There are countless reasons that Slaine has crushed the Boston rap game like a Budweiser can. For one, he tells the sort of bleak Boston tales that weren't always illustrated in hip-hop – stories about spots like Southie and Roslindale, which reek of their own unique stench. As important, though, is that Slaine hasn't alienated the rest of Hub hip-hop in the process – whether that means cats from Roxbury and Dorchester, or artists from outside of the immediate city like Termanology in Lawrence, or NBS and Lou Armstrong in Cambridge.
House music and techno's most senior DJs continue to deliver the strongest sets, as true to the music's roots in blues, funk, soul, and psychedelics as they are adventurous. Ali Shirazinia, who as DEBFIRE has mixed and produced, as boldly as anyone, for more than 20 years -- first as half of Deep Dish (with Sharam), and now solo -- dropped a set at Bijou Friday night both abstract and passionate.
Re-file this one into Awesome Everything Alert. Boston's BAD RABBITS -- and we say they're ours because it feels like they'll rightfully be everyone's very soon -- last week dropped a second single for new LP American Love, picking up right where "We Can Roll" left off. The Valentine's-Day-appropriate "Fall In Love" is another slow-burning banger ballad, another top-shelf strike of modern R&B that's primed for global recognition.
It's been a wild and woolly week since we broke the news that State Rep. Marty Walsh and Joyce Linehan -- the legendary rock publicist turned political rainmaker -- had teamed up to file HD3506, a bill to make "Roadrunner," by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, the official rock song of Massachusetts
OUR TAKE
Just out of female prison for sentences we never learn the details of, Vic and Flo move into Vic's quadraplegic uncle's remote Quebec home, more for the bed, board and isolation than out of any sense of filial piety. Soon enough their past comes back to haunt them, in the cute but sadistic form of Jackie, a sociopath from back in prison, who Flo made the mistake of crossing some time long ago.
One Brick Boston's Feb Social w/ Slumbrew is on Tuesday
Villa Victoria Celebrates Chinese New Year | Live entertainment including young artists from the Chinese Folk Art Workshop performing traditional music and dances, acrobats, drummers, and more | Villa Victoria Center for the Arts | Saturday, February 16 @ 3 pm | villavictoriaarts.
Last week, legendary bassist PETER HOOK dropped by the WFNX studio in Boston on February 7 to discuss his new book, "Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division," a few hours before his appearance at Brookline Booksmith. Naturally, having interviewed Hooky several times in the past, our conversation quickly shifted to his ongoing feud with New Order (figured we'd get it out of the way right at the top), as well the legacy of Ian Curtis, his former bands' enduring stature in music, and Joy Division's iconic 1979 debut record, Unknown Pleasures
"Drew B." asks:
1) Does Navy Seal and Businessman Gabriel Gomez do any better in this race than Marine and Businessman Sean Bielat did against Frank and Kennedy? 2) How many of the Republicans actually make the ballot?
On part one, I'm gonna guess Gomez does well -- not winning kind of well, but not embarrassing the party kind of well.
Editor's note: this is the first column in a new series from Chris Keene, singer/guitarist of Boston rock band Mean Creek. Follow them: @MeanCreek
In Martin Scorsese's 2005 BOB DYLAN documentary, No Direction Home Bob Neuwirth explains that in the underground folk scene of the 1960s, when someone was curious about whether an artist was worth checking out or not, they would ask, “Does he/she have something to say?” That’s how they judged an artist.
Brookline's Clay Observatory
Live streaming video of the asteroid begins at 6 pm
Hey, look: scientists tell us there's absolutely no connection between that crazy fucking meteor shit in Russia (click the link for the awesome NYTimes story, written by former Phoenix staffer Ellen Barry) and the huge-ass asteroid that's hurtling within a mere 17,000 miles of earth this afternoon.
"Christian" asks:
...who comes out in the top two of this primary for mayor: John Connolly, Marty Walsh, Rob Consalvo, Tito Jackson, Felix Arroyo, Ayanna Pressley, Mike Ross? How about when including John Fish in that group?
Pressley and Consalvo.
Or, I don't know, could be any of them, they're all strong candidates.
As suggested by the title, Rob Grant's Mon Ami (2012) is a buddy movie, but with a twist - as well as slashes, chops, spurts, gouges, and other standbys of the slasher genre. The two friends of the title plan a kidnapping, and it goes so gruesomely, hilariously wrong that they make the culprits in Fargo look like criminal masterminds.
"Holyoker" asks:
Do you have any take on the special to fill the state senate seat in Boston? Do see any other candidates beside the two who have announced? What is your assessment on their chances?
What do you care, if you're from Holyoke?
I covered this a little in the Phoenix this week. There is a third declared candidate, in addition to state representatives Nick Collins and Linda Dorcena Forry: Maureen Dahill of South Boston.
"Anonymous" asks via email:
Are you seeing any tea leaves regarding the special election in Everett for Stat Smith's vacant seat?
I assume all elections in Everett are decided by who's counting the votes.
But no, I really don't have a sense -- especially because none of the candidates have had to file any financial reports yet.
"David" (oops) "Matt" asks:
Brown's new gig at Fox raises the question: If the governor's race comes down to Grossman vs. Baker, then who wins?
Yeah, I'll agree with you that Brown doesn't look like he's planning to run for office in Massachusetts anytime soon.
My instinct is that 2014 shapes up for Charlie Baker to beat a Beacon Hill insider figure like Steve Grossman, if that's the match-up.
"Jesse" asks:
How do you feel about people like Rep. Sciortino or Sen. Clark already announcing their candidacy to replace Markey? Is it too early and assumes too much about how the Senate race plays out, meaning voters could be distracted? Or, is it smart for folks with lower name recognition to jump in so early? And finally, who do you think is the front runner for the seat -- Sciortino, Clark, or others?
"Iceman" asks:
Is Menino running for re-election or not? And if so, will anyone challenge him?
And "Jabari" asks:
Can you outline the timeline that will come into play for the Mayoral election and who will do what, when?
My answer to Iceman's questions is best summarized in the first section of my recent profile of Boston City Councilor John Connolly
OMG, it's AMA Day! Leave your questions in the comments to this post, or email them to dbernstein[a]phx.com (let me know if you wish to remain anonymous). I'll do my best to answer in posts throughout the day.
Looking forward to it!
To celebrate Jumpstart's 20th anniversary, the nonprofit's Boston Young Professionals Board decided to celebrate in true '20s fashion with a Gatsby-themed gala. Never ones to miss a chance at retro debauchery, we put on our dancing shoes and headed to Fort Point, where we followed some flappers across a nondescript lobby, into an elevator, and through a maze of hallways to a tucked-away ballroom where swing music blared and giggle water flowed.
Cats have long dominated the Interwebz. From LOLcats to Nyan Cat, Keyboard Cat to Party Cat, felines are far and away the hottest house pet online. We could watch "Henri, Paw de Deux" be existential and angsty on YouTube all day. (Though not, uh, on our work computers or anything.) So it seemed only natural that someone should collect the best of such videos and make a festival out of them, which is exactly what happened at Minneapolis's first-ever Internet Cat Video Film Festival last year.