Review Wed Jul 09 2008
The term Hipster Rap or Hipster Hop has some how become an insult. When you look at Chicago acts like
Lupe Fiasco,
The Cool Kids,
Kidz in the Hall,
Hollywood Holt,
Mic Terror, etc. you see extremely successful musicians with inventive beats. Regardless of the label, these acts are gaining fans and major recognition. An example of this is the recent announcement that the Kidz in the Hall track “The Blackout” (from May’s The In Crowd) will be featured on the soundtrack for
EA Sports Madden NFL 2009. Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of music and marketing for Electronic Arts, said "we believe that this time next year, Kidz In The Hall will be true Hip-Hop superstars." So if rhyming about jeans, nail polish, cappuccino, skate boards, and Chuck Taylor’s will make you ‘Hip-Hop superstars’ then I say go for it! I suppose mentioning Mark Rippen in your songs doesn’t hurt either.
[LINK] Hipster Hop Presented By Ray Protégé (Link updated!)
Chicago’s DJ Ray Protégé has put together a mixtape that attempts to both chronicle this new movement and in a way remove the ‘ster’ from ‘hipster’. The mix is Chicago heavy, but is also feature The Knux, Donnis, Izza Kizza, and others. The purpose behind the track selection and various sound bites from the emcees themselves is to stress the point that whatever you want to call it it is still hip hop. In fact, as you listen through these tracks they really trace back to the golden era of hip hop and acts like Nice and Smooth, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Kid n’ Play, Das Efx, and so on. The beats are solid, the rhymes are fun, and the fans are responding.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Jason Behrends
|
Review Fri Jun 27 2008
“Clusterbombs are like rappers… all they need is enough spins”
The image of a stack cd’s falling from a cargo plane and landing in a barren field in Laos or the Sudan or wherever, lying shining and clean in a patch of dry brown grass or sand, is very appealing to me. Waiting for a child to come along and investigate, explore like only a child can, it is motionless, silent until the day it explods in the child’s mind. Filling it images of life, death, war, and love, the mind expands with new ideas on music and the possibilities of life.
Chicago’s Alltruisms, member of Giraffe Nuts crew, is about to drop his debut album Clusterbombs on July 1st. This album is a perfect example of what Chicago hip hop can be. Working with a variety of Chicago producers like Maker (of Glue), Earmint, Overflo and K-Kruz, this album is packed full of beats that explore the roots of Chicago music. Constructing this album over the last four years, Alltru has traveled the world collecting thoughts and stories, and now presents his unique view on life and hip hop in the form on brightly colored, well-design package waiting for the hip hop to pick it up, give it a few spins and watch it explode. If you think hip hop should be about something more then nail polish, skate boards, and pagers, then give my man Alltruisms a good listen.
[MP3] Alltruisms – Nine-Digit #
Clusterbombs will be released on July 1st through Gravel Records, and features appearance by Verbal Kent, Rusty Chains, Doomsday, Roadblok, Mooswangs, J-Zone, and DJ PRZM (R.I.P.). You can stream the album here.
-
Jason Behrends
|
Review Sat Jun 07 2008
Jazz is an old artform. One that has changed over the decades, from big-band to bop to the capricious directions artists are free to take nowadays, with or without the permission of gatekeepers who deride their contributions as "not jazz." Most any musical genre has its share of arguments about what's "real" and what's not.
Wayne Shorter is really beyond all that. In a career that has lasted since the 50s, he's a saxophonist without modern peer and a composer without measure, being involved with the signature tunes of jazz greats who are on nickname basis with the music public, like Trane and Miles. His forays into world music and progressive jazz do not mark the wish of a musician to become more popular as those sub-genres have become more popular, but as someone who is merely exploring and testing his own limits. Hell, the man turns 75 soon; the dues are paid.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Troy Hunter
|
Review Thu Jun 05 2008
Three years ago when Jamie Lidell performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, he was still known primarily as half of Super_Collider. His setup then was a table full of samplers, keys, and other buttons and knobs. Even though he was on tour in support of the soul-inspired Multiply album, he didn't stray far from his comfort zone. He spent much of the evening playing with electronics in a way that often seemed more for his own amusement than that of the audience. However, the highlights that night were when he stepped out from behind the gear and performed as a singer.
Last night at the Abbey, it was evident that Lidell has matured in a live setting. He appeared more aware of his strengths and weaknesses than he used to. With a full band (keyboards, guitar, drums, sax) backing him, he was free to be centerstage playing to the crowd. Although, for wildly varied arrangements of "When I Come Back Around" and "A Little Bit More", the band disappeared and let him run the show. Lidell clearly still enjoys experimenting with his electronic gear, but only once (during the 10-minute "When I Come Back Around") did he lose the crowd's attention by making noise simply for the sake of it. The Jim songs stayed close to studio form with some improvisation keeping them fresh. (I can't imagine he puts on the same show twice.) When the set came to a close following a tremendous "Wait For Me" and the band departed, the audience continued the call and response until the encore. With much of Jim already played, they launched into "Game For Fools" and an arrangement of "Multiply" hardly recognizable until the lyrics kicked in. Now, if only a sold out show at the Abbey didn't make people feel like sardines, there may have actually been some good dancing too. But in lieu of that, the band gave a full effort that left them out of breath and us quite pleased. Jamie Lidell will return to Chicago for Lollapalooza. Who knows what tricks he'll have up his sleeve then?
-
James Ziegenfus
|
Review Thu May 08 2008
Its unfair to say The Mobius Band didn't leave an impression on people last night - as my memory serves me, they played a great set, got the crowd pretty enthused, and received some pretty strong applause for a third-billed act. But even they had an air of goofiness about them, knowing that as much as they won people over last night (which they did), they were standing in the shadow of some huge buzz.
The Black Kids, if you have never seen them, are one of the least likely groups of kids you would ever expect to see in a band. The two girl vocalists look like pretty down to earth, friendly gals (even when Ali Youngblood asked the audience "Do you want me to be "private dancer" or "sexy dancer" tonight?). Lead singer Reggie Youngblood looks a lot more like Rembrandt from the Warriors than he does Keke Okereke, but damned if his pipes aren't powerful things, ranging from Psycho Killer to Psycho shower-scream in seconds, and employed only precisely when needed. With a handful of new songs sandwiching their four-song EP's gems, the Kids proved they were still fresh with material (Hell, they better be after four songs). After the crowd-pleasing "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You", the band slipped in one more, a new song that rocked so hard this writer couldn't even be bothered to remember it's name.
Cut Copy took the stage shortly after midnight, the crowd packed dense around them and riding high off of the Black Kids' set. They apologized for having been away from the Windy City for two years, and immediately set into pieces from their new album.
Surprisingly, the Cut Copy set ended up being a song or two short of the Black Kids - a few singles from the old album and the hits of the new album, finishing the audience off with "Hearts on Fire" and instantly cranking the whole dance floor up from inspired swaying to a bouncing, head-banging dance party. The crowd refused to let them leave, and after a believably long encore wait, they came out and performed three more to cap off the night, ending with another dance-floor ignition in "Far Away".
The Black Kids gals waved goodbye to everyone as they passed the merch table, and even as they left the crowd chattered away on the patio waiting for rides or just reminiscing on a great night.
-
Dan Morgridge
|
Review Wed May 07 2008
When the summed lore of band members precedes every mention of the band, it's usually a sign that the band doesn't stand close to previous bands that the members have been in. Not surprisingly, this is the case with Night Marchers and especially their debut album See You in Magic. It has a lot of moments reminiscent of the punk/post-hardcore sound that these people have toned over time, but it's never quite as cohesive as is now expected from such an esteemed collective. Then again, it's becoming nearly impossible for John Reis, Gar Wood and Jason Kourkounis to top output from their previous bands. (Quebecois newcomer Tommy Kitsos of CPC Gangbangs hasn't had quite the history that his bandmates have, but that could change if he keeps his current company.)
However, one not great album isn't enough to keep fans away from these dynamic performers live. As anyone who's seen Rocket From the Crypt or Hot Snakes or Burning Brides (or any other band that these people have been in) knows, the presentation can do wonders for the source material. And that was clear to the nearly capacity audience at Schubas on Sunday as Night Marchers brought down the house sounding heavier and crisper than they do on See You in Magic. This was especially evident early on when Reis, Wood, Kourkounis (one of the hardest drummers I've ever seen) and Kitsos were totally locked in on "In Dead Sleep." The deserved thunderous reception led Reis to remark, "You're right. That was awesome. For once we see eye to eye." From then on the foursome ripped through the rest of the album plus songs from the "Scene Report" single with nary a slip. With inspiration from "Paint It Black", "And I Keep Holding On" closed out the night with a wallop of guitars. From this group, I expected nothing less.
San Diego's Muslims opened with an intriguing set showcasing their love for rock'n'roll like Nuggets and punk like the Modern Lovers. (Oh, and Night Marchers had a fine merch table draw with Reis handstamping 7" records on demand.)
