Bostonist made our way to City Hall Plaza on Sunday to catch the 2008 Peace concert, a free hip hop event sponsored by the city and featuring classic hip hop artists EPMD, Das EFX, and Chubb Rock as headliners. We'd been hoping to get a shot of Our Popular Mayor popping and locking along with the b-boys. Instead, we ended up with drenched trousers and a long ride home on the Orange Line. The show......

Punketta Doilie Presents: SHELTER Saturday, February 2nd Machine Nightclub 1254 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02215 $7 before 10:30 / $10 after 21+ / 10p - 2a MySpace: Punketta Doilie Perceptions of the industrial scene in Boston from those who've never attended the nights nor have become acquainted with some of the individuals that frequent them can really miss the mark. While outsiders may view it as an isolated crowd ridden with a lot of......

DJ Spooky: That Subliminal Kid Institute of Contemporary Art January 24, 25, and 26 Rhythm Science, Experiment, Subliminal Strings Tickets $8-20 depending on performance Is That Subliminal Kid the best nickname a person could have or what? If you want it, though, too bad--it's taken by one Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky. That Subliminal Kid is sorta like the subtitle to his DJ name. When you're important enough to have a nominal......

Last year, at his annual State of the City address, Mayor Thomas Menino sought to prove the thesis of the recently released Nas album entitled "Hip Hop is Dead" by declaring that the rap community had given him the name "T-Mizzy." He might need some credibility and political capital with minority Bostonians after unveiling at last night's speech that he wants to save on school transportation costs by dismantling part of the city's busing......

On December 12th Berklee College of Music hosted a show (broadcast live for Sirius Canada) dedicated to the music of Canadian artists - rapper k-os and rockers The New Pornographers were billed as the headliners. The Canadian music scene has been on indie radars for a while now, and this show proved that the attention has been well deserved. The show began with performances by Canadian Berklee students, and while all the students showed......

Bostonist just left the 2007 Boston Music Awards, and while we'll have ruminations on the awards ceremony for your Sunday reading pleasure, you can find below the crop of winners from the 20th anniversary ceremony, presented here in chronological order: Outstanding Funk/Jam Band of the Year: Westbound Train Outstanding Blues/Soul Act of the Year: Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves Outstanding DJ/Dance Act of the Year: DJ BC Outstanding Rock Band of the Year:......

Or at least they need some sensitivity training. Via Universal Hub, we hear Harper's Ferry has some real racist assholes on its staff. There's one guy who was begging to be fired after insulting black hip-hop performer Bus Driver last week. Bus Driver promptly refused to perform, and the other act, Daedalus, followed suit. Etan at Basstown spoke with Regan Farquhar (aka Bus Driver) and his DJ. They say the sound guy at Harper's Ferry......

Monster Mash Halloween Benefit PA's Lounge, Union Square (356 Somerville Ave) October 29, 2007, 8:00 pm, 21+ $10 suggested donation Somerville's got good claim to the "Monster Mash" label. Bobby Pickett, responsible for penning the perennial Halloween hit (which is one of only three records to hit the Billboard Top 100 three separate times), was a Somerville native. Pickett passed away in April of this year, so this will be the world's first Halloween without......

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......

You know those TGIFriday's commercials, where they portray the hard workers of today sitting at a round table and laughing, drinking, and eating inexpensive but tasty comfort foods to celebrate the end of another work week? Not this time. This Friday, it's time for a fast, light meal and one or all of the variety of events going on in this city. It seems there's been a lot more nightlife lately, with parties happening left......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did some research and found that Massachusetts bridges......

Last night, author Dave Zirin said that when sports radio tries to tackle politics, the results are so ugly that "it's like imagining Mitt Romney wearing cornrows." Something's just not right. Zirin spoke at Brookline Booksmith last night about his fruitless experiences debating sports-radio chatterboxes. When Zirin tried to delve deeper into why people just love to hate on San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, the host kept asking Zirin if he'd ever measured Bonds' head......

On the brink of the Summer music scene, two weeks from EarthFest 2007 music doesn’t stop in Boston. Good shows are still to be had on the cheap before the summer festival season is truly upon us. Take a gander at this week's picks and keep on rocking. Wednesday 5/16 The Blow With the release of their latest record, Paper Television, Portland, Oregon's The Blow have finally hit their mark. Earlier recordings were scattered......

For a brief moment at Avalon Monday night, Bostonist felt like we'd been transported to 1964. Flanked on both sides by an eight piece, horn-fueled band, a young woman and her towering bee hive took the mic in front of a simple back drop strung with twinkling lights. Two male back-up singers, elegantly suited-up, began moving in unison. But this ain't no lame Motown review featuring tired, retro-dance moves. This is Amy "believe the hype"......

