Recent Articles
Langhorne/Hunter preview
Langhorne Slim/Jana Hunter Beat Kitchen/Schubas, Chicago Friday, April 7, 2006 Langhorne Slim and Jana Hunter really don’t have much in common musically, unless you count being solo performers bastardizing old folk idioms. One’s a baby-faced loverman the other’s burdened with being the record label premiere overseen by some fanciful hipsters.
Glam preview
Boss Martians, The Sirens Viaduct Theater, Chicago Saturday, April 8, 2006 If The Darkness were an all-female band with a punk edge fronted by a Joan Jett kind of gal they wouldn’t be The Darkness, they’d be The Sirens. Opening for the next Killers-Strokes-Muse posse, Boss Martians, The Sirens justifiably may steal Saturday’s show at […]
For the record
FOR THE RECORD Last month we told you about WLUW 88.7 and their annual on-air fundraising effort. Broadcasting from the Loyola University campus, WLUW is a non-commercial community station that staffs only two full-time employees and more than 200 volunteers.
Massive missive
Massive Attack Collected (Virgin) Massive Attack were never the most popular band in trip-hop, but they were its best. Though this collection might arrive prematurely — four albums plus singles — it’s a commendable attempt to capture these easily defined yet highly elusive pioneers.
Eternally Yours
The Eternals High Anxiety EP (Aesthetics) Having gone their first two albums with an asterick overemphasizing their Trenchmouth lineage, Chicago’s Eternals let outsiders remix them and break the separations game wide open.
Float On
Anathallo Floating World (Nettwerk) Unsettling near-Sufjan Stevens, anti-showtunes grandeur hides in corners only to be drawn out via uplifting instrumentals.
Flag Bare
Anti-Flag For Blood & Empire (RCA) Taking cues from Green Day’s wildly successful American Idiot, supposed “important” punks Anti-Flag get the sloganeering machines firing.
May we holler at you?
Frog Holler Haywire (ZoBird) Somewhere in the boonies, outside Philadelphia, Frog Holler lurk with Americana reshapen for Dutch Country living.
Come To España!
Spain Colored Orange Hopelessly Incapable Of Standing In The Way EP (Lucid) Well now’s the time to be a Cuban jazz fan and in an indie rock band.
Playing The Field
Field Music Field Music (Memphis Industries) Apparently there’s only 10 or so musicians in Sunderland, England, and they’re in either The Futureheads, Maximo Park, or Field Music here. Sometimes more than one.
Superelectropreview
Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, April 5, 2006 “All tracks are live takes with no overdubs or edits.” This sentence seems to be the mission statement of The Exchange Session Vol.1(Domino). It appears on both the CD insert and press release. A completely improvised, unedited blend of drums, percussion, and electronics, […]
Cover Story: Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys Street Fighting Men The buzz hadn’t officially begun yet. But already you could hear it, bumblebee-droning. Getting louder by the minute. The time: A few short months ago. The place: A hip, Anglophile-oriented nightclub in San Francisco during an early-evening soundcheck. The cast of characters: Colorful, to say the least, including a long-haired […]
Beth Orton
BethOrton Stranger Things Have Happened Talk to musicians enough, and phrases reminiscent of sports cliches make their way to the fore. It only makes sense: we have our stock questions; they have their stock answers. Only instead of giving 110 percent or taking one game at a time, there’s “We really love coming to your […]
Editors
Editors Out Back There’s a bit of a misconception about Britain’s bell-tolling new Quasimodo-combo Editors (no “the,” thank you very much — just Editors), and guitarist Chris Urbanowicz would like to clear this up in short order. Judging by the grim funereal pall swirling around The Back Room — the quartet’s hazy debut for Kitchenware/Epic […]
Ben Harper
Ben Harper Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell No one can blame Ben Harper for not wanting to discuss his personal life with a stranger. He’s embarking on a tour that will enliven his 18-song, two-disc Both Sides Of The Gun (Virgin), which follows the Grammy-winning album he made with The Blind Boys Of Alabama in 2004. […]
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