This past Saturday WFNX and The Boston Phoenix hosted the 2008 Best Music Poll concert featuring Death Cab for Cutie, The Presidents of the United States of America, Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls, Bob Mould, and Eli "Paperboy" Reed. The show proved to be an energetic mix of musical styles and genres that brought a wide cross section of fans to the Bank of America Pavilion. While Death Cab for Cutie, touring in support......

The Boston Phoenix's annual "Unsexiest Men" issue is one of their big events. Ever since they picked Gilbert Gottfried for the top of the list three years ago, they've earned national mentions for their audacity to call out guys for their ugly mugs. But the issue came out one week ago, and it was unsatisfying. So what went wrong with this year's list, which featured Roger Clemens on the cover? A quick glance revealed that......

--Coverage of yesterday's rally on the Common protesting Chinese repression in Tibet. [BU Daily Free Press, Boston Globe] --In protests of a more frivolous nature, it seems that someone has been publicly stating a problem with the Phoenix's Adult section. At first, we assumed the protest at Gary's Liquors in West Roxbury was that the section wasn't titillating enough, but we were wrong. [Universal Hub] --The National Transportation Safety Board says it won't probe commuter......

Matt Ashare is leaving the Boston Phoenix. The Weekly Dig broke the news and seems happy, as, for once, [they're not the ones in the news for alt-weekly staff turnover. Apparently the shakeup happened because the Phoenix's music coverage wasn't keeping on top of the trends. Sam Baltrusis at Loaded Gun notes that things might have gotten a tad crusty over there: "The Phoenix has the exact same editorial lineup it did when I left......

--The State Supreme Judicial Court just overturned the conviction of a Methuen ex-police officer accused of raping a woman in 2000. The case hinged on whether or not lawyers could prove the woman was "too intoxicated to consent, not that she was merely high and drunk." However, the SJC felt that the trial judge didn't give proper instructions to the jurors. The ex-officer will get a new trial. [Boston Globe] --In a similar case,......

--A new bill that limits--but doesn't ban--skin-shock treatments at the Judge Rotenberg Center was under discussion yesterday at the State House. The bill would "allow shocks to stop students from hurting themselves or others, but would prohibit shocks for more "minor" acts such as swearing, shouting, or failing to complete a task." And maybe employees could be a little more questioning instead of serving shocks whenever anyone calls up and asks for one. [Boston......

While on Meet the Press, when Tim Russert wasn't waving flip-flops in his face, Mitt Romney got teary when recalling the time in 1978 when he learned the Mormon church would accept black people. Some news outlets focused on the crying, such as the Boston Herald and Boston Daily. (At least one black Mormon wasn't impressed with the show because Romney didn't apologize for the church's discrimination.) Bostonist shrugged and figured all politicians have......

--Former Boston City Councilor, Albert "Dapper" O'Neil, who probably enjoyed the best nickname bestowed up on a councilor, passed away at age 87. The Globe used many adjectives to describe him, all of which can be freely interpreted, such as "irascible" and "colorful." He opposed desegregation and, in the words of the Globe, "railed against feminists, gays, and immigrants." [Boston Globe] --In a piece from 1997, Yvonne Abraham reflects on Dapper O'Neil's unusual appeal to......

Bostonist Pick: Ballermore Has Arrived .::. Shake 'Em Down @ Milky Way (Thurs) Bostonist has some good news for you: this is going to be an easy weekend on the liver. The bad news is that your two days of drinking, dancing and staying up into the wee New England-established hours begins tonight. There are two main events invading our city on the 4th, and first up is Shake 'Em Down, a dance party......

When The Boston Phoenix hit newsstands on Thursday, a month and a day had passed since Kelly Wallace was killed at the intersection of Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue in Allston. Wallace was riding her bicycle when the accident occurred on May 6 - her death marked the second Boston bicycle fatality in about a month. Two lives, two scenes, two ghost bicycles. According to the Phoenix story that ran late last month, Wallace wrote......

