Archive for April, 2006
Jon Langford, Cowboy Jack Clement Live!
Jon Langford, Cowboy Jack Clement
Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago
Sunday, April 23, 2006
For April’s installment of his country music series, Robbie Fulks pulled together two of its most disparate elements: one making his millionth appearance in Chicago, another who had never performed here once.
Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab For Cutie LIve!
Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab For Cutie
Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
The double bill of Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab For Cutie sure did look strange on paper. After all, the first are a Scottish-bred band of ’80s-influenced garage rockers, while their partners are a dominant Seattle force pushing heartfelt modern rock with a little bit [...]
Homeless J Preview
Homeless J
Elbo Room, Chicago
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Homeless J are a band without an identity. Their CD, Three Seconds To Gaze, showcases a group trying to run the gamut of all things rock. Rather than picking a genre, they poorly try their hands at a blending of metal, pop rock, and indie rock.
Office Preview
Office
Schubas, Chicago
Monday, May 1, 2006
Chicago’s Office, born in a London art school and transplanted by a Michigan native, are the inhabitants of Schubas’ “Practice Space” for May.
Soulfly Preview
Soulfly
House Of Blues, Chicago
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
The last few years have brought us a number of “classic lineup” metal band reunions, including Judas Priest, Anthrax, Slayer, and Testament. Is it greedy of us to ask for one more?
Alice In Chains reborn?
While the bulk of their tour takes place in Europe, IE can confirm an Alice In Chains reunion tour will stop at the Metro on May 21st.
Morrissey CD Review
Morrissey
Ringleader Of The Tormentors
(Attack/Sanctuary)
Surrounding himself with some pop royalty (spaghetti western architect Ennio Morricone; T. Rex producer Tony Visconti) can’t save Stephen Morrissey’s wonderfully titled Ringleader Of The Tormentors from being an un-storied entry to the Smiths/Morrissey catalog.
Voxtrot CD Review
Voxtrot
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
(Cult Hero)
Voxtrot’s second EP is a short blast of upright power pop, deceptively encased in blocky piano chords and lovelorn sincerity.
Pick A Better Weapon
The Coup
Pick A Bigger Weapon
(Epitaph)
The inability to resist making a joke tarnishes an otherwise sharp fifth album from indier-than-thou rappers.
Kahoots CD Review
Kahoots
Fourteen Ghosts
(I & Ear)
The spirit of The Feelies lives in these darling, jangling boys.
Gotan Project CD Review
Gotan Project
Lunático
(XL)
Parisians Phillipe Cohen Solal, Christoph Müller, and Eduardo Makaroff continue making dub-based tango, but this time went to the home country to do it. Guests include Calexico and Juan Carlos Cáceres.
Push It Kinda Good!
Push To Talk
Push To Talk
(Doghouse)
Is it a reaction to Raiders fans? Metallica? Someone put Push To Talk in Oakland, but they didn’t put Oakland in Push To Talk.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs live live live
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Riviera, Chicago
Friday, April 14, 2006
Chapter Two, the Second Act, the Sophomore effort; these things take on an almost mythical proportion when used in the Rock milieu. And if your band was birthed on hype and word-of-mouth buzz, than you can also add razor-sharp scrutiny to the aforementioned hyperbole.
David Gilmour live
David Gilmour
Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont
Thursday, April 13, 2006
There’s a fine line between boring and hypnotic. Appearing in support of On An Island, his first new material since Pink Floyd’s 1994 work The Division Bell, David Gilmour managed to cross that line both ways.
Sia live
Sia
Martyrs’, Chicago
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
It was an uncommonly warm April evening in Chicago on the 12th. There was an insubstantial threat of rain and the wind moved briskly, but nothing else was amiss, although the moon turning full. But could that cliché omen explain why Australian starlet Sia was crazy with a capital Z at [...]
