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Local CD Reviews
“Around Hear” is a monthly feature where a stable of IE writers review albums sent to us by local musicians. If you are interested in having your CD (must have a minimum of three songs) reviewed and are Illinois-based, mail it and any other media materials to 657 A W. Lake St., Chicago IL, 60661. […]
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Perhaps releasing a two-CD set in eco-friendly packaging was meant to preserve resources, but by offering 33 lackluster tunes on Unified Folk Theory The Giving Tree Band simply wear out their welcome. Songs like “Sunshine Baby” and “Where Am I?” capture the spirit of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, but altogether ignore those artists’ insight […]
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Sally‘s patiently spawned album Long Live The New Flesh (Paribus) is crammed with angular, clanging guitars and artfully damaged melodies. “Horrific Nightwear” is a joyously jagged wreck of crashing guitars and careening drums. Braided, blistering feedback splits “Ultimate Exposure” wide open. It takes tremendous skill to make such disjointed, spastic cacophony sound this beautiful and […]
Scandinavian Sleaze
This month I’ll give you a rundown on some new records and try to whittle down the ever-increasing stack on my desk. But first, the debut of the new “Caught In A Mosh” feature, My F’n Playlist. It’s pretty simple. A person of my choosing is given the hypothetical scenario one of his favorite band’s […]
Alive & Amplified
Crate V-Series Tube Amplifiers Crate have come a long way from their humble beginnings in the late ’70s, and their acclaimed and newly freshened V-Series tube amplifier series is a prime example of their progress.
Bong Hits 4 Freedom
At first glance it’s a story of a high-school kid versus his principal in a quirky schoolyard First Amendment stand. A student fought for his right to hold up a sign that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” during what may or may not have been a school fieldtrip.
Studio Happenings
At BLUE ROOM STUDIO in Chicago, producer/engineer Edgars Legzdins finished his band Plane‘s new record, I See Love In The Future; the release date is set for October 9th . . . Legzdins also recorded a song with the Musical Outfits for their new album and worked with Pretty Good Dance Moves, techno/experimental/pop tunes that […]
Day In The Life Of Chicago Blues
In July, while Eric Clapton’s Crossroads guitar extravaganza kicked off at Toyota Park, the annual Taste Of Lincoln Avenue was revving up its 24th year with performances by a wide-ranging group of artists. Of particular interest to “Sweet Home” was the stage at Lincoln and Altgeld sponsored by the club B.L.U.E.S.
Beatallica (They’re So Heavy)
Not many people have realized the headbanging possibilities in The Beatles catalog, but a few clever fellas from Milwaukee did.
Hello, My Name Is Bob
Hello, My Name Is Bob Q&A with the Old Town School Of Folk Music’s Bob Medich. IE: Old Town School Of Folk Music Songbook Volume Two & Three’s liner notes credit you as the executive producer — so what does that mean? Bob Medich: I’m not the . . . I’m definitely not the producer. […]
File: August 2007
Can We Still Call Him Maurice? He may have been born in Milwaukee, but Steve Miller is a Chicago boy at heart. Though the leader of the eponymously titled band moved around a lot as a little one and even had some guitar training from his father’s pal Les Paul, the hopeful found the firmest […]
DVD Zone: August 2007
Factory Girl The Weinstein Company Call her the prototype. Call her the mold from which today’s crop of celebutards — your Hiltons, Ritchies, et al — sprung. Call her the first person famous for just being famous. Just remember, she did have a ringside seat and a heavy hand in the most revolutionary movement of […]
Local CD Reviews
On his 10th studio album, East Side Soul, it’s obvious Phil Angotti has logged an awful lot of hours writing, recording, and playing folk music.
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The four guys in Feature Presentation seem destined to do their small town of Manteno proud. The 10 tracks on their sparkingly produced debut CD, To You The Past, And The Questions Left Unanswered, bristle with energetic, ultra-tight pop power-punk. They separate themselves from the Fall Out Boy aesthetic with more technical guitar skills among […]
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O’Neill And Wean are so syrupy with their acoustic, barstool wisdom, but they’re also tricky, convoluted popsters. The You Are Beautiful EP plunges through the sweet of the heart while mining for bile. “I Found Out” spits deranged eulogies for the still-breathing: “We’ll be dead,” cries lead singer Billy O’Neill (oh my god) before “Na […]
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