Roy Orbison

Latest Articles

The Big Hurt: Weighing 2011 against decades past

The year in context
We can't truly understand 2011's place in music history until we weigh it against its counterparts from decades past, preferably in some sort of arbitrary jerk-off critical exercise. Hey, here's one
By DAVID THORPE | December 20, 2011

Lauren Rioux's hosses and regrets

Brighter days
In a town and state that really know their bluegrass and string-band music, Lauren Rioux has been doing a bit of hiding in plain sight.
By SAM PFEIFLE | September 07, 2011

A bankrobber downsizes

Annals of Crime
There's nothing like an art heist to make a journalist spout hyperbole.
By JOHN LARRABEE | April 13, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England.
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 10, 2009

Riot act

Girl Talk plays a little bit of everything
Girl Talk plays a little bit of everything
By MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG | November 17, 2008

Mirror ball

Fables of deconstruction
The stirring pop hits of the day can’t help but reflect the refracting cracked mirror of our nation’s increasingly emotion-laden psyche.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 08, 2008

Scott Walker

’Til The Band Comes In | Water
This is one of the classic artistic-breakdown albums, as revelatory as the Beach Boys’ Wild Honey or the Beatles’ Let it Be .
By GUSTAVO TURNER | August 26, 2008

Johnny Carlevale and the Rollin’ Pins live it up

Gettin' real gone
Over the years, Providence’s Johnny Carlevale has served as a kind of musical archivist.
By BOB GULLA | June 10, 2008

Man of the Century

The late, great Bo Diddley helped put Lupo’s on the map
Bo Diddley, a particular favorite of Lupo, was the first “name” performer to play the club.
By PHILLIPE + JORGE | June 04, 2008

Vampire weeknight

Tiger Army bring the horror show
Sunshine is so overrated.
By BARRY THOMPSON | May 06, 2008

Skin deep

‘Maori Tattoo’ at the Peabody Essex, Jim Henderson and Ann Torke at Boston Sculptors, and Student Shows at the MFA and SMFA
The facial and body tattoos of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people were originally chiseled into the skin by means of an albatross bone and vegetable-based pigments.
By RANDI HOPKINS | February 12, 2008

Reelin’ ’n’ rockin’

Deer Tick runs the gamut
Deer Tick singer John McCauley’s lived-in anthems harken back to the old-school traditions of Nashville, a boozy world of dim lights, thick smoke, and loud, loud music.
By ANDREA FELDMAN | February 06, 2008

Prime time

Heeere’s . . . Johnny Cash!
To many political conservatives during Vietnam, championing the music of Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Joni Mitchell was the equivalent of French-kissing Chairman Mao.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | October 23, 2007

Do you believe in Magic?

Bruce Springsteen returns to the E Street Band
On Magic (Columbia), Bruce Springsteen’s first album with the E Street Band in five years, not everything is what it seems.
By JEFF TAMARKIN | October 01, 2007

Fabulous fakes

Charmed by the Traveling Wilburys
If “The Basement Tapes” had been conceived for the Top 40, it might have sounded much like the Traveling Wilburys.
By CHARLES TAYLOR | August 10, 2007

Devilution

Glenn Danzig reveals his Lost Tracks
There’s an interesting moment in the new memoir by former Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, when the author finds himself on tour with Danzig and Marilyn Manson.
By JAMES PARKER | July 09, 2007

Citadel of sound

Nashville’s RCA Studio B celebrates its 50th
Before the digital universe expanded, serious home recording was just a dream.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | July 03, 2007

An old poet

Willie Nelson, Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion, Gilford, NH, June 15, 2007
Sometime after the lights went out, Willie Nelson walked on stage.
By ELLEE DEAN | June 19, 2007

All dolled up

Yes, Virginia, but there’s more to the local scene than Amanda and Brian
We have seen the face of Boston rock and roll, and it’s got painted-on eyebrows.
By BRETT MILANO | June 06, 2007

Waters runs deep

Lunch with director John Waters
This article originally appeared in the June 23, 1981 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By OWEN GLEIBERMAN | November 15, 2006

Hidden Cameras

Awoo | Arts & Crafts
Much like Stephin Merritt’s Magnetic Fields, the Hidden Cameras have evolved from something of a bedroom-demo recording project into a fully orchestrated studio band complete with cello, viola, glockenspiel, upright bass, and the like. Hidden Cameras, "Death of a Tune" (mp3) Hidden Cameras, "Awoo" (mp3)
By MATT ASHARE | November 07, 2006

Raising Hell

Daughters’ hardcore mayhem; Eric Fontana; Coat of Arms
It could be that with the new Daughters album, Hell Songs , we’ve reached the end of the sonic line.
By BOB GULLA | August 08, 2006

John Waters runs deep

The director discusses Pink Flamingos
Lunch with director John Waters. The menu: delicately-spiced Vietnamese eggrolls. The conversation topic: eating shit.
By OWEN GLIEBERMAN | June 21, 2006

Art and politics

T Bone Burnett stakes his claim
The canny Texas-born songwriter T Bone Burnett hasn’t stepped into the footlights for — at least metaphorically — 14 years now.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | May 31, 2006

Stardust memories

Willie Nelson gets to know Cindy Walker
“To become immortal, and then die.”
By CHARLES TAYLOR | May 17, 2006

Beneficial pop

Bake sale for Baker; roadrunning at P.A.’s
They were calling it the “Who Stole Baker’s Shit!” benefit, but the mood at T.T. the Bear’s Place in Central Square last Tuesday night was more neighborhood spaghetti supper than riled-up rock show.
By SARAH TOMLINSON | January 28, 2010