In terms of hip-hop, Boston is still off on the fringes: we still think that rap should have an old-school sound and positive, socially conscious lyrics. This put us in line with hippies like the Black Eyed Peas, and precious little else that sells big nationally. This didn’t bother a crowd of thousands in Austin earlier this spring, where I saw local rap kingpin Mr. Lif do a well-received set at South by Southwest: Lif had scored the opening slot for an outdoor gig by Austin rockers Spoon, one of the prime showcases of the whole festival. Lif has had a banner year all around, making a recent single (“Storm”) with turntable wiz Cut Chemist and fellow local Edan, and releasing a politically charged album with Akrobatik and DJ Fakts One in their crew the Perceptionists to win the Best Hip-Hop category.
Some of us can recall when the Either/Orchestra was considered a fringe band; they’ve since become one of Boston’s most established jazz acts without reining in their eclecticism. Throw in a still-vital world-music circuit and a growing dance/DJ crowd, and you’ve got a local scene that hasn’t changed much since last year, and hasn’t needed to.
Related:
Interview: Amanda Palmer, Working girl, Big business, More 
- Interview: Amanda Palmer
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.
- Working girl
It’s no surprise that the big local winners in our Best Music Poll tend also to be the hardest working bands and artists.
- Big business
Now that the music biz has licked its wounds from a nasty 2005, things are finally starting to heat up, and an indie-heavy winter is giving way to a more major spring.
- Voices carry
Stephen Malkmus never sounds like anyone other than Stephen Malkmus.
- Out of the dark
Needham native Marissa Nadler got her start as a singer-songwriter.
- Ne-Yo
Think Ne-Yo is bummed that his songwriting success of 2K5 (Mario’s “Let Me Love You”) got snubbed at the Grammys?
- WFNX upgrades
Let’s face it. There’s always an unpleasant macho subtext in intra-corporate rivalries.
- Forward into the past!
Could it be just a coincidence that as I sit here writing this, a grizzled Bob Seger is gearing up for the release of Face the Promise , the Detroit rocker’s first proper studio album in, oh, forever and a day? The Lemonheads, "No Backbone" (mp3)
- Hot and cold
Bands and artists do have a way of coming and going here in Boston.
- She really likes them!
Juliana Hatfield just compared herself with Bob Dylan. Juliana Hatfield and Frank Smith, "Beer and a Shot" (mp3)
- Size matters
The Shins’ third album, Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop), is as good as any rational mortal should expect an indie-pop album to be in the winter of 2007. The Shins, "Phantom Limb" (mp3)
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Topics:
New England Music News
, Entertainment, The Click Five, Spoon (Musical Group), More
, Entertainment, The Click Five, Spoon (Musical Group), Tracy Bonham, Tracy Chapman, Noelle LeBlanc, Holly Brewer, Thom Moran, Cut Chemist, Lenny Lashley, Less
