Monthly
Interview: The Horrors
Cat’s In The Cradle Horrors frontman Faris Badwan is eager to discuss Skying, his quintet’s sonically adventurous new third album – a record that’s just landed him squarely in the Top Five on the U.K. charts.
Backstage@Lollapalooza
Catching up with artists playing Lollapalooza was tougher than we thought. Even with some acts stuck in town after their sets in order to play afterparties, we came up against a wishlist of musicians with schedules more hardwired than the festival’s own rigid set times.
Around Hear: September 2011
Local Band Reviews Music-wise, Clara May‘s debut CD, Hush, is a bit all over the place – which is perhaps a reflection of its chief singer/songwriters being first and foremost a filmmaker/corporate executive/grad student and religious/equal-rights activist/author, respectively.
Caught In A Mosh: September 2011
Nouveau Sheet Music Remember last month when I conducted an interview with myself? Pretty awesome, yeah? To defend myself against accusations of narcissism, though, my reasoning for that column needs clarification: The originally planned feature with Swedish band Ghost never materialized.
Hello, My Name Is Susan
Q&A with Human League’s Susan Ann Sulley IE: What’s been going on during the decade between Human League albums? Susan Ann Sulley: The last album, Secrets, didn’t do so well because the record company [Papillon] went bankrupt when it came out, and we had to pick ourselves up from that.
File: September 2011
Festival Tragedies The way they’re marketed – like vacations – it’s easy to forget that music festivals are as prone to fate’s whim as anything. While flash-mob gate-crashing at Lollapalooza didn’t become a national epidemic like the England riots, Cheap Trick‘s experience at the Ottawa (Canada) Bluesfest in July shockingly repeated itself twice more in […]
Gear: September 2011
More Love From Nashville Last month we previewed a slew of new guitars from NAMM’s Nashville music trade show, where guitars seemed to be making a comeback as the instrument of choice. On the electronics side, accessories for the home-recording crowd – including iPad users – also took a majority of floor space. This month, […]
Media: September 2011
Dahl’s Basement Tapes Radio legend Steve Dahl started charging for his podcast last month. He was dumped from “free” radio in December of 2008, when CBS Radio bought out his WJMK-FM (105.9) contract (and continued to pay him). Two years ago, Dahl launched his podcast, joining a growing number of local media figures who have […]
Studiophile: September 2011
Recording In Hi-Style With a voice that channels the spirit of Little Richard and James Brown, JD McPherson recorded his debut album, Signs & Signifiers, for Hi-Style Records, in the local label’s hometown studio.
Sweet Home: September 2011
Race, Rage, & The Blues Nobody expected a brief Alligator Records tribute to become a catalyst for examining blues-industry race relations. When the Chicago Reader ran a profile of founder Bruce Iglauer commemorating the 40th anniversary of the label, buried within the May 19th piece was a quote that inflamed the blues community:
Cover Story: Blink-182
Everything Hits At Once Tom DeLonge has noticed the smoke billowing from his hat. “Oh, my god,” he exhales. “I just got some gas in my truck – I’m in San Diego and Orange County is an hour away; L.A.’s two hours away.
Interview: Death Cab For Cutie
Speaking In Codes Back when Death Cab For Cutie had only begun peeking their heads above the underground, their annual Chicago stomping ground was the venerable Metro.
Interview: Tim Robbins
Going Rogue He must not have had the chops – seen the competition and promptly backed off. He’d been set up perfectly for a career as a lighthearted barroom rocker, giddily butchering Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness” while seated on a tourbus in Bull Durham. Bruce Willis, Don Johnson, Eddie Murphy, and other actors […]
Interview: Cults
Frame By Frame The eponymous debut from joyfully jangling New York duo Cults is easily one of the best records of the year, full of Spector-plush arrangements, sugary Crystals/Ronettes choruses, and hooks so huge they reverberate inside your skull for days after just one listen.
Hello, My Name Is Rik
Q&A with Triumph’s Rik Emmett IE: What did your life look like throughout the ’80s during the Triumph whirlwind? Rik Emmett: I remember it being an exciting time and a pressure-filled time. We were a unique entity in managing ourselves and we had our own office, studio, and a pretty intense relationship with the record […]
Recent Comments