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Music Features

Trail of tunes

Music al fresco at summer fests
The best summer music festivals take something from the season: the smell of the surf, the sight of the mountains, fireworks, lawn seating — or, at least, fried dough.

By CLEA SIMON | June 09, 2009

The Big Hurt: Pratt falls

Plus Ringo shills, Yanni sucks
Spencer Pratt, one of the vacuous props on MTV's realityesque moron drama The Hills , has his beady eyes set on a rap career.

By DAVID THORPE | June 08, 2009

Providence's Best Music Poll 2009

Vote for your favorite Providence and national bands
Vote for your favorite Providence and national bands

By PHOENIX STAFF | June 03, 2009

Weird and wired

A small band of electronic music acts take on a rock ’n’ roll city
It is, of course, difficult to attach a single sound to a city. And Providence is no exception.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | June 03, 2009

Anamanaguchi are a shock to the systems
What do you get when you cross NYU music-technology majors just out of their teens, vintage Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy gear, traditional rock-and-roll instruments, a mysterious, robot-building fellow named José with half a middle finger on one hand, and a shadowy underground network of info-spreading Swedes? No.

By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | June 05, 2009

Local color

Grizzly Bear try to break out of the blogosphere
It's become a commonplace to say that "indie" is too vague to mean anything useful, but that's not actually true.

By RICHARD BECK | May 28, 2009

The Big Hurt: Rock in a hard place

The economy makes music its bitch
Fear not, broke American: the music industry feels your pain.

By DAVID THORPE | May 18, 2009

Write. Record. Gig. Repeat.

The Propellers stay the course on The Propellers: 2
The Warren-based Propellers are yet another notable band putting in work for the Warren-based label 75OrLess Rec-ords, and their sophomore release, The Propellers: 2 , offers a gradual growth from their self-titled debut.

By CHRIS CONTI | May 13, 2009

Soundtrack of her life

St. Vincent's latest album, Actor , goes deep
"I think that I secretly wish I was a filmmaker." Annie Clark may consider this some real hush-hush info, but even a cursory listen to Actor , her latest album (as St. Vincent), makes clear her cinematic aspirations.

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | May 13, 2009

Get shorty

Lady Sovereign hits new heights
"It's not like Jay-Z saw me on the street and discovered me and made me into a superstar! I was doing my thing already."

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | April 30, 2009

Westward ho!

The Phoenix survives Coachella
Forgot those rabid right-wingers with their hateful teabags — Coachella had the range, and the machinery for change, and the spiritual thirst. Oh and Leonard Cohen.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | April 29, 2009

Giant step

The Low Anthem sign with Nonesuch Records
Indie-folk trio the Low Anthem — Jeff Prystowsky, Ben Knox Miller, and Jocie Adams — have signed with Nonesuch Records, which will re-release their highly-acclaimed disc, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, on June 9.

By CHRIS CONTI | April 15, 2009

French tickler

Voulez-vous coucher avec Sébastien Tellier?
"The French language is perfect for talking about sex," muses hirsute Parisian singer and electronic-musician Sébastien Tellier.

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | April 02, 2009

Things fall apart

Hip-hop finds room to move at South-By.
As hipster, electronic, indie-rock, and rap cultures converge, MCs are taking cues from their other-genre contemporaries who rely on everything from stage props and antics to self-mutilation in the quest to entertain.

By CHRIS FARAONE | March 25, 2009

South by Southwest 2009

A full report from SXSW, including videos, pictures, blog posts, and more.
Total coverage from SXSW

By MICHAEL BRODEUR AND CHRIS FARAONE | March 25, 2009

The Big Hurt: Weezy goes free, Miley turns bitter, Martin still lame

Music news in brief
The good news: the 2006 drug charges against Lil Wayne have been dropped after a judge ruled that the search leading to his arrest wasn't proper.

By DAVID THORPE | March 19, 2009

Guilty pleasure

A.C. [Carl] Newman talks pop and the making of his new album
A.C. Newman is on fire. One of indie rock's most prolific songwriters and performers, Newman has six albums to his credit this decade...

By MICHAEL ATCHISON | March 10, 2009

Counting backwards

Throwing Muses blow minds even as they push 30
When we listen to a song, whether it's an old favorite or a new sound, we rarely consider the circuitous path that the tune has taken to reach our ears.

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | March 11, 2009

The Big Hurt: We floss econo

Cleaning up rap's act could equal big savings
You might recall a slew of ominous articles in 2007 proclaiming that hip-hop was through. Sales were way down, and the culprits were clear: jewelry, violence, and naughty dancing.

By DAVID THORPE | March 11, 2009

Interview: Monty Are I

A shot at the 'big time'
Summer 2009 could be the defining moment of Monty Are I's decade-long musical endeavor. The sonic pride of Cranston West High are on the same label as the Killers and Fall Out Boy, and their big-league debut is due out this summer.

By CHRIS CONTI | February 25, 2009