Weekly
Fayrewether return
Fayrewether Chicago City Limits, Schaumburg Friday, May 4, 2007 Progressive rocker Paul Fayrewether and his band conquered Chicagoland as a top drawing club act in the dark age of the mid-’80s, back when the local rock scene was going through a decidedly lean period of major label record deals and commercial success.
Parts & Labor preview
Parts & Labor Empty Bottle, Chicago Friday, May 4, 2007 Parts & Labor attempt to prove the (nearly) impossible: Noise rock can be catchy.
Test Your Reflex preview
Test Your Reflex Abbey Pub, Chicago Saturday, May 5, 2007 Test Your Reflex are a group of five dudes from California between the ages of 19 and 21 who already have a record deal with RCA! Life must be sweet, huh? You sure as hell wouldn’t know it by hearing them.
Arctic Monkeys preview
Arctic Monkeys Riviera, Chicago Tuesday, May 8, 2007 England’s year-old next-big-things survive the sophomore jinx on Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) but almost get stuck in gear.
Au Revoir Simone preview
Au Revoir Simone Empty Bottle, Chicago Tuesday, May 8, 2007 “Depressing things are empty beds and lonely dinners and women who are middle-aged with naked fingers” sing the interchangeable voices of Au Revoir Simone on “Fallen Snow,” a track from the trio’s first full-length release, The Bird Of Music (Our Secret Record Company).
James Apollo reviewed
James Apollo Hide Your Heart In A Hive (No Alternative) Hide Your Heart In A Hive sounds recorded not “on the road,” as the liners state, but in a single sitting, almost as if James Apollo never got up from behind his piano. And if he did it probably wasn’t for more than to dig […]
The Dreadful Yawns reviewed
The Dreadful Yawns Rest (Exit Stencil) It’s (pick one: stupid, lazy, comically shortsighted) to attach a young band to a 40-year-old song, but The Dreadful Yawns are everything right about The Byrds’ “Ballad Of Easy Rider.”
The Greencards reviewed
The Greencards Viridian (Dualtone) Tip-toeing around a traditional genre, The Greencards keep subtlely updating bluegrass with Viridian, their third album. Appearing: May 5th at Schubas in Chicago.
Kaiser Chiefs Live!
Kaiser Chiefs Vic Theatre, Chicago Friday, April 20, 2007 When Lollapalooza was baptized as a yearly Chicago event two summers back, some of the best surprises were the lesser known bands who handed in stellar sets. Case in point: Kaiser Chiefs from Leeds, England.
The Decemberists, My Brightest Diamond Live!
The Decemberists, My Brightest Diamond Riviera, Chicago Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Archaic. Cumbersome. These are words often applied to the bombastic, highly literate “rock” purveyed by The Decemberists. By arriving onstage to a Russian maritime anthem (the band’s name is an intentional misspelling of a 19th-century uprising against the czar) and lulling the audience through […]
Tub Ring Preview
Tub Ring Beat Kitchen, Chicago Friday, April 27, 2007 The remedies for ridding your bathtub of tub ring, the nasty, often orange, water mineral stains left by shampoo bottles that sit in one place too long, vary depending on whom you talk to. Besides the countless cleaning products available, lemon juice, vinegar, and mesh pads […]
Little Man Preview
Little Man Martyrs’, Chicago Saturday, April 28, 2007 Fresh off a Minnesota Music Awards nomination for Rock Group Of The Year and a slot at South By Southwest in Austin, Little Man heads back to Chicago after an eight-month absence and lives up to its name.
Jonatha Brooke Preview
Jonatha Brooke Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago Sunday, April 29, 2007 Without trying to assume too much about Jonatha Brooke’s fanbase, one can only assume they were scared shitless when they learned she had collaborated with Nick Lachey and J.C. Chasez prior to recording this spring’s Careful What You Wish For (Bad Dog).
Timbaland Reviewed
Timbaland Timbaland Presents: Shock Value (Interscope) First Handsome Boy Modeling School, then Pharrell, now Timbaland? What’s happening to the country’s top producers?
Carla Thomas Reviewed
Carla Thomas The Queen Alone (Stax) The latest in Stax Records’ revival re-introduces a somewhat forgotten ’60s star, Ms. Carla Thomas, a.k.a. the queen to Otis Redding’s king.
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