Archive for January, 2009
Songs 1 to 10
Illinois Entertainer picks the 25 greatest songs in Chicago history, continued below. Click here for 11 to 20 and here for 21 to 25.
Songs 11 to 20
Illinois Entertainer picks the 25 greatest songs in Chicago history, continued below. Click here for 1 to 10 and here for 21 to 25.
Songs 21 to 25
Illinois Entertainer picks the 25 greatest songs in Chicago history, continued below. Click here for 1 to 10 and here for 11 to 20.
The Best Of 2008
IE Rates 2008:
Our Best Ofs
Click below to see our choices for top albums, songs, DVDs, reissues, and shows, and don’t forget Trevor Fisher’s “Caught In A Mosh,”David Gedge’s “Gear,” and Beverly Zeldin-Palmer’s “Sweet Home” columns, as well as our “Best Of Around Hear.”
Shot Baker interview
Shot Baker
You Aren’t Here
Shot Baker frontman Tony Kovacs finds himself in the unusual position of hoping for continued economic distress. The passing of the presidency from George W. Bush to Barack Obama threatens to take the arts community, including Chicago-based punk bands like his, off its game.
Appearing: Friday, March 6th at Reggie’s Rock Club in [...]
Radio Hip-Hop
The Hip-Hop Project
Connected
It’s no secret commercial radio in Chicago has never been best buddies with hip-hop. It almost seems surreal to recall there was once heard an all-hip-hop station in the city – “Rap Radio” on WJPC-AM (950) – even if it didn’t last long. But where mainstream stations have failed to properly support beats [...]
DVD Zone: January 2009
DVD Zone
Burn After Reading
Universal
Seriously, are there any filmmakers out there with a more varied canon than the Coen brothers? They’ve run the gamut from pitch-perfect film noir (Blood Simple, No Country For Old Men) to surrealistic masterpieces (Barton Fink, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) to works that can only be described as WTF? (The Hudsucker [...]
Local CD Reviews
There’s a lot of negative energy on After The Fight’s second CD, No Brownie Pie, Same Old Sh††, but it’s packaged in short, energetic blasts that capture the raw emotion of vintage punk. With the band aiming so much anger at society, work, and life in general, it’s surprising to find the unabashed romance of [...]
Best Of Around Hear ‘08
Each January, we dedicate part of “Around Hear” to those low-profile local artists who are our favorites from the passing year – the results of our staff and freelancers combing clubs and stacks of CDs for more than the booze and adulation we normally receive. This is by no means an attempt to make a [...]
2008: The Way We Saw It
Hooray for heavy metal! Well, technically “heavy music” (that’s what I requested from the below guests when I asked for their Top 5 lists), but nonetheless, below is what myself and some other local characters of varying pedigrees (musicians, critics, media personalities, etc.) thought were the best heavy records of ‘08. If you can remember [...]
Best Of “Gear” ‘08
It has been another year of interesting and exciting new products and gadgets in the world of “Gear.” Here’s our list of 2008’s best.
APPLE
MacBook Air
(Feb) Mac fanatics have been anticipating a sub notebook that would match the specs of mini-notebook laptops from PC makers Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba.
CBS Heaves It To Stever
Last month’s firing of radio legend Steve Dahl and his staff was shocking – but not out of character – for CBS Radio.
A few weeks earlier, B96’s longtime morning team, Eddie Volkman and Joe “Jobo” Bohannon, were dumped by CBS Radio with eight months left in their contracts – and no chance to say goodbye. [...]
Local Studio Happenings
CARTERCO RECORDING in Chicago is offering a Graveyard Shift special: $20-per-hour recording between midnight and 8 a.m . . . Carterco recently updated its MIDI capabilities with an M-Audio keyboard controller and some virtual instruments and plans on upgrading its Pro Tools rig to 8.0 as soon as it’s released . . . Arctic Fox [...]
A Tribute To Chico Banks
The Chicago blues community gathered on Wednesday, December 10th at the West Side’s United Baptist Church to celebrate the life of one of their own. Guitarist/singer-songwriter Vernon “Chico” Banks, aged 46, passed away December 3rd of an apparent infection of a heart valve that was replaced more than a year ago.
