Black metal inspires confliction. So does “Until The Light Takes Us,” a documentary about Norwegian black metal, in which filmmakers Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewel go directly to the figureheads of the sound, the style and the controversy of what is arguably heavy metal’s most extreme derivation. Developed...

Live albums, as a general rule, suck. Even without poor recording clarity, it’s rare that a live record manages to capture not only song, but also a sense of place; rarely are we taken into the recording instead of merely hearing a facsimile of it. But occasionally, a live recording – not necessarily...

Over the past decade, defining the term “indie rock” has become increasingly troublesome. No longer just the ragged, quirky and nervous guitar-rock of yesteryear (though it certainly is still that), indie rock is something of a blanket term for anything perceived to be quirky or different. It’s...

Christian Scott – “Yesterday You Said Tomorrow” (Concord Jazz) Jason Ajemian & the HighLife – “Let Me Get That Digital” and “Monsters & Animals” (Sund Magi) Pop listeners have an interesting relationship with jazz. At least, pop listeners’ relationship with jazz has been interesting...

2010’s got a strong early crop of indie-shop pop. Here are some records we’d recommend from the first two months of the decade. Alkaline Trio – This Addiction (Heart and Skull/Epitaph) The stalwart pop-punks return to an indie label after the Epic-released Agony and Irony, and make up for lost...

Perched behind his old Apple laptop and a glass counter filled with stickers and buttons emblazoned with the names of punk bands, Scott Wishart is an anomaly. Lunchbox Records, the Central Avenue storefront he owns, is one of an ever-slimming number of truly independent record stores. As the posters...