Words: Jodi Root | Photo: Clayton Huack Maps and Atlases served as the perfect bait to lure me to my most (and quite frankly, only) anticipated field trip into Chicago's Lincoln Park – the city's newest venue, Lincoln Hall . While Maps & Atlases put on an incredible, entertaining set– thanks to Muzzle of Bees contributing Champaign writer Jon Stone, we already knew that . Instead of repeating his previous praise, I'd like instead to focus on the highlights (and there are many) [...]
I apologize for my online absence - but there's some good stuff coming - I promise. That includes this selection of three noteworthy new artists of course: Sleep Whale - After a beautiful debut EP and an equally strong full-length both released this year, it was clear to me that Sleep Whale (originally known as Mom) were a band worthy of mention here. The (almost) entirely instrumental Little Brite EP (first released in 07) showed a band that could build gorgeous soundscapes [...]
[Birthday greetings go out today to Matt Sorum ... now here's what's on tap for a busy evening:] The Whigs will release the follow-up to 2008's "Mission Control" early next year — the new album will be titled "In the Dark" [download below]. Few bands do old-fashioned garage rock better than the Athens, Ga., trio, which hits town tonight for a show at the Troubadour. Opening are the Features , who caught my ear in March and put out a fantastic album from last [...]
Album of the Quarter : A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar Runners up: Memory Tapes - Seek Magic , Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem I am well aware that this podcast is a good month and a half removed from the end of 2009's third quarter, and that we are balls deep in the year's capping three-month span. But, perhaps the extra reflection has further winnowed the included tracks down from the fickle week to week whims of the blogosphere? Let's just pretend that that's [...]
I was working steadily on Saturday night, and unsure whether I should even leave the house for some fun, but about 11:30pm I decided it was time for a break. I was at Rancho Relaxo by midnight, in time to catch the final two bands on the bill that night: Ottawa's the Love Machine and Amos the Transparent , also from the nation's capital. The Love Machine played a full, happy set of exuberant, catchy songs. Mostly new ones, they said. I was impressed, and the crowd certainly was, [...]
by BBG On Sunday at Le Poisson Rouge, Shrinebuilder played an overwhelming show -- almost meditatively focused, one whose afterimage is likely to stay with those who saw it. It's a band of willful musicians in their 40s from around the country who have given their adult lives to slow-and-heavy music: Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Scott Weinrich of the Obsessed and Saint Vitus, Al Cisneros of Om and Dale Crover of the Melvins. Shrinebuilder is as loosely based in doom-metal as Krallice is in black-metal: it [...]
As lead singer and lyricist with X, Exene Cervenka was (and is) one of the great firebrands of West Coast punk rock, fusing pure energy and a wild, unfettered eloquence in a way that was totally her own. But after X broke up for a while in the late 1980s, Cervenka recorded a pair of excellent acoustic-based albums, Old Wives Tales and Running Sacred, that proved she could express herself just as strongly without the speed and volume of her old band. After diving back into the fast-loud stuff with her bands Auntie Christ, the Original Sinners, and the reunited [...]
The problem with a list like this is the "shoulds". You know, the albums you feel like everyone else will pick, so you "should," too? Well, this time I decided not to deal with those. My list is based on the number of times I listened to these albums since they came out, whether I love them so much I already know every word to every song, how much it moved me, etc. This is a personal list. It isn't intended to be complete or controversial. That said, I know I'll get crap for [...]
In this day and age, few things come around that make us stir from head to toe with glee and anticipation. One of these things was the announcement of the new rock super ensemble that is Them Crooked Vultures , a tripod of giants with the force of three generations of rock 'n' roll. I'm going to assume a number of people know by now, but all the same, the Vultures are: badass Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age on guitar, the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl going back to his drum set, and none other [...]
The Modern Skirts play three shows in our area this week. They'll be at Schubas in Chicago on November 18th , Mad Planet in Milwaukee on November 19th , and the Project Lodge in Madison on November 20th . Please take this chance to catch these guys live if you can. If you have not yet heard their fantastic 2008 release, All of Us in Our Night (that's the awesome album art above), please add it to your collection. You won't be disappointed. Speaking [...]
