Not that they seem all that concerned about their legacy at this point, but The Cure made a mighty strong case for why they’re one of the greatest pop bands of all time—the greatest pop?—Saturday night with a super-sized concert that covered every phase of their 30-year career. The set was dominated by hits . . .

After last night’s show at the Rave, I can finally understand (some of) the logic in the age-old myth that women are more attracted to pompous and conceited dudes. Like every other member of the near-capacity Sunday night crowd, I fell hard for The Hives, even after constant boasting rants from singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist.

There's nothing quite so deliciously satisfying to one's ironic sensibility than witnessing the "majority" cheer for the videotaped speechifying of Kouichi Touyama, a street musician who ran for governor of Tokyo in 2007.

If used correctly, orchestral instruments have a place in contemporary pop music. Before assholes like the (eye-patch wearing pirate) singer from Kansas and Dave Mathews ruined it for . . .

Having built a reputation on their sweaty and raw live marathons, Scott and Seth Avett are known for lathering their adoring fan base into a manic frenzy. Saturday's raucous performance at Turner Hall Ballroom was no exception, a blowout that left attendees extremely satisfied.

Much of the crowd at last night’s sold-out Swell Season show was lured by one song: “Falling Slowly,” the endearingly modest ballad that the duo of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova memorably performed during the Academy Awards (and for which they took home an Oscar.) Having to live up to the expectations of that vulnerable, fish-out-of-water performance night after night must surely prove a challenge for the . . .

Of all the things I admire about Tegan and Sara—and, to be sure, after the duo’s charged 2007 album The Con, there’s plenty I admire about Tegan and Sara—I’m most awed by how they condense lofty sentiments and grand arrangements into such tiny songs. Most songs on The Con clock under three minutes, and not a single track cracks three-and-a-half. The Con’s songs are nervy and short—Ramones short, even—but where The Ramones largely limited their between-song banter to “1, 2, 3, 4,” the Quinn sisters get chatty . . .

A cursory glance at current events attests that there are fates more physiologically unpleasant than having to endure—without sunglasses . . .

It is safe to say that anyone who keeps in touch with the ever-growing Milwaukee music scene has, at the very least, heard of Maritime. The group’s critically acclaimed . . .

As many critics noted upon the release of Seattle band The Cave Singers’ debut album, the band members’ musical pedigrees suggest they’d be unlikely to attempt—much less succeed at—acoustic American roots music. Nonetheless, guitarist Derek Fudesco (of the now disbanded Pretty Girls Make Graves), vocalist Pete Quirk (of post-punk quintet Hint Hint) and drummer Marty Lund (of Cobra High) released their acclaimed Invitation Songs in September 2007.