Blog-lauded tapes 'n tapes from Minneapolis were characteristically well received by a Cambridge crowd Monday night Downstairs at the Middle East. This reception, for a group with a hodgepodge of influences (they drum up memories of any number of your favorite bands, or just your friends’ bands), reminded Bostonist of a comment posted by a discerning reader and a Phoenix article a few months back. Not that tapes 'n tapes should serve as the... [continue]

Okay, maybe they're not everybody's favorite band, but Philadelphia's Marah are The Cheers of bands. They capture and embody the anywhere-hometown feel that the TV-bar brought home, with the exception of Cliffy's thick accent. A bar band's bar band, Marah transcend the (typical) boozing and banter with solid songwriting and a rounded-out lineup of professionals that promise to deliver the show-stopping tunes that usually require plentiful pitchers and familiar company to get your neighborhood... [continue]

If you’re begrudging the workweek that put an end to the beautiful weekend the Bean just basked in, a morning at the beach in Southie seems like a satisfactory way to start the next. All the better to be there for a good cause: a fundraiser for multiple myeloma, a cancer of blood plasma cells that affects more than 50,000 Americans. The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is working to bring this disease to its... [continue]

Filter Magazine, along with a few other corporate sponsors, including Honda, and local establishments Fenway Recordings and The Weekly Dig are hosting a free show from NY’s The Walkmen in Boston tonight. Yes free. Yes, the same Walkmen who sold out the Middle East a month ago. Just get your act together and your internet-wandering backside over to this Filter link and RSVP. Oh, and don’t stop too many times along the way over... [continue]

Great Scott continues to pet our pleasure principle with a local showcase of sorts to complement recent national and international acts that have played the Allston venue. Saturday night, feel free to bite the hand that feeds you because some of the best that Boston has to offer will be sharing the stage. Alt-country local supergroup Frank Smith are celebrating the release of their album Red on White. This is a great chance to... [continue]

While Scottish indie rock royalty Belle and Sebastian created enough of a stir to demand two sold-out shows along with The New Pornographers at the Avalon, our friends at Great Scott managed to tap into the demand for delectable sweetness by teaming up with Fenway Recordings to launch the North American tour of English duo The Boy Least Likely To. Forty-five minutes of TBLLT and suddenly Belle and Sebastian seemed like a group of thugs.... [continue]

SFist hit on Of Montreal’s aesthetic nicely when they interviewed Kevin Barnes back in January, as the singer acknowledged part of his band’s appeal: “we’re naturally inclined to let the freak flag fly.” This penchant for flamboyant originality materialized itself on Oscar night, as Kevin appeared onstage in full-bridal regalia, marrying himself to the sold-out crowd. And it never let up, as the 5-piece OM went off on a drum-themed tangent enlisting help from... [continue]

Animal Collective, Avalon, 2.21.06 Avoiding misnomers and labels and subverting expectations, Animal Collective performed a mix of sounds and songs that were incredibly familiar to Boston fans in attendance. Last year at the Middle East downstairs, the foursome worked through material that would become one of the finest albums of the year, Feels, as well as a choice or two from Sung Tongs. That show was veiled in a blanket of shadows and sweat, with... [continue]

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