-
James Ziegenfus
|
Concert Wed May 07 2008
Considering that they've only been active for just over three years, the Chicago-based trio Russian Circles has managed to rack up a high ratio of praise throughout the webzine community in a short period of time. It seems there's something unique about the group's music that resonates with those who've heard it. The band's 2006 debut album, Enter, met with enthused accolades across the board, and quickly the landed them a slot on the top of the bill at Drowned In Sound's End-of-Summer festival in London last August. With the pending arrival of their sophomore LP, Station, Russian Circles are set to kick off another tour, beginning with a record-release party and a headlining set at Subterranean this Saturday evening.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
|
Album Fri May 02 2008
Nicole Mitchell continues to grow and impress as a band leader and composer, creating another stellar album that reflects a diverse musical aesthetic and vision. Released this week on Firehouse 12 records, the Chicago based creative flutist and composer has been enjoying an increased awareness of her work in the last year that is sure to continue with Xenogenesis Suite, an album dedicated to the pioneer African American science fiction writer Octavia Butler.
I heard this music once before, in its Chicago debut at the Chicago Cultural Center earlier this year. I left the performance in a musically altered state, having been transfixed and transported by Xenogenesis Suite. The music was expansive, evocative, and perhaps most of all to my ears, a departure from her earlier work stylistically. While it retained her signature flute playing, the compositions were radically different from anything else I had heard from Nicole Mitchell, and if I had to oversimplify a bit, I'd say it was certainly darker than her other work.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Daniel Melnick
|
Concert Mon Apr 28 2008
Chicago's jazz and improvised music scene has produced a disproportionate share of iconoclasts and radicals in its long and colorful history. The city that works nurtured Sun Ra and Andrew Hill, Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie, to name just a handful. While Jason Ajemian hasn't reached the musical heights or accomplishments of the aforementioned bunch, he certainly belongs to the Chicago constellation of musical individuality. His concept and approach is anything but traditional, but the results are unique and sometimes extraordinary.
His recent Delmark release with his band Smokeless Heat, The Art of Dying, is emblematic of his approach and musical values. The core of the band consists of Ajemian on bass, Tim Haldeman on saxophone, and Nori Tanaka on drums. Haldeman and Ajemian have a deep musical connection nurtured over years of Sunday sessions that Ajemian held at the Bridgeport Coffee House, where they'd play for hours as a duo with an occasional extra guest. Nori Tanaka was a natural choice for the drummer spot in the band, given his association with Ajemian in A Cushicle, a band that includes Jeff Parker. These chains of collaboration are endemic in the Chicago scene, and they produce the kind of music that we find on The Art of Dying. On the release they are also joined by Jaimie Branch, Jason Adasiewicz and Matt Schneider.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Daniel Melnick
|
Review Thu Apr 24 2008
The Riveria played host this past Sunday to two of indie's biggest powerhouses, The New Pornographers and Okkervil River, in an obviously greatly-approved of sold-out performance.
Okkervil River delivered one of the most powerful live performances I have seen in awhile. Drunk, emotional, and intensely expressive, Will Sheff and the rest of Okkervil thrust out the hits from their dynamically popular 2007 album, The Stage Names, not missing any fan favorites, and possibly creating a few new ones with selections off Black Sheep Boy. Plagued by "technical difficulties" which were most likely just roadies too stoned to operate the sound board, Sheff's growing anger at the situation was conveniently and miraculously expressed through every next guitar strum and belted note. "A Stone" received a new lyric as he decided instead at that moment to sing of the "annoying feedback tone", much to the delight of the audience suffering through the same grueling dissonance. The music blew fans away, with so much force being put behind each line and note, you were inescapably wrapped up in the honesty and emotion behind the songs. As the climatic end to a frustrating night, he hurled his mic to the side of the stage in a last ditched effort to possibly kill one of the sound guys with their own mic they don't know how to use properly.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Emily Kaiser
|
Review Wed Apr 23 2008
Califone came home to Chicago for a two night stint at the Vic, opening up for Iron and Wine, but they seemed to be a bit confused as to where they actually lay their hats. "It's good to be home," founding member Tim Rutili said with a sly grin. "Or at least home for these guys," he continued, pointing to the other multi-instrumentalists that make up the band. Rutili's banter retreated casually, but he managed to explain the obtuse reference to his move to Los Angeles with a rhetorical question: "This is Hollywood, right?"
Whether or not any of the members currently reside in our fair city matters little, for if Califone has a home city, it certainly is Chicago, regardless of the Chicago/Los Angeles hometown their MySpace page declares. After Red Red Meat ended around the time all alt-rock ended, Rutili began some solo experiments before enlisting former Meat members Ben Massarella and Brian Deck to fill out the sound. While Deck left to produce some amazing albums with Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse and Chin Up Chin Up (not to mention a couple for Califone), Massarella stuck around, the band filled out and they signed to local independent label Thrill Jockey.
(Poster by Dan Grzeca.)
Continue reading this entry»
-
Mitchell Bandur
|
Review Mon Apr 14 2008
Chicago native Mitch Myers' The Boy Who Cried Freebird (Harper, recently released in paperback) is a collection of stories and anecdotes that fill between barely a page to more than twenty. Longer pieces range from excellent backgrounds on Tex-Mex pioneer Doug Sahm and free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler to Myers' literary personality, Adam Coil, traveling in time for the Grateful Dead. The shorter ones include bits about a rock critic and his wife quarreling over Captain Beefheart (What couple couldn't relate to that?!), Alejandro Escovedo at SXSW, getting high while listening to high-end stereos and Adam Coil daydreaming in an unfortunate place.
In an amusing story about analog versions of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" being the only antidote to an alien invasion, the idea of one song literally saving the world is focal. (Not to be lost is the irony of a song called "Paranoid" alleviating paranoia.) It's hard for a reader to not try to think of the last time one song had such wide appeal. And in a Western Avenue-related story, Myers writes about being pulled over while rocking out and the ensuing conversation with the police officer who correctly guessed what song Myers was listening to while he sped.
At times it seems like Freebird is Myers mimicking Contiuum's 33 1/3 series, especially with the loads of information about Aretha Live at Fillmore West and Metal Machine Music or when personalizing Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). When he analyzes the differences between classics and anthems or transcribes a sarcastic phone call from Steve Albini's mother, his passion comes through in spades. He's a fan's fan in the same way that Sahm and Escovedo are portrayed as musician's musicians. Rarely does he come across as a typical music essayist and often he elicits a few laughs. The pacing allows for this book to be perfect for when you have just five minutes to kill, but that may lead to much more than five minutes with it.
-
James Ziegenfus
|
Review Mon Apr 14 2008
It's like playing your stereo loudly with the door closed after a funeral. The sense of loss, but the need to keep going, if only to be thankful for still being here, but also a renewed vigor to leave something tangible behind when it is time to go.
That's the general mood of New Orleans-based artists since Hurricane Katrina, and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra brought a little flavor of what remains of Sin City South with them in their performance Friday night.
An almost capacity crowd were treated to a two hour show that took on a somber, yet celebratory tone as second line, for the hard and brash solos, and maybe a surprise or two, and the musicians delivered.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Troy Hunter
|
Concert Fri Apr 04 2008
John Greenfield and Elizabeth Winkowski outside the Genesee Theater
[John Greenfield sent us in this heartfelt review of Gordon Lightfoot's concert in nearby Waukegan.]
I first got interested in Gordon Lightfoot in 2000 when I saw the indie film Parsley Days, about a female bike repair instructor in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The excellent soundtrack includes Julie Doiron's cover of Lightfoot's melancholy "Early Morning Rain," about a womanizer trying to get home to his family. As the speaker stands drunkenly by a runway he laments: "You can't jump a jet plane / Like you can a freight train / So I'd best be on my way / In the early morning rain."
I'm not sure how my girlfriend Elizabeth, born well after Lightfoot's mid-'70s heyday, discovered his adult-contemporary folk-rock. She owns a dozen of his albums on vinyl and they're currently in heavy rotation on her plastic portable phonograph.
But it's easy to understand the appeal of the man behind hits like "Sundown," "If You Could Read My Mind" and the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Ruggedly good-looking, the singer-songwriter from Orilla, Ontario, became an icon of north-of-the-border masculinity: tough but sensitive; manly but not macho. His understated, bittersweet lyrics about romance and adventure, set against mellow acoustic backdrops, embody the Canadian ideal sometimes ascribed to Neil Young: strong feelings expressed quietly.
For my 37th birthday in March, Liz gave me a framed copy of a postcard with the Gordon Lightfoot stamp issued by the Canada Post. That Friday we jumped a Metra train up to Waukegan, IL, to catch the troubadour on tour at the recently restored Genesee Theater.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Anne Holub
|
Review Fri Mar 28 2008
Composed of seasoned veterans from Chicago's avant-rock heyday of the mid-late 90s, the band Singer has just this week released their debut album, Unhistories, on Drag City. And if there's one thing that should be established from the start, it's that Singer don't "do" linearity.
This should come as no surprise, given the band's collective cee-vee. Bassist Robert A.A. Lowe was previously a central member of math-rock/no-wave/prog-revisionists 90 Day Men, currently performs and records under the moniker Lichens, and has -- as a studio and touring sideman -- contributed keyboard work to TV On The Radio. Ben Vida was formerly part of the minimalist chamber ensemble Town and Country and has recently been producing work as Bird Show; while Todd Rittman and Adam Vida are erstwhile members of the defunct Chicago "rock deconstructionist" unit U.S. Maple.
