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...

The Black Eyed Peas played Time Warner Arena in front of close to 20,000 people, then kept the night going with their after-party at Butter and played to a lucky few. Joined by Nicky Hilton, Will.I.Am took to the DJ booth and Fergie grabbed the microphone to sing along to their own songs. No one moved...

With my hands on my knees and sweat dripping off my face onto the worn Astroturf I glance at my heart-rate monitor connected to my watch. It’s 176. For some reason I always run the numbers in my head. My heart is beating almost three times a second. I’m breathing as hard and as deeply as I can, I...

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...

Everybody loves a happy ending, and for Charlotte music lovers, news that the Neighborhood Theatre will continue without missing a beat was welcome indeed. As a musician, music writer and diehard fan, I was as stunned as anybody when the theater’s operator, JEM Entertainment, announced in January that...

Pizzaiolo – n. Italian for a male artisan pizza chef who specializes in the perfection of the crust, the secret ingredient to an outstanding pizza.  This elusive and exclusive group obtains their titles from nearly a lifetime of experience, earning respect from their peers.  f. pizzaiola pl. pizzaiolos/pizzaiolas....