Regina Spektor visits the Orpheum, leaves fairy dust scattered across stage
Charming pianist and whimsical lyricist Regina Spektor brought her manic-pixie-dream-girl wonder act to the Orpheum Theatre on Thursday night in support of the release of her sixth studio album, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. Prior to her last album (2009’s Far), Spektor often performed solo, filling in her own percussion in the form [...]
Fuzz and Honey: M. Ward and Lee Ranaldo Play the House of Blues
If there’s anything folk aficionados can count on, it’s for Americana lifer M. Ward to be consistently pleasant. The musician brought his homespun, tea-and-honey live act to the House of Blues on Tuesday night, soothing the audience into sleepy complacency with an acoustic guitar and his trademark raspy whisper. The night began with a solid [...]
The Pretty Disheartening: Taylor Momsen’s band at Paradise Rock Club
I have never been so happy to be out of middle school as I was when I exited the Paradise on Thursday night after Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless show. It was (naturally) an all-ages show, so come 11:00, angsty tweens and gangly Skrillex look-alikes poured out of the venue looking as though they had they [...]
Glass half-something: Horse Feathers’ balancing act on “Cynic’s New Year”
Portland, OR-based folk act Horse Feathers has never before made doomsday thoughts of grief and despair sound more appealing. “Every night we all go to a house we’ll never own / Every night we are tired, we’ve been worked to the bone / Nearly every day, we earn a lower wage to tell you what we’re [...]
Yann Tiersen’s latest leap in genre
The name Yann Tiersen may have become household material, not for music fans, but for film buffs, as the guy who composed the soundtrack to French indie favorite Amelie. His work in classical composition is indeed beautiful; wistful piano riffs perfectly accentuate the camera’s sweeping views of Montmatre and shuddering violins only heighten the beauty [...]
