Columns
DVD Zone: January 2009
DVD Zone Burn After Reading Universal Seriously, are there any filmmakers out there with a more varied canon than the Coen brothers? They’ve run the gamut from pitch-perfect film noir (Blood Simple, No Country For Old Men) to surrealistic masterpieces (Barton Fink, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) to works that can only be described as […]
Local CD Reviews
There’s a lot of negative energy on After The Fight‘s second CD, No Brownie Pie, Same Old Sh††, but it’s packaged in short, energetic blasts that capture the raw emotion of vintage punk. With the band aiming so much anger at society, work, and life in general, it’s surprising to find the unabashed romance of […]
Best Of Around Hear ’08
Each January, we dedicate part of “Around Hear” to those low-profile local artists who are our favorites from the passing year – the results of our staff and freelancers combing clubs and stacks of CDs for more than the booze and adulation we normally receive. This is by no means an attempt to make a […]
2008: The Way We Saw It
Hooray for heavy metal! Well, technically “heavy music” (that’s what I requested from the below guests when I asked for their Top 5 lists), but nonetheless, below is what myself and some other local characters of varying pedigrees (musicians, critics, media personalities, etc.) thought were the best heavy records of ’08. If you can remember […]
Best Of “Gear” ’08
It has been another year of interesting and exciting new products and gadgets in the world of “Gear.” Here’s our list of 2008’s best. APPLE MacBook Air (Feb) Mac fanatics have been anticipating a sub notebook that would match the specs of mini-notebook laptops from PC makers Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba.
CBS Heaves It To Stever
Last month’s firing of radio legend Steve Dahl and his staff was shocking – but not out of character – for CBS Radio. A few weeks earlier, B96’s longtime morning team, Eddie Volkman and Joe “Jobo” Bohannon, were dumped by CBS Radio with eight months left in their contracts – and no chance to say […]
Local Studio Happenings
CARTERCO RECORDING in Chicago is offering a Graveyard Shift special: $20-per-hour recording between midnight and 8 a.m . . . Carterco recently updated its MIDI capabilities with an M-Audio keyboard controller and some virtual instruments and plans on upgrading its Pro Tools rig to 8.0 as soon as it’s released . . . Arctic Fox […]
A Tribute To Chico Banks
The Chicago blues community gathered on Wednesday, December 10th at the West Side’s United Baptist Church to celebrate the life of one of their own. Guitarist/singer-songwriter Vernon “Chico” Banks, aged 46, passed away December 3rd of an apparent infection of a heart valve that was replaced more than a year ago.
Hello, My Name Is Noel
Hello, My Name Is Noel Q&A With Noel Gallagher of Oasis IE: On the Dig Out Your Soul bonus-disc track “Lord Don’t Slow Me Down,” you sing “I’ve got a habit that the cat won’t lick.” Noel Gallagher: Heh-heh. Yeah, yeah. If you’ve got a habit and you can’t lick it, it’s pretty bad if […]
File: December 2008
The Burnt Bush Fifty more days of Bush — exhale. The world has expressed its relief that one of the most tumultuous American administrations punches out in January. We, too, will close a door, this on the most disheartening protest-music era pop music has ever seen. Ever. Where’s our “For What It’s Worth”? Our “Ohio”? […]
DVD Zone: December 2008
DVD Zone The 2008 Holiday DVD Gift Guide So the economy’s in the tank. Big deal. That shouldn’t keep you from treating those you hold near and dear to some great DVD sets this holiday season. Besides, you’d just spend the money foolishly on stuff like the mortgage, rent, food, or whatever. C’mon, anybody can […]
Lucky Number 53
It’s an awfully cliché way to start an article, but the third time truly was a charm for Jim Johnson, owner of Planet10studios in Palatine. Planet10 is what used to be Studio 53, an iconic Chicagoland recording studio home to iconic Chicagoland recorders like Bob Blum, Don Griffin, and the late Jerry Soto. It was […]
Still Cyco After All These Years?
I try not to be too much of a fanboy in this column, but when I found out Suicidal Tendencies was playing House Of Blues December 10th, I almost cried.
Barack Rocks The (White) House
While watching the celebration unfold in Grant Park last month on television, in which President–elect Barack Obama celebrated his victory with some 240,000 jubilant supporters, I felt as though I was watching another type of history in the making. Racial stereotypes were being shattered left and right as the major networks and cable channels sent […]
Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 1
Last month’s firing of radio legend Steve Dahl and his staff was shocking – but not out of character – for CBS Radio. A few weeks earlier, B96’s longtime morning team, Eddie Volkman and Joe “Jobo” Bohannon, were dumped by CBS Radio with eight months left in their contracts – and no chance to say […]
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