Music

Elvis Presley | From Elvis in Memphis

RCA/Legacy
Elvis Presley temporarily avoided the obvious (and, one could argue, tragic) destiny of a washed-up parody with The '68 Comeback Special , a TV show that lifted the retaining wall of nodding yes men and lucrative movie contracts to reveal a mythic force continuing to pulse.

By ZETH LUNDY | July 28, 2009

Yacht | See Mystery Lights

DFA (2009)
One reason DFA is the label of records people want at their party is because the folks there have a sense of humor — be it James Murphy's prolonged deadpan hipster-papa martyrdom, the Juan Maclean's unconcealed boner for shitty piano pre-sets, or the smile-while-you-dance extravagance of Hercules and Love Affair.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | July 29, 2009

Psalms For The Deaf

Jared Paul Unleashes Prayers For Atheists
Sage Francis addressed the densely-populated crowd at Rock the Bells at Comcast Center last weekend: "This song helped get a friend of mine out of jail. Thank you to all who donated. This song is called 'Conspiracy to Riot.' Strange Famous fucking Records, Providence."

By CHRIS CONTI | July 21, 2009

Sax Ruins | Yawiquo

Ipecac (2009)
After a quarter-century of punishing, hyper-rhythmic acrobatics, drummer Tatsuya Yoshida has taken a sharp detour.

By MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | July 22, 2009

George Thorogood | The Dirty Dozen

Capitol (2009)
Before you press PLAY, you know what you're going to get on The Dirty Dozen : music to drink lots of beer by.

By JEFF TAMARKIN | July 22, 2009

Trife Diesel | Better Late Than Never

Trife da Label (2009)
For anyone who best understands things in white suburban terms, hip-hop is similar to lacrosse.

By CHRIS FARAONE | July 22, 2009

La Roux | La Roux

Polydor (2009)
Polydor (2009)

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 22, 2009

The Dead Weather | Horehound

Third Man (2009)
It's no coincidence that four of the 11 songs on the Dead Weather's debut — "I Cut like a Buffalo," "3 Birds," "Rocking Horse," and a cover of Bob Dylan's "New Pony" — make reference to the animal kingdom.

By MIKAEL WOOD | July 22, 2009

Magnolia Electric Co. | Josephine

Secretly Canadian (2009)
Even though it arose in part from tragedy, Josephine , the latest from Jason Molina and his band Magnolia Electric Co., may be one of Molina's lightest releases.

By RYAN STEWART | July 22, 2009

Feel-good hits of summer

Wheat's strange beauty
Life is unabashedly beautiful for Wheat founders (and Taunton natives) Brendan Harney and Scott Levesque. That sentiment echoes throughout their latest release, White Ink, Black Ink (The Rebel Group) — which is surprising considering their track record with major and indie labels over their dozen years in the business.

By CHRIS CONTI | July 14, 2009

IndieArts mania!

So much to do, all at once
Head down to the Greenwich Hotel THURSDAY (the 16th) and lounge with local acoustic troubadour DANIEL CHASE and Boston's SARAH BORRELLO (her piano-driven cover of "White Rabbit" is insane); never a cover and always 21+, call 401.884.4200 for more.

By PROVIDENCE ARTS STAFF | July 15, 2009

Dinosaur Jr. | Farm

Jagjaguwar (2009)
The much ballyhoo'd resurrection of the original Dino lineup a few years ago — with bassist/crybaby Lou Barlow and laconic-to-the-point-of-sometimes-seeming-retarded-or-maybe-dead frontman J Mascis burying the axe — saw the faithful turn ecstatic at the dropping of '07's Beyond .

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 14, 2009

Son Volt | American Central Dust

Rounder (2009)
With American Central Dust , Jay Farrar has now accomplished something he was unable to do either during Son Volt's initial run (1995-99) or his evidently aborted solo career (2001-04): released three consecutive albums of undeniable quality.

By JEFF TAMARKIN | July 15, 2009

Will C | Evil in the Mirror

Brick (2009)
The old adage that says "if you want to work in television, you should start by mopping floors at NBC" is usually bullshit.

By CHRIS FARAONE | July 15, 2009

Antiques | No Fortune

self-released (2009)
self-released (2009)

By IAN SANDS | July 14, 2009

Those Darlins | Self-titled

Oh Wow Dang (2009)
If summer finally decides to arrive this year, it'll have a heckuva soundtrack waiting for it.

By ZETH LUNDY | July 15, 2009

The Big Hurt: Oddest proposal

Music News in Brief
"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy," said Al Sharpton to Michael Jackson's children. "It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."

By DAVID THORPE | July 14, 2009

Back in action

Multitasking with Senior Discount
Veteran punk rock quartet Senior Discount returns to the live circuit this weekend, starting with the big Lupo's/WBRU Block Party on Friday and an early-bird slot at Club Hell on Saturday. And national retailer Hot Topic has invited the band to play a string of acoustic shows around New England throughout the summer (check myspace.com/seniordiscount for the full schedule).

By CHRIS CONTI | July 08, 2009

VIDEO: Michael Jackson's memorial service

Watch video of Michael Jackson's memorial in LA
Thousands attend Michael Jackson's memorial inside the Staples Center in LA

By PHOENIX STAFF | July 10, 2009

Raw brah

Why you need to shut up about Asher Roth
"My experience in college was that blunts started killing my lungs. I had to switch to joints. I mean, I was smoking like five or six blunts a day."

By CHRIS FARAONE | July 10, 2009