For those of you who missed it or simply desire to relive it, here’s a bit more from Boston’s contribution to World Pillow Fight Day:

All photos courtesy Humbi Song.

My first reaction after hearing about the opportunity to watch Repo Men for free, courtesy of NBC, was “HOLYMOTHEROFGOD JUDE LAAAW!!” I will also have to write a review for Noice, but that’s just details. After almost an academic year at Harvard, where boys spend most of their time in sweatpants and food-stained T-shirts, forgive me for wanting myself some clean-cut British goodness. I first saw Jude Law as Oscar Wilde’s lover in the 1994 biopic Wilde, and let’s just say no wonder the literary master fell head over heels in love and subsequently lost his life for this blond angel.

That’s probably telling you more than you ever wanted to know about my obsession with everything Jude. Well, the younger Jude, at least.

(Image courtesy of Google Images)

Read the rest of this entry »

Jay-Z plays TD Garden on March 11 and Alicia Keys plays Agganis Arena on March 22

Another great month for one of the country’s best music scenes.  This month offers concert occasions for every music fans.  Lots of fun indie pop is coming through the city.  Let them warm you up as winter slowly withdraws into spring.  Two of New York’s biggest stars, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, come up to Boston this month, playing two of the city’s largest venues, the TD Garden and the Agganis Arena.  Escape midterms for at least one concert this month.  Hop on those tickets soon.  Many of these shows will sell out.  Some of them are already sold out, leaving you to beg for your friend’s extra ticket, take your chances with scalpers, or buy the higher priced tickets from a secondary seller.

3/2: Surfer Blood, Great Scott:

Get ready for this fun, indie rock band from Florida to rock a bar sure to be filled this night with Pabst and Pitchfork lovers.

3/3: Tally Hall, Great Scott:

Light and poppy, Tally Hall come across as one of the sillier bands in indie rock.

3/4: Joe Pug, Great Scott:

The Allston bar brings in a great artist for the third night in a row in row in singer-songwriter Joe Pug.  Joe Pug has garnered a following for himself by mailing free sampler CD’s to anyone who asks and making his EP available for download free on his website.  He now tours in support of his first full-length, Messenger.

3/5: Cage the Elephant, Paradise Rock Club:

There ain’t gonna be no rest for the wicked at this show.  Cage the Elephant will keep your bodies moving for the whole show. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer music in the midst of a New England winter

Best get ready for a whole month of good music.  Don’t miss out on the shows within walking distance at Club Passim, Sanders Theatre, The Middle East, and T.T. the Bear’s.  If you’re a festival fan, you’re going to enjoy this month with lots of summer fesitval jam band regulars making stops in Boston.  Whatever you listen to, check out some music this month to warm yourself up.

2/3: Galactic, Paradise Rock Club

Galactic embodies the melting pot culture of their hometown New Orleans.  The band can’t easily be categorized as funk, jazz, jam rock, or hip hop.  Rather, the band incorporates influences from those genres and others and creates a musical style so full of energy, you won’t be able to stop dancing.

2/5: AA Bondy, T.T. the Bear’s Place

One of this blogger’s very favorites, Bondy was formerly the frontman of grunge band, Verbena.  Since their breakup, Bondy has shown his remarkable skill as an incredible folk singer-songwriter.  If you’re into dark, beautiful folk, look no further. Read the rest of this entry »

Noice shout out to the Zuckster for letting his alma mater slip into his network’s highest-rated comedy for the past two seasons. Tonight’s episode of 30 Rock not only gave Keith Powell some well-deserved lines but also included a truly gratuitous Cambridge reference. But we don’t want to commend Tina Fey’s oeuvre for merely dropping the H-bomb. Instead, we want to revel in the fact that the writers got the usually collar-popping, sometimes random, and always hilarious loftiness of Ivy pompousness dead on. During the episode, Liz (Fey) mentions that the show is going to Boston, Toofer (Powell), wearing a red Veritas tie and a tennis sweater, pipes up about his academic roots in the ‘burbs, only to be pwned by Jenna (Jane Krakowski)… sort of.

Toofer: “You know, I went to school in Boston. Well, not in Boston, but nearby. No, not Tufts–”
Jenna: “Oh, shut up. It’s 14 degrees there.”
Toofer: “… Harvard.”

Yeah, it's really that cold here.

Conan just peaced, Toofs. The pressure’s all on you.

Miss you, Coco!

by Crystal Coser ‘12
December 2009 Issue

Ah, L’Espalier. The name alone sends a tingle down from my palate and fills me with a sense of deep-seated longing, but the “$$$$” listing tends to keep this food lust at bay. Fortunately, my mom was recently in town, and like all savvy college students, I knew how to maneuver myself into a fabulous meal.

Charged with anticipation, my mother and I strode to 774 Boylston and arrived at large metal doors. Past the entrance, we found ourselves greeted by a host in a miniature elevator foyer. We were directed to take the elevator up to the dining room. This was not just any old elevator – it was a glass elevator à la Willy Wonka. Talk about perfect prelude to my dining fantasies.

Immediately upon arrival, I was filled with a sense of sophisticated homey comfort that comes only with an exquisite interior designer. We arrived in a marble lobby adjacent to an area that very much resembled a family room, a magnum of Dom Perignon on ice and all. Well, more like family room of my dreams.

