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JONATHAN DONALDSON

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Olivia Tremor Control emerge from their time machine

An excellent adventure
Until recently, the hazy chronicle of the Athens-based Elephant 6 collective had begun to resemble a late-'90s high school yearbook.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | September 07, 2011

Ganglians | Still Living

Lefse (2011)
Perhaps because of the magical rays of the California sun — or maybe just a good-natured adventure with a bottle of peroxide — this time around, these Sacramento boys have turned beachy; and just in time to turn in one of the best records of the summer.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 16, 2011

The War on Drugs | Slave Ambient

Secretly Canadian (2011)
On Slave Ambient, Granduciel's love of tranced-out, yet strangely filtered arena rock jams is on full display.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 09, 2011

Nicole Atkins finds peace in her darkness

Fade to black
A lot seemed to go wrong for Atkins after Columbia Records released her classic-pop imbued debut Neptune City four years ago. The singer of the newly rechristened Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea watched everyone responsible for getting her signed to a coveted major label deal get fired within months.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 09, 2011

Newport Folk Festival expands its scope

Plugged into 2011
Indeed much has changed since the historic and genre-defining Newport Folk Festival resumed in 1986 after a 15-year hiatus.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | August 01, 2011

The In Out | The Venal Column

Sell You (2011)
The In Out are one of Boston's true underground rock bands.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | July 26, 2011

Ladybug Transistor in Boston with Hallelujah The Hills

The Ladybug Transistor create a new pop shade

Growth spurts
Brooklyn might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about overgrown blooms and country air. But for the past 16 years, Gary Olson of the Ladybug Transistor has made the city parks and street-lined canopies of Flatbush his own private garden.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | June 29, 2011

After two decades, the Del Fuegos find a personal cause for reunion

Making a right turn
At the Paradise, expect a celebration of Giessmann and Right Turn’s achievements and of the music of the Del Fuegos, as well as a promise of continuing to help others.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | June 27, 2011

The wyrd, wyld Welsh wyrld of Gruff Rhys

Animal on the loose
In his new film Separado!, Gruff Rhys is riding around São Paulo when his Brazilian driver asks the shaggy-haired musician where he is from.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | June 09, 2011

The complicated pop world of Sondre Lerche

Naming rights
Anyone who has spent any time with one of his albums knows that it's not going to be your typical grab-a-coffee, "how's-the-missus?" sort of day.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 26, 2011

Boris | Attention Please

Sargent House (2011)
Two new albums are out this week from Boris.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 25, 2011

Age Rings | Black Honey

Self-released (2011)
With the MP3 emerging as the king format these days, anything longer than a 40-minute CD is just too long.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 26, 2011

A reunited Papas Fritas find their way home

Around the world and back
The road from the first basement jam session to the indie-record deal isn't always clearly delineated with reflectors and mile markers — but hindsight usually reveals some kind of plan.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 12, 2011

From afar, Destry bring vintage allure to Boston

Cowboys in waiting
When Destry's Michelle DaRosa tells me she grew up watching musicals excessively, I find myself listening to her singing voice just to see what type of musical heroine she'd be.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 06, 2011

Julian Lynch | Terra

Underwater Peoples (2011)
Although experimentation in music nowadays is certainly in vogue, there aren't many records that will straddle the line between commercial plausibility and healthy art-for-art's-sake like Julian Lynch's Terra.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | May 06, 2011

Neutral Uke Hotel strum gaily over the sea

Flight from the hater brigade
Shawn Fogel of Golden Bloom knows that his latest stage act is a formula for potential enormous suckitude. Take one of indie rock's sacred cows — Neutral Milk Hotel's 1999 album In the Aeroplane over the Sea — and play the whole thing, straight through, on ukuleles. Then have the audacity to call it Neutral Uke Hotel.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | April 13, 2011

Cold allure of Toro y Moi

Wave lengths
Listening to the music of Toro y Moi, one can almost hear the years of juvenile tape swapping, the late-night DJ conversations, and even the city-kid confidence and swagger that it must take to put music this fresh — this good — on the map.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | April 12, 2011

Ron Sexsmith faces his doubts

Stepping out of the shadows
Shhhh. There's a middle-aged English music legend sleeping in the shadows. Look a little bit closer and you might see the outline of his fedora and iconic Buddy Holly glasses. I'm not going to say his name, but he's just one of the members of rock's royalty who frequently lauds Toronto-based songwriter Ron Sexsmith.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | March 24, 2011

Henry Rollins is a icon worthy of the Brattle

Fifty sense
Clocking more than 100 shows per year for multiple decades now, Henry Rollins is a clean-living, world-traveling, rapid fireball of neurosis. At 50, the former Black Flag frontman has become less of a punk-rock pundit and more of a genuinely funny orator at large.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | March 09, 2011

Mitch Easter brings his old-school Pro-Tools

Studio affects
Could some of rock's greatest albums possibly be produced in somebody's home studio, a by-product of the Garage Band generation? Underground-rock producer/nerd Mitch Easter doesn't think so.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | February 16, 2011

Sweden's Radio Dept. create musical graffiti

Art for pop's sake
Growing up in the small Swedish town of Björntorp, Johan Duncanson didn't have bright explosions of spray paint on underpasses to remind him that art could exist outside the lines of commercialism. Instead, music, movies, and comic books provided the language he could jump into.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | February 02, 2011

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