ilentertainer's Latest Posts
Nicole Atkins & The Sea preview
Nicole Atkins & The Sea Subterranean, Chicago Thursday, February 21, 2008 Accolades for Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black were well-earned, though the album’s old-R&B/hip-hop marriage was clearly contrived and felt occasionally forced. Nicole Atkins can’t touch Winehouse for personality or moxy, but her Neptune City (Red Ink/Columbia) is decidedly less self-conscious about its chosen idiom.
John Ralston preview
John Ralston Schubas, Chicago Thursday, February 21, 2008 Like the wolf brigade of recent times (Wolf Parade, Wolf Eyes, Wolfmother), is a vampire resurgence on the rise? Vampire Weekend already have the indie press tied up in knots and now John Ralston’s sophomore release, Sorry Vampire (Vagrant), follows suit. The South Florida native didn’t leave […]
Singer preview
Singer Subterranean, Chicago Friday, February 22, 2008 There’s a classic part (or two) in This Is Spinal Tap where Nigel, David, and Derek attempt to harmonize their vocals while singing “Heartbreak Hotel,” inspired by the fact they’re visiting The King’s grave. It’s hard, when listening to Singer’s Unhistories (Drag City), not to think about that […]
Dengue Fever preview
Dengue Fever Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Ry Cooder aside, American rock musicians are all about approximating or idealizing when chasing foreign tones. Not to pick on Beirut or Devotchka, but their only authenticity is the indie rock underpinning. Ethan and Zac Holtzman didn’t want to be total charlatans when they formed L.A.’s […]
Horrorpops preview
Horrorpops Metro, Chicago Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Is Hamlet a Danish national icon? When their cartoonists aren’t provoking Islam, does Shakespeare’s brooding anti-hero cast a pall over the panels? Because Copenhagen’s biggest rock exports, The Raveonettes and Horrorpops, have a relationship with darkness that extends beyond fashion.
Sheryl Crow reviewed
Sheryl Crow Detours (A&M) A number of Sheryl Crows are at work on Detours, though they don’t all get along.
Antietam reviewed
Antietam Opus Mixtum (Carrot Top) Antietam’s latest album, like the Civil War battle from which the band take their name, gets a little sloppy.
The Kingston Trio reviewed
The Kingston Trio Once Upon A Time/Twice Upon A Time (Collectors’ Choice) As an historical reference, Collectors’ Choice’s simultaneous release of Once and Twice Upon A Time is a smidge overzealous. It’s two phases of folk heroes The Kingston Trio: early July, 1966 and late July . . . 1966.
Exodus preview
Exodus, Warbringer Pearl Room, Mokena Saturday, February 16, 2008 Exodus’ influence on the origin of thrash metal is being pushed hard to promote the group’s new album (eighth overall), The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A (Nuclear Blast). We are, after all, in the midst of a full-blown thrash revival. But consider this: In 1986, the year […]
L’Ocelle Mare preview
L’Ocelle Mare Fuck Mountain Loft, Chicago Friday, February 15, 2008 Thomas Bonvalet don’t wanna work. He just wants to bang on his guitar all day.
A Place To Bury Strangers preview
A Place To Bury Strangers Schubas, Chicago Sunday, February 17, 2008 By Sunday you should have Valentine’s Day out of your system: Drained of the inner pain and humiliation; ready to exact revenge on a society that places vacant companionship above all else; looking for A Place To Bury Strangers.
Danny Burns preview
Danny Burns’ Defectors Martyrs’, Chicago Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Hailing from County Donegal in Ireland, this Chicago-based singer-songwriter, on first listen, sounds like the next coming of longtime local staple, South Sider Michael McDermott. On Danny Burns’ Defectors debut, Grace & Mercy (TL), the 26-year-old does, indeed, channel a young McDermott, but shades of fellow […]
CDs For You Lovers Out There
Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Legacy) For its seemingly annual contribution to the Valentine’s industry, Legacy compiles Columbia, RCA, and Arista recordings of Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and Barry Manilow.
Gallows live!
Gallows Metro, Chicago Sunday, February 3, 2008 The Super Bowl and a snowstorm proved a lethal combo for Gallows, as the U.K. punks played to a nearly empty house Sunday night.
Todd Rundgren live!
Todd Rundgren Park West, Chicago Thursday, January 31, 2008 It has been four years since Todd Rundgren’s last proper studio CD, Liars, but he has been far from inactive during the gap. Outside of embarking on an extensive solo tour (which spawned the Liars Live DVD in 2005) he became the unlikely though fairly well-fitting […]
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