Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni. ✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
If you like Brazilian pop music, CSS is your band, and if you tend to favor bands with a triumphant lead singer who transfixes her audience, CSS could very well be or become your favorite band. Based in São Paulo, the four piece captures their songs with a sense of energetic laughter and considering the crowd knew many of the lyrics (both the English and Portuguese words) to sing along, it made the night even more incredible.
As Lower prepared to take the stage last Friday night at Empty Bottle, small groups of people were scattered across the floor and at the bar having conversations and drinks. The place was about a quarter full at most, but it seemed better that way. It was a rather mellow and communal affair. I looked at the stage and saw a swath of guitar distortion pedals being meticulously set up by a member of the band who was wearing a crisp shirt and crisp slacks with a disheveled haircut. This was a fitting, albeit subtle, introduction to the band.
Lower is a no-wave punk quartet based out of Copenhagen. They are affiliated with the Danish label, Escho, which is the same label that Iceage is signed to. They formed in 2009 and have been steadily recording and touring around Denmark. Their debut full-length album is scheduled to be released this fall if everything goes according to plan.
After a few minutes of setup, they arrived on stage appearing cold and emotionless. Without a word, they created a turbulent sea of aural feedback and launched into the relentless "Craver." As I soon discovered, Lower plays everything with a stylish sense of urgency. Similar to bands such as Joy Division and DIIV, the bass was a bleak and meancing driving force while vocalist Adrian Toubro manically pranced around stage and screamed out in a panic "Without him, you're nothing" during "Another Life."
To the appreciation of the crowd, they played a few songs from their acclaimed EP, Walk on Heads, as well as things from their recent 7 inch. Songs such as "But There Has to Be More" came alive with a vicious wall of sonic brutalism. They wrapped up their set with their ode to paranoia, "Someone's Got it In For Me." It was a short set, clocking in at a little over half an hour. I'm not complaining though. Everything they played was focused and poignant. Word is that this is their first US tour and I think they're off to a great start.
In closing, I'm reminded of something that drummer, Anton Rothstein, said during an interview with Pitchfork last year. "All of our shows have been static as fuck: no movement, no blood, nothing. It should be that way. There is no reason to dance or fuck around in a pit."
Just a reminder that tonight Gapers Block Presents The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival Afterparty at Logan Square Auditorium. We've got an eclectic bill for the night, including Tobacco, CAVE, Oscillator Bug, and Jamaican Queens. And to sweeten the deal, we'll be giving away two three day passes for Pitchfork Music Festival! The weekend passes are already sold out, but we've got a pair to give away at the party tonight. Hope to see everyone there tonight!
The MAAF Afterparty, presented by Gapers Block, I Am Logan Square and Land And Sea Dept., features Tobacco, CAVE, Oscillator Bug and Jamaican Queens on June 28 at Logan Square Auditorium. Tickets are just $10. Doors open at 8:30pm, with music from 9pm to 1am. The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival runs all weekend, from June 28-30, with music, food, art and more.
When glancing at this group's name, one might not presume that a band named after Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, would materialize into a fresh indie rock band full of summery rhythms and a light sound. However, this unique flair works for the group Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. They're quirky, and it works in their favor to further their identity, beloved by a strong following. Fans packed Schubas to the brim on Monday evening, amounting to a surprisingly packed crowd despite the time slot competition of the final game in the Stanley Cup series (YEAH, HAWKS!!! ...Okay, I'm done for now).
Sunjacket opened for the group, local Chicago band without any album material released thus far. You can take a listen to their Bandcamp page for a feel for their dynamic sound. A dark guitar intro would lead into a frenetic, energized guitar jam session amongst all members of the group, as seen in song "Two Parades." Haunting at points, the song bends and shifts its rhythmic patterns, holding your attention all the while. They also played a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon," a good choice to fit the mood of the crowd as they delved into their intriguing sound, many new fans listening for the first time.
Like many other soul artists in recent years, Mavis Staples' career has found new life in the midst of the soul revivalist movement. Her previous album with Jeff Tweedy, You Are Not Alone, came out when the movement was still on the rise, a few Daptone record releases away from its zenith. In contrast, Staples' newest effort, One True Vine, is being released nearer the movement's nadir, at a time when slews of revivalism albums are being released just for revivalism's sake. To stand out as genuine and thoughtful in the midst of such opportunism is no small feat but one that Staples manages to do with tremendous grace and ease by doing what's been coming naturally to her for over 50 years -- singing about the Lord.
With friends who can goon for the camera, a rock star can always pull off an entertaining music video. In the case of JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, the band's connection with "New Girl" star Jake Johnson and "Parks and Recreation" actress Aubrey Plaza means that their new video for "Rouse Yourself" (off of their latest album, Howl) is clever and cute all at once. Check it out.
