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DANIEL BROCKMAN

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Post-masters

47 releases in, Wire can still get it up
In the annals of rock-and-roll-origin stories, Colin Newman, singer/guitarist for the pinned-down cynical conceptualist rock band Wire, has one of the odder ones.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 02, 2008

Dungen | 4

Kemado (2008)
The playing is looser and rougher than you might expect, with tons of drum fills that teeter on the verge of sloppy, but this adds to Dungen’s trademark unpredictability.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 23, 2008

Interview: Amanda Palmer

At home with the Dresden Doll's solo joint
So it’s the eve of the release of local sensation and Dresden Dolls vocalist/pianist Amanda Palmer’s solo debut album, and I’m sitting in her bric-a-brac-filled South End apartment drinking herbal tea.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 25, 2008

All Tomorrow's Parties: MBV

My Bloody Valentine at Kutshers Country Resort, Monticello, New York, September 19-21, 2008
If you thought that you could handle the band’sjangly rattle and strum, then you had to brace yourself for “You Made Me Realise,” which was interrupted by an excursion into bone-melting NOISE.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 23, 2008

Dirt merchants

Farm Aid crops up in Massachusetts
In the hegemony of mid-’80s mega-rock-star benefits, Farm Aid stands as the American blue-collar uncle to Live Aid’s international whiz kid.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 16, 2008

Preserved Jam

Paul Weller at Berklee Performance Center, September 9, 2008
There’s always something great about seeing someone who is (or has been) big in the UK when he comes to Boston.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 16, 2008

Annie

Don’t Stop | Island
Annie is adept at balancing bratty tweener kiss-off ’tude with dance-friendly bliss — meaning that someone over 16 can listen to her music without wincing.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 16, 2008

Shredding zoo

Extreme rock the New York State Fair
As guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and vocalist Gary Cherone prepare to play what is, to most, their one hit, a moment pops into my head.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 09, 2008

Throwback throwdown

Magic Christian at the Middle East Upstairs, September 6, 2008
Last Saturday night, Cyril Jordan made his first visit to Boston in three decades — to give audiences a sustained punch to the gut.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 09, 2008

Nine-step program

The best pedals ever to happen to rock music
The history of rock, as a technical story, is a mix of skilled craftsmen and total doofuses sticking their fingers in wall sockets over and over.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 08, 2008

Metallica

Death Magnetic | Warner Bros.
It’s hard to say who detests Metallica more.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 10, 2008

Pedal pushers

A Place To Bury Strangers have it in for your earbones
The history of rock is littered with crazies who have craved nothing more than volume on top of volume, who have short-circuited themselves in the pursuit of the purity of noise.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 08, 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

You may now unpeg your pants

Regeneration Tour at Bank of America Pavilion, August 20, 2008
If the inaugural Regeneration Tour seemed likely to play out as a string of “We’ve played our big hit, now what” moments, well, guess again.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 26, 2008

Guitar solos?

Obits go back to basics
“It actually feels really liberating, like a moment where you’re like, ‘Boy, am I glad to be an adult!’"

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 19, 2008

Three 6 Mafia

Last 2 Walk | Sony
Last 2 Walk is a club-banging record, but it’s hard to recommend something so by-the-book.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 19, 2008

Retro active

The Regeneration Tour reheats the ’80s
The ’80s, pop culture’s most tenacious decade, were a mix of greed, technological breakthrough, and hope for a bright future.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 12, 2008

Millionaires

Harpers Ferry, August 10, 2008
Millionaires played the kind of set I wish I’d see more of: high-energy, hit-filled, and mercifully short.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 14, 2008

The Faint

Fasciinatiion | Blank.wav
It’s as if I were at a party where they’re endlessly playing “Dead or Alive” while some guy next to me mumbles nonsense in my ear and some kid in the corner hits random keys on a Juno.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 12, 2008

At home away from home

CSS take on the world — again
“We love all the pop stuff.” says Sá. “We do love the Pixies, but we also love Mariah, you know?"

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 05, 2008

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BLOG POSTS BY DANIEL BROCKMAN

All Tomorrow's Parties, Day 1: Burned-out Uncle Rock, Thurston's Moore's Baby Talk, and Some Other Bands That I Didn't Actually See

The Concept Band: A Boston Tradition