Much of Unhistories unfolds by way of country-blues(ish) guitar riffs that sidewind and meander, sometimes get bogged down in briars, but are more often striking ahead in a hunting or explorative mode. With Singer, songs don't develop or progress so much as charge up to a threshold, pause, and double back to strike out on alternate courses. Theirs is a music that involves the tightening and release of torques and tension, always playfully teetering on the edge of clamor and collapse. But the guitars never roam too far from the campground, so it ends up being drummer Adam Vida who probes at the outermost perimeters, his kitwork often dancing around a rhythmic center of the song without engaging it directly. While the whole band routinely steps in with some woozy harmonizing, bassist Robert Lowe's vocals -- often straining into the upper registers in a faux-falsetto that suggests mimicry or mockery -- drape the tenuous melodies like lilies wilting under a blistering sun.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
|
Review Wed Mar 05 2008
Is it weird to be disappointed at a lack of vomiting?
Atlanta group the Black Lips may have built a reputation for their onstage antics, which have included barfing and urinating, but it's their sloppy southern rock-meets-rockabilly that keeps the parishioners coming back for more. At their March 1 show at the Logan Square Auditorium, the night's theme was energy: who brought it, who lacked it, and who filled in where needed.
Hot Machines opened up the evening with a riotous set full of heavy, thudding distortion. As usual, the venue suffers from a case of crappy acoustics, so, not having seen the Chicago-based band play before, it was difficult to tell whether their blurriness was on purpose or not. Either way, they made up for it with plenty of rock 'n roll heart -- I hadn't seen an audience this engaged with an opener in a long while. And let me tell you, if guitarist Miss Alex White wasn't endearing enough with her Annie 'fro and kickass guitarist/vocalist skills, then hearing a woman (who I took to be her mother) push to the front explaining "Fucker, that's my kid up there!" sent me reeling over the edge.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Kara Luger
|
Review Wed Feb 20 2008
Boom. Bap.
boombap.
Abstract music, from the perspective of someone whose tastes tend more towards mainstream, can really never be understood without a shrug. Even those heavy into the experimental and abstract can exhibit more enthusiasm for the music than the music actually moves you to.
Last night at SubT, three very abstract acts took the stage, and played close to three hours of what I can really only term as atmospherics. This is beyond the fringe, where simple basslines go nowhere without accompaniment by a variable note that sounds as if it was produced by an violinist with an four foot bow. The bass of drumbeats sometimes lost the battle for prevailing rhythm to guitars and laptops.
Young Widows opened, and they came out hard and loud. Dalek followed, and the hip-hop head in me heard mostly what I expected from their albums; abstract lyrics, high-end to complete heavy bass. I was amazed, though, that my head was nodding at a pretty fast clip. At their core, these were the same basslines that formed the foundation of songs I know and knew, just their backing was different. Screeches, static, and high pitched noises from the bowels of a MacBook Pro made it so.
Russian Circles, devoid of lyricists, continued the atmospherics, but, without the need to stay in a constant beat to accommodate words, they were free to perform longform instrumentals that were adventurous and ethereal.
Unfortunately, ethereal soundscapes and atmospheric melodic structure does not make for a good live show. The opening act fit the usual live show MO, but Dalek's crunching style and Russian Circles' melodic wanderings are, quite frankly, better for headphone-based consumption. Good music? Sure. Good music to listen to live? Uh,, not really.
Sure, it's heavy. Sure, it's not danceable. But the chanced these artists take in making their music is pretty refreshing. There's something to be said for living on the fringe. It's better said while isolated in your own headphone world, though.
-
Troy Hunter
Concert Fri Feb 08 2008
Indie Tom Waits-ish meets cabaret performer Baby Dee, whom I wrote about (and loved) back in November, came back to Chicago last night for a double bill with punk(ish) marching band Mucca Pazza at the Empty Bottle. It was then that I realized that, while the Empty Bottle is a fun place to visit, it's a really lousy place to stay for a concert. Unless the concert is made up of blaring brass and percussion like Mucca Pazza.
Dee, an emotive, sometimes tender and melancholy performer gives a superb intimate performance, complete with stories and commentary. Dee uses a wide-range of dynamics and plays the harp. With its bar and the associated hubbub situated in the back of the room, removed from the stage at the front of the room, the audience could barely hear Dee, and many songs turned into shushing contests between the front and back. Dee, a trooper, kept playing as if the room were a small, quiet space, but connection with the audience was especially difficult.
If I had seen her last night for the first time, I would have left having seen nothing special and heard not much at all. Correct venues are important, people! If last night was your first Dee experience, I implore you to see her again somewhere else!
-
David Polk
|
Concert Wed Feb 06 2008
The opener sets the tone. Blasting forth with fierce guitar and pounding drums, The Whigs’ “Like a Vibration” begins in mid-throttle, a surly and subversive ode to the spirit of rock’n’roll. Parker Gispert doesn’t just sing, he howls, inflecting his raspy baritone with gravel and a growl. On the other side of your speakers, that’s Julian Dorio filling beautifully, pumping out a pulsating beat. But before you even get settled, it’s over, an instant, two and a half minute alt rock classic. On Mission Control, the Whigs second album and first with ATO Records, they attempt to prove that all the hype thrown their way by Rolling Stone and co. was deserved. They almost succeed.
Clearly inspired by indie pioneers the Replacements, the Whigs manage to craft a tightly-structured record that is short, explosive and pure (very few over dubs here from producer Rob Schnapf—he of Elliott Smith and Guided by Voices fame). Not everything works. “I Never Want to Go Home” is an attempt at mournful melancholy that falls flat due to boring lyrics (“Sleep my darling, don’t you cry”) and the absence of Gispert’s lovable snarl. Similarly, “Sleep Sunshine” is a lazy and slow bit of psychedelic hogwash that is downright snooze-worthy. If these guys are ever going to be half as good as their heroes, they’re gonna need to conjure some irreverence and foster the ability to snarl and emote simultaneously.
But damnitt, when Mission Control is on it cannot be stopped. From the funkiness of “Production City” to the freak-out fuzz of “Right Hand on My Heart” to the exuberant chorus of “Already Young”, there are some great moments on this album. “Need You Need You” is a blistering jam that will take any listener back to their favorite beer-soaked college bar. And it serves a reminder that there’s no harm in balls-to-the-walls rock’n’roll. It’s as refreshing as a cheap draft on a hot night.
Joining the Whigs this Saturday at Schubas is Tulsa, a Massachusetts band that tackles a wildly different sonic approach. With a name taken from Larry Clark’s stark photos of Oklahoma youth, they craft introspective, country-tinged melodies that (with subdued drumming, acoustic strumming and vocal delays) go more for haunting than truly volcanic. The occasional crunch guitar lick on their recent I Was Submerged EP, helps provide balance and nicely obscures some heavy-handed lyricism.
The Whigs and Tulsa play at 10pm this Saturday at Schubas. The Rikters open and tickets are $12.
-
Nicholas Ward
|
Review Wed Jan 30 2008
It was clear from the beginning of the evening when I was surrounded by concertgoers at least 20+ years older than myself that I was nowhere near the target demographic for a Todd Rundgren show in the year 2008. This fact became even more obvious when Rundgren bantered with the sold out crowd last Friday about the stock market and politics. Perhaps beginning the headlining set with two songs from 2000's One Long Year was Rundgren's way to stay current and hip. Unfortunately, the garbled mix at Park West, which usually has excellent sound, kept most songs from being great. But once Rundgren fell into his wheelhouse and played songs from his prime, the show became infinitely better, even though his voice had some trouble hitting a few highs. With three songs ("Black Maria", "I Saw the Light", "Slut") from 1972's Something/Anything? highlighting blocks of the set, both the crowd and Rundgren's long-time band seemed to enjoy themselves more as the night wore on. Opening the show was former L'Altra member Lindsay Anderson performing a set that seemed too ambient for aging Rundgren fans to process in their giddiness to see the headliner. She received a polite golf applause for each song of her brief set.
-
James Ziegenfus
Concert Tue Jan 29 2008
Let's face it: Wedding dances can outright suck. Luckily, in the new album Dancing at Weddings, Essex Chanel brings the wedding dance to your living room -- albeit without the embarrassingly drunk uncle attempting to do the Worm on the dance floor.
Essex Chanel is the solo project of Chicago-based musician/artist/all-around busy bee Travis Lee Wiggins, who also performs in the Summer Salts and Fetla. Dancing at Weddings sort of serves as an tutorial, opening with a loopy, roaming bassline over background shouts to "Get up and dance!" Soon what one can only assume is a party robot intercedes. On second thought, you better bust out that Worm.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Kara Luger
Concert Mon Jan 28 2008
The Chicago outfit Mahjongg recently went on tour, aiming to round up converts to Kontpab--which is both the title for their new album that's now being released on K Records and the name of a post-millennial cult that the band recently started. Actually, the stuff about the cult's just a bunch of presskit monkeyshines; but the album's for real, and Mahjongg will be returning to home base to play a record-release party at Subterranean this Thursday.
If you threw a party and invited Suicide and Konono No1 to play in your basement, what would it sound like? Kontpab probably best answers that question. In the time that's lapsed since their prior LP, Raydoncong2005, Mahjongg has undergone some slight personnel changes. Their sound has changed a little, as well. Save for bass, guitars are largely out and keyboards dominate -- specifically keyboards of the gritty, pulsing electro-punk variety.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Review Wed Jan 23 2008
Last Saturday at the Empty Bottle, nestled between the opener (Let’s Get Out of This Terrible Sandwich Shop) and the headliner (Bang! Bang!), I discovered the perfect remedy to the coldest night in the history of the world. Their name is La Scala and though they’re a new band around town (as of late last year), they sound and play like seasoned vets.
