Weekly
Tori Amos live!
For the length of her career, the saga of Tori Amos has, at its most basic, come down to the story of a woman and her piano. Certainly, there’s much more at play there, what with all the mystical lyrical imagery, fearless revelations, heady concept albums, and endless personas.
YP, UP, we all P for YP
Maybe Chicago hip-hop’s always had this much talent, but is just now getting itself heard. YP is the latest to drop a stunning mixtape this year; also in town are Tribes, We Barbarians, and Lindi Ortega.
Kanye West & Jay-Z live!
Let’s get this out of the way upfront. Yes, Kanye West and Jay-Z played “N***** In Paris” eight times this past Wednesday at the United Center, the first of the duo’s two-night run at the venue. Yes, it was a bit like one of those “Family Guy” gags that go on so long it stops […]
Rocket, yea-uh!
When Def Leppard referenced all their favorite music in “Rocket,” they left out a pivotal band from the ’70s that few people ever heard. Rocket From The Tombs come to town this weeks, touting their debut album. Also around: Felix Culpa’s farewell show, Pterodactyl, Miguel, and Young Buffalo.
Not your problem
Few people these days can boast of a unique kink — that moment when only you know the joke, and can savor it by repeating the words to clueless friends and colleagues. That’s what we get from Stew & The Negro Problem, the Warm, Safe & Sound benefit, Crystal Stilts, and The Knux.
To be Loveless
“I talk so much shit I forget who I’m talking to,” Lydia Loveless spits out in the defiant “Can’t Change Me.” She’s pugnacious all right — through just about every track on her Bloodshot Records bow Indestructible Machine.
Cyber Monday!
Logically, if you’re surreptitiously stealing time from your employer to scout online deals, you’re probably not wasting a minute on a music site. But if you were . . .
Epstein who?
Your pre- and post-turkey billet includes a former Chicago Cubs general manager — not to mention City And Colour, Tinariwen, a Henhouse Prowlers benefit, Atlas Moth, Yukon Blonde, Corey Taylor, and Waters.
The pre-turkey comedown
Thanksgiving eve is annually as wet as Mardi Gras — musically, it’s also drier than a microwaved turkey dinner. This weekend is your last chance before Midwestern winter sucks your music choices away. Witness Hey Rosetta, Yellow Ostrich, Girl In A Coma, Thinker Thought’s 10th anniversary, and XD Records’ first-annual showcase.
Puscifer live!
In spring 2010, serial frontman Maynard James Keenan brought his Puscifer act to The Vic for a three-night stand. The run of shows saw the act deliver a highly theatrical series of concept performances, including one night’s hillbilly-centric event, wherein Keenan played the part of country-fried frontman Billy D.
Patrick Stump live!
By now, much has been said about the funky and soulful direction of former Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump‘s solo career. Though a departure from the power-punk of the artist’s full band catalog, the recently released Soul Punk (Island) full length strongly plays to Stump’s adventurous pop sensibilities– sensibilities the artist had on display […]
Best of both worlds
A critic’s darling and commercial juggernaut. Classic and forward-thinking. A virgin and a whore. We crave these combinations; The Barr Brothers and Garland Jeffreys try to provide them.
Paul Simon live!
Tipping the scales of 70 seems to have lit a spark in Paul Simon, not necessarily enhancing his laid-back personality, but giving him renewed creative vigor. The recent studio set So Beautiful Or So What (Hear Music/Concord Music Group) is among his most magnetic since Graceland (though it favors folk over African arrangements), while his […]
Ray Davies live!
He may not tour very often, but thankfully Ray Davies’ music never goes out of style. Between an endless stream of classics he wrote and sang for The Kinks to the occasional solo chestnut, there’s plenty of material in his arsenal, which translated to no less than two-dozen tunes in front of a healthy crowd […]
Monday, Monday
Not much overlap in the competition for your dollaz on the 14th. You’re either gonna focus all your energy on breaking something (Wu Lyf), dancing with somebody who loves you (Body Language), or geeking the eff out (Emperor X).
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