Recent Articles
Next Stop . . Soweto reviewed!
VARIOUS ARTISTS Next Stop . . Soweto (Strut) South Africa’s “Mbaqanga” age evolved in the shadows of apartheid, marrying Zulu folk with Western jazz and pop found on the (literally) black market.
Friday’s picks!
Showtime, May 21st This week’s highlights include Dengue Fever, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound.
A-ha live!
A-ha live! Riviera Theatre, Chicago Thursday, May 13, 2010 To the bulk of American audiences, A-ha will always be remembered for its monster smash “Take On Me,” which once topped the charts and has since been spun an average of 375 times a day. But to the rest of the world, especially in Europe, […]
Coheed And Cambria preview
Congress Theatre, Chicago Friday, May 14, 2010 I used to think Coheed And Cambria were the J.R.R. Tolkien of bands, but it turns out they’re really George Lucas.
Plants & Animals preview
Lincoln Hall, Chicago Saturday, May 15, 2010 The faces of anger in rock ‘n’ roll are legion — polemics, posturing, and power chords among them — but for their second album, Plants & Animals go with passive aggressive.
Turin Brakes preview
Lincoln Hall, Chicago Tuesday, May 18, 2010 Like that awful joke about large people and mopeds, Turin Brakes are great to sing along to until your friends pop in.
Little Brother farewell!
Double Door, Chicago Wednesday, May 19, 2010 As disappointing as Little Brother’s impending break-up may be, this revered, North Carolinan hip-hop duo is not going out on a bad note with its final album LeftBack — they just know when to call it quits.
Frightened Rabbit preview
Metro, Chicago Friday, May 8, 2010 Few British bands hit the American tour circuit as hard as Frightened Rabbit did following 2008’s impressive The Midnight Organ Fight. Now’s when we find out if it paid off.
Converge preview
Bottom Lounge, Chicago Sunday, May 9, 2010 Hardcore seems increasingly ghettoized lately, though Converge’s Axe To Fall (Epitaph) made a lot of people sit up last year.
A-Ha preview
Riviera, Chicago Thursday, May 13, 2010 Stop that laughing. Nestled atop the Guardian‘s “1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die” is A-Ha’s Hunting High And Low.
Cover Story: Stone Temple Pilots
Not A Question Of If, But When Reunion rumors can be tedious. Scratch that. They’re a bitch. Jimmy Page wants more. John Paul Jones isn’t averse. Robert Plant would rather chop-stick his eyes out, and probably will if people keep asking. And that’s the key, isn’t it? Keep asking.
Rhymefest interview
Escaping The Matrix “My real name is iller than my rap name,” declares Che Smith, the Chicago-reared MC better known to hip-hop fans as Rhymefest (and as co-writer of Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks”). Talking about the meaning of the title and concept of his long-delayed sophomore album, El Che, Rhymefest has left the major-label life […]
Ha Ha Tonka interview
Use Somebody Already Move over Caleb Followill. Ye of grizzled, sultry croon that could tear the very clothes off a fair maiden just by hitting the right sequence of notes must contend with a redhead from the Ozarks, who miraculously possesses a similar ability to defrock fresh-faced coeds with merely the sound of his voice. […]
Male Bonding interview
Everything’s A Blur Distortion in rock ‘n’ roll used to be extremely violent. True to form, guitarists like Pete Townshend and Dave Davies achieved the sound by literally stabbing holes in their amplifier speakers. Over the years, of course, distortion was harnessed and polished for Sears commercials and kiddie TV theme songs, another casualty into […]
Around Hear: May 2010
Local Band Reviews Admiral Of Black Admiral Of Black has recorded the template for fundamental hard rock/metal debut albums with The Hand Of Chaos. The eight-track CD — already a year old — has the right production to stand out from other newcomers, thanks to a party-metal swagger that overcomes any minor first-effort deficiencies.
Recent Comments