In one of the more curious selections at the City of Chicago's Downtown Sound Series on Monday night, Thrill Jockey mainstays Brokeback opened for Canadian record producer and solo artist Daniel Lanois at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
For those of you who didn't make it to Taste of Randolph Fest this year, you should probably consider going next time it rolls through town. As a first-timer to the fest, my limited expectations were expanded beyond their belief. The delicious food I encountered (those Belly Q tacos were basically life-changing) was further enhanced by the stellar lineup of musical acts that brought the talent all throughout the weekend, creating beautiful noise in an otherwise industrial space as the city skyline glittered in the background.
Friday
Photos by Sarah Brooks
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
Friday evening brought out high-caliber acts straight from the get-go, as the fest began on an extremely energetic note. If you are from Chicago and haven't heard of JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound yet, you're in for a real treat when you take your first listen. I first caught onto the group in 2011 when they released their first full-length album, Want More. The opening chords of the title track immediately hooked me. I did want more: more of the tight rhythms, the Motown spirit, and JC Brooks' crystal-clear voice. Unique soul music infused with retrograde funk, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound create music that you simply need to move to. At their live shows, it's even more apparent; it's actually quite impossible not to tap your toes, sway a little, or completely break it down like many members of the crowd were doing the second the first beat rose from the speakers. From the toddler with the oversized knit sweater twirling his sleeves to the funky beats, to the couple mouthing every word and jumping up and down to basically every song, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound have created quite the following for themselves, that is only going to continue to amass over time.
The City of Chicago announced today that registration is open for the inaugural Chicago Music Summit this fall, on Friday, September 20, 2013. The Summit is planning panels, workshops, concerts, and networking opportunities, with the aim to "shine a spotlight on Chicago's innovative and thriving music scene and connect professionals with local and national industry leaders." Space is limited, but registration for the Summit is free and open as of today. While the panelists have yet to be announced, the City has promised the following topics to be discussed at the workshops and panels:
Industry Leaders
Success Stories
Innovations
Revenue Streams
Booking
Promotion
Technology
Audience Building
Distribution
Songwriting
Fundraising
Licensing
Business Plans
Legal Issues & Policy
Community
The Chicago Music Summit will take place at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Left to right: Becky Stark, Tom Brosseau, and John C. Reilly
Anyone who has followed actor John C. Reilly's career up to this point shouldn't have a hard time discovering his musical talents. In addition to roles alongside Will Ferrell in comedies such as Step Brothers and Talladaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Reilly sang in the 2002 movie adaptation of Chicago, and he also starred, sang, and played guitar as the fictional music icon Dewey Cox in Judd Apatow's biopic parody Walk Hard. He even made a brief appearance in A Prairie Home Companionas one-half of a hoakey folk-comedy duo alongside Woody Harrelson.
By now, though, the secret is most definitely out in the open. Reilly, who grew up in Marquette Park and went to college at DePaul University, is currently on tour as the lead singer and guitarist for his own group, John Reilly and Friends.
Roughly three years ago, Reilly teamed up with musicians Becky Stark and Tom Brosseau after bonding over a shared love for the close-harmony folk and country music of groups such as the Delmore Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. The trio initially played small shows for friends in living rooms around Los Angeles. More recently, they recorded a handful of singles for Jack White's Third Man Records in Nashville. And now, Reilly and Friends are on a worldwide tour with an entire band consisting of musicians from Old Crow Medicine Show, Soul Coughing, and more.
Reilly spoke to Gapers Block over the phone recently about his background in music, how he formed this band, and the epiphanies he experience while attending school just blocks from the Old Town School of Folk Music, where he'll be playing with his band this Saturday.
Get on your dancing shoes, because we're excited to announce an awesome show as part of our series of events celebrating 10 years of Gapers Block! On Friday, June 28, we're inviting you to enjoy Tobacco, CAVE, Oscillator Bug and Jamaican Queens at a special Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival Afterparty at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Blvd.
Tobacco's not shy for creating beats that are drrrrrty good. And what better way to kick off your weekend than with some serious beats and a chance for making some new friends on the LSA dance floor? Part of the mysterious Black Moth Super Rainbow, and known for genuine weirdness sure to be something to tweet about, check out Tobacco's eerie synth stew, topped off with talk-box seasonings, which might go a little something like this:
Chicago's CAVE bring their brand of rock to LSA for this special after party. Sometimes droning along with some serious bass and keys, sometimes rocking like a psychedelic disco from the future, CAVE brings it in all-caps rock out glory. Just check out what happens when they get together and ride around on the back of a truck:
Coming off a spring tour with Black Moth Super Rainbow and The Hood Internet, Oscillator Bug makes a case for booty-shaking beats. And the trio Jamaican Queens round out the evening's entertainment, bring their synthy goodness to the floors at Logan Square Auditorium.
