Monthly
Three Generations Of The Blues
The ’60s meet the new millennium with new releases by icons B.B. King, Otis Rush, and the Chicago Blues Reunion.
Studio News
At STUDIOCHICAGO in Chicago, Paris Delane worked on his first solo album, The Learning Tree, which is being co-produced by Gene Wolf . . . Mr. Blotto were in the studio recording their fifth studio album; Chuck Kawal engineered . . . India pop sensation Reggie Benjamin worked with Bob DiFazio on new songs for […]
If You Tape It They Will Come
People spent years waiting for a chance to sit in the “Bozo’s Circus” studio audience. Parents requested tickets to Bozo before their children were even born — and all for the chance to win Archway cookies and a Schwinn bicycle in the Grand Prize Game.
Like A Mouse
MICE TECHNOLOGIES Mobius Media Suite Naperville’s MICE Technologies believe you’re only using half the potential of your computer and software when you’re using only one mouse with music programs like ProTools and Ableton Live. They’ve created their own bi-manual software programs that allows a musician to use two input devices (mice/track pads) independently, recreating tasks […]
Flowers For Algeria
It’s not easy to be a singer in Arabic countries, you really have to prove yourself,” says Algerian singer and guitarist Souad Massi. For a Muslim woman who wears jeans, doesn’t cover her head, and dares to perform frowned upon Western genres such as hard rock, that’s somewhat of an understatement. Then again, understatement seems […]
Local CD Reviews
Bipolar is the latest LP from American Heritage, a Chicago collective that has weathered various lineup and label changes throughout its history. The band’s Escape Artist Records debut includes both new material and some previously unreleased tracks. American Heritage uses an onslaught of technical guitar work and odd time signatures to craft its math rock […]
Best Of Around Hear
Each January, we dedicate “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 definitive guide […]
Let It Shine
What’s a beatnik?” My young friend Emily, a Medill senior, asked me recently. We were discussing Halloween costumes, and I mentioned that back in the late ’50s I loved to dress up as a beatnik on Halloween: tight black clothes, heavy black eyeliner, and long black hair (courtesy of my mother’s long black scarf). Beatniks […]
Hinge Goes West
In 1998 a young Kanye West and the group he was producing/rapping with, The Go Getters, booked time at Hinge Studios and worked with Craig Bauer, the studio’s engineer and owner. Bauer says the sessions were pretty run-of-the-mill — he remembers West and his crew being nice, decent, normal human beings.
Three Sides To Every Story
Getting a handle on any major rock band is at least as easy as herding cats. But that hasn’t stopped the production of books purporting to provide the “real story.” Three recent publications illustrate three very different ways of nabbing their elusive quarry. In Smoke On The Water: The Deep Purple Story (E.C.W.), Dave Thompson […]
Carpetbaggers & Nincompoops
Howard Stern‘s switch to Sirius satellite radio next year will leave his Infinity Broadcasting family of 27 stations high and dry (his last “free” radio show will air here December 16th on WCKG-FM 105.9). In New York and six other markets he’ll be replaced by diminutive former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth. Los Angeles […]
Around Hear
The rapid punk rock of After The Fight‘s debut LP, Basura Solamente, is a punchy, crisp set of 13 songs. “Video Tape Sex” and “Fool Me Twice” are more melodic than other tracks and showcase the band’s high frenzied energy the best. The dual vocals sound strained and out of tune at times, but ATF’s […]
Reggae Love
Americans have always had an odd relationship with reggae. In the ’70s, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Third World, and Jimmy Cliff won some attention but never much radio play, which generally means few album sales. Bob Marley managed to break through with digestible nuggets of rock and soul pushing through a cloud of raw reggae rhythms. […]
Feelin’ Retro?
RETRO-KING 18 Watt Combo Retro-King Amps‘ 18 Watt Combo featuring two 10-inch or 12-inch speakers is the latest labor of love in their custom-made lineup of hand-wired tube amplifiers. A class AB amp, the 18 Watt Combo is a replica of the hard to find (and afford) 1966 Marshall 18-watt lead combo amplifier. Retro-King Amps […]
Cover Story: Depeche Mode
Sick Sense Of Humor Gargantuan techno/goth trio Depeche Mode has just released its 11th studio set, Playing The Angel on Sire/Reprise, possibly its darkest work since the mid-’80s masterpieces Black Celebration and Music For The Masses. And apparently, the album instantly reunited the group’s spooky faithful following — it debuted at number one in 10 […]
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