleil companion piece Love , which mashed together songs from the band's repertoire in stunning remastered sound.

By ZETH LUNDY | September 08, 2009

Glorious bastards

Deerhunter's path from divisive buzz band to indie royalty
Few bands could serve as a better case study on the influence of Internet hype on mainstream media and popular acceptance than Deerhunter. Before the band "broke" in early 2007, to a glowing Pitchfork review of their album Cryptograms , the Atlanta four-piece were virtual unknowns nationally.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | September 02, 2009