Archive for December, 2009
Gold Motel preview
Beat Kitchen, Chicago Sunday, December 20, 2009 What did you expect Greta Salpeter to do? Bake cookies? This is the anticipated debut concert from The Hush Sound’s pianist.
Bluegrass & Blues Festival preview
Congress, Chicago Saturday, December 12, 2009 Last year, the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival turned out The Avett Brothers and David Grisman. Clearly, this thing is anyone’s game.
Janis Ian preview
Wilmette Theater, Wilmette Sunday, December 13, 2009 To the casual fan, noting where Janis Ian will play this weekend might cause a snicker or scoff. “Wow, one of those soft-pop, ’70s singer/songwriters is cashing in on North Shore money for the holidays.” In a sense, you’d be right.
Stop The Silence Youth Benefit preview
Abbey, Chicago Thursday, December 17, 2009 As a response to the 125 Chicago-area minors killed in violent crimes this year, Black Boot Ink will host this benefit to raise awareness and support anti-violence groups.
Cover story: Ray Davies
And Then The Chorus Hits He might have been a fit for Monty Python. When we met him in the ’60s, Kinks frontman Ray Davies was one of many shaggy-haired Brits ripping back the fabric of traditional mores. “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night” remain two of the most […]
Arctic Monkeys interview
The Reality Of The Situation Nick O’Malley says “I suppose” a lot. It’s so integral to his speech you wonder if it’s the Sheffield equivalent of the Chicagoese “I says” or the valley girl “like.” It has the effect of perpetual contemplation and complete detachment from his current emotional condition, as if you could insult […]
Kid Sister interview
Coming Unstuck “If you put out good music, it doesn’t matter when you put it out. It’s gonna get buzz, it’s gonna get what it needs to get. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to ride on the tails of some whatever — if you make sure that what you do is consistently excellent, you […]
The Swell Season interview
Ode To Joy “I find myself getting bored with the angst,” Glen Hansard admits. The words might come as a surprise to those intimately familiar with the Irishman’s back catalog. Sure, The Frames excelled in lifting its audience’s souls to the rafters of the world in the course of its 19-year history, the same way […]
Brandi Carlile interview
Tiger Beat Pasting up a photo of a heartthrob on a bedroom wall is almost a rite of passage for any teenage girl. Depending on the decade, the frozen, smiling mugs of David Cassidy, Kirk Cameron, Lance Bass, and the Jonas Brothers stare back at the mooning eyes of a smitten fan as she drifts […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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