The MAAF Afterparty, presented by Gapers Block, I Am Logan Square and Land And Sea Dept., features Tobacco, CAVE, Oscillator Bug and Jamaican Queens on June 28 at Logan Square Auditorium. Tickets are just $5 for the first 50 people who grab their tickets, and $10 after. Doors open at 8:30pm, with music from 9pm to 1am. The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival runs all weekend, from June 28-30, with music, food, art and more.
There aren't a lot of bands from Florida that sound like the Jacuzzi Boys. But maybe they're making up for the lack of similar bands by packing so much punch in their lo-fi power-pop/garage rock. Listening to them now is like hearing the Nuggets series updated. Their latest song, "Double Vision" (not a Foreigner cover), is a polished (by their standards) rocker that'll be stuck in your head for at least a day. They're young. They have a great knack for catchy hooks. Their songs are about girls, drinking and drugs. What's not to like? At their show here two years ago, they were loud, scuzzy (in the best possible way) and actually pretty funny. Expect more of the same this weekend.
They'll open for Man Or Astroman. The surf-punk band took some time off, returned for a handful of occasional shows through the years and now seem to be back to their old tricks. When they're on, there's hardly any band who's more frenetic. Plus, they have a Tesla coil.
Man Or Astroman headline the Empty Bottle with Jacuzzi Boys on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, Big Smoke City opens. On Saturday, the Bingers play. The show's are $15, 21+ and start at 9:30PM. The Empty Bottle's at 1035 N Western.
The last time I saw The Field play at the Empty Bottle, it felt more like a house party in somebody's basement than a music venue. Axel Willner, the chief architect behind The Field, had a backing band of a drummer and bassist with him as he played well crafted minimalist mid tempo electronica to an enthused packed house. Last Wednesday night was...different. And I personally mean that in the best way possible, but we'll get to that momentarily.
First up was the opening act, was Chicago's own When Clouds Attack. I've seen the name around town and they're opened for some people I'm really into (Teengirl Fantasy, Supreme Cuts), so I'm glad I finally got a chance to see who they are. When Clouds Attack are a chillwave trio comprised of a drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist, and although I only caught about the last half of their set, I enjoyed what I heard.
As we've already established, The Field is the nom de plume of Swedish electronic composer Axel Wilner. He's been making beats since 2003 and has released three albums so far. In the last few years, he's been travelling with a band to give his compositions a bit more depth. He played Empty Bottle in late 2011 and Pitchfork in 2012 with this lineup. For this tour, he left the band behind for a solo performance which left some at the Empty Bottle last Wednesday night annoyed and confused, but left most of the crowd surprisingly delighted.
It has been 19 years since the legendary Kiwi band The Bats have visited Chicago so for many fans this show felt as rare as an eclipse and therefore extremely special. The Bats probably realized this in some way, even though the four New Zealanders on stage were nothing but modest and appreciative of Schubas, Laurie's Planet of Sound where they had performed at an earlier in-store, and even the beer from the local brewery Revolution that they liked. They seemed so excited for their sold out audience that they took a picture from the stage. This reviewer/photographer is happy to say that their one hour and forty minute set of 21 songs did not disappoint. The timing and interplay vocally and musically of the four piece was exceptional throughout the night and it was impossible deny the sense of wonder we all felt, old and new fans alike to witness these songs come to life in front of our very eyes and ears.
If you're like many 20-somethings, you were probably really into the pop-punk scene of the early 2000s like I was. I would ride to high school on my bike listening to Taking Back Sunday in the morning and hang out on message boards talking about bands signed to Drive-Thru Records all night. I would fantasize all day about escaping the suburban projects and working for a label such as Victory Records or Touch and Go. (Oh, Bush-era awkward teenage youth, sometimes I miss you. But not very often.)
I romanticized working for Chicago labels because Chicago has such a vibrant scene of bands that I looked up to: Lucky Boys Confusion, Fall Out Boy, The Dog and Everything, Alkaline Trio, and of course, Spitalfield.
Spitalfield are a pop-punk band based here in Chicago. They formed in 1998 and acquired the attention of Victory Records back in 2002 with their EP The Cloak and Dagger Club. Ten years ago, Spitalfield released their album Remember Right Now, and it has since amassed a cult following. They toured relentlessly and recorded two more albums before going their separate ways in 2007, but they've been reunited since 2010 playing the occasional show here and there. For the ten year anniversary of their seminal album, they've decided to go on tour to celebrate, and will play for their hometown crowd this Friday at the Bottom Lounge.
Check out a video of them performing "Those Days You Felt Alive" at the Beat Kitchen in 2010.
Monday evening at Millennium Park brought about Chicagoans looking to experience the Downtown Sound series for the first time this year...in nice(r) weather, that is. The first installment the week prior featured gloomy weather that seemed unshakeable. The sunshine and temperate climate on Monday brought out herds of Chicagoans looking to experience Speck Mountain and Sharon Van Etten's music in this beautiful city we call home.
