Lovable Losers Literary Revue: Curse Busters

Authors Rick Kogan, James Finn Garner and Stuart Shea, plus Lin Brehmer, morning disc jockey on Chicago's progressive music station WXRT, take on the Cubs Curse, from the bearded goat to the black cat to Bartman, in the Sept. 8 Lovable Losers Literary Revue. Joining them in this epic battle against the September Swoon will be poet Sid Yiddish on the Ouija board, crooner Dave Impey and actor Joseph Tokarz. The curse-busting festivities begin at 7:30pm. Free. El Jardin Restaurant at 3335 N. Clark St. For more information visit www.lovablelosersliteraryrevue.com.

Danny's Peace Party II

Come to Danny's Tavern tonight for a back-to-school gathering where the more drinks you buy, the more you help kids learn to read. 50% of the proceeds of tonight's drink sales will go to Open Books and Chicago HOPES, two local literacy programs. 8pm-2am at 1951 W. Dickens. Email info[at]open-books[dot]org for more information.

Steppenwolf Traffic @ Millennium Park

Steppenwolf Traffic presents Dream Chicago, a collection of short stories and songs expressing the "Chicago dream." The program will be presented for free at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park tonight at 6:30 PM.

Gapers Block Book Club Meeting

This month's meeting of the Gapers Block Book Club takes place tonight at The Book Cellar at 4736-8 N. Lincoln Ave., where we will be discussing Native Son by Richard Wright. The meeting begins at 7:30pm, and new members are always welcome! Hope to see you there. Visit the official book club blog for more information.

Tricky & Telepathique @ House of Blues

House of Blues
329 N Dearborn St
9:00pm $25.00 - $27.50

Tricky

TelepathiqueAlthough their story is probably new to most North Americans, both Theobaldo and Pires have long been accomplished in their own rights overseas, with and outside of their work in Telepathique. Pires' solo work as a vocalist is steeped in African and Brazilian music traditions, and Theobaldos remix of "Dadinho" on the 'City Of God" soundtrack became a smash hit (he also produced Brazilian artists Otto and BiD, to wide acclaim.) Vital and immediate throughout, the record's range of influences is stunning and the integration of those elements is enthralling, urban and provocative. "Sex, Drugs And Funk & Roll" mixes raw pop guitar with the gritty carioca of their cities' ghettos, "UR A Joke" pairs simple throbbing techno synth with Pires' conversational vocals--she tells the listener that she belongs to them, then coldly throws dismissive insults: equal parts turn on and fuck off; a perfect alchemy for dance tension. "Love and Lust" draws on European electro-pop, delivering a groove with a mechanically German coolness. "Telefunk" and "Wild", clocking in at six and a half and seven and a half minutes each, respectively, show Telepathique's expert ability to be both expansive and progressively beat-heavy. Amazingly, Last Time On Earth was intimately recorded and produced by the duo using only a laptop, a couple of microphones, synths, a guitar, Pires' voice, and the pair's genius beat instincts.