Archive for January, 2007

Cover Story: Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Lights, Camera, Blues

“It’s one thing to hear the music, you know, but I think it’s something completely different to actually see the people who are making the music doing it as it’s going down.”

Buckcherry Live!

Buckcherry, The Exies
Austin’s Saloon, Libertyville
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

You could almost see the members of Buckcherry holding their breath when they released their third LP, 15, a year ago. It was clearly a labor of love — after much soul-searching they decided not to make their breakup permanent, but instead try a little something new in [...]

Swizzle Tree Preview

Swizzle Tree
Double Door, Chicago
Friday, February 2, 2007
Chicago-based quintet Swizzle Tree roll into the Double Door on Friday in support of Here We Are (Areena) and stuffed to the gills with three-minute radio sparklers.

Hayward Williams Preview

Hayward Williams
Uncommon Ground, Chicago
Every Wednesday In February, 2007

We don’t know how old singer-songwriter Hayward Williams is, but he can’t possibly be as old as the voice on his debut CD leads you to think.

David Vandervelde Preview

David Vandervelde
Schubas, Chicago
Saturday, February 3, 2007

David Vandervelde sounds old, which wouldn’t seem like such a big deal except this young lad from Holland, Mich. was actually born around the time David Lee Roth was “jumping” around in spandex. And it’s not that he sounds over the hill vocally as much as the aura surrounding the [...]

She’s Spanish, I’m American Reviewed

She’s Spanish, I’m American
She’s Spanish, I’m American
(Bedroom Classics)

Stupid moniker in tow, Josh Rouse’s side project drags bilingual girlfriend Paz Suay into a lite rock splash befitting its lighthearted title.

The Early Years Reviewed

The Early Years
The Early Years
(Beggars Banquet)

With a built-in title for a debut album, the name of this London-based trio could reference a number of things: 1) a preemptive apology for soft spots in their songs, 2) a reference to what the band members were listening to at formative ages, or 3) a History Channel-style dramatization, [...]

The Photo Atlas Reviewed

The Photo Atlas
No, Not Me, Never
(Stolen Transmission/Morning After)

There’s a lot of apologizing going on around The Photo Atlas’ debut. First, you didn’t know about it ’til now because it was cultivated in a cultural vacuum called Denver. Secondly, yeah, it’s dance punk, but you can actually dance to it.

2 Bit Pie Reviewed

2 Bit Pie
2 Pie Island
(One Little Indian)

Masterminded by Fluke’s Mike Bryant and Jon Fugler and producer Andy Gray, 2 Bit Pie give the No Limit crew a run for their guest-spot money on this techno debut.

Hella Weird

Hella
There’s No 666 In Outer Space
(Ipecac)

Time is not a factor for Sacramento duo-now-quintet Hella. There’s No 666 In Outer Space has an hour to state its case, but still machine-guns as many notes, time signatures, and beats as humanly possible.

Hello, My Name Is Mo

Hello, My Name Is Mo
IE: So, you’re in town taping for “Wait . . . Wait . . .Don’t Tell Me!”?
Mo Rocca: We tape today; it airs over the weekend. I come about once a month. It seems unfair you’re in Chicago because Chicago has so much . . . Chicago, itself is so much [...]

Richard Buckner interview

Richard Buckner
Visually Stunned

For as relatively anonymous as he is in the rock landscape, Richard Buckner’s life has been filled with feature-story tumult. He has moved all over the country, been divorced twice (once soon after recording an album with one of his wives), based work on a century-old Faulkner-esque manuscript, and dropped from a major [...]

The Frames interview

The Frames
Tragicomedy

In an unusually reflective mood, Glen Hansard, frontman of The Frames — one of Ireland’s biggest acts — oozes charisma as he sits in a cushy brown leather love seat, which pleasantly contrasts with his maroon sweater and mop of ginger ringlets. Sporting a cropped full beard, a cluster of white hairs overpowers the [...]

Apples In Stereo interview

Apples In Stereo
Mansions Of Sound
Apples In Stereo mastermind Robert Schneider has just gotten copies of his veteran indie pop band’s hot-off-the-presses New Magnetic Wonder and he can barely contain himself.
Appearing: February 23rd at Subterranean in Chicago.

Eleni Mandell Interview

Eleni Mandell
30 Love

No one just picks up tennis 10 years into one’s career; there must be some ulterior motive. Perhaps the quiet life needs a jarring sport of starts and stops, lobs and rifled shots. It’s also an obvious outlet for someone who’s singularly competitive — le tenis is probably the most physically and mentally [...]