Recent Articles
The Warlocks reviewed
The Warlocks Heavy Deavy Skull Lover (Tee Pee) There is hope for anemic indie pop. Appearing: June 20th at Logan Square Auditorium.
The Funeral Pyre reviewed
The Funeral Pyre Wounds (Prosthetic) Death metal must have fallen out of favor in Southern California since 2001, when The Funeral Pyre formed. Or at least that’s an easily drawn conclusion after listening to Wounds, where the group make a full-fledged switch to black metal.
Midnight Juggernauts reviewed
Midnight Juggernauts Dystopia (Astralwerks) Australia’s Midnight Juggernauts thump thump thump their French disco tastes the way a XXX-swilling, rugby-loving national should.
R.E.M. & Modest Mouse live!
R.E.M., Modest Mouse United Center, Chicago Friday, June 6, 2008 Comparing the R.E.M. of 2004 with the band of today is the difference between watching a dying engine tapering out on fumes and lighting a match over a gas tank at full-throttle. Much of the reason for this rollicking resurgence stems from the jangle rock […]
Photo Gallery Updated!
Vist the official IE Photo Gallery for new additions from R.E.M. at the United Center, Alicia Keys at Allstate, and Rush at the United Center, plus one metric boatload of pics from the 2008 Chicago Blues Fest.
My Blueberry Nights reviewed
My Blueberry Nights The Weinstein Company Starring Norah Jones, Jude Law, Jason Strathairn, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman. First garnering American acclaim through Quentin Tarantino’s championing of 1994’s Chungking Express, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai has since become known for his beautifully innovative camera work, affecting use of music, and poetic, yet lonely characters […]
The Explorers Club preview
The Explorers Club Empty Bottle, Chicago Friday, June 13, 2008 We compare new bands to their forebearers because it helps get everyone on one page; sometimes there’s no other way to describe them. Interpol sound like Joy Division, Godsmack like Alice In Chains. John Mellencamp was “Baby Boss.” But The Explorers Club really sound like […]
Donita Sparks preview
Donita Sparks & The Stellar Moments Double Door, Chicago Friday, June 13, 2008 If you check the Double Door Web site for info on Donita Sparks & The Stellar Moments’ gig, you’ll notice it says “ex-L7” in parentheses behind Sparks’ name. It’s a safe assumption, considering the grunge band haven’t released new material since 1999’s […]
Soilent Green preview
Soilent Green House Of Blues, Chicago Monday, June 16, 2008 There’s bad luck, there’s terrible luck, and there’s absolutely, god-awful, ridiculous, don’t-wish-this-on-sewer-rats, Soilent Green luck.
White Hinterland preview
White Hinterland Hideout, Chicago Monday, June 16, 2008 Casey Dienel must hold the classic Peanuts cartoon specials dear to her heart. The 22-year-old pianist emulates the legendary Vince Guaraldi on her second disc, Phylactery Factory (Dead Oceans), especially on “Dreaming Of The Plum Trees.” Instrumentally the song constitutes a perfect foil for our unlikely hero […]
Ladytron preview
Ladytron Vic Theatre, Chicago Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Ladytron’s electro-pop sizzle had to undergo a series of maneuvers once trends caught up with them. Their 2001 debut, 604 (Emperor Norton), remains a bankable continental classic, but for their fourth entry, Velocifero (Nettwerk), they go international by looking at their own roster.
Emmylou Harris reviewed
Emmylou Harris All I Intended To Be (Nonesuch) Emmylou Harris’ first solo album since 2003 relies mainly on covers, purposefully pointing back to her early solo albums — appropriate, then, that Brian Ahern produced it. Appearing: Saturday, June 14th at Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
Wye Oak reviewed
Wye Oak If Children (Merge) Wye Oak’s namesake, a 460-year-old Maryland tree felled by a 2002 hurricane, will posthumously (postarborously?) base many a review for the young band. This won’t be one. But you’ll have to excuse the requisite Yo La Tengo references. Appearing: Saturday, June 14 at Hideout in Chicago.
Bell X1 live!
Bell X1, Brooke Waggoner Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Back home, Ireland’s Bell X1 enjoy the prestige of being labeled a stadium act. On the band’s second American outing in only the last three months, the size of the rooms might be smaller than those normally afforded chart-topping artists — kinda like driving […]
Centro-Matic preview
Centro-Matic Schubas, Chicago Saturday, June 7, 2008 Sunday, June 8, 2008 Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson can’t have just one. Of anything. It’s right there in his halved band name, as if we’d mispronounce it Cen-TROM-a-tic otherwise. Two shows this weekend (but only one club). Alternating headlining slots with The M’s. Supporting a split release (Dual Hawks) […]
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