ilentertainer's Latest Posts
It’s A Jazz Life
If You Got To Ask, You Ain’t Got It (Bluebird/Legacy) is a meticulously organized three-disc musical chronicle of the short but prolific career of stride piano master, composer, vocalist, and bandleader/ entertainer Thomas “Fats” Waller. Waller was a musical genius who came streaking through life comet-like, leaving behind a musical legacy still felt today.
Studio Happenings
The Artist Formally Known As Vince finished his new release, Welcome To The Show, set for release November 21st. Recording took place at OXIDE LOUNGE RECORDING in Bloomington. It was produced, engineered, and mixed by studio owner Tony San Filippo.
Male Monarch Of Most Media
Move over media royalty Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey, and make way for renaissance rocker Rob Zombie.
Drum Solo!
Tama Star Classic Mirage November is International Drum Month, and it gives us a chance to discuss our favorite acrylic drum set of 2006, the Tama Starclassic Mirage, a kit that brings backs memories of Led Zeppelin basher John Bonham’s Vistalite (Ludwig) drums from the 1976 film, The Song Remains The Same.
Soul Survivor
A distinctly American hybrid, soul music traces its illustrious creation to gospel, R&B, and jazz. While classic soul was produced in the ’60s and ’70s, the ’80s and ’90s witnessed the neo-soul movement. The British have proven to be much more reverent to American music than Americans; when classic soul gave way to disco in […]
Local CD Reviews
Ahab Rex‘s The Queen Of Softcore EP contains four remixes of the title track. The problem is the song isn’t all that interesting in the first place. Press sap the song of energy by implanting a played-out techno beat while Rex themselves sabotage their own tune by using even more generic funk riffs. The Countdown […]
Around Hear Page 2
The first compilation from startup label Four Play Music features half-a-dozen musicians following in the Chicago house music tradition. Artists like Home & Garden, Lake Street Project, and label head Andrew Emil all supply a few tracks here, but with similar beats and minimal vocals, no one really stands out. However, the album does flow […]
Around Hear Page 3
Though beginning strong with blues-tinged guitars and fantastic harmonica on tracks like “What’ch You Gonna Do” and “Feel The Same,” Mitch & The Polecats‘ uncompromisingly masculine Southern-style country rock on Swamp Womp begins to feel tired about halfway through. While not doing anything wrong per se (although the vocals do begin to grate after awhile), […]
Stars Of Track And Field
Stars Of Track And Field Centuries Before Love And War (Wind-Up) This indie-rock band began as a four-piece before losing their bassist. Instead of following the traditional route of finding a replacement, they decided to remain a trio and go digital.
Iron Maiden live!
Iron Maiden Allstate Arena, Rosemont Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Five songs into his band’s Allstate set Bruce Dickinson made the announcement Iron Maiden would play A Matter Of Life And Death, the group’s newest record, in its entirety, from start to finish. This drew one of two reactions from fans: 1.) Excitement because they love […]
Lindsey Buckingham live!
Lindsey Buckingham Park West, Chicago Tuesday, October 24, 2006 The first words out of Lindsey Buckingham’s mouth at a packed Park West appeared to be a brutally honest self-examination that aptly summarizes the content found on his new CD, Under The Skin: “Reading the paper, saw a review/Said I was a visionary, but nobody knew/Now […]
Los Abandoned, Birdmonster preview
Los Abandoned, Birdmonster Schubas, Chicago Thursday, October 26, 2006 Los Abandoned represent NAFTA at work: signed to Canadian Neil Young’s boutique label Vapor, born in Los Angeles, and big in Mexico. If only they could translate their spry, Go-Go’s-gone-hyperlectric pop to the gringos.
L.A. Guns(?) preview
L.A. Guns Good Times Pub, Elmhurst Friday, October 27, 2006 For the longest time, we thought the L.A. Guns booked to play Good Times Pub were the new (or would it be old?) version led by original guitarist Tracii Guns. After much confusion and Web surfing we discovered it’s actually the same lineup that have […]
FirstJason preview
FirstJason Red Line Tap, Chicago Saturday, October 28, 2006 Ari Lehman, the actor who played the very first Jason Voorhees in Friday The 13th, now fronts a hard rock band named FirstJason? Folks, this is the stuff Stagebuzzes are made of.
White Whale preview
White Whale Subterranean, Chicago Sunday, October 29, 2006 Merge’s latest buzz band isn’t Arcade Fire II, but kind of a big, music-hall rock band something like if The Band was more E Street and Beck were singing.
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