Dressed like retro, psychobilly cast-offs, the success of La Scala is a matter of balance. On the one hand, they play a simple arrangement of bass, drums, and guitar and bind all that together with a few tasty grooves. On the other, more unique hand, they invoke what they’re calling “a haunting, melodramatic air” but that to me is more cinematic in nature, as if they’re constructing a sun-drenched landscape complete with ridiculous gunfights and men on horses. And there is something in the loping drums and high-pitched guitars that suggest Europe—mainly Italy—so that the music is what Ennio Morricone would have played if he ever got tired of scoring spaghetti westerns and turned his attention to rock’n’roll. It’s the contrast of styles that makes La Scala a band to keep an eye on; that, and they’re fun as hell.
Saturday’s show doubled as a release party for their first EP, called the Harlequin, which will be available February 26th from Highwheel Records. Put that on your list, and make sure you check out La Scala the next time they’re around. You won’t be disappointed.
-
Nicholas Ward
Album Wed Jan 16 2008
Back in early 2007, Thrill Jockey introduced listeners to the work of Arbouretum when it released the Baltimore quartet's sophomore album, Rites of the Uncovering. Nearly a year later finds the label releasing the first proper full-length CD by Human Bell, which hits stores on January 29.
Human Bell is effectively a collaborative side-project involving Arbouretum frontman Dave Heumann and former Lungfish bassist Nathan Bell. For the new self-titled LP, both musicians strap on their six-strings and unfurl seven instrumental tracks of exploratory fretwork. Half-composed and half-improvised, each song starts out simply and deliberately, with the duo setting the stage with basic structure and melody before setting off for more complex and expansive domains. There's plenty of cohesion by way of counterpoint and complement throughout, and there's some additional instrumental accompaniment to flesh things out a bit. The album as a whole is intricate in some parts, downright hefty in others, and admittedly borders on the soporific from time to time. But just as the whole effort seems to have exhausted its musical vocab, things take a denser, more foreboding turn in the album's final stretch. Some hazy, haunting hornwork threads "Ephaphatha (Be Opened)" with a droning eeriness, while "The Singing Trees" digs into a heavily churning and reverberous blues.
Deeply indebted to the work of Neil Young and John Fahey, and suffused with prog-y English folk-jazz trimmings, Human Bell is very much a guitar record. It's moody and evocative in a way that's best suited for soundtracking those lazier and more contemplative afternoons.
[mp3]: Human Bell – "The Singing Trees"
-
Graham Sanford
Review Mon Dec 03 2007
The entire concert lineup on stage at the same time, singing with the audience.
Back in September on this page, I predicted that the Old Town School of Folk Music’s sold-out 50th Anniversary benefit concert celebration, which was held this past Saturday, would end as a giant sing-a-long. I was wrong. In fact, the singing started before the concert even began, in the lobby and on every floor of the enormous Auditorium Theatre, led by both school faculty and volunteer ensembles. The joyous pre-concert hootenannies exemplified all that the Old Town School stands for -- community, inclusiveness, and fun -- and were the perfect prelude to an extraordinary 17-act musical montage of what the school offers year-round to us lucky Chicagoans.
Expectedly, the audience didn’t have to wait long before the next participatory opportunity. As the lights dimmed, Old Town School faculty members came out in increments to perform Pete Seeger’s hit “Turn! Turn! Turn!” in many different styles and variations, the final variation being, of course, a sing-a-long. As a result of some superb technical coordination, the faculty continued to perform in-between acts through the entire evening – both on stage and in the balconies – so that not one minute of the precious 3-hour concert was wasted.
Continue reading this entry»
-
David Polk
Review Mon Nov 19 2007
To be succinct, the show was good. Mission of Burma made an off tour stop at Chicago's Abbey Pub last Friday evening. After a procession of capable but somewhat uninteresting openers, Burma stepped up and brought the perhaps 3/4 capacity crowd to the floor. They served up new songs and their still fresh sounding '80's back catalog with equal aplomb and left the crowd wanting more, proving that Mission of Burma's heyday is now.
-
Dan Snedigar
Concert Fri Nov 16 2007
Last night at the Hideout, New York-based musician Baby Dee performed wearing a silky blouse, checkerboard capris, argyle socks, work boots and insane, untamed curly hair that covered a full two thirds of her face. Both her appearance and music are completely unclassifiable, the former falling somewhere between masculine and feminine, the latter a mixture of tender cabaret, guttural indie chanson and non-sequitur cackling comedy routine. The result was a wildy entertaining and assertively authentic performance that ended with the audience not wanting to go home, even after midnight on a cold work night in Chicago.
Her Wikipedia entry defines her as a “transgender musician from Cleveland” and her label, Drag City, describes her as “the badly angelic, Shirley Temple obsessed, high riding cat that ruled the streets of lower Manhattan in the nineties.” Neither description is particularly helpful, especially since most of the audience was neither from Manhattan nor probably old enough to have really noticed the mid nineties. So, the next time she's in down, or the next time you're in NYC, do yourself a favor and see for yourself.
Continue reading this entry»
-
David Polk
Concert Wed Nov 14 2007
I have a theory that pertains to shows like last night's at the Chicago Theatre: the more high profile an artist, the more annoying the crowd. Maybe it's because the majority probably only go to one or two concerts each year or that they think they're entitled to yell out whatever they want because they paid an absurd admission. Whether it's the fat dude wearing a sleeveless button-down shirt and sweatpants or the soccer mom in her best Lane Bryant, it typically comes down to many oldsters trying to relive their glory days while totally forgetting what they were all about. What unites this riff raff is thankfully the same thing that keeps them quiet at least during the songs. When Neil Young plays, people listen. However, between songs is a different story.
On Tuesday night, on tour to promote Chrome Dreams II, Neil Young took a page from Rust Never Sleeps by performing acoustic and electric sets that wound through his deep discography. The acoustic set highlights were old album tracks like "Mellow My Mind" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" that drew huge ovations. Obviously, the 62-year old's voice isn't the same as it was when he recorded many of these songs, so he wavered a bit on the high notes. But his guitar-playing is still subtly fantastic.
Now, one great thing about a concert by an artist with such a rich history is the element of surprise. Any next song could potentially be one of hundreds. But that didn't exist on this night because a painting depicting an interpretation of each song was displayed on the side of the stage. So everyone in the audience knew at one point that "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" would be next. There was no chance for pure elation when identifying the first notes. (And the artist made at least one spelling error - "Bad Fog of Lonliness.") With 4 songs from Chrome Dreams II at the core of the electric set, "The Loner" and "Oh, Lonesome Me" sounded like gold to the ears of anyone wanting to hear classics. A 20-minute jam on "No Hidden Path" ended the set and gave way to the encore of "Cinnamon Girl" and "Tonight's the Night." Both were tremendous, naturally.
Tuesday's audience was in for a special treat - "The Sultan." You may ask, "What are you talking about?" Well, "The Sultan" was an instrumental recorded by Neil Young's first band, the Squires, in 1963. The record is very rare and it's doubtful the song's been performed live in 40+ years, but we heard it. Overall, this was a performance that clearly showed the range of Neil Young through the years. Between forgotten album tracks, hit singles, political attacks and good-natured anthems, he treated the audience to a hint of where he's been and what he's done through his career. And what a career it's been.
-
James Ziegenfus
Concert Fri Oct 26 2007
All-ages early shows at the Metro are always kind of strange, an odd mix of random jaded hipsters, teenagers vibrating slightly with the excitement of their first show, lost-looking parents, and hardcore fans all thrown together and soaked in booze until the band appears and everyone unites for the briefest of instants before the house lights come up and scatters the crowd to the wind once again. The Weakerthans are an ideal band for such a moment, blending their punk cred with folk instrumentation, wordy singalong lyrics and a shy, almost bashful stage presence that invites the audience to be give as much to the performance as the band itself. This played out in myriad ways last night -- when singer John Samson forgot the words to "Left and Leaving," the crowd was already singing along at full blast, and the turnabout was so complete he handed ten dollars to a kid in the front row, calling it a "partial refund," and when the band came on for an encore they played several more songs than they had obviously intended.
I foolishly didn't take any notes last night, so I've drank away the setlist and other fun details -- instead I'm left with a general impression of warmth and affection. Considering how a packed house at the Metro seemed to spill onto Clark Street all at once and then vanish instantly, I'm convinced it's the right impression for a band that's made a living making intensely personal music that seems to speak to everyone.
-
Nilay Patel
Concert Fri Oct 26 2007
“Oh, woe is me. I have no label. My fans love me, but my label won’t promote my new album.”
Sound like the latest indie-rock darling with pop sensibilities? Well, believe it or not, veteran hip-hop artists have that too. And a few of them showed up at the Abbey Pub last night.
Lasting three and a half hours, a packed Abbey Pub was treated to a rollicking show. The crowd reacted warmly to the two opening acts, both local artists with a ton of energy and sporadic DAT problems. Members of The Away Team, part of the Hall of Justus conglomerate which includes Little Brother, took to the stage before giving way to Evidence. In between sets, the DJ would spin classic hip-hop, enough to keep the crowd warmed up and loud.
