Michael Marotta

Massachusetts

Co-Founder, Host and Editor in Chief at Vanyaland

Music editor, publicist, other stuff.

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Articles

V3 Weekend: Sleigh Bells, The Ocean Blue, Spooky Sundays

3 weeks ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way. Back in April, Sleigh Bells unleashed a new era of noise-pop with the release of sixth album Bunky Becky Birthday Boy, and we have the interview to prove it.
The Altered Hours watch the rain fall on 'Lay There With You'

3 weeks ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

We here around Boston have, for reasons both obvious and obscured, always felt a kinship with Ireland. The soundtrack of our lives has been supplied and played out for generations, and now an unlikely new candidate emerges from Cork’s Lee Valley, arriving via alternative rock and shoegaze quintet The Altered Hours.
Lights is '(A)LIVE AGAIN' in Allston

3 weeks ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

It feels like ages ago we first saw Lights live at a small Cambridge club supporting her debut EP, and it’s no wonder the Canadian electro-pop artist has developed a cult-like following ever since. Now the singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, comic book author, DJ, and artist delivered new album A6 last month, and now roughly a month later returns to town tonight (June 3) to play Brighton Music Hall in Allston.
The V List: Five of our favorite national tracks from May 2025

3 weeks ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

Editor’s Note: Anyone who says there isn’t good music coming out these days — and quite literally, every day — simply isn’t paying attention. Vanyaland’s compilation feature The V List highlights the best in new music, both homegrown and national, over the past month, pulling together the sounds that have soundtracked the website in recent weeks. It’s all the stuff we’re bumping here at Vanyaland HQ, one new bop at a time.
Bloc Party, SuperSonic, 'The Life of Chuck'

4 weeks ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Wet Leg resuscitate a belief in romance with the spiky 'CPR'

1 month ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

It’s the Year of Wet Leg, and none of us can stop it.
Fest Intentions: Grub, Sweat, and Beers 9 is a beast of Boston heaviness

1 month ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

In recent years we’ve often shown the love to Grub, Sweat, and Beers, the Allston’s annual serving of music n’ meats at the soon to be relaunched O’Brien’s Pub. But this year might be the first time we’ve dropped it into our Fest Intentions highlight series, because the 2025 lineup — the weekend’s ninth offering overall — is a fucking beast of Boston heaviness.
Chloe Moriondo opens an alt-pop 'oyster'

1 month ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

As we noted a few very long months ago, we are here for the official Chloe Moriondo glow-up of 2025. The Detroit alt-pop and indie comet has been building a cult-like following in recent years, releasing new album oyster in March via Public Consumption/Atlantic Music Group, and wrapping a 20-show North American spring tour with a penultimate appearance tonight (May 21) at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club.
Boston Calling V List: 5 underrated bops to soundtrack the festival

1 month ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

When this year’s Boston Calling lineup was revealed back in January, much of the focus was given to both the trio of headliners (Luke Combs, Fall Out Boy, Dave Matthews Band) and deep roster of legacy acts (Sheryl Crow, Public Enemy, TLC, Sublime). But a quick look beyond the poster’s large fonts and familiar names reveals another eclectic collection of sounds from an emerging new wave of artists.
This Show Is Tonight: Squid whip up an art-rock frenzy in Allston

1 month ago | vanyaland.com | Michael Marotta

Monday night in Allston is when the freaks come out to play, and tonight (May 19) the allure in the air carves a path to Brighton Music Hall, where Squid deliver a blissful cacophony of sounds that should hit differently away from the weekend’s distractions.