All Entries in the "Columns" Category
The Best Of 2009
Last year was technically the end of a decade, the one beginning 2000. But the decades began with the year 1, so we won’t indulge our 10-year wrapups until January 2011. It gives us time to fully exploit our favorites from 2009, meaning albums, songs, concerts, reissues, and local bands. Stay tuned for more updates [...]
Around Hear: January 2010
Local Band Reviews
January 2010
There’s a lot to like in the mostly straightforward, rockin’ R&B-esque boogie a la Aerosmith/Bad Company on Blue Moon Revue’s self-titled, eight-song CD. But when opener “Hot Flavor” launches into a totally unexpected banjo solo you really take notice and understand why BMR has become the local, opening-band-of-choice for much bigger visiting [...]
Hello, My Name Is Oderus
Q&A with Oderus Urungus of Gwar
IE: Hello?
Oderus Urungus: Hi. Sorry for being late. I’m just offering pleasantries. You humans are all about appearances. I don’t know much about you — I’m assuming you’re like all the others and giving you the benefit of the doubt. I’m keeping this nice and civil. I’ve been told by [...]
File: December 2009
A Nation In Crisis
This is a tough position in which to be. It’s natural for any Northerner to sit back and laugh at Southerners as they grapple with the definition of what is country music and what isn’t.
Media: December 2009
Radio Ceiling Crasher Says Not Much Has Changed
Groundbreaking radio personality Connie Szerszen wrote her new memoir, Top Rock Girly Jock: A Chicago Radio First, four years ago, when she was still an on-air personality at oldies station WJMK-FM. “It had a happier ending in the first draft,” admits the Chicago native, who, along with the [...]
Sweet Home: December 2009
Soul Of Bronzeville
Chicago’s connection to the blues runs about as deep as the Mississippi. From Chess Records to the legendary clubs that line the 47th Street blues district, Chicago has played a significant role in the development of the blues. The Chicago Blues Museum exhibit “The Soul Of Bronzeville: The Regal, Club Delisa And The [...]
Caught In A Mosh: December 2009
In-Renato-Da-Vida
There’s no such thing as “too many” live heavy metal venues, so when clubs like White Star (3049 N. Cicero) start dabbling in metal, “Mosh” gets all hopped up — especially when those bookings include bands such as Archgoat, Sweet Cobra, Anal Cunt, and Superchrist.
Around Hear: December 2009
Local Band Reviews!
The Additives
Should It End, the second release from The Additives, offers inventive keyboard and guitar arrangements that fall somewhere between prog rock and jazz. Unfortunately, Joe Ryan’s talky, off-kilter singing doesn’t go with the flow, especially on some of the more awkwardly phrased lyrics he’s written. Having background vocals on the catchy “Miss [...]
DVD Zone: December 2009
Star Trek
Paramount
With franchises such as Batman, Superman, even the Friday The 13th series seeing successful cinematic “reboots” over the past few years, did you think for a second Paramount was going to leave their biggest cash cow sitting on the shelf? Did you think the sun wasn’t gonna come up this morning?
DVD Zone: November 2009
Drag Me To Hell
Universal
Watching director Sam Raimi return to the horror genre he redefined is like rediscovering water in August. With seemingly nine out of 10 horror flicks these days reduced to mere torture porn, Raimi’s deft touch serves notice to everyone working in the field just how it’s supposed to be done.
Baling The Beatles
The Beatles Stereo Reissues
At the Entertainer, we do it for you. We suffered through some 14 albums of some obnoxious old band called The Beatles, who’ve plagued the universe with new versions of their old albums. The following are our results. Beware.
Gear: November 2009
Seymour Duncan
DejaVu Tap Delay
Seymour Duncan recognized the unique sound achieved by some ’70s and ’80s guitar players with their noisy, druggy, and fussy analog delay pedals so they invented the Deja Vu, combining the best of both digital and analog. To control the delay technique for the modern era, it features a Tap Tempo feature [...]
Sweet Home: November 2009
Six Generations Of The Blues
The new-millennium blues experience typically only offers glimpses of the genre’s 100-year-old recorded history. The old masters are passing on and their apprentices have been exposed to global influences that often stray from the original blues root. Earwig Music plans to fix that. On November 27th, an unprecedented opportunity to hear [...]
Around Hear: November 2009
Local Band Reviews
The six tracks on Abysmal Lullabies from Arctic Sleep (a one-man show written, performed, and produced by Keith D) deliver what the title promises: sludgy, bottom-heavy alt-rock that is heavy on fuzzed-out riffage. The mostly instrumental tracks are lengthy and languid, pausing often to let the distortion ring out like a crashing wave. [...]
Media: November 2009
Last Chance To Gigglesnort
Bill Jackson, creator of the late, great children’s programs “Cartoon Town,” “The Gigglesnort Hotel,” and “The BJ & Dirty Dragon Show,” will draw, tell tales, and recreate his most memorable characters at a December 5th benefit for the Museum Of Broadcast Communications called “Saturday Morning With B.J. And Dirty Dragon: Live In [...]
