PROVIDENCE

Swing, etc.

10 must-hear jazz discs
The music may suffer plenty of economic slings and arrows these days, but it's still full of thrills galore. As usual, it's looking outside of its orthodoxy for invigorating ideas. Here are titles you truly need.

By JIM MACNIE | December 29, 2009

Local flavor

Andrew Martin serves up fresh Ocean State Sampler
Local journalist and acclaimed hip-hop scribe Andrew Martin has corralled a flavorful roster of Rhody-based rap talent on the Ocean State Sampler , 10 exclusive tracks available for free download.

By CHRIS CONTI | December 30, 2009

Good and evil

Wicked is a grand spectacle of sights and sound
From L. Frank Baum's 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz came the 1939 film; from Gregory Maguire's 1995 book Wicked came the 2003 Broadway hit of the same name.

By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | December 30, 2009

The ‘business’ of art

Carey Young’s ‘Uncertain Contracts’ at the RISD Museum
You could be forgiven if you sometimes thought that corporations are the root of what's wrong with the United States.

By GREG COOK | December 30, 2009

Booked solid

A hefty season of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry
The holidays are over — time to hit the books.

By BARBARA HOFFERT | January 04, 2010

Beyond Dilla and Dipset

Can hip-hop deliver in 2010?
With a semi-sober face I'll claim that hip-hop in 2010 might deliver more than just posthumous Dilla discs, Dipset mixtapes, and a new ignoramus coke rapper whom critics pretend rhymes in triple-entendres.

By CHRIS FARAONE | December 29, 2009

The future is now

No teleportation, but lots of rad new albums
Even with all the promise of the new year ahead, it's hard not to feel a little stiffed in the Future of Mankind department. Here it is, 2010, and there's nary a flying car to be seen.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | January 04, 2010

Lite at the end of the tunnel?

Fun and games in post-apocalyptic Hollywood
If you had enough of the end of the world with 2012 , you might be relieved when it comes to 2010.

By PETER KEOUGH | January 04, 2010

Winter wonderland

Video games start the new year right
Do not adjust your calendar. Christmas has not been moved to March this year.

By MITCH KRPATA | January 04, 2010

'Fraid your shady maid escapades degrade

Dr. Lovemonkey answers your questions
Although I am only in my mid-20s, my wife and I have done very well in the past few years since graduating from college. Most of our friends, however, have not been so fortunate ...

By DR. LOVEMONKEY | December 29, 2009

Pop your cork!

Off the Couch
Rockin’ into 2010

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | December 29, 2009

Happy New Year 2010

Hoopleville
Hey, ya know what's great?

By DAVID KISH | December 30, 2009

Caprio's ad campaign quietly goes dark

Off the Air
A month-and-a-half ago, Treasurer Frank T. Caprio erased any doubt that he was running for governor with a splashy, front-page announcement of his candidacy and the launch of a $100,000-per-month advertising campaign.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 22, 2009

Local heroes, ’09 edition

From Suicide Bill & the Liquors to Roz Raskin & the Rice Cakes
The Rhode Island music community flourished in 2009, with new full-lengths from the Coming Weak, California Smile, and the pride of Cranston West and official big-leaguers Monty Are I, who released Break Through the Silence in September.

By CHRIS CONTI | December 22, 2009

Ten years of great sports

Boston's road from Loserville to Title Town
Moments after Adam Vinatieri's field goal split the uprights as the clock expired in the Louisiana Superdome on February 3, 2002, the streets of Boston were in bedlam. Drunk people dangled from trees and hung off lampposts. Motorists leaned on their horns. I saw a guy hug a cop

By MIKE MILIARD | December 22, 2009

Fourth-estate follies, 2009 edition

The Phoenix's second annual year in media malfeasance
Between the rise of the Web, the ADD-addling of America, the fragmentation of any national political consensus, and the devastated economy, working in the press can feel a bit like manning the Titanic — and this year, the entire industry seemed to teeter on the edge of oblivion.

By ADAM REILLY | December 28, 2009