Illinois Entertainer

Alkaline Trio
No Place Like L.A.

Season Three, Episode 27: “No Place Like Home.” It’s a sunny morning in Los Angeles, and the stars of the most-watched TV show among 12- to 34-year-olds are in front of the cameras as usual. Heidi is at the office, accepting an offer for an out-of-town job that could end her relationship with Spencer. Lauren and Lo are sunbathing poolside at the Hollywood house they share with Audrina. “It’s such a nice day,” Lo comments, sipping lemonade and clinking ice cubes. “Let’s do something fun today.” They make plans to go shopping. Audrina, who interns at Epic Records, greets her housemates by the pool. “I’m going to work with Alkaline Trio today — this band,” she says, flashing a nervous smile to the girls. “They’re in the studio recording their new album.”

Appearing: Tuesday, July 1st at Lakeshore Theatre and Wednesday, July 9th at House Of Blues in Chicago.

• Read more: Cover story: Alkaline Trio

Amy Ray
Together Apart

Anyone who has followed Amy Ray’s solo career since it sprouted from the Indigo Girls in 2001 can vouch that it bears little resemblance to the group’s cozy, folk rock stylings. From her Stag debut to 2005’s Prom and now Didn’t It Feel Kinder (all on her own Daemon Records), she has steadily increased the volume, added unbridled urgency to her songwriting, and is even more outspoken about social and political causes. In spite of the fanfare and critical praise she has earned along the way, Ray refuses to rest on her laurels or buy into her own hype.

• Read more: Amy Ray interview

Allá
(Pet) Sonidos De Los Animales Favoritos (Sounds)

“My goal,” says Jorge Ledezma, “is that we get a Latin Grammy nomination.”

The “we” to whom Ledezma refers is Allá (pronounced “ah-yah”), a Chicago-based band that, in addition to Ledezma, includes drummer Angel Ledezma (Jorge’s older brother) and singer Lupe Martinez. The album for which he wants Grammy recognition is Es Tiempo, Allá’s imm-aculately produced and just-released debut. Given Es Tiempo took Jorge two years to record, a year to mix, another to master, and one more to release (on the Brussels-based Crammed Discs label), its title — It’s Time in English — will strike those alert to irony as almost comic understatement.

• Read more: Allá interview

RZA
Self Taught

Robert Diggs isn’t one to wait around to be directed and shown how to achieve something. If this producer/MC/composer best known as RZA is curious about picking up a craft, he is often his own teacher.

Appearing: Tuesday, July 1st at House Of Blues in Chicago.

• Read more: RZA feature

Wolf Parade
Cannibalized

Thank goodness the primary season concluded when it did. Wolf Parade drummer Arlen Thompson was on the brink of U.S.-politics overload by the time Barack Obama clinched the presumptive nominee slot, and he’s not even American.

Appearing: Tuesday, July 8th at House Of Blues in Chicago.

• Read more: Wolf Parade interview

Hello My Name Is Nash
Q&A with Nash Kato of Urge Overkill

IE: Is this a show for Bottom Lounge instead of Urge Overkill?

Nash Kato: Well, we just did an East Coast leg and we were gonna bury the tour in Chicago because our pal’s opening a new venue. We’ve played every shithole in town over the years, so we were excited over the prospect of a new venue — smashing a champagne bottle on its hull as it slips into Lake Michigan.

• Read more: Hello, My Name Is Nash

Together Again

The spark is back for Hawthorne Heights and Victory Records. Though the Ohio band and their Chicago label have an incredibly successful track record together — 2004’s The Silence In Black & White went platinum, and 2006’s If Only You Were Lonely reached gold — the last few years have been messy.

• Read more: File: July 2008

Joe Strummer:
The Future Is Unwritten
Sony

After the demise of The Clash, Joe Strummer wandered. His musical inspirations stagnate, he relegated himself to film scores and the odd acting gig with a side project or two here and there. Eventually, he would hold a series of “bonfire discussions” originating at the Glastonbury Music Festival. At these bonfires, anyone and everyone was welcome to sit around and discuss music, politics, or whatever was on their minds. Eventually, these assemblies would fuel Strummer’s own creative fire and lead him to assemble the next phase of his musical life, first with Latino Rockabilly War, and his final band The Mescaleros. It is these events that form the narrative thread of Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten.

• Read more: DVD Zone: July 2008

The bassist, who moved to St. Augustine, Florida last September, was a fixture in the early-’90s northwest suburban punk scene that spawned Smoking Popes and the Third Floor, the now-shuttered all-ages Elgin venue whose booking agent, Brian Peterson, would later book Chicago’s Fireside Bowl during a period of considerable punk interest. (Peterson has since left the Fireside Bowl and now works for MP Productions, which books shows in Chicago, DeKalb, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis.)

• Read more: Alk3p2

“Andy just said, ‘The only thing you guys need to worry about is going into the studio and making a record that you love.’ He’s like: ‘That’s all you need to do. Don’t worry about us. Don’t think about anything else.’ And that’s what we did, and then Andy came in the last day when we were wrapping everything up, [he] was just like: ‘This is a great record. Nice work.’ And that was it.

• Read more: Alk3p3

The Byther Smith, Blues On The Moon: Live At Natural Rhythm Social Club (Delmark) DVD/CD is a false document – fiction, cooked up by writer David Whiteis and the Delmark Records folks desperate to return the “negro” to his natural habitat.

• Read more: Perpetratin’ The Blues

The station that launched the legendary dance show “Soul Train” in 1970 recently hired two WTTW-Channel 11 alumni to help develop local programming.

Weigel Broadcasting, which owns WCIU-Channel 26 (where “Soul Train” got its start back in 1970), as well as WWME-Channel 23 and WMEU-Channel 48, recently hired Harvey Moshman and Randy King to create local content in new formats.

• Read more: Hope For Local TV

MARTIN
M-21 Steve Earle Custom

Steve Earle and Martin Guitar did something unique for the guitar biz: They created a “special edition” guitar without the customary big price tag that goes along with a collectable axe.

• Read more: Martin’s Guitar Town

Look no further than our own city and sprawling suburbs for proof of just how extensive this whole thrash revival thing is. Do a quick Myspace, “Illinois metal” search, and you’ll find a list of Chicagoland bands like Degradation, Infinite Missiles, Air Raid, Vicious Attack, Diamond Plate, Sulfox, and Slayasylum. They vary in quality, of course, but the one common element is they’re all relatively young and hooked on old-school thrash.

• Read more: To Thrash Or Not To Thrash?

“Around Hear” is a monthly feature where a stable of IE writers review albums sent to us by local musicians. If you are interested in having your CD (must have a minimum of three songs) reviewed and are Illinois-based, mail it and any other media materials to 657 A W. Lake St., Chicago IL, 60661. Everything that meets the aforementioned guidelines will be reviewed in the order received. This may take several months.

Combining rock ‘n’ roll, pop, rockabilly, and a bit of new wave, The Bismarcks come across like a three-piece version of The Blasters. Quite Ready To Rock & Roll is a stripped-down affair that emphasizes the trio’s live sound. Stronger production would have made the record more of an immediate favorite, but it is a good effort in any case. (www.myspace.com/thebismarcksband)
– Mike O’Cull

• Read more: Local CD Reviews