Evidence, one-third of Dilated Peoples, embarked on a solo career earlier this year with The Weatherman LP. Dilated’s had more commercial success - their single “This Way”, produced by Kanye West, garnered them the most attention - but their credibility lies in the fact that they largely did things themselves and, to Capitol’s relief, within their extended family of other artists and producers. Read: cheaply. Last night, Evidence performed a few songs off his solo effort, including the single "Mr Slow Flow", as well as his parts off of Dilated hits like “This Way” and “Back Again”.
Little Brother performed a few tracks from Getback, as well as “Lovin It” from 2005’s The Minstrel Show. Big Pooh and Phonte gave the old fans “For You” from their first label release The Listening, which was a nice surprise. Interspersed throughout the performance was a lot of banter about misogyny, current events, and an age check call and response that quite plainly revealed that quite a few of their fans aren’t the college-age kids, but 25- and even 30-year olds. It was clear that they enjoyed giving a show, and the crowd enjoyed them for it.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Troy Hunter
Concert Wed Oct 24 2007
I can offer very little insight into the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir as a band or as people. I’ve never seen them in concert, or shared omelets and tea with them at the Pick Me Up Café (but thankfully Tom Lynch has, and you can check out his great New City expose here). Truthfully, and I realize I’m venturing into uncharted waters here, I’ve never actually heard their music. I’m unfamiliar with the first record, I Bet You Say That To All the Boys, the self-released one before Matthew Kerstein left to form Brighton, MA. So as a result, I can only offer a newborn’s look at the SYGC world and their second album, the aptly title Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, out now on Bloodshot Records, and which I just picked up yesterday from my local record shop. What follows is my reaction.
Things get off to fast start with “Aspidistra”, a buoyant pop tune that concerns old days spent buying drugs, in which the narrator refuses to regret his past indulgences while focusing on current and future abstinence. A brilliant and fast opener, “Aspidistra” reaches its point of climax, its point of potential musical explosion, only to end abruptly. Immediately, the listener is left wanting more. It’s a neat device used throughout most of the album, where the songs feel like they’re going to erupt or deconstruct only to race to an early conclusion. The tracks of principal songwriter, Elia Einhorn, aren’t ditties despite their consistently short length; they’re fully formed stories breathed full of life and heart and emotion, traits increasingly unseen in today’s indie pop (in fact, I daresay that of all recent Chicago pop releases, this one has the most mettle). Soon-to-be crowd favorite, “I Never Thought I Could Feel This Way For a Boy”, bounces a schoolyard yarn about a young boy falling for another young boy, and the fear of chastisement from his other classmates. There is tenderness and joy here, balanced by terror and loneliness and the desire “to be loved by everyone at the end of the day”. It's this careful balance that helps provide the core of this record. But although Elia could easily lapse into misplaced melancholy, the album is not a downer but an uplifting look at fighting for comfort and love and a place to call home. “Broken Front Teeth” is a stunner that showcases the vocal and emotional range of cellist Ellen O’Hayer. A traditional-sounding folk ballad, it layers a simple acoustic guitar with a mournful accordion, while she peruses old photos that collect memories and fuel nostalgia. If there's a criticism to be made, it's with the closing gospel free-for-all, "Everything You Paid For", which doesn't quite go where I feel it needs to in order to unleash all of the sounds reigned in on the previous eight tracks. But that's an inconsequential quibble that more reflects my personal taste than the band's short-comings.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Nicholas Ward
Concert Tue Oct 23 2007
Imagine my surprise when the ghostly pale woman two-fisting a drink 'n cig combo at the bar turned out to be the one and only Scout Niblett. To be honest, with her oversized camo jacket and dirty, disheveled blonde wig that she kept tugging down, she sort of looked like a methed-out version of my aunt. (Check out the wig here, as she cavorts with a skeletal - literally - Will Oldham.)
Call it a ruse to get attention or an attempt to blend in; either way Niblett managed to do both during her set Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Empty Bottle. She opened for the Stars of Track and Field, thus suffering that which plagues all opening acts: a loud audience. It's a shame, since Niblett deserves a certain amount of concentration to enjoy. She's not necessarily whisper-quiet, but she's a very deliberate singer/songwriter, and her music is simple enough to be drowned out amid chit-chatty scenesters.
Armed with a guitar and an accompanying drummer, Niblett began her set with tracks from her latest album, This Fool Can Die Now. The CD is slow, sweet, and full of love songs, and that's exactly how Niblett slid into her set. Interestingly, even when performing the lovely "Do You Want to Be Buried With My People," she still appears oddly fierce, singing through clenched teeth as if going for the jugular. But while This Fool waxes poetic, it still maintains some of the bite that gives color to her previous work; when she ripped into the discordant monster-stomper "Let Thine Heart Be Warmed," it temporarily shocked the gabbering audience into paying attention. Even the two girls next to me, stopped gossiping about who did what on Facebook. "Whoa," said one, her eyes wide.
Alas, as soon as she returned to softer works, she lost the the crowd again. Which was too bad -- her performance, though sometimes a little too simplistic, was incredibly powerful. By the time she closed with "Nevada," it was clear that both she -- and the audience, eager to see the headliner -- had had enough for the night.
-
Kara Luger
Review Sat Oct 20 2007
Hailing from Hamburg, Germany, Digitalism's arc has been like many other electronic rock acts of the last few years - popping up via remixes, releasing a single or three, developing a reputation as good live performers thanks to an array of visuals, and dropping a full-length album that amasses critical praise.
Friday was their second Smartbar show of 2007 and the first since Idealism's release. The stage area took up a large chunk of space to the right of the DJ booth and, thus, tightened quarters in the already small Smartbar. With condensation dripping from the ceiling and the floor packed with bodies, Digitalism took over from Dark Wave Disco residents at 1:30 a.m. Featuring a custom electronic drum kit, numerous pieces of Korg equipment, a sampler and a synth, and a Shure 55 series microphone, Jens Moelle and İsmail Tüfekçi churned out a rather tame set that sounded like a live mix of Idealism with minor variations from the record. They never strayed far from distortion and pounding beats, apparently preferring to stay in their wheelhouse. But it was crisp and clear during the 50-minute set. Only the extended "Homezone" got tiringly long, with most tunes mixing in and out of each other seamlessly. Despite the absence of a few of their better songs ("Pogo", for one), Digitalism shined (literally, due to the bright lighting) on this night as they worked Smartbar up into a frenzy into the early morning hours.
-
James Ziegenfus
Review Tue Oct 09 2007
On Widow City, the sixth LP from brother-sister duo the Fiery Furnaces that lands today from Thrill Jockey, melodies, tempos and styles abruptly shift, extend, and double back. Tracks blend seamlessly together to create a giant long-form pop suite. With lyrics inspired by an imagined Ouija board and ads from women’s magazines of the early 1970s, the Furnaces take the listener on an intergalactic musical journey through the duplexes of the dead, consulting Egyptian grammars, and into the Cabaret of the Seven Devils. It’s impossible to predict where we’ll end up next, as fierce drum attacks mingle with fuzzed out guitars. The Chamberlain—a keyboard that triggers tape loops of other instruments to create a library of sound—crafts a barrage of strings, woodwinds and keys that weave in and out of the abstract song structures. The record is confusing and chaotic and requires maximum attention paid to catch all of the unique musical ideas.
Standout track “Navy Nurse” begins with a funky base, drum and guitar jam that gives way to light piano before leading a march with the repeated line, “If there’s anything I’ve had enough of, it’s today.” “Restorative Beer”, the closest thing to a single, mixes a blues riff with a rolling and tumbling vocal melody about wanting “to restore your beer to take my mind off these tears”. I salute the Fiery Furnaces for making a piece of work that is obtuse, that is difficult to listen to, that shies away from three-minute masterpieces when it’s clear that they possess an acute understanding of pop perfection. The Furnaces might be the most unique band on the planet and they refuse to take the easy way out, and this album is surprising and startling and weird.
But it’s long. Really long. Perhaps it’s unfair to criticize art for being too long (“it’s as long as it needs to be”, comes the counter-attack from the artist) but if I, as a music fan and sometime critic, sit around waiting for the album to end so I can pen my review or do the dishes, it’s too long. A little self-conscious weirdness goes a long way, and by the end of 16 tracks and 56 minutes, the genre-hopping travelogue of Widow City wears thin and I just want to go home.
The Fiery Furnaces have carved a nice niche for themselves in this pop landscape and they continually produce albums bursting forth with ideas, melodies, and strange behavior. But the music, as it relates to Widow City, doesn’t resonate. I’m never going to spin this disc at a party, or when I come home drunk and lonely, or as the soundtrack for a walk on the lakefront. I'm not asking for cheesy slow dance numbers or sappy cliches but I would like to hear some heart.
-
Nicholas Ward
Review Tue Oct 09 2007
Writing a review of Patrick Wolf is an infuriating task -- his music is endearingly fucked up, but pretentiously enough you don't know if you want to recommend his work or punch him the face. Previous efforts, like 2005's Wind in the Wires, hinted at greatness, but contained failures so spectacular they're almost good -- like "Tristan," which I still find myself listening to in the faint hope that I won't want to strangle the nearest person with eye makeup on when Wolf sings the ridiculous chorus hook.
