Archive for June, 2011
Your holiday schedule
You’ve proven incapable of handling the most meager tasks when left to your own devices. Independent study? FAIL! This weekend, you will see Ronnie Montrose, Jeff The Brotherhood, hit FitzGerald’s American Music Festival, and then drive to Iowa for the 80/35 Festival, too. Get going!
Cover Story: Soundgarden
The Place I Tried To Live Through the phone line, you can practically hear Kim Thayil’s eyes squint and roll a little up. He’s drawing mental maps and can’t quite picture Chicago’s layout as his questions are answered. Appearing: Saturday, July 16th at UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Interview: Mat Kearney
Water Log Like many Nashville musicians, Mat Kearney lost practically all his instruments and equipment in the 2010 flood, and while that could’ve easily spawned a negative attitude (not to mention a pile of bills), the singer/songwriter simply stripped his entire life down. Appearing: Friday, July 29th at Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
Interview: The Flaming Lips
All Points ‘Bulletin’ Normally about this time – two years removed from album release, marking up the skies while flying between festival appearances – Wayne Coyne would retreat into filmmaking. Appearing: Thursday, July 7th and Friday the 8th at Aragon Ballroom, and Sunday, July 10th at Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Chicago.
Interview: Centro-matic
Bass Desires Will Johnson doesn’t see it. Of course, he’s tethered to his cellphone charger, so he lacks for range right now. But a binding characteristic among Texan musicians, specifically those from his former base/musical hotbed Denton? No. Not really.
Eddie Vedder live!
Dark and depressing are rarely, if ever, words that get appropriated when referring to the ukulele. The fragile instrument usually stirs visions of grass skirts and Hawaiian sunsets. But on his first, non-soundtrack solo effort (Ukulele Songs) Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder searches the shadows beyond the palm trees, finding surprising sadness in the twine […]
Hello, My Name Is Dolly
Q&A with Dolly Parton IE: What advice would you pass on to a 20-year-old Dolly? Dolly Parton: One of my favorite sayings of all time is that to thine ownself be true. I think that says so much.
Around Hear: July 2011
Local Band Reviews In just six songs, Automata packs an atmospheric soundtrack in its debut EP. Microcosm is a genre-defying pastiche of psychedelic guitar, swirling keyboards, and shuffling rhythms supporting Rachel Sarah Thomas’ soulful crooning.
Caught In A Mosh: July 2011
. . . And Justice For All In Use Your Illusion II‘s “Get In The Ring,” Axl Rose called out a number of rock journalists and editors, but famously referred to Mick Wall as the “punk in the press who wants to start shit by printing lies instead of the things we say.” There was […]
Digital Divide: July 2011
A Few Small Repairs If there’s one thing that can be taken as gospel, it’s the belief that if something works once, it will most assuredly work again for someone else. Of course, that little pearl of wisdom rarely turns out to be true, but it sure doesn’t stop Hollywood from clicking its heels three […]
File: July 2011
Ah, Gee, Pat More than 50 Major League ballplayers have gone 6-for-6 at the plate in a single game – a handful went 6-for-7; only Rennie Stennett ever hit 7-for-7 – but no Chicago reps since One Dog in ’95 and Scammin’ Sammy in ’93. What could we possibly be driving at? Last year, for […]
Gear: July 2011
Cerwin-Vega XD3 Studio Monitor With the explosion of home-studio creations being churned out by would-be recording artists and ProTools boffins, Cerwin-Vega saw the need to marry an above-average studio monitor with an affordable computer speaker that delivers clarity, accurate imaging, and over-the-top bass. Cerwin-Vega claims the XD3 “fulfills this monitoring mandate by transforming any desktop […]
Media: July 2011
Music Integral To ‘Grannies On Safari’ The travel bug bit Regina Fraser at an early age. “My father [trumpeter Rex Stewart] was with Duke Ellington for about 15 years, and traveled all over the world with his orchestra,” she says. “He’d come back with a traveling trunk full of colorful stickers from all over the […]
Studiophile: July 2011
Mathien recorded their new, full-legnth album at PRESSURE POINT studios in Chicago. Studio co-owner/manager Chris Schneider sent Studiophile some impressive samples. The band continue their funk-influenced hip-hop and pop/soul on the new record. “Steve Kovacs mixed and engineered the record and Brian Cabby also did some of the engineering with me [Schneider] producing.
Sweet Home: July 2011
Bad Girl Gone Good Chicago’s legendary blues sound continues to evolve and expand with new variations and perspectives, and the most exciting additions are pouring from the offspring of its heroes. The latest take comes from Demetria Taylor, daughter of the late guitarist Eddie Taylor. Although she has devoted years developing her voice singing on […]
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