Weekly
The Faint live!
The Faint Metro, Chicago Tuesday, May 22, 2007 There are a few sure-fire signs summer has begun to hit Chicago. Parking dries up around Wrigley Field, Clark Street gets torn up from the Loop to Lincoln Park, and going to see a show at most indoor venues becomes an endurance test, thanks to the ever-present […]
The Rosebuds/Clientele preview
The Rosebuds, The Clientele Subterranean, Chicago Friday, June 1, 2007 Saturday, June 2, 2007 If Merge Records were a television station, Spoon and The Arcade Fire would be its primetime programming, while The Rosebuds (Friday) and The Clientele (Saturday) would take care of the late-night dance party.
Wheat preview
Wheat Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, June 6, 2007 Despite a plethora of avenues to utilize when releasing new music, bands still envision getting signed to a major label as the epitome of tangible success. But what happens when the major label dream comes to fruition, yet peters out in a pale glow of disappointment? The […]
Adrienne Young reviewed
Adrienne Young Room To Grow (Addie Belle) Socialist acoustic punk bands, ever lacking in foresight, completely missed out on a definitive genre tag. Instead comes eco-friendly Adrienne Young who, by packaging seeds with albums and donating proceeds to soil-nourishing causes, deserves the title of the first agri rocker.
Astrid Swan reviewed
Astrid Swan Poverina (Minty Fresh) By puppeteering her voice in such a way, Astrid Swan is sure to draw deadringer comparisons to Kate Bush and Tori Amos. But when she’s on her game the Finn portrays perhaps a more stable, but equally delectable artist.
Bang Gang reviewed
Bang Gang Something Wrong (Ryko/From Nowhere) Finally released in America, this Icelandic “band” sits on the coastline and tries to pick up distant European and New World pop stations.
The Arcade Fire live!
The Arcade Fire Chicago Theatre, Chicago Friday, May 18, 2007 Toward the end of the first night of a three-night stand, Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler made a rather crafty, self-conscious joke: “Well, we’ll see you tomorrow night!” Part of it was disbelief he could sell-out such a hall for a weekend; the other half […]
Two Cow Garage live!
Two Cow Garage The Hideout, Chicago Thursday, May 17, 2007 For the rusted-out, ’85 Camaro of a band they are, Two Cow Garage still packed a brass-knuckled punch at a packed Hideout on Thursday. Micah Schnabel’s perpetually hoarse, steel-wool howl scraped through the layers of guitar while drummer Dustin Harigle pounded the dusty rug of […]
ALO preview
ALO Martyrs’, Chicago Thursday, May 24, 2007 Hanging out with surfer-dude-to-the-extreme Jack Johnson isn’t all fun and games. Or at least that’s the vibe emitting from the new album by ALO, Roses & Clover (Brushfire).
Joss Stone, Ryan Shaw preview
Joss Stone, Ryan Shaw House Of Blues, Chicago Wednesday, May 30, 2007 The story behind the title of British soul singer Joss Stone’s third album, Introducing Joss Stone, is easy enough to understand: “It’s the first album that is truly me,” she says in the album’s press materials.
Joe reviewed
Joe Ain’t Nothin’ Like Me (Jive) Chart-topping loverman’s sixth album is a slow jam from start to finish.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony reviewed
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Strength And Loyalty (Interscope) Five years and some member subtractions later, the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony comeback goes easy on its title theme.
Björk live!
Björk Auditorium Theatre, Chicago Saturday, May 12, 2007 Björk gets a lot of leeway because of her insatiable musical ambition and thorough reinventions, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t dump a lot of scrap in her fans laps. Saturday at the Auditorium the inconsistencies of her latest album, Volta (Elektra), carried into a set that […]
Mastodon live!
Mastodon Riviera, Chicago Saturday, May 12, 2007 Mastodon’s 2006 release, Blood Mountain (Warner Bros.), left a gigantic footprint in the heavy metal landscape, causing some to believe the Atlanta four-piece just might rock hard enough to propel the genre back into the collective consciousness. Even hailed by some as the savior of heavy metal, Mastodon […]
Regina Spektor live!
Regina Spektor Riviera, Chicago Sunday, May 13, 2007 Regina Spektor’s sold-out performance at Riviera on Sunday night won’t go down as historic for either her, personally, or the grand annals of pop music. It did, however, poke a lot of holes into two primary genres. Click here for a Flickr gallery of Spektor from Sunday […]
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