On this year's The Magic Position, however, Wolf seems to have abandoned the angsty emo darkness that was his stock-in-trade and put out a pretty happy 13-track record. This isn't an opaque transition, by any means -- the title track contains the lyric "It's you who puts me in the magic position [to do a number of trite things] in a major key." So apparently dude's getting some. Good for him, and good for us, because the results of Patrick Wolf getting his dingle played with are eminently listenable. Tracks like "Accident and Emergency" and "(Let's Go) Get Lost" are dangerously cute at times, with twee Nintendo synths and sound effects layered over some funtime drum machines, and mopey numbers like "Augustine" retain the overindulgent art-school charm that made those old records interesting without inspiring guyliner-related homicide.
The transition in subject matter didn't affect Wolf's stylistic tendencies -- he still over-pronounces every word with an annoyingly affected rasp (yes, we know, you smoke and drink! You bad boy.) and his lyrics are the kind of stuff that would go over really well in a Morrissey fan club meeting, but it's much more charming this time around, for some reason -- like you have a little brother who just went Goth or something. You know it's dumb, but fucked if you don't have a pair of ten-year-old knee-high boots and a black trench in the closet yourself -- so who are you to judge? The Magic Position is full of similar potential, a uniquely accessible effort wrapped up in the tropes of previous identities. Who knows, maybe next time we'll get skater punk.
Patrick Wolf plays tonight at The Metro with Bishi. Doors at 6, show at 630. $15, all-ages
-
Nilay Patel
Concert Tue Sep 25 2007
Silly me: I thought crotch-grabbing was a hip-hop move relegated only to the male contingent. I was proved wrong time and time again as the performers of Friday night's girl-centric Estrojam installment at the Abbey Pub grabbed said crotches, got sweaty and shirtless, and owned the stage as much any man.
Friday's set was mainly made up of hip-hop artists, topped with a swan song performance by legendary group ESG. While overall the night was full of energy emanating both from the audience as well as on stage, at times the microphones were plagued by squealy sound problems. Kicking things off was Chicago's own chemist-slash-rapper, Psalm One, who slyly beckoned the audience, "Come closer -- I'm gonna tell you secrets." The low, funky triplets of "Macaroni and Cheese" got the audience riled, while the hot-hipped "Beat the Drum" sealed the deal.
Psalm One's laid-back flow paved the way nicely for Bahamadia, whose tight set proved the Philly-based MC deserves a major comeback. Where her work in the '90s generally saw her as the kind of relaxed rhymer whose vocals made her an excellent guest on tracks by The Roots, Erykah Badu, Morcheeba, and Talib Kweli, this night saw a different side of Bahamadia. She delivered classics and newer tracks with a hard, rapid delivery, while her cohort, DJ Statik, kept up with her every step of the way. As he slowed down the pace, playing tracks by other classic b-girls like MC Lyte, Monie Love, and Rah Digga, Bahamadia just laughed: "Aw, man. This is senior hip-hop, right here."
By the time the dirrrty South's Yo Majesty hit the stage, the crowd's excitement was palpable: what to expect from one of the year's most buzzed-about hip-hop groups? Wild dance beats and wild dance parties were certainly on the roster, events that often culminate in at least one of the members -- who, to be honest, do not look unlike Lil' Wayne -- taking off her shirt. And while yes, this event did indeed take place, it's almost expected of them -- and should going to a Yo Majesty show become a Countdown to Breasts? Anyway, it only lasted about 10 minutes before the (wo-)Man came down on the shirtless hullaballoo. But you get the point: YM put on a super fun live show as-is, nipple or no.
The evening's star performers, ESG, earned their stripes during the '70s as their beat-heavy blend of funk, soul, and rock, which made them one of the most sampled bands to date. The night marked their last performance as a group, and the music geeks crawled out of the woodwork to witness it. Originally a quartet of sisters based out of the South Bronx, the latest incarnation includes original vocalist Renee Scroggins and what apparently is her daughter, Christelle, on guitar and percussion and niece, Nicole, on bass, while an unnamed fellow acted as drummer.
And you know what? The ESG groove is a good one. Their old hits are still fun and funky, and it's obvious that Renee was having a great time onstage. But it's also obvious the band is at its end, as the music was basically being held up by Renee's vocals and the Unknown Drummer's tight drum work. The rest was sort of a rudimentary mess, a weird funk circus, as Christelle got caught up in showboating. It certainly made for some interesting entertainment, but as she did a sexed-up tambourine act, one couldn't help but wonder if ESG should've simply stuck to what they've always done best: bring on the sweet, jam-worthy beats.
-
Kara Luger
Review Mon Sep 24 2007
At some point in our lives, we were the star of our own show. We've sung along to the radio, we've posed in front of the mirror in the bathroom. We've hummed along to our iPods, and we've air-guitared, danced, and gyrated through dance moves. We've done songs from memory and motions through repetition.
In a concert setting, we get to see how our musical idols do it. Do they do the same thing in the video? Do they change up notes, chords, delivery? They're performing in front of a mirror of sorts: hundreds of people who know their songs, their moves, but expect more.
On both Saturday and Sunday night, the legendary Roots crew provided sonic backing for amounted to a revival meeting of what's good about hiphop, past, and present. The recipe was quite simple: Recreate the beats and rhythms of yesteryear with a live band, turntables, and minimal technology. Mix in the well-worn lyrics of the 80s and 90s, delivered by four emcees at the top of their craft, and serve to an appreciative audience.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Troy Hunter
Review Mon Sep 24 2007
It's strange to think that the most exposure most people have had to José González is as the soundtrack to a European Sony commercial, but for a while his cover of The Knife's "Heartbearts" seemed destined to doom him to the same minor relevance as Trio.
Of course, VW also famously used Nick Drake, so maybe that's the most appropriate place to start thinking about González' second record, In Our Nature, because it's hard to avoid the Drake comparison. González has mastered his version of the acoustic singer / songwriter act, and he's not shy about doing his best trick over and over again -- In Our Nature is ten cuts of reverb-drenched multitracked vocals over nimble acoustic guitar, with the occasional bits-and-pieces percussion deployed to make things seem even more gentle than before.
In fact, the addition of percussion (and some other textural instrumentation) and a slight bump in tempo is all that really separates In Our Nature from González' previous effort, Veneer. Played back to back, one flows into the other with remarkable ease, and it's almost as though the albums were meant to be played this way, slowly building to a climatic cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop" before easing back down into the sparseness of "The Nest" and then finally closing with the soaring "Cycling Trivialities," which is a musical wonder in desperate need of a new title and lyrics.
Recorded entirely on tape (and without any concern for the attendant noise issues -- check out that insane motor whine from 5:44 on in "Cycling Trivialities") In Our Nature is a throwback album from a throwback performer. While it's hard to remember a time when bands didn't always have laptops, Gonzålez isn't at all shy about being just a guy with a guitar and a knack for acoustic arrangement. Hopefully that'll lead to something more meaningful than a commercial for a TV set one of these days.
In Our Nature goes on sale tomorrow, 9/25, and González will be playing at Park West as part of his North American tour on October 4 -- tickets are $18.
-
Nilay Patel
Review Wed Sep 19 2007
First of all, Transmission would like to extend a big thank you to Flavorpill, Empty Bottle, and the acts last night for putting on a show that was over in just under three hours and before midnight on a weeknight. Of course, the flipside to that was short sets that left the audience wanting more. A case in point would be Simian Mobile Disco's 45-minute set that was heavy on groove and blinding colorful strobe lights.
Unfortunately, the headliner's brief set came up short on songs from their Attack Decay Sustain Release LP. Instead the setlist was comprised of older (and maybe some newer) music. Singles "It's the Beat" and "Hustler" drove the night into high gear as the Empty Bottle split into two parts - gawkers and dancers. When the crowd's enthusiasm calmed, James Ford, whose resume also includes production for Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons and Mystery Jets, yelled out and demanded applause to recharge the room.
Perhaps most notable about Simian Mobile Disco's stage setup was that their gear was on a round table that Ford and his cohort, James Shaw, rotated around, which gave the audience a clear view of what they were doing to create the music. At a time when electronic music acts tend to rely on obscurity and privacy live (see: Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, et al), it was refreshing to see a group making their music out in the open rather than behind a screen. Hopefully, the next time Simian Mobile Disco comes around will be in a venue big enough so that it doesn't seem like the performance takes place inside a supernova. (Seriously, it was really bright.)
-
James Ziegenfus
Concert Tue Sep 04 2007
Signing Choir is the solo effort of Joey King, bassist for the Chicago glam-/psych-pop outfit The M's. The Choir's self-titled debut, to be released this week on Brilliante, is the culmination of of five year's worth of sideline songwriting and recording. Left to his preferences and devices, King cozies into low-fidelity space quite comfortably and furnishes it well; exploiting the four-track, bedroom recording aesthetic to maximum effect. Throughout there's plenty of fuzzy and bottom-heavy riffs, amplifier hum, and the grain of the voice cloaked in varied degrees of distortion.
Despite these deliberate rough edges, King proves himself an astute craftsmen when it comes to tailoring his songs with subtle, contrasting sonic details. He gravitates toward a post-mod mish-mash of pop stylings, and the Signing Choir sound is more pointedly "rockish" (in an early-90s college-radio way) than the Anglophilic hookiness of The M's usual material. He cranks things into bouncy mode on "Comb Your Hair" and "The Beths," and King proves himself consistently pop-savvy in the offing. But in its later stretch, the album settles into more shadowy terrain that's reminiscent of the shoe-gazing languidity of Dinosaur Jr. -- moody and ruminative, it's the sound of thoughts and feeling turning themselves over to see how their undersides fare against the light of day.