Photo by Kirstie Shanley
Speck Mountain opened the show with a relaxed yet emotive set, perfectly staged with a city skyline backdrop. Their fuzzy space rock and slight shoegaze style echoed out into the crowd, furrowing into our senses as the chords reverberated beautifully from the guitar and vocal conversations. Emerging onto the scene in 2005 and playing many songs off of their recent album Badwater, Speck Mountain has an interesting quality of blending dreamy female vocals with an atmospheric background. Both combined create an amalgam of an ambient landscape, serene and visionary. Evoking a different era, their psychadelic riffs were the perfect way to open up Monday's Millennium Park show, as the sun sunk below the buildings we faced. It almost felt like I was in a mesmerized state, listening to the soundtrack of a hazy dream. A local group as well, hailing from Brooklyn but settling in Chicago, Speck Mountain has made quite the name for themselves in this city, and will only continue to develop with time.
This Saturday, Lampo presents its final show of the Winter/Spring season, this time taking place at the University of Chicago's Bond Chapel (1050 E. 59th St.). The show is free, no RSVP required, and it starts an hour later than usual, 9 p.m.
First, a note about the Bond Chapel. Damion Romero played here last year, and with speakers blazing, he managed to atomize us and reduce us to our respective quarks and subatomic particles with his massive, vibratory bass attack. As Mark Solotroff noted, "I think my head is supposed to have a suspension system to prevents this from happening, but my EYES were vibrating during that set." It's a gorgeous, resonant space that can pay off big for performers willing to fill it.
On that note, Mr. Lescalleet isn't loathe to lay back quietly if necessary, but he's at his best when he's pushing himself and his massive, overheating reel-to-reel tape decks to exhaustion. I asked him what he had on tap for Saturday's show, and he said he'd be "utilizing the room's resonance in a manner similar to Lucier's I am Sitting in a Room." If you don't know that piece, it's 43 minutes long, and consists of one short spoken text -- explaining the process -- which is then played into a room, recorded, then played back into the room, recorded, etc., accumulating not tape hiss, but the natural resonances of the room, which feather and warp the original text beyond recognition, treating the otherwise static room tone like a body of water that is rippled by the disruptions of the speech. It's a masterwork of acoustic, almost scientific investigation fashioned into otherworldly music.
Did you grab your Pitchfork Festival three-day pass? If not, you snooze you lose folks. On Monday the festival announced that they have officially sold out of three-day passes. Can't say we didn't warn you though! Single day tickets are still available for $50 each, and you can purchase them here.
Kicking yourself over not buying a full weekend pass in time? Well have no fear all you procrastinators out there. We've got a three-day pass for one lucky Gapers Block reader today. So breathe a sigh of relief and shoot an email over to contests@gapersblock.com with the subject line "Pitchfork Procrastinator" and you might be relaxing at the festival next month in Union Park. Make sure to get your email in by 4pm today, and at that time we'll pick a random winner. And remember next year to grab those passes early! [Update: Thanks to everyone who emailed in entries. We've notified our winner! Congrats to Brain B.]
If the diverse and stellar line-up of everyone from Bjork to Solange to R. Kelly to Lil B doesn't have you excited all ready, one of the newest additions to the festival (in the form of a beverage no less) might pique your interest. Goose Island is returning after a two year break to become the beverage of choice next month, and they are bringing some interesting brews specifically for the festival. Including a beer called Run the Jewels, a collaboration with rappers Killer Mike and El-P, named after their own new joint music project. So you can literally swig their beer while watching them perform at Pitchfork Festival, which I highly advise since their joint tour last year was one of my personal favorite shows of 2012. For more info on the other interesting beer selections being offered this year, check out this piece about it from the Chicago Tribune.
Pitchfork Festival is July 19-21st in Union Park. Three-day passes are sold out, but you can still purchase individual tickets at $50/day.
The Oak Park native and sisterly half of The Fiery Furnaces dropped her second solo album, Personal Record, today on Merge Records. And this Friday, Friedberger plays two shows in Chicago: a headlining, full-band set at the Empty Bottle, and a free, acoustic in-store performance at Reckless Records in Wicker Park.
Personal Record is a lovely, double entendre of an album title, and the songs themselves form another solid exploration into Friedberger's music-savvy, stream of consciousness mind.
I love a grand concert hall — and Chicago has some good ones — but this month, the classical scene offers some alternative ways to experience the music from a different perspective: Tchaikovsky under the stars, intimate chamber music in the early evening, and contemporary music across from the City of Chicago Fleet Management Facility. Even if the weather never warms up, it will be a great summer.
The City of Chicago announced today that registration is open for the inaugural 
