Music Annie Clark went to Berklee, paid her indie-cred dues in Sufjan Stevens' touring band and the Polyphonic Spree, and named her solo project St. Vincent after a church where which she fell in love and the hospital where Dylan Thomas died. Her songs are chamber pop clad in synthesizers and charm. Middle East Downstairs, 8 pm, 18+, $12. Carnal Carnival Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys know how to throw a......

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......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Friday 7/14 They Came Back (Les Revenants) The dead return by the thousands, but they're the French dead: their hunger is existential. (American and Italian zombies, with traditional brain-eating values, will return next weekend.) Museum of Fine Arts, Remis Auditorium 6 pm, $10 They Came......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Opening Friday 7/7 A Scanner Darkly Waking Life Bostonist is crossing her fingers that Richard Linklater's well-cast and lovingly-animated Philip K. Dick adaptation will strike the right tone of near-future uneasiness (like Bladerunner did) and eschew chase scenes and tacked-on Hollywood endings (like Total Recall......

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......

Sufjan Stevens and the Illinoisemakers wowed a sold-out Somerville Theatre audience last night with big sounds and pep rally pageantry. Arriving at 7:45 pm, 15 minutes before the opening act Laura Veirs took stage, the line of anticipating fans extended down the block past the Someday Café. Bostonist, failing to foresee such a broad display of punctuality, was forced to settle for a remote corner of the upper balcony. But despite the compromised location......

Back in early August, Bostonist advised the timely purchase of tickets to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, performing at TT the Bears on September 14. Clearly someone was listening because the show has long sold out and a frenzy of desperate Craigslist posts (buying, not selling) has since ensued. The story follows suit for Sufjan Stevens, playing with Laura Veirs at the Somerville Theatre on September 8. Fortunately, the lineup of highly lauded bands......