Brilliante Records and Schubas will be host a record release party for the Signing Choir CD this Saturday night, with Signing Choir -- featuring King with friends and The M's guitarist Robert Hicks -- headlining. Rock Plaza Central and Casey Dienel are on the opening bill, and DJ LA*Jesus will be spinning some tunes between sets. 3159 N. Southport. 10pm, admission is $8.
-
Graham Sanford
Artist Thu Aug 30 2007
What was it that André Breton said in one of his Surrealist manifestos, that "Beauty will be compulsive, or not at all"? Or wait…maybe he said that it would be convulsive. It's been misquoted so often that I can't remember which it is. But anyway, nevermind -- it's neither here nor there. For the Chicago band The Bird Names, the answer is that it will be both.
The Bird Names are about to release their third album, Wooden Lake/Sexual Diner, and chances are this is the first you're hearing about them. They've been around for about four-plus years, and have been playing in lofts and art spaces and clubs around town since the start. At first, they changed their own name many times over; and have had a number of members, friends, and valued contributors pass through their ranks all the while. On some evenings there's only a core group of about four or five people on stage when they play, on others so many of their extended family show up and join in that they can barely fit everyone on the stage. Sometimes they play plugged-in and very loudly, and on some occasions they perform much more subdued acoustic sets.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Review Sun Aug 26 2007
For some time now, Marvin Tate has been keeping a diminished profile on the local music scene. As of this month, that appears to have finally ended.
Those who've been around a while might recall his appearances at the Hot House and other venues around town with his former bands Uptighty and Marvin Tate's D-Settlement, or they might know him as a denizen of the city's spoken-word circuit. Since the break-up of D-Settlement, Tate has spent the past few years dwelling of the periphery; but now he's returned with Family Swim, his debut CD as a solo artist.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Concert Tue Aug 21 2007
What's all this about "cultural imperialism," eh? Okay, granted -- there's been no shortage of exoticist fetishization afoot in the ping-ponging of intercultural exchange over the years. But fortunately for all involved, the global village does provide for two-way traffic. Case in point: the Chinese surf-rock combo Red Chamber. When they first started up in the 1960s, the music they played was most likely not what Chairman Mao had in mind for toeing the "party" line of the Cultural Revolution. Hail, hail decadent and politically-incorrect Western influences! And "Bali Hai" while you're at it.
Red Chamber (not to be confused with these gals) reportedly went on a long hiatus sometime in the 1970s, eventually resurfacing over two decades later to give the whole thing another go. The recent CD Red Chamber Brings You The Mao Sound, released on the locally-based Far East Audio label, gives a good taste of the band's repertoire. The disc features one track from a vintage bootleg cassette by the band, another from a live performance from a festival in Penang circa 1971, and five others recorded during a more recent set cranked out in the studios of WZRD in 2005.
While a few tunes sport occasional, fleeting moments where the musical traditions of the band's homeland sneak in, there's largely no sense of wonky east-west mutational "fusion" to be found. It's an elegantly rocking affair, one that recalls The Ventures at their best. And when they swerve slightly off-path, the rewards are plentiful. "Edo Lullaby" features some expansive guitarwork that's distinctly psychedelic in its spaciousness. And dig the Link Wray-styled bluesy strut undergirding the otherwise brisk "Flushing Face, Smiling Heart (Slow Soul)."
Or just go see Red Chamber for yourself when they will be playing at The Hideout this Thursday evening. Chicago lounge-folk-popsters Can.Ky.Ree open. 9pm show. Tickets $7 in advance, $8 the day of. 1354 W. Wabansia.
[mp3]: Red Chamber - "Flushing Face, Smiling Heart (Slow Soul)"
[mp3]: Red Chamber - "Apricot"
-
Graham Sanford
Review Tue Aug 14 2007
About a year ago I wrote an article previewing an Arks' show for Machine Fest 6 and made statements like, "Arks are abstract, they play loud, they drift off into the ozone, they beg heaven and hell to collide. Influenced by Sonic Youth, the Aframes, Brianiac and Guided By Voices, Arks are threatening to be one of those bands that go where few bands have gone before," and "drifting into a heavy abyss of driving volume, fiery beats and wilting guitars via mesmeric, cranky soundscapes, Arks push the limits of sound but without alienating their audience." Taking a listen to The International, the band still has all that. The bands find a tight studio sound to mix with a gritty, explosive live presence.Today the Arks drop The International the band's first full length on High Wheel Records. After a few listens to the new album head to Subterranean on Thursday to see them live at their CD release party with epic local band sally and up-and-comer Pyrite. Cheap show at $7, 18 plus and start time is at 9 p.m.
-
Brent Kado
Review Mon Jul 23 2007
Photo courtesy of Adam Bubolz
The Gloss: Maybe you missed it or maybe you were one of a handful that didn't, but back in April the Ukrainian Village-anchored Permanent Records -- Chicago's hot new indie record store -- stepped up their game and launched their own label. What did they choose for their flagship offering? To put out an LP wax pressing of An Ethereal Oracle, the self-released sophomore CD by the Columbia, Missouri outfit Warhammer 48K. It's now available on 18-mg virgin vinyl, featuring a limited-edition gatefold sleeve with full-color artwork. The folks at Permanent were nice enough to send Gapers Block a copy, which eventually found its way into my hands, so a review is definitely in order…
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Review Mon Jul 16 2007
As reported last week, the Empty Bottle was hosting a weekend-long shindiggity series of afterparty shows to coincide with the Pitchfork Fest. The cornucopia spilled over, proved too much for yours truly to take in to its fullest. And while there's nothing like a "scene report" thing to rub your face in the business about the party that you missed, couldn't get into, etc., this one leaves plenty of room for reciprocal nyeh-nyeh payback…
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Review Mon Jul 09 2007
Last night, while having some casual drinks at Simon's Tavern, I stumbled upon something a little bit marvelous. It's B1g T1me, a cover band beyond all cover bands. See, they're not about sounding just like your favorite band from the '80s, they're about sounding like Tom Waits covering your favorite band from the '80s — and believe me it's a shot of sweet brown wonderful. I heard rousing, gravelly, Waitsian renditions of Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back", Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More" and Journey's "Wheel in the Sky" (and of course, the band's namesake "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel) beat on garbage cans, rocked on accordion and vibes, earnestly delivered and gleefully received by the bar-goers. It's quite something to hear the one-hit-wonders of your youth transformed into dark, tortured, angry fist-shaking melodies. In fact, there's something quite pleasing about it all — as if the true angst of your hormone-soaked and pop infused teen years is finally realized in B1g T1me's performance.
They're always looking for new song suggestions, so let them hear from you at their MySpace page, or at their next show at Quenchers on July 18th (there's no cover).
-
Anne Holub
Review Wed Jun 27 2007
Between them, they have more than a century of musicmaking. While their exposure on stations such as WXRT certainly has exposed them to an audience that wouldn't ordinarily look for them outside a Baptist choir stand, much less in one, the roots of The Blind Boys of Alabama and Chicago's own Mavis Staples (whose latest album was reviewed earlier) are in the gospel tradition, and they settled into it last night and got comfy in it.
With an enthusiastic audience on hand, the Blind Boys swung their way through their Grammy-winning efforts, highlighted by a rollicking, extended effort which entailed vocalist Jimmy Carter shrugging off his guide and going up and down the aisles on the main floor. "If you want to clap, stand up, tap your foot, go right ahead," we were extolled, and the crowd responded by doing all of the above.
Mavis, by contrast, took the crowd to church in another way. By simply talking with the audience, she masterfully slowed the vibe down and delivered with a few secular songs mixed in with the church exhortations. "I'll Take You There" sounded at home with "Jesus Is On The Main Line," and so forth. Her voice, from its bottom up, was clear and controlled as she controlled the mood of the room, never getting ahead of the vibe of the audience, who, while poised to take it back to church, was just as happy to sing along to pretty much everything she sang.
All in all, an awesome concert by people who've been doing this kind of thing for a while, evoke emotion from the audience, and have the skill in singing to have the room up on their feet after the final note. A masterful concert by two giants of gospel.
-
Troy Hunter
Review Sun Jun 24 2007
The Moonstation House Band album has a soft sound reminiscent of Electric Warrior. Surely not coincidentally, David Vandervelde has often been compared to Marc Bolan for his distinct fluttery vocals and guitar-playing. (However, Vandervelde is far too shy to garner comparisons to Bolan's brashness.) And so with that in mind, it was a small shock at Darkroom on Saturday when Vandervelde sounded more southern rock than anything resembling early glam-rock. Although, it should be noted that Vandervelde has mentioned in interviews that he prefers to not mirror the album's arrangements live. As three-minute songs stretched into jams lasting over eight, it was clear that the David Vanderveldes in the studio and in front of a crowd are two different performers. Strings, synthesizers, organs, and anything else on The Moonstation House Band not percussion, guitar, or bass were dropped. The airy riffs on "Jacket" were chunky and the breezy "Feet of a Liar" became harsh. Fortunately, this isn't some fad that Vandervelde (along with Richie Kirkpatrick and Derek James) hasn't thought out. The songs still worked, just not in the same way that they do on the album. In the end, though, the variation's just another example of the talent that Vandervelde has in store for listeners.
