Spins
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson reviewed
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (Say Hey) Gravel-voiced and broken, rarely does a singer-songwriter come with a story as compelling as the soul-scarred narratives this one brings to life. Expanding his name the way he does on the album sleeve only serves to underscore one man’s awful fall from innocence to inferno.
Mudcrutch reviewed
Mudcrutch Mudcrutch (Reprise) If anywhere, Tom Petty’s Mudcrutch should be insanely popular in Chicagoland: We’re putting the band back together! Appearing: Wednesday, July 2nd at United Center in Chicago.
Camper Van Beethoven compiled
Camper Van Beethoven Popular Songs Of Great Enduring Strength And Beauty (Cooking Vinyl) Camper Van Beethoven don’t loom. Despite being as important to American alternative rock’s adolescence as Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, and others, “legendary” has rarely been credibly applied to them. Music goons were even able to pull Mission Of […]
The Warlocks reviewed
The Warlocks Heavy Deavy Skull Lover (Tee Pee) There is hope for anemic indie pop. Appearing: June 20th at Logan Square Auditorium.
The Funeral Pyre reviewed
The Funeral Pyre Wounds (Prosthetic) Death metal must have fallen out of favor in Southern California since 2001, when The Funeral Pyre formed. Or at least that’s an easily drawn conclusion after listening to Wounds, where the group make a full-fledged switch to black metal.
Midnight Juggernauts reviewed
Midnight Juggernauts Dystopia (Astralwerks) Australia’s Midnight Juggernauts thump thump thump their French disco tastes the way a XXX-swilling, rugby-loving national should.
Emmylou Harris reviewed
Emmylou Harris All I Intended To Be (Nonesuch) Emmylou Harris’ first solo album since 2003 relies mainly on covers, purposefully pointing back to her early solo albums — appropriate, then, that Brian Ahern produced it. Appearing: Saturday, June 14th at Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
Wye Oak reviewed
Wye Oak If Children (Merge) Wye Oak’s namesake, a 460-year-old Maryland tree felled by a 2002 hurricane, will posthumously (postarborously?) base many a review for the young band. This won’t be one. But you’ll have to excuse the requisite Yo La Tengo references. Appearing: Saturday, June 14 at Hideout in Chicago.
Hail Of Bullets reviewed
Hail Of Bullets . . . Of Frost & War (Metal Blade) We’re more than a little embarrassed to admit if it came down to some sort of life-or-death quiz, we’d probably know more about the Ben Affleck/Josh Hartnett/Kate Beckinsale love triangle in Pearl Harbor than the actual events of Pearl Harbor and World War […]
Edenbridge reviewed
Edenbridge Myearthdream (Napalm) Goofy heavy metal doesn’t bother us. It bugs a lot of headbangers, who somehow fail to see the humor imbedded in the DNA of the genre they worship, but not us. Austria’s Napalm Records understand, though, and in the last eight months have released some awesome, we’ll say “off-kilter” records, including Scottish […]
Firewater reviewed
Firewater The Golden Hour (Bloodshot) Firewater’s Tod Ashley disappeared in the Far East to work on The Golden Hour, venturing from India to Istanbul until nature — specifically the natives — intervened. Appearing: Friday, May 30th at Empty Bottle in Chicago.
U.D.O. reviewed
U.D.O. Metallized (Locomotive) Who would have thought the one song almost any heavy metal fan can associate Udo Dirkschneider with, “Balls To The Wall,” would be the standout track of U.D.O.’s newest best-of compilation for all the *wrong* reasons?
Thee Silver Mt. Zion reviewed
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons (Constellation) Keeping their bandname the same embarrassing length as for 2005’s Horses In The Sky, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Blah Blah Blah are able to focus their energies on this equally strong follow-up. Appearing: Saturday, May 31st at Logan Square Auditorium […]
Duffy reviewed
Duffy Rockferry (Mercury) Sprung by a teenage Joss Stone, the female British soul renaissance exploded with Amy Winehouse and now enters the 21st century via Duffy.
Katie Sawicki reviewed
Katie Sawicki Time Spent Lost (Bent) An unexplored, possibly taboo subject in singer-songwriter land is bland, sit-com names (Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Amy Ray) to go with the coffeehouse music. In Chicago especially, we’d appreciate a local-sounding call-sign like Katie Sawicki. Appearing: Wednesday, May 28th at EP Theatre (1820 N. Halsted) in Chicago.
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