Recent Articles
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.
Media: May 2010
Truly Local – And Scrappy, Too When Conscious Choice published its final issue last April, its employees refused to let the dream die.
Caught In A Mosh: May 2010
Three Years A-Moshing Almost. Truth is, June is this column’s official birthday, but — lucky you — I’ve decided to celebrate early.
Sweet Home: May 2010
Delta Crush Blues It’s telling that blues guitarist Chainsaw Dupont lists as turning points in his music career not listening to B.B. King as he was growing up in the Mississippi Delta or touring with Junior Wells in the ’90s, but hearing Sly & The Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and […]
Digital Divide: May 2010
It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Blue Avatar Fox Home Entertainment I’ll admit it: I’m probably one of only 20 people in America who didn’t see Avatar in the theaters. Yet I felt no sense of shame or desperation about not taking part in the group collective, because I knew that the eventual home-video release would be […]
Gear: May 2010
Taylor Dave Matthews Signature Guitar As a longtime Taylor Guitars devotee, Dave Matthews used his 914ce to write music that would shape a new generation of jam bands that still inspires new converts today. With an eye on the future, Taylor has collaborated with Matthews and released the Dave Matthews Signature Model guitar that also […]
File: May 2010
In The Radio While the record labels continually empty chambers and reload hoping to find that magic bullet, record stores have taken charge and adapted themselves to the crashing and surging marketplace. At 5045 N. Clark St. in Andersonville (less than a mile west and slightly north of the Aragon and Riviera), Transistor has taken […]
Hello, My Name Is Eddie
Q&A with Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery IE: What’s it like playing up north? How do you approach the crowd and set? Eddie Montgomery: Let me tell you first off, what you see with me and “T” [bandmate Troy Gentry] is what you get. A lot of people think they can fool country fans, but they […]
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