-
Album
Quilt’s Plaza
You don’t have to remember the Summer of Love to appreciate Plaza, which finds Quilt channeling seriously retro vibes that are somehow as at home on our Summer 2016 Spotify playlist as they’d have been a half century ago...
-
Art With Heart
ArtLifting
The densely detailed drawings, colorful abstract canvases and papercut cityscapes sold by ArtLifting look great and do good, helping to empower the homeless, disabled and disadvantaged artists who created them...
-
Band
Worshipper
This locally forged supergroup—which includes former members of Mellow Bravo, Township, Bang Camaro, the Dirty Truckers and Cult 45—raged onto the metal scene last year as a force to be reckoned with...
-
Buzzworthy Concert Series
Original Gravity
Founded by pianist, composer and avid home-brewer Keith Kirchoff, Original Gravity washes down contemporary classical music with craft beers, hosting four intimate concerts a year in breweries that create a brand-new beverage to complement the work of local composers...
-
Classical Ensemble
Radius Ensemble
Radius doesn’t play it safe. For its 2015-16 subscription series at the Longy School of Music, the chamber ensemble commissioned a new work for each concert, from a trio by Pulitzer winner John Harbison to Eun Young Lee’s *12*, a zodiac-inspired piece that invited audience participation via smartphone...
-
Comedy Night
The Kerfuffle at ImprovBoston
This monthly comedy night is booked blind, which means that not even hosts Jackie Arko and Hannah Foell have a clue what’s going to go down...
-
DJ
White Label
“You have to blend your genres, tempos and eras of music” to get a multi-generational crowd moving, says White Label founder Nate Oinonen...
-
Film
The Dying of the Light
Emerson prof Peter Flynn’s documentary about the soon-to-be-lost art of film projection is a eulogy, to be sure, but it’s also a celebration...
-
Gallery
Gallery Kayafas
There’s always something new to discover at this South End gallery, from the identical triplet artists of Triiibe’s double take-inducing photos to the unsettling images that wait within layers of lace in Azita Moradkhani’s delicate drawings of lingerie...
-
Hidden Gem
Harvard Art Museums’ Art Study Center
Only a fraction of the Harvard Art Museums’ 250,000-plus objects are displayed at a time, but its Art Study Center allows visitors one-on-one time with Greek vases, Rembrandt etchings and thousands of other works not currently on view...
-
Launch Pad
The Workout at Laugh Boston
Since it opened in the Seaport in 2013, Laugh Boston has become a destination for local and nationally touring comedy acts...
-
Music Video
Air Traffic Controller’s “The House”
Proof that music videos aren’t going anywhere? One word: Lemonade...
-
Musician
Dutch ReBelle
A recent contender for XXL’s Freshmen 2016 Class, this Haitian-born, Milton-bred rapper dropped her much anticipated EP Kiss Kiss in September; as expected, it was chock full of bangers, combining Dutch’s poetic flow with slick, insistent beats...
-
Natural Talent
Sarah Meyers Brent
The line between gorgeous and grotesque can be a thin one, as Sarah Meyers Brent’s paintings and installations prove...
-
New Addition
ONCE Lounge & Ballroom at Cuisine en Locale
Given the recent closings of venues like T.T. the Bear’s Place, Johnny D’s and Church, the evolution of JJ Gonson’s catering-and-event space into a dynamic destination for live music couldn’t have come at a better time...
-
Phenomenon
Emo Night at the Sinclair
What began with a couple of dudes playing their favorite sad songs on a laptop in a dark corner of Brick & Mortar has evolved into a full-on Thing...
-
Playwright
Kirsten Greenidge
February was a busy month for BU professor Kirsten Greenidge, who had two plays running on local stages at the same time...
-
Powerhouse
Diane Paulus
Diane Paulus has paved a path from Brattle Street straight to the Great White Way...
-
Stealth Artist
Nate Swain
Not all artists leave a signature. Last summer, somebody grabbed the city’s attention by patching a hole in a crumbling Fort Point wall with colorful Lego pieces...
-
Trend
Mindfulness at the Museum
Museums have always been ideal places for contemplation, but that’s especially true thanks to new programming...
-
Unexpected Dance Destination
The Institute of Contemporary Art
One of the best local stages for dance isn’t technically a stage at all: In an intimate glass-walled space overlooking the harbor, the ICA hosts diverse and dynamic programming...
-
Unsung Hero
Kathleen Mitchell
Boston Ballet’s performances are magnificent, but awe-inspiring work also happens behind the scenes without a grand marquee...