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Yeah Yeah Yeahs live
Aragon, Chicago Tuesday, May 26, 2009 A common concern with success is whether someone gets too big too quickly. In Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ case, they went from a venue the size of the Riviera (where this show was originally booked) to the Aragon in a matter of weeks. No wonder frontwoman Karen O. didn’t know […]
Hello, My Name Is Dan
Q&A With Tortoise’s Dan Bitney IE: Beacons Of Ancestorship is a mouthful of a title. What were the runners up? Dan Bitney: That’s always the biggest struggle for us — naming stuff is the last thing we do. Appearing: Friday, July 17th at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.
File: June 2009
VIA CHICAGO This space was originally a set of light jibes regarding the legal dispute brought against Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy by former bandmate and writing partner Jay Bennett. Bennett, who was fired in 2001 after seven years in Wilco, claimed Tweedy owed him songwriting royalties as well as compensation for his appearance in the documentary […]
DVD Zone: June 2009
Revolutionary Road 20th Century Fox After taking a trip to the Middle East with Jarhead, director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) returns to the fertile ground of middle-American dysfunction with Revolutionary Road. Teaming up again are Titanic co-stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as April and Frank Wheeler, but there are no “king […]
Caught In A Mosh: June 2009
THE DEVIL IN DETAIL “I’ll be shocked if The Devil You Know isn’t absolutely awesome.” I typed those words in my April column. It was less than a month until said Heaven & Hell album’s April 28th release and I, like many metalheads, was very excited.
Media: June 2009
FREE RADIO STILL RELEVANT – ESPECIALLY FOR MUSICIANS A few years ago, Massachusetts-based musician Candace Clement was in a band called Better Friends Than Lovers when she started taking a hard look at how the music industry works. “A pattern quickly emerged — one where very few companies seemed to control all content,” says Clement, […]
Around Hear: June 2009
Beaujolais‘ Love At Thirty (Parasol) revolves around divorce, with melancholy tracks like “Nightmare In A Healthy Brain” and “Please Don’t Let This Be True” over-sharing Joe Ziemba’s (The Like Young, Wolfie) dark emotions.
Sweet Home: June 2009
TURNING 20 On June 9th, 1989, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells performed a memorable set of acoustic blues at the Front Porch stage during the Chicago Blues Festival. This writer was there, MCing that particular stage. Once the show was over, I was directed to announce to the lingering crowd that they should make it […]
Gear: June 2009
B.C Rich Kerry King V Generation 2 B.C. Rich and Slayer guitarist Kerry King have teamed up to assemble two new guitar models for collectors and first-time players. Bill Xavier, vice president of B.C. Rich, was a proud papa when speaking about this new collaboration with King. “Kerry has an innate understanding of his fans […]
Cover Story: The Dead
The Afterlife Afterparty Bill Kreutzmann is in Washington D.C. and, from where he’s sitting, a bad place. He’s not getting weird vibes or whatever lame, hippie mysticism people derisively ascribe to his band and their followers – he can’t get an Internet signal. “I’m trying to get my computers up,” he says, pausing to plead […]
Rock ‘N’ Roll At The Goodman
The Goodman Stages A Rock Revolution During the late 1960s, rock’s leading singers and songwriters, and their growing legion of long-haired flower children and liberal followers, were bragging about the a-changin’ times, chanting to give peace a chance, and all wanting a revolution to change the world. Runs: May 2nd through June 7th at The […]
White Rabbits interview
To Move Or Not To Move Drink me, eat me. Eat me, drink me. Drink eat drink eat drink eat. If only the music industry were so cut and dried that artists could simply nosh to determine whether they’d go large or small. It would certainly save a lot of heartache. Appearing: May 31st at […]
File: May 2009
I’ve Got The Power Right-wing bloggers are incensed. Leftist French laborers are kidnapping company executives. Stu, we need cleanup in aisle five! Can anybody hear me?! What in any god’s name is someone doing opening a nightclub in this climate?
Caught In A Mosh: May 2009
Ooze & Angst Alan A. Nemtheanga‘s Irish eyes aren’t smiling. “Hope I didn’t sound too grumpy,” the Primordial frontman signed off after answering my list of e-mail questions. Truth is, Nemtheanga, who has fronted the Irish band since it truly became Primordial in the early ’90s, simply sounds honest. Grumpy or not, that’s refreshing. Appearing: […]
Media: May 2009
Media Old-Time Radio Guru Chuck Schaden Retires Many people — including former Sun-Times media critic Robert Feder — credit Chuck Schaden with single-handedly keeping old-time radio alive for generations. But Schaden is stepping down in May, after 39 years of doing his Saturday afternoon radio show, “Those Were The Days” (1 to 5 p.m. on […]
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