This week’s new live music

Oneohtrix Point Never, GlasgowDrone resides somewhere between industrial noise and ambient; musically speaking it's a halfway house near both the shit and the fan. From this unpromising locale, Daniel Lopatin – a Brooklyn-based Bostonian who records as Oneohtrix Point Never – has in the past couple of years run to a pair of superb electronic albums, Returnal and Replica, that combine Tangerine Dream-like kosmische synth repetition, evocative chording, and occasional bursts of noise. Replica, a concept of sorts, incorporates snippets of commercials into his swells of electronic drifting, Continue reading >>>

This week’s new live music

Oneohtrix Point Never, GlasgowDrone resides somewhere between industrial noise and ambient; musically speaking it's a halfway house near both the shit and the fan. From this unpromising locale, Daniel Lopatin – a Brooklyn-based Bostonian who records as Oneohtrix Point Never – has in the past couple of years run to a pair of superb electronic albums, Returnal and Replica, that combine Tangerine Dream-like kosmische synth repetition, evocative chording, and occasional bursts of noise. Replica, a concept of sorts, incorporates snippets of commercials into his swells of electronic drifting, Continue reading >>>

Confessions of a former Boston Red Sox fan – why I hope my baseball team have …

Fenway Park - home to the Boston Red SoxCormac Eklof recently used his IrishCentral blog to attack Red Sox fans for their disgraceful behavior at Fenway Park during a game last week. Under a new manager, Bobby Valentine, and beset with injury problems, the Sox are off to a lousy start and their extremely upset fans are lashing out at all those whom they hold responsible.It is at times like these that I am glad to be away from Boston’s sports talk radio stations and their legions of angry callers. These rather sad individuals whose outlook on life is invariably shaped by the fortunes of the Continue reading >>>

Chuck Colson: A redeemed soul

Charles Colson died on Saturday at age 80. The bright Bostonian was a conscience-less “hatchet man” (Colson's own phrase) for President Richard Nixon. For orchestrating break-ins and disinformation campaigns against Nixon's political opponents, Colson was convicted of obstruction of justice. Against the advice of his attorney, Colson pleaded guilty. That painful turn of honesty was the first sign of his rebirth.In jail awaiting trial, Colson had become a born-again Christian. It was not a conversion of convenience. In prison later, he founded Prison Fellowship Ministries. He said he was moved Continue reading >>>

Posted On Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 09:14:09 PM

The past week saw three visitors to the city, all foreigners who had lived here some years ago. Back after a hiatus, they were curious to see what had changed — and what hadn’t. As always, it’s more interesting to view oneself through others’ eyes. Someone needs to really tell kids that you don’t become ‘foreign’ by going to a mall, buying expensive stuff and ordering a Big Mac At the outset, there’s Erich — tall, blonde, German and Aryan to the core. Back in the 1940s, he’d have been Goebbels’ poster boy. Once the head of a Continue reading >>>

Chuck Colson: A redeemed soul

Charles Colson died on Saturday at age 80. The bright Bostonian was a conscience-less “hatchet man” (Colson's own phrase) for President Richard Nixon. For orchestrating break-ins and disinformation campaigns against Nixon's political opponents, Colson was convicted of obstruction of justice. Against the advice of his attorney, Colson pleaded guilty. That painful turn of honesty was the first sign of his rebirth.In jail awaiting trial, Colson had become a born-again Christian. It was not a conversion of convenience. In prison later, he founded Prison Fellowship Ministries. He said he was moved Continue reading >>>