Rocktoberfest played out over three days at the Garden of Five Senses in New Delhi. Lazy River, FIVE8, Advaita and Thermal & A Quarter played the final day. We were there. Notes The Garden of Five Senses is a beautiful outdoor venue for gigs. Think the Bandra Amphitheatre in Mumbai, only with more garden. You have to walk through a jungle adventure maze to finally get there though. The three free pints of beer with the Rs 400 entry ticket was a genius idea. Made better by the fact that [...]
Drums Play Spaceland Monday Night (and It's Free) Ray Davies put on a fantastic show on Saturday night at the Orpheum. If you get a chance to see him on this tour do not hesitate. More on that later. Another great week this week. If you're into buzz bands you might want to check out Drums tonight, The Big Pink on Wednesday, Tape Deck Mountain on Thursday, Neon Indian on Friday and The XX on Saturday. Some of those will be good, but I'm recommending a variety of [...]
Last week, I had the opportunity to chat -- and, by chat, I mean "chat via the Internet" -- with a handful of independent record labels' owners and managers. I wanted to discuss the role of the label in a time when fewer people seem to know or care what labels their favorite musicians or bands are on. Furthermore, and perhaps this has always been true, we may not even know what exactly a label does . At the beginning of this decade, record labels were still a way of indexing artists; of positioning them [...]
PICK OF THE WEEK Julian Plenti (Paul Banks of Interpol) w/ I'm In You Thursday, November 19 El Rey Theater Info THIS WEEK'S TICKET GIVEAWAYS Sign up for our weekly mailing & get the jump on ticket giveaways before they go online. email: [...]
Cat Stevens has long been a divisive fellow. From his name change to Yusuf Islam and his conversion to a different religion, he's always gotten strange gasps from even his most ardent followers. Last night at the O2 in Dublin was no different. It was definitely one of those "you had to be there" moments. Billed as Yusuf/Cat's first ever live performance in Ireland, it half lived up to the billing. To sum up what happened (how can you really sum up what happened?), Yusuf Islam performed for around twenty minutes acoustically, then introduced his band, and played [...]
This may seem like a strange thing to post after UNC just upset Miami, but stick with me. The Tar Heels have an amazing defense and they are the only reason we win these games. Two of the touchdowns were on interception returns. The running game is also very impressive: Ryan Houston played great today without Shaun Draughn to help out. Receivers have also gotten involved in the running game, which has been very productive. But the quarterback, T.J. Yates, is mediocre at best. Yates will never win a game for the Tar Heels, he will [...]
Nicolas Cage has been facing two home foreclosures and tax bill for $6 million. The actor fell victim to a financial downfall in which he blamed his long time business manager, Samuel J. Levin , stating that he, "lined his [own] pockets with several million dollars in business management fees while sending Cage down a path toward financial ruin." Both Cage's homes in the French Quarter were auctioned off on Thursday after being foreclosed. Regions Bank, his lender, bought both properties for $4.5 million. Nick has also sold off homes in L.A., Las [...]
The atmosphere couldn't have been less ideal. On Tuesday night, after a last minute venue change, Bishop Allen played to a small crowd at the Echoplex. The cavernous room was only about a quarter full. But that didn't stop the Brooklyn quartet from putting on a fine performance.
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It's been approximately three and a quarter years since I first wrote about BOAT , what was once a Seattle by the way of Chicago band. They've now fully integrated themselves into the northwest, and have given us three stellar albums (the most current of which was released last month; a fact I just recently, to my surprise, discovered). I'm waiting for that call; the one from the record store notifying me my order is in; the order of BOAT's latest LP, Setting The Paces . So, while I await what is sure [...]
It's hard for me to believe that 2010 marks 20 years since The Black Crowes released Shake Your Money Maker, an album that landed The Crowes a spot as one of the preeminent jam bands on the scene. Just a few months ago, the group released Before the Frost...Until the Freeze and to support their effort the band is currently on the "Stuck Inside Utopia" Tour, which by my calculations is their 17th tour since 1990. On November 7th, 2009 The Riverside [...]
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
‘09 Been Kind
