Breaking into December and we've finally seen snow. It was brief. If you slept in this morning you likely missed it. Since the cold weather seems like it might finally be upon us we're looking for a way to stay warm. A sure fire way to keep the blood running warm through your veins is to check out a packed rock show with a couple hundred of your closest friends. The local show pick......

If you ventured out after Thursday's holiday to participate in the great American tradition – shopping – you likely were subjected to all sorts of Christmas music. From Clay's Merry Christmas with Love to Nat King Cole's classics it's upon us. More and more radio stations are picking up the radio formatting. It may not be "too early" but it's certainly not what you'll find if you check out this weeks shows. And remember......

The week starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. Houstonist is there to start compiling the punditry when when the guilty, guilty Enron verdict comes down. This guy seems to be able......

Okay, like Bostonist, you’ve seen a few of the recent Boston performances by Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Radio 4, and/or !!!/Out Hud, and love most of the post-punk revival bands, right? (If not, we’ll forgive you for skipping over this post). And as for the early ‘80s groups whose angular, dance rock sound today’s bands are reviving (or sometimes merely deriving), well, damn, you can name check with the best of ‘em. Gang of Four,......

For those who were looking, British rockers Bloc Party could be spotted on Landsdowne St. this past September. For those with great foresight, the foursome could be found down Comm Ave. in BU’s backyard months earlier. And for those who missed them altogether in 2005, an early DVD release will hold us over until a new album draws them back across the Atlantic. Within six months, Bloc Party graduated from The Paradise to The Avalon......

We live in an iTunes nation. It's easy to pull a track down to your pod for under a buck. Bostonist still longs for cover art, liner notes, and that masterwork that is a multi-track collection of songs we call an album. Listed here is our much discussed, unbiased by payola, top 25 albums of 2005. After the jump you'll find where some of us stand individually on the subject of the years best. (Apparently......

Bostonist will check out the much-hyped (UK: festival appearances/ US: The OC appearance), small-town band The Subways from Britain trying to make the world their garage in the young group’s first stateside tour. Forgoing current angular, dance rock motifs (Franz Ferdinand) and pre-empting the American arrival of their debut album Young for Eternity with a live serving of one-foot-in-the-gutter three-piece pop in Allston, The Subways will face the gauntlet set by a city ravenously devouring......

Bostonist had good intentions of writing a full-bodied concert round up to feature the wonder, whimsy and rock of The Decemberists and Franz Ferdinand, both gracing Boston with their presence last week. Quite unfortunately, review of the latter was prevented by a dramatic series of events on Saturday night, including the slam of a guest list against the Orpheum will call window, the insensitive throw of an Ohio drivers' license back through the copper ticket......

Tonight at the Paradise in Allston, Bloc Party makes its Boston debut to a sold out crowd. Hailing from London, Pitchfork describes BP as "big sound, big hooks, energetic performances, ambition-- all the things that make rock bands sound skilled and confident". Riding the hype of their new album, Silent Alarm, Bloc Party have become media darlings. Although the Globe compares them to Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party's sound is more......