After having been seated at a wonderful window-side table overlooking Boylston, my mother and I eagerly awaited the bread service. It may seem frivolous to recount what can be a negligible preface to a meal, but at L’Espalier, every facet of the dining experience, including the bread, is exquisite. A tray of bread was brought to our table with warm Kalamata olive and sourdough, and was served with soft peaks of butter. I need to pause here for a second to talk about this butter. This wasn’t just any old mass-market variety- this was butter that would make Ina Garten and Paula Deen fall to their knees. We used the bread merely as a vehicle on which we could pile this soft, unimaginably creamy, rich, and salty primrose pleasure.

Read the rest of this entry »

cute until he interrupts your Italian dinner date.

This just in! Rats have invaded the North End … or have they?

Residents say these “scary” beasts are keeping their children from sleeping in basements, turning their neighborhoods into a “Third World country” (really, they went there), and “spreading diseases” (we’re guessing they don’t mean parrot fever).

Officials, on the other hand, don’t think there’s actually any cause for concern… though they concede that there have been some “hot spots” lately. Guh-ross. What’s a rat “hot spot”? And more importantly, does it have free wifi?

Seeing as they recently caught 90 rats… NINETY RATS…  in just one case of infestation, we’re sure you’re wondering: do we have anything to fear  seeing as we live just under 4 miles away from this hot rodent mess?

Good news is that they usually travel just within 300 ft to scavenge for food, so we shouldn’t worry yet. Also, did you know they have belly buttons? And before you go “awwww” just think… their front teeth also grow 4½ to 5½ inches yearly but they wear them down by gnawing on everything in sight. Adorable, huh?

Brett Dennen with Forro in the Dark

A friend at a music festival, hearing Brett Dennen for the first time, remarked that he was “the hipsters’ answer to the bros’ Jack Johnson”.  Indeed, the analogy between the two singer-songwriters makes sense.  Dennen, like Johnson, is easy to listen to and hard to not like.  Both sing light, guitar-focused songs in major keys, but achieve depth through their biting, soulful lyrics addressing issues of people, poverty, and society.

Dennen’s 2004 album, So Much More, was his first breakthrough on the music scene, reaching Number One on eMusic, but Dennen truly burst on the scene in 2008.  He played at festivals such as Bonnaroo, Rothbury, Austin City Limits, and the Newport Folk Festival and toured with O.A.R. and then with Jason Mraz.  His album, Hope for the Hopeless, achieved mainstream success, especially the single “Make You Crazy,” which was recorded with Nigerian star Femi Kuti and featured Mandy Moore in the music video.  Recently, he re-released one of the songs from Hope for the Hopeless, “Heaven,” as a duet with Natalie Merchant.

Now, Dennen has continued exploring the possibilities of “world music” begun with his collaboration with Femi Kuti by recording an iTunes live session with the Brazilian band, Forro in the Dark.  Forro in the Dark has previously worked with David Byrne, the Brazilian Girls, and Thom Yorke. Read the rest of this entry »

ZOMG, DAN RADCLIFFE TOUCHED THIS.

For those of you who have yet to hear, Boston’s own Museum of Science is hosting the first East Coast exhibition of Harry Potter paraphernalia from now until February 21, 2010. Exactly how this classifies as “science” is still a source of debate, but who cares? IT’S HARRY POTTER. Don’t ask questions.

Naturally, The Voice, composed of several, devoted Harry Potter babies, just had to check it out. Find out more after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Sad you missed Girl Talk last night?  You probably should be.  It was probably great.  This blogger is a little disappointed himself for skipping it.

But don’t stay sad for long.  November is full of great music in the city.  Click on the date for ticket info, the band name for band website, and the venue name for venue website.

Beautiful Grace Potter will be rocking the House of Blues on 11/19.

11/3: Monsters of Folk, Orpheum Theatre:

This supergroup is made up of Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes), M. Ward, and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James.  Those three have been doing the occasional show or recording together for years, but finally have an album out and an official tour.

11/4: Ray LaMontagne, Citi Performing Arts Center:

This raspy singer-songwriter from Maine is probably best known for his single, “You Are the Best Thing.”

11/5 & 11/6: Lotus, Paradise Rock Club:

Lotus is a quntessential jamtronica band, meaning that they fuse live instrumental jam rock with the sounds of dance and electronica.  This show is sure to be a party.

11/7: Girls, Great Scott:

This Pitchfork darling will warm up this dark, intimate bar with its fresh sounds from San Francisco. Read the rest of this entry »

This week, HUPD had to deal with kids writing messages in Science Center boards and some individual acting like a kid leaving his toys out instead of putting them away.  HUPD had another busy week of keeping Harvard under control.

Seriously, the Noice wants to hear the rest of the story about this first case of “suspicious activity.”  It appears the Head of the Charles brought quite a few strange characters to town.

10/18/09 1:25 PM – Rockefeller Center, 61 Kirkland St, Cambridge – Suspicious Activity

“Officer dispatched to a report of an individual dumping trash over the fence.  Officer arrived and reports individual had dumped plastic toys over fence.”

More stories of HUPD Hustlin’ follow below: Read the rest of this entry »