Weekly
A Place To Bury Strangers preview
A Place To Bury Strangers Schubas, Chicago Sunday, February 17, 2008 By Sunday you should have Valentine’s Day out of your system: Drained of the inner pain and humiliation; ready to exact revenge on a society that places vacant companionship above all else; looking for A Place To Bury Strangers.
Danny Burns preview
Danny Burns’ Defectors Martyrs’, Chicago Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Hailing from County Donegal in Ireland, this Chicago-based singer-songwriter, on first listen, sounds like the next coming of longtime local staple, South Sider Michael McDermott. On Danny Burns’ Defectors debut, Grace & Mercy (TL), the 26-year-old does, indeed, channel a young McDermott, but shades of fellow […]
CDs For You Lovers Out There
Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Legacy) For its seemingly annual contribution to the Valentine’s industry, Legacy compiles Columbia, RCA, and Arista recordings of Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and Barry Manilow.
Gallows live!
Gallows Metro, Chicago Sunday, February 3, 2008 The Super Bowl and a snowstorm proved a lethal combo for Gallows, as the U.K. punks played to a nearly empty house Sunday night.
Todd Rundgren live!
Todd Rundgren Park West, Chicago Thursday, January 31, 2008 It has been four years since Todd Rundgren’s last proper studio CD, Liars, but he has been far from inactive during the gap. Outside of embarking on an extensive solo tour (which spawned the Liars Live DVD in 2005) he became the unlikely though fairly well-fitting […]
Joe Henry live!
Joe Henry Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago Saturday, February 2, 2008 A rare tour by producer/songwriter Joe Henry found him in “Storytellers” mode at the Old Town School on Saturday night. During the first of two shows, he mocked his role in the world while quietly lamenting the country’s.
MGMT & Yeasayer preview
MGMT, Yeasayer Schubas, Chicago Friday, February 8, 2008 Sometimes a band just can’t get out of their own way. MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular (Columbia) is an ELO-sized fiesta, a Swedish-pop spectacular that’ll rack up year-end top-10 points* while maintaining indie-band-on-a-major buzz.
Will Hoge preview
Will Hoge Double Door, Chicago Friday, February 8, 2008 Listening to Will Hoge’s “Dirty Little War” is like digging your heart out with a spoon. The Nashville-based singer’s husky vocals break as the song ventures down a weary path with no end in sight from enclosing doom. In other words, it’s glorious.
Machine Head preview
Machine Head Pearl Room, Mokena Friday, February 8, 2008 Machine Head had a pretty killer 2007, no thanks to us. By us, I mean me. I more or less trashed The Blackening (Roadrunner) in a “Spins” review last summer, saying Machine Head “failed to write engaging material” and that none of the songs were memorable […]
Soft preview
Soft Empty Bottle, Chicago Sunday, February 10, 2008 Self-proclaimed studio rats Soft owe a big debt to the blueprints of shoegazer bands (My Bloody Valentine, Ocean Colour Scene) of early-’90s Britain, with a seiche of psychedelic guitars and an analog rumble of big drum beats.
Freezepop preview
Freezepop Subterranean, Chicago Wednesday, February 13, 2008 You’ve probably heard about a video game called “Guitar Hero” by now. If not, it’s kinda popular: The newest version, “Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock,” made more than $100 million in its first week alone. “Rock Band,” a similar game that lets users sing and “play” drums […]
Sam Amidon reviewed
Sam Amidon All Is Well (Bedroom Community) It can’t be cheap to fly from New York to Iceland, much less record there. Maybe that’s why Sam Amidon (“Samidon” from here out) sounds so blue on All Is Well.
Intodown reviewed
Intodown Brave New World (self-released) Guitarist Michael Clark attempts to stuff instrumental progressive rock into his guitar’s gig bag, mixing all sorts of fusion, surf, alt-rock, and acid influences.
The Teenagers live!
The Teenagers Dark Wave Disco At Sonoteque, Chicago Saturday, January 26, 2008 There’s a good chance a group whose most notorious song is a document of the narrator sleeping with his step-cousin shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Perhaps that should’ve been the first indication of what was to come.
Lenny Kravitz live!
Lenny Kravitz Riviera Theatre, Chicago Saturday, January 26, 2008 These days Lenny Kravitz is more likely to play an arena than an intimate setting, making a pre-release warm up tour at the Riviera Theatre a somewhat unusual occurrence. The retro rocker likened it to being “just like the old days,” but with longevity under his […]
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