|
Boston Globe -- Joan Anderman columns
|
|
|
-
The permanent revolution
For anyone out there with several thousand disposable dollars and a place on the mantel for the Sex Pistols' first press release - announcing the arrival of four teenagers who hate everything - this is your cultural moment. Three decades after punk exploded in a brief but potent fit of abrasion, alienation, and anarchy, the auction house Christie's is holding ...
-
Still a rock star
Pink is a rare bird: a pop star who gets real and gets on the charts. She brings an interior life to factory-assembled fluff and rocks stupid riffs with real soul. Glitzy dance-floor anthems and loaded confessionals go toe-to-toe in her musical playbook. And Pink's got a sense of humor, an immensely appealing and elusive quality among multiplatinum divas, and ...
-
Things are looking down, so Billy Bragg steps up
SOMERVILLE - It's a good time to be a Billy Bragg fan. With the economy crumbling, an election looming, and an unpopular war dragging on, protest and love songs benefit from a sense of urgency that invariably ebbs and flows with the historical tides.
-
Voice of reason
"What a pretty voice. But what's the matter with your chart? Find out and fix it."
-
Take 5
Joan Anderman's picks for live music this weekend ROCK
-
Local arts world wobbles as patrons feel squeeze
Deep discounts at the mall are de rigueur, but at Symphony Hall? Tickets for the Oct. 4 Boston Symphony Orchestra concert featuring André Previn were sold at half price - and they threw in a free drink. This isn't the first time the BSO has slashed prices for a slow-selling show. But it is a sign of the economic times.
-
Connecting with TV on the Radio
Like industrious children with a trunk of old toys, TV on the Radio cherry-picks pop sounds and uses its collective imagination to build something fascinating and fresh. Yes, it's rock 'n' roll. It's also gospel, noise, funk, ambient, alternative, post-punk, doo-wop, blues, and electronica. On Monday, for a full house at the Wilbur Theatre, TVOTR played a smart, serious set ...
-
At 50, Madonna has golden opportunity
Madonna turned 50 this year. That's a watershed for a woman and a pop star, the incontrovertible borderline between youth and what comes after. For some it's a time of reckoning and reflection. For others it's time to hit the panic button. Madonna celebrated by giving herself a new body and another dance record.
-
Does that sound familiar? Blame it on John Mayer.
In August I dutifully arrived at the Rod Stewart show at the Comcast Center in time to catch the opening act, Josh Kelley. Kelley, known to gossip hounds as Mr. Katherine Heigl, is a singer-songwriter. He writes pop-rock tunes, plays the guitar and the piano, and sings well. He's attractive and personable. His songs are sturdy and pretty. And he ...
-
Behind the sound of a late revival
Rarities collections are windows on the creative process, and the thoughtful ones offer illuminating glimpses of songs in raw demo form, alternate versions that didn't make the cut, an obscure live performance, or a tune that's never been released. With a musician as important as Bob Dylan, our appetite for fresh material and new insights is as deep as the ...
-
Take 5
Joan Anderman's picks for live music this weekend.
|
|
