Recent Articles
Morrissey CD Review
Morrissey Ringleader Of The Tormentors (Attack/Sanctuary) Surrounding himself with some pop royalty (spaghetti western architect Ennio Morricone; T. Rex producer Tony Visconti) can’t save Stephen Morrissey’s wonderfully titled Ringleader Of The Tormentors from being an un-storied entry to the Smiths/Morrissey catalog.
Voxtrot CD Review
Voxtrot Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives (Cult Hero) Voxtrot’s second EP is a short blast of upright power pop, deceptively encased in blocky piano chords and lovelorn sincerity.
Pick A Better Weapon
The Coup Pick A Bigger Weapon (Epitaph) The inability to resist making a joke tarnishes an otherwise sharp fifth album from indier-than-thou rappers.
Kahoots CD Review
Kahoots Fourteen Ghosts (I & Ear) The spirit of The Feelies lives in these darling, jangling boys.
Gotan Project CD Review
Gotan Project Lunático (XL) Parisians Phillipe Cohen Solal, Christoph Müller, and Eduardo Makaroff continue making dub-based tango, but this time went to the home country to do it. Guests include Calexico and Juan Carlos Cáceres.
Push It Kinda Good!
Push To Talk Push To Talk (Doghouse) Is it a reaction to Raiders fans? Metallica? Someone put Push To Talk in Oakland, but they didn’t put Oakland in Push To Talk.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs live live live
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Riviera, Chicago Friday, April 14, 2006 Chapter Two, the Second Act, the Sophomore effort; these things take on an almost mythical proportion when used in the Rock milieu. And if your band was birthed on hype and word-of-mouth buzz, than you can also add razor-sharp scrutiny to the aforementioned hyperbole.
David Gilmour live
David Gilmour Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont Thursday, April 13, 2006 There’s a fine line between boring and hypnotic. Appearing in support of On An Island, his first new material since Pink Floyd’s 1994 work The Division Bell, David Gilmour managed to cross that line both ways.
Sia live
Sia Martyrs’, Chicago Wednesday, April 12, 2006 It was an uncommonly warm April evening in Chicago on the 12th. There was an insubstantial threat of rain and the wind moved briskly, but nothing else was amiss, although the moon turning full. But could that cliché omen explain why Australian starlet Sia was crazy with a […]
Elbow live
Elbow Double Door, Chicago Sunday, April 16, 2006 In a slightly muted performance on Easter night, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey proved not to be kidding when he said they brought the weather with them. Countering the chugging momentum of their third album, Leaders Of The Free World (V2), Elbow’s delayed return to Chicago felt a […]
Crosby Loggins preview
Crosby Loggins & The Leadbirds Double Door, Chicago Thursday, April 20, 2006 If your claim to fame at this point is being the son of Kenny Loggins, how would you handle it?
Eef Barzelay preview
Eef Barzelay Schubas, Chicago Friday, April 21, 2006 It’s not like when you go see Clem Snide you aren’t really there just to see Eef Barzelay anyway — most people think his name is Snide and those other guys are the band. So while this solo LP seems extraneous, keeping it acoustic respectfully nods to […]
Taylor Hawkins preview
Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders Double Door, Chicago Sunday, April 23, 2006 Here’s the thing about side projects. They aren’t at least one band member’s main gig so they’re usually pretty awful. That’s not a generalization, I’m not saying all side projects are horrible, just most. Because some members of the band have cushy […]
Eno Byrnes
Brian Eno + David Byrne My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (Nonesuch) Pioneering ambient/world funk/sample jam gets reissued by Nonesuch Records with seven bonus outtakes from the ’79/’80 sessions.
I know this much is Trew
The Trews Den Of Thieves (Epic) They don’t come with much less pretense than The Trews, who have a love for Train and The Black Crowes to go with a furious desire to be onstage.
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