--The guy who threatened another Virginia Tech because he got dumped has been arraigned. Andrew Rosenblum must stay at his parents' home in Needham, and he has to wear a GPS monitoring device. BU and Wheelock College, the school that the recipients of his threatening e-mail attended, have banned him from their campuses. His lawyer called him an "immature young man." Indeed. Rosenblum is getting attention not just because he did something incredibly stupid. He......

In its end-of-year retrospective, The Boston Phoenix has produced one of the most scathing cultural critiques that strikes on a local and national level. David S. Bernstein asks hard questions about the public's fascination with brutalized, abused, missing, and murdered women. With a cover image of a battered woman, it seems that the Phoenix is exploiting the women-in-peril theme just like the Herald does. But the whole article asks why, if there are so many......

This weekend both NEMO and the Beantown Jazz festival will be taking place in town. NEMO is a showcase for New England artists, a networking opportunity for the little-known and the big fish. The performances will invade, occupy, and entertain at just about every venue in Boston. It's a great opportunity to see your favorite local band – or discover a favorite you never knew you had. It's a whole lot to take in,......

What's going on this week? Everyone is moving. Hipsters are swapping apartments in Allston. Scenesters are invading Cambridgeport. Undergrads and grad students are making their way into the new rental for September. The lucky ones have renewed their lease (or are keeping up with payments on the mortgage). The music you'll be hearing is blaring from the cab of the U-Haul and out of the windows of that f*ing third floor walk-up you offered......

The debacle that was Hot Stove, Cool Music last week has made us ready for a week of good music. The debacle in that it poured so hard they had to move the whole thing under the bleachers (inside). The sound quality was poor and James Taylor pulled a rock star move and only made the stage for a single song because he didn't have enough space. This week we're looking forward to cooler......

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. What's better than Bostonist ripping off lines of Beatles songs on a Monday? Checking out the Boy Least Likely To show at TT's. What's better than Bostonist ripping off Beatles lyrics on a Tuesday? The Aaron Goldberg Trio's Boston CD release party. What's better…oh you get the point. Check out this week's music picks for......

While perusing this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix we came across an ad for Old School Prom on the back page. It featured a young woman in yellow strapless prom dress, updo, and attitude-full look holding a massive mirror with the words "Now who's the fairest of them all?" written on it (as if to appeal to all the 'ugly duckings' out there who want to set the record straight). The details were......

The season finale has just aired for your favorite TV show. NBC hasn't run Must See TV on Thursdays for a decade. The sun is shining and temperatures will be perfect for showing up jacketless to the next performance. Something to do every night this week – and rock it out for free with the pop tunes from WBOS' EarthFest line up on Saturday, starting at noon. All this and we're tivo-ing the Sox/Yanks games......

Clea Simon is a local author who has published four books: Mad House: Growing Up in the Shadow of Mentally Ill Siblings, Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads, The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats, and her latest Mew is for Murder, is her lightest book to date, despite dealing with murder. After graduating from Harvard in 1983, Simon has been a committed member of the Cambridge......

Mention “music festival” this weekend and the hipster friends may immediately presume you’re talking about Austin City Limits. Out hipster them and clarify that Boston, in fact, has its own music festival in the brew this weekend: N.E.S.T. (North East Sticks Together). A series of 30+ (mostly music related) events at 6 venues over 7 days, N.E.S.T. spans all genres, deeming itself “a solid cross sampling of local artists.” Though N.E.S.T. claims that it......

Hey, remember when Bostonist was all "Whooo! Spoooooon!" and advised you to pick up tickets for their show? Bostonist sure hopes you did, because their Paradise show tonight is sold out, although craigslist tickets seem less jacked-up insane than normal. However, when your songs are on The O.C. and your album debuts at #40 on the Billboard charts, you can't sleep on buying tickets. Thanks, Josh Schwartz! There's a sold-out WFNX/The Boston Phoenix "Best Music......

It's very hard to write a good song about being sorry. Apologetic arias of song have a tendency to be devoid of anything approaching sex, danger, or anything else that makes music exciting, vital and alive. Maybe a soul-man could pull it off, but Bostonist can't recall a specific song that's applicable. Take Ruben Studdard's "Sorry 2004", a draggy effort where the forgotten Idol natters on about how he's sorry for...2004. It just raises......