Paris is in jail, the Red Sox are on their way to California, Mitt is still running for president, but we're bringing it back to the clubs. Well, the clubs and urban outfitters. Some folks that seem like they've been around forever (dinosaur jr.) and those who legitimately have been around forever (Lee "scratch" Perry) come and visit the nontraditional and traditional venues, respectively, as part of this weeks music picks. Tuesday 6/5 The......

After a weekend of rain where all we heard was disgruntled Bostonians complaining, because that's what we do best, about the weather we rock into the week. Miraculously the Red Sox managed to play all their games this past weekend making us furiously check the forecast for WBOS' 14th annual EarthFest coming up this weekend. For us it marks the first of many outdoor events that will happen this summer, and it's Memorial Day......

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......

The April rain is seemingly behind us, the flowers are springing, but we're not yet upon summer festival season. Soon enough we won't be able to go a weekend without a sleepless night with ringing in our ears as we spent too many hours in the heat a little too close to a bank of speakers broadcasting to the masses. Well, that or a sweet show at Harbor Lights The Pavilion. Tuesday, 5/8 Grant-Lee......

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......

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......

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......

This week JazzBoston pulls together Jazz Week. More than 150 events, including concerts and lectures are held across the city. Jazz Week shines a light on the diverse and vibrant local jazz scene. It all wraps up with concerts on Sunday. A full line-up as available from the event website. Wednesday, 4/25 Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice Churning out strange, occasionally nostalgic, and frequently psychedelic Americana, James Toth distinguishes himself in the increasingly......

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......

April Fool's Day is on the Horizon, but we ain't foolin this week. A solid line up of shows – starting with the Tourfilter DJ Night at River Gods – is ahead. It's mid-week heavy this time around so kick it like a rock star and be thankful you can sleep in on Saturday. Monday, 3/26 TourFilter Mixtape Tourfilter founder Chris Marstall will be at River Gods in Cambridge equipped with an evening full......

Mariza is a young (thirty something) Fadista and follower of Amália Rodrigues. For those unfamiliar with the genre, fado is Portugal's melancholy folk music that incorporates elements of Argentine tango, Spanish flamenco, and Greek rebetika, all expressed with the gut wrenching lament of the blues. Mariza's music honors the deep tradition of Fado Português while breathing new life into the art form and gently pushing it in new directions. Her 2003 album Fado Curvo (curved......

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......

A little bit of SXSW and a little bit of Japan are converging tomorrow night in Central Square. The SXSW Japan Showcase makes a few U.S. stops in addition to the big indie weekend in Austin. And, lucky for those of us unable to make a pilgrimage to Texas, Japan Night drops by TT's this weekend. Japan Night includes garage punk band The 50 Kaitenz. In addition to strains of The Ramones (one of their......

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......

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.......

We're digging through the week's music finding that the best deal of the week for jilted lovers comes from Upstairs on the Square. Local rocker Ad Frank plays a show for only $13 for singles, it's $14,000 for couples. Other than that and the iPod DJ Night at River Gods (you can't do all Al Green) we're ignoring the occurance of Wednesday. You'll probably be too busy for music as you're buying flowers, chocolates,......

Frigid temps all week. Hot shows all week. Put them together and you've got a warm soul. Brave the cold and make it out this week, it will totally be worth it. Looking for a little inspiration while you're sitting at your desk this week? Plug in the headphones and pop on over to tourfilter to check out the HypeMachine powered mixtape. Look in the upper right corner and click mixtape, sort it by......

All of a sudden we've got winter. The bonus prize is that it came late enough that when we leave work at 5 o'clock there's still natural light – soon enough it will still be light when we reemerge from the commute home underground on the T. Until the next few weeks pass and we can taste the summer concert and festival season in the spring air we'll continue to keep jamming through the......

We could go on and on telling you about what's going on in the area for music this week. Sure, there are a few note-worthy shows noted below, but let pre-planning and sold out shows be damned just grab a scalped ticket to attend. Tourfilter is testing out a sweet new service that allows cell users to SMS (or txt whatever your preferred lingo) "tonight" to MSGME (that's 67463) and almost before you can......

In case you haven't heard the next week promises to show us the winter we've been missing out – only minus the snow. Cold temperatures (below freezing every day!) will be the rule according to the current outlook. Perfect time to head out to your favorite music venue. There's no better way we can think of to stay warm. This week you'll find the old, the new, the nerd, and some classical among the......

This week Boston is slowly creeping to Christmas with an eye peeled to what will be in store for when we break into the new year. What does that mean? A slow music week. The amps and turntables are keeping quiet this year as 103.3 FM spins all-Christmas all the time. Look forward to 2007 and the new year in music as this year winds down and you take to the iTunes downloading all......