Weekly
Signing Choir preview
Signing Choir Schubas, Chicago Saturday, September 8, 2007 The old joke often holds true for actors: they really just want to direct. So, one wonders if the same adage hovers over musicians. Does the bass player in a band really just want to take on the role of lead singer?
Animal Collective preview
Animal Collective Vic Theatre, Chicago Monday, September 10, 2007 Of all the bands whose sound wicks comparison to Talking Heads, only Animal Collective seem to have the spirit down (wildly ambitious and shaking nervously). But for the upcoming Strawberry Jam (Fat Cat), another distinct influence emerges: The Beach Boys.
Biffy Clyro preview
Biffy Clyro Park West, Chicago Tuesday, September 11, 2007 This isn’t your little brother’s Roadrunner Records anymore, and the release of Biffy Clyro’s newest album further proves it.
Scenes From A Movie preview
Scenes From A Movie Beat Kitchen, Chicago Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Hate Fall Out Boy? Man, might as well know from the get go, Scenes From A Movie is going to make your blood boil.
Scorpions reviewed
Scorpions Humanity Hour 1 (New Door/UMe) Sensing they perhaps missed a chance when they failed to retire after “Winds Of Change,” Germany’s undying Scorpions try yet again to go out on a high note with Humanity Hour 1.
DevilDriver reviewed
DevilDriver The Last Kind Words (Roadrunner) Dez Fafara finally hits his stride, three records into his second career.
Angel & The Love Mongers reviewed
Angel & The Love Mongers The Humanist Queen (Rock Snob) The last time a Tennessee-based band devoted an album to British influences, they were called Big Star and went down in history as the missing link. Don’t expect as much from Angel & The Love Mongers.
Wu-Tang Clan, Nas live!
Rock The Bells Charter One Pavilion, Chicago Sunday, August 26, 2007 Getting the entire Wu-Tang Clan on the same stage is a gargantuan undertaking. Thus pulling all nine of these erratic, kung fu flick-loving Staten Island rappers together was the primary draw of the original Rock The Bells concert in 2004. Three years later, the […]
New Orleans Social Club live!
New Orleans Social Club Millennium Park, Chicago Friday, August 24, 2007 Of all the stories chronicling the disasters of Hurricane Katrina, few explore the cultural devastation left in her wake. New Orleans was a hotbed of musical and cultural creation. Besides centuries-old jazz traditions, the city has also birthed its own brand of funk, rock, […]
The Bronx, The Last Vegas preview
The Bronx, The Last Vegas Double Door, Chicago Thursday, August 30, 2007 According to their Web site, The Bronx hope to have two new (though not a double album, mind you) records out by the end of the summer. This makes us happy. But the fact the band claim one of them (El Bronx) will […]
Stereo Total, Avagami preview
Stereo Total/Avagami Abbey Pub/Darkroom, Chicago Friday, August 31, 2007/ Sunday, September 2, 2007 At their cores, Stereo Total and Avagami have little in common. Total are a French/German duo who have been terrorizing sound for more than a decade, poking and prodding punk and electro as if it were their birthright. Avagami are a barely […]
Confederate Railroad preview
Confederate Railroad Grayville Days, Grayville IL Saturday, September 1, 2007 In his song “Hank Williams, Junior,” David Allan Coe said “A little bit of Waylon sure goes a long way.” Confederate Railroad agree, but would also add Coe and Jr. themselves, Billy Joe Shaver, and The Charlie Daniels Band as well.
Marissa Nadler preview
Marissa Nadler Ronny’s, Chicago Wednesday, September 5, 2007 A certain air surrounds singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler. Call it gothic, spacy, or just a plumb fit for a noir horror film, the Massachusetts-bred artist doesn’t shy away from any of these styles on her third full-length release, Songs III: Bird On The Water (Kemado).
The Velocet reviewed
The Velocet A Quick And Dirty Guide To War (Eyeball) The times would indicate an army brat’s album might attempt something substantial, but apparently Michael Davison really just wants to rock like everyone else.
Luke Temple reviewed
Luke Temple Snowbeast (Mill Pond) Sometime visual artist Luke Temple couldn’t stand the New York art scene so he decided to try his hand at singing. His second album suggests the NYC music realm was a tough fit as well.










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