-
James Ziegenfus
Review Thu Jun 21 2007
I say this with all love and admiration, but damn if lead singer of Apostle of Hustle Andrew Whiteman doesn't look like some cross between a flamingo and a Fraggle on stage. Maybe it's his mop of curly hair and the way he hops around the stage with his guitar for each song, or maybe it's just because he seems to honestly enjoy what he's doing so much as to seem other-worldly, but damn, he's entrancing. I first saw Whiteman playing with fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene at last summer's Lollapalooza, where he would crouch down between every song or two and take long swigs from a bottle of red wine. Later, he used the bottle as a slide on his guitar. (Yup, I fell a little bit in love with him that day.) In his current side project, Apostle of Hustle, Whiteman is still fun to watch, though he was sipping from a small glass of dark liquor last night, not the vino.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Anne Holub
Review Wed Jun 20 2007
The last show I saw at the Vic was the strange pairing of indie buzz magnet Patrick Wolf and queen diva of the moment Amy Winehouse. Although I missed his set, the sheer amount of people entering as late as I was that night (albeit unplanned on my part) seemed to show a general disinterest in their off-kilter choice of opener. Tonight, with last year's soft psychadelia explorers Grizzly Bear opening for this year's "Most Likely to Be Co-Opted By Your Mom" artist Feist, I worried for a repeat.
As a pleasant surprise, the crowd seemed to know and enjoy the G-Bear, follwing them through stand-out track "Knife", sea shanty cover "Deep Blue Sea", and their heavily blogged Crystals cover "He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)". The band was well-received, and set the energy level nicely for Feist to hop on and ride.
Although a huge gap of time in between the bands killed that momentum pretty stone dead, the eventual appearance of the skinny Canadian girl raised a ruckus and fixed all shuffle-foots in attentive poses. Leslie sang wonderfully and had a top-notch group of multi-instrumentalists keeping her extra golden. Most fun though, was Feist's audience banter and interaction - a short checklist of her sense of humor:
~ Beginning the night by only singing her banter
~ Turning the audience into a three-part harmony note
~ Making loops of herself imitating birds
- Reading someone's graduate paper on hair follicles on stage
~ Busting out a tap-dancer in lieu of Gonzales on piano for her solo guitar bit.
Amidst all the showmanship, Feist seemed to be honestly touched by the fans, which is nice to see half-way through the tour. Whether it was for GB drummer's hometown show or just sheer love, both performers gave big ups to "Cheeee-cago!"
-
Dan Morgridge
Review Mon Jun 18 2007
driz adjective 1: the state of being intoxicated by substances of illegal or legal nature 2: feeling elated to the point of frenzy and/or public urination. see also drizholler
In what was one of the most ambitious billings of the Empty Bottle's event series hosted by the Hyde Park Art Center, the Philadelphia rap crew Plastic Little played inside of the Speaker Project this past Friday evening. Sadly, audience turnout was somewhat on the lighter side. Something about venturing down to the Southside proved too much of a hike or a challenge for too many folks. Possible deterrent number two: The event was at an Art Center instead of a club, meaning that no drinks were being served. Sorry, folks — it's a BYOB affair. So the early part of the evening involved the ebb and flow of attendees arriving and then re-arriving with six packs in tow, scattering out into the neighborhood in search of a package store, their paths crossing as they wandered the surrounding blocks, sometimes packing in groups in the course of the quest. Juan Chávez, the artist responsible for the Speaker Project, was there with some gear to record the evening's events and a smile that didn't leave his face for the rest of the night.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Concert Tue Jun 12 2007
Sunday was by far the strongest day of this year's festival, featuring a wide variety of styles and some of the biggest draws. Since most of those draws were aging veterans, when I looked up at circling birds I often was relieved to see that they were only seagulls and not vultures. It was a day to enjoy the gritty showmanship of old-school acts, at the same time musing about how their shoes will be filled.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Steve Pasek
Artist Sun Jun 10 2007
This week sees a pair of events celebrating the release of the new album from two Chicago jazz titans, tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson and percussionist Hamid Drake. Entitled From The River To The Ocean, the album was recorded by John McEntire at Soma Studios and it's a full-ensemble affair that features outstanding accompaniment from multi-instrumentalist Harrison Bankhead of 8 Bold Souls affiliation, bassist Joshua Abrams, and AACM guitarist Jeff Parker (of Tortoise, Chicago Underground Quartet, et al.) who steps in for three of the album's five tracks. Tuesday night, the full ensemble will be playing at an RSVP event at the headquarters of Stop Smiling magazine. The performance will be hosted by local author, curator, and musician John Corbett, who'll be conducting a public q&a with the band throughout the set. And on Wednesday night, the band will playing a regular evening set at Anderson's Velvet Lounge.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Graham Sanford
Review Sun Jun 10 2007
Saturday was in general the weakest day of a very strong festival lineup, but the lineup included some veteran performers who seemed to me to illustrate some contentious issues in blues music today. I caught Jimmy "Duck" Holmes at the Mississippi Juke Joint Stage (sadly I arrived too late to catch Alvin Youngblood Hart, one of my favorite young artists). He’s an idiosyncratic player from the so-called “Bentonia school", so named because Skip James, its pre-eminent stylist, was from that town. Whether Bentonia really fostered a distinct style is a bone of contention among musicologists, but it’s really only important to them anyway. The crowd here yelped and howled its approval for Holmes’ dronerrific single-key tunings, with songs that seemed mostly improvised lyrically. To my ears, it sounded a bit same-y after a while, but his reading of “Mystery Train” was a quite interesting deviation from the Junior Parker arrangement, given a more mournful quality while retaining the train rhythm context. Holmes is a perfect artist for a festival – he represents a living artifact, and presents a style that is slowly disappearing, true “folk” blues, not structured by commercial recording demands or radio airplay considerations. He’s not an artist for blues rookies, though – he’s more what I would call an acquired taste, which requires close listening for subtle variations in tone and rhythm, much more of a troubadour than a guitarist, and at times it’s hypnotic. He’s played each day of the fest, and will play one more time on Sunday.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Steve Pasek
Review Sat Jun 09 2007
XRT host and blues fest emcee Tom Marker made a joke during Friday night's festivities that only in the blues can you be over 50 and still be considered part of the young generation of artists. It's an interesting paradigm, and not altogether untrue. Despite the passing of most of the "first generation" blues stars, blues has been and continues to be a genre whose fans are developed over long periods of time, longer than the entire career of most rock artists. In blues parlance, to make it you have to "pay your dues", gain respect, and eventually you can join the ranks of the artists with broad fan base. This is true enough that it's become cliche, but it also has advantages -- no popular blues artist will ever be "hot" in the way that, say, the Fray are right now, but on the other hand, there's an opportunity for fans to develop a long-term relationship with any blues artist's work, and fandom in the blues features more loyalty than anywhere this side of Cubdom.
Continue reading this entry»
-
Steve Pasek
Review Fri Jun 08 2007
Last night and last Friday night, two veritable giants of the jazz world visited Symphony Center as part of the CSO's '06-'07 jazz season. Neither legend disappointed, and closed the season on a high note.
Dave Brubeck and his Quintet was last week's top billers, and the house was sold out. McCoy Tyner, last night's attraction, didn't get nearly as many butts in seats, but swung hard anyway. Tyner's performance ended the CSO's season, which will introduce its awesome '07-'08 session with Herbie Hancock, who will open Jazzfest.
Video:
McCoy Tyner (1998) - "Giant Steps"
Dave Brubeck - "Take Five"
Continue reading this entry»
-
Troy Hunter
Review Fri Jun 08 2007
The first day of the Blues Fest didn't blow me away except in the literal sense (gusts of up to 40 miles per hour plagued the performances and seemed to impact sound quality).
Continue reading this entry»
-
Steve Pasek
Review Sat May 12 2007
[A review from reader and former Transmission staffer Dan Snedigar, who was lucky enough to see Wilco last night at Northwestern.]
Rare is the opportunity these days to see Wilco, unquestionably one of the most influential bands of the past decade, in a small space with a small audience. Friday night, in what amounted to a paid warm-up for their upcoming European and American tours, frontman Jeff Tweedy and company turned in a solid two-hour performance in front of a small, young, but generally receptive audience at Northwestern’s A&O Ball in the campus’ Patten Gymnasium.
The pace started at a slow burn with three selections from the band’s new album Sky Blue Sky, set to release on Tuesday, May 15. "Impossible Germany", "Sky Blue Sky," and "Y
The term Hipster Rap or Hipster Hop has some how become an insult. When you look at Chicago acts like Lupe Fiasco, The Cool Kids, Kidz in the Hall, Hollywood Holt, Mic Terror, etc. you see extremely successful musicians with inventive beats. Regardless of the label, these acts are gaining fans and major recognition. An example of this is the recent announcement that the Kidz in the Hall track “The Blackout” (from May’s The In Crowd) will be featured on the soundtrack for EA Sports Madden NFL 2009. Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of music and marketing for Electronic Arts, said "we believe that this time next year, Kidz In The Hall will be true Hip-Hop superstars." So if rhyming about jeans, nail polish, cappuccino, skate boards, and Chuck Taylor’s will make you ‘Hip-Hop superstars’ then I say go for it! I suppose mentioning Mark Rippen in your songs doesn’t hurt either.