Yeah, it was inevitable. The backlash, that is. When the turbo-hype visited upon soul sensation Amy Winehouse in the UK started to pick-up steam stateside, it was only a matter of time before the chorus of praise would be matched by a groundswell of derision -- or what's the BFD questioning (at least one gawker simply can't understand what all the fuss is about). But when you set aside the tabloid tales of excess drinking......

French electronic producer and Tiger Sushi label founder Joakim Bouaziz released Monsters & Silly Songs in February, making a huge leap from his previous efforts. Having remixed Air, Annie, Stereolab and Fischerspooner, along with two previous albums that stayed true to the French electro genre, Monsters brings elements of post-punk and pop to the mix. Tonight at Axis, Joakim plays a DJ set in lieu of the live band he’s taken on tour (The Ectoplasmics)......

This Sunday Project Bread's Walk for Hunger takes over the streets of Boston, Newton, Watertown…oh, you get the picture. The walk starts in the morning and thousands of people will be walking to raise money to support food banks, soup kitchens, and other initiatives across the Commonwealth. There are lots of good shows going on this week – and it's capped off with a weekend extravaganza that includes both Arts First and Harvard Square's......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making......

Perhaps with all the recent hype surrounding UK soul sensation Amy Winehouse, you plum forgot about Alice Smith, who made a bit of a splash her own damn self last Fall. Smith's debut album For Lovers, Dreamers & Me on ultra hip UK underground hip hop label BBE (J Dilla, Pete Rock, DJ Vadim, "Return Of The Magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff," etc.) is just as impressive as Amy's heralded sophomore effort Back to Black. And......

A weekend stand of winning baseball at home when the Sox take it to the Angels followed by the all day boozy spectator sport that is the Boston Marathon it's going to be a long week. Lucky for music fans there's a lot to look forward to and keep you up all night with that lovely ringing in your ears that only comes from live music. Tuesday, 4/17 Sammy Miami's Southern Alternative Acoustic Jamboree......

If you look past the fact that the Sox are back at home for their first few games at Fenway this season you'll be able to hear a greater beat on the street. As is often the case there is more good live music going on in town this week than any one person could possibly listen to. Time to clone yourself so you can scoop up a standing room ticket to watch Dice-K......

As the saying goes April showers bring May flowers. We're willing to subscribe with that theory. April looks to be a bit soggy for us in the beginning, especially considering the current seven day forecast. That means that frolicking in the outdoors will be limited and heading into the haven of the local rock haunts will be plentiful. Lucky this week provides a host of great shows around the Boston area. Included this week......

With violence on the increase in the city we thought it might be a good time to remind ourselves of the good efforts being taken by those around the city. The Start Peace single is available via iTunes and you can listen to it on the group's myspace page. T-Mizzie should loop it on his iPod and make sure that the new Commish knows the hip-hop anthem.......

Since daylight savings time kicked it's been hard to get a good nights sleep. Up too late, and up again the next day too early. This week promises to keep us in that very same groove with a list of great music coming to Boston. Who needs sleep anyway? Don't forget to give your support to Exploit Boston Radio, they've got their fingers crossed that Congress and their favor of big label music will......

This week the music world turns its gaze to the party they call SXSW. A number of local bands are hitting the scene in hopes that it will propel them to some worldwide tour – or at least help them get out of that "garden level" apartment in Medford. While some eyes turn south to Texas where an immigration debate runs wild the US immigration policy has taken a toll on the local concert......

After the total lunar eclipse spiced up the night sky this past weekend we've got enough of the visuals. This week we're committed not to go see live music but to go hear live music. This week we're welcoming a few new contributors to the list, have a listen, will ya? Monday 3/5 Badly Drawn Boy It's okay to admit to liking British singer-songwriter Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy. He may write lyrics......

Tuesday was a difficult day for the city of Boston. How frequently do you find yourself having to choose between the Clipse and This American Life? More importantly, how do you choose? Pusha or Dan Savage? Malice or Kori Gardner? The Reupgang or Ira's Gang? The Middle East tried to mitigate these concerns by adding a Monday Clipse show several weeks out, but it was too little, too late for those who'd already bought......

Berklee and Essence have teamed up again this year to bring the best young talent out to compete in the Hip Hop Songwriting Contest. If you are, or know, an eligible teen (unsigned and between 15 and 18) the time is nigh. Deadline for submission is March 9. It's all for a good cause, helping to balance the message in hip hop music and giving young songwriters a stage and training, not to mention......

The state of the sidewalks around Boston kept us on our asses this weekend. Not so much of the figurative kind where we sat at home and skipped a show because it was too hard to get around. No, more the literal kind where we kept falling down because of that damn 2" layer of ice that was pretty much everywhere. This week they tell us that the temperature is rising by week's end.......