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Countdown to the Grammys
Who will win? What will they wear? Who cares? A partial guide to the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. [2]
Bill Frost

Street Scenes
"Sesame Street" turns 30 and everyone from the Fugees to Steven Tyler are celebrating. [3]
Carly Carioli

Boston Phoenix CD Reviews
Sylk 130, Stickmen, David Holmes, Megasoft Office, Hum, Funkdoobiest, Sax Gordon, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. [12]

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Symphonic Spins
Tokyo-born composer Ryuichi Sakamoto is spinning his symphony from the DJ booth. [4]
Matt Ashare

Change of Hart
Pam Hart walks the line between smooth and traditional jazz on her new album, "May I Come In?" [5]
Christopher Hess

Saxophone Prolificus
Tenor saxophonist David Murray, who some call heir apparent to Sonny Rollins' throne. [6]
Jay Trachtenberg

Mis-labeled
Swervedriver have received more notice in this country for the albums they haven't been able to put out than for the ones they have. [7]
Jonathan Perry

Space Cases
Space rockers such as Supernova and Servotron are turning Atlanta into the Mos Eisley of the East Coast. [8]
Carly Carioli

Boston Breakbeat
The Toneburst collective throw genre-mixing parties where jungle meets dub meets punk. [9]
Chris Tweney

Now What?
If you go gaga over the sultry smoothness of a symphonic glissando, just wait till you experience our transitions to cool and useful music links on the Web. [15]

This piece on "Elmopalooza!" isn't nearly so funny, but its argument -- that the show (and its resultant CD) fails to understand its source -- is very convincing. Gee, what symbol of Gen-X children's culture will producers pillage next? Multiplication Rock? "The Brady Bunch"?

Oops.

There's also some groovy articles about such artists as Swervedriver, the Skatalites, Supernova, Toneburst, and pumpkin smasher James Iha. On a jazzier note, check out the pieces on David Murray and Pam Hart. Or you can chill out and read about Yellow Magic Orchestra techno pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who's keeping busy combining his extensive classical and movie-score experience with the current trends in DJ activity. You go, Ryuichi!

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Forever Ska
The Skatalites, Jamaica's original ska band, have turned into a jazz band with a ska backbeat, but their reputation still draws a healthy crowd. [10]
Brett Milano

Down Time
What did Smashing Pumpkin James Iha's solo album, "Let It Come Down," do to deserve the nasty notices it received from Spin and Rolling Stone? [11]
Stephanie Zacharek

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Turn Up That Noise!

• Curlew
• Melodie Crittenden

Rhythm & Views

• Question Mark And The Mysterians
• Unwound
• Various: This is Reggae

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