Stage Buzz
Combo platter
Monomynous indie-pop stars don’t grow on trees. (There’s a joke, What do you call people who only go by one name? Famous.) If two were to conjoin, you’d think artistic curiosity would necessitate they came from different fields. Thao And Mirah look to do the defining on their own.
Military beats
Wounded Warrior Rockfest takes place Monday the 30th at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine, and will drive proceeds and donations to its namesake program to help severely injured combat veterans return to civilian life.
Girls who play guitar
The world, not just women, needs new guitar heroes. Anna Calvi probably doesn’t need that pressure dumped in her lap, but it’s her fault for being such a good player.
A CSS/Sleigh Bells Chicago preview that’s a review of the Minny show!
There’s a particularly virulent strain of nostalgia permeating electronic dance music (see Cut Copy, Holy Ghost, Foster The People) that appeals to older audiences who immediately connect through reminiscing, as well as, hooking young hipsters who approach it with wide-eyed exuberance.
Spring is here! Get inside and rock!
Next weekend, Memorial Day, typically kicks off outdoor season in Chicago (Belmont-Sheffield Fest) along with all the barbecues. The next weekend is Mayfest. Now’s the time to get your indoor ya-yas out.
Speer’s head
The big tell on D. Charles Speer & The Helix‘s Leaving The Commonwealth (Thrill Jockey) is its combination of rusticity and variety. The music’s not necessarily indicative of New York, but they sure don’t do this in the South anymore.
A who’s who
By 1980, you needed to keep Major League Baseball’s official scorer’s guide to keep track of who was and wasn’t in UFO. Long associated with former guitarist Michael Schenker (whose main group, MSG, is also an anagram), it’s time to sort this out.
The Dredg report
This much has always been known about Dredg: the band has long resisted the shackles ready to be attached to it. The phonetic spelling suggests nu-metal, use of interludes and segues exposes classical/art-rock tendencies, and Gavin Hayes’ vocal wanderings push the prog ends of emo. But few would have predicted what it has become. Its […]
Frosted Blake
Out of the bedroom and into the fire: the fact James Blake has chosen to tour America either speaks to a fealty to public demand or an actual need for cash, because otherwise it’s completely counterintuitive.
Fried as a Berger
When sibling duo The Fiery Furnaces first popped up a decade ago, local writers would automatically mention that though they were based in Brooklyn, they were originally from Oak Park. Not Chicago, or Chicagoland.
Not your typography
You might notice a stubbornness in your IE, an inflexibility when it comes to how we present a band or artist’s name in print. We don’t bother with specific punctuation, unconventional capitalizing, or extraneous mother-effing ümläüts.
May days! May days!
Naturally we want you to read all about the new issue, but, most of our featured artists play Chicago later in the month. The first seven days of May, however, are packed with great shows. Click on to find out more.
Now go get your shine box!
Shoeshine Boys Productions celebrates its 11th anniversary with a party at Double Door, but before it gets a big head we also have preview Femi Kuti, and El Ten Eleven.
Won’t you be, won’t you be my neighbor?
A trio of local record-releases (Cameron McGill, The Part Five, Scattered Trees) pound the Chicago coast this weekend, bringing stormy emotions, windy verbage, and thunderous applause something.
Electro Pure, eh?
Don’t try to make sense of why some bands become critical darlings and others are denounced as namby-pamby trash. You’ll make neither heads nor tails of it, and everyone will still laugh at you.
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