I’m going to be completely honest, here. I’ve never been the world’s biggest BELLE & SEBASTIAN fan (my kind of sorrowful British twee-pop aligns itself with other artists better), but I’ve always had a tremendous soft spot for STEVIE JACKSON'S voice. He’s a lovely singer, and his voice, in contrast to Stuart Murdoch, has always had such feeling in it.

Previewing a niche festival like MOVEMENT -- some six states and 832 miles away -- only two days before it gets underway is always a rather moot effort. Either it's been on your radar for months and you're chomping at the bit to hit the road. Or you haven't got a clue what the fuck I'm talking about and you'll dutifully ignore everything that's forthcoming.

The xx are at the Wilbur on July 31

On Sale Thursday, May 24

AT NOON

Foxes | July 10 at Brighton Music Hall | $12 | On sale @ ticketmaster.com

Ana Tijouz | July 16 at Brighton Music Hall | $20 | On sale @ ticketmaster.com

Right Away, Great Captain! | July 19 at Brighton Music Hall | $15 | On sale @ ticketmaster.

In the four years since the Silver Jews toured with HALLELUJAH THE HILLS, Jews singer David Berman retired from the music biz to do whatever it is he does otherwise, and the erstwhile lo-fi stalwarts disbanded. Meanwhile, Jah Hills’ Ryan Walsh and Co. marinated in the latter half of the Jews’ oeuvre. The result is “Get Me in a Room,” the first track off new long-player No One Knows What Happens Next, Hallelujah the Hills’ first record since 2009’s Colonial Drones

I first heard about MEET YOUR BEAT several months ago, when co-founder AARON ESKEETS posted a video of Andre Obin's performance at Radio. It wasn't just a single-song video clip, shot by Flipcam or camera phone -- it was Obin's entire, 30-minute-long electronic-pop set, with quality audio and different angles to help break up the visual monotony.

The greatest revenge, in some ways, is persevering long enough to prove your detractors wrong. In the case of mid-'70s rock/punk/metal misfits The Dictators, they somehow went from being rock rejects to pre-punk legends, largely on the strength of their initial three-album run. 1975's Go Girl Crazy is a way-ahead-of-its-time juggernaut of riffs, jokes, and crushing rock.

The problem that most of the internet has with HBO’s Girls is that the showrunner, 24-year-old Lena Dunham, is the daughter of famous artist Laurie Simmons. Tons of the cast and crew are the children of people who are even more famous than her mom, and a lot of the angst regarding it has centered around charges of “nepotism” on the part of the network.

Success in rock and roll is often about being in the right place at the right time-- but sometimes it's also about adapting enough to eventually make your aesthetic matter in the ever-shifting tectonic surface of music culture. Ross Friedman, aka ROSS THE BOSS, is a Zelig-esque figure in the world of rock, in the sense that if people don't know his name, they know his influence: he not only changed punk with his way-ahead-of-their-time 70s project THE DICTATORS, but he switched to heavy metal and pushed it way way way over-the-top with 80s behemoths MANOWAR

It's been five days since ADAM 12's final broadcast last week on WFNX 101.7 FM, the result of the sale of the alt-rock station's FM frequency to Clear Channel, and people both online and IRL are still talking about it. Most likely a result of people constantly asking him what he played -- he's probably gotten a bunch of questions like "Hey, what was that awesome song you spun at 4pm?!?!"' -- this afternoon the on-air host posted his entire five-hour playlist

We'll most certainly have more deets on this in the pages of the Phoenix as the July date draws near, but here's a quick heads up: ALLSTON DIY FEST has released its 2012 band lineup. Looks pretty sweet on first glance -- everyone needs to see CreaturoS outdoors at least once before they die -- and this is certainly a fun way to spend a summer Saturday in beautiful and scenic Ringer Park in Allston.

Need a party remedy for the grey skies overhead? Disco + house music night PETROL celebrates its third anniversary tonight at Middlesex Lounge, enlisting New York crew Death From Above to keep the beat moving. DFA A&R guy and established DJ Justin Miller and the Juan Maclean crash Cambridge to help blow out the boogie candles, and resident DJs James Gerard, Greg Teves, and William John add some familiar flavor to the booth.

Boston Accents is dead! Long live Boston Accents!

So here’s the deal: BOSTON ACCENTS has been granted a stay of execution by WFNX program director Paul Driscoll (thx bb), and will stay on the air for the duration of the station’s lifespan. Transferring the 101.7 FM frequency could take several weeks, possibly even up to 60 days.

I think it was about this time last year we all started blowing ourselves in excitement over M83’s “Midnight City,” tripping over our sexy sax erections in declaring it –- before anyone else! -– the highly-coveted “Song of the Summer.” For once, everyone was right. Joint was the Song of the Year.

Because we’re up a goal, we’ll roll the dice this year and bet this new jam from Swedish pop duo ICONA POP will be in everyone’s Discman through Labor Day, inspiring dance parties on subway platforms and backyard BBQ from Stockbridge to Stockholm.