Radio Free Chicago

Live Review: Neko Case@Metro 1/13/05

Ah, Neko Case, the woman every indie boy wants to be with and every indie girl wants to be, the singer Playboy voted as the hottest female indie musician and asked to be on the cover (which was politely turned down, thankfully). Upon entering the sold out venue shortly before Neko took the stage, I found it difficult to find a spot not filled with swooning boys drooling in anticipation of seeing the Canadian songstress serenade them. Though I prefer to catch my regular dose of Neko via the power-pop sensibilities of the New Pornographers rather than the alt-country leanings of her solo work, it’s undeniable that her voice is amazing, and I was interested to see what sort of presence she brought to a live setting.

Neko made it out on stage at about 11:15 with her backing band, the Sadies, who were quite possibly four of the dorkiest-looking men I’ve ever seen. A pleasant addition to her entourage on this date was Kelly Hogan, a local favorite in the Chicago alt-country scene and a Hideout-regular who contributed backing vocals throughout the show. Neko’s set drew heavily from her recently released live album The Tigers Have Spoken, a collection of new songs, old favorites, and fantastic covers, much of which had been recorded at Schubas in Chicago. Songs like “If You Knew” and the Loretta Lynn cover “Rated X” were definite crowd pleasers, and the Sadies’ excellent musicianship managed to hold up under the weight of Neko’s amazing, almost overpowering voice.

The real treat of the night, however, was getting to know a little more about the woman behind the huge voice and the wild red hair. From the moment she appeared, Neko quickly proved herself to be one of the most energetic, unpretentious, fun-loving entertainers I have seen in quite some time. Apparently being the object of many fan’s affections has not yet gotten to her head, though at this point that’s almost hard to believe. Between songs she seemed to say whatever it was that came to her mind, no matter how ridiculous it sounded (“this next song is a sad song about birds. WOOOO PARTY!!!!”). Even when she needed to take a few moments to deal with a poorly tuned guitar, Neko kept the crowd entertained with her utterly random comments and non-sequiturs. It was as if she was talking to herself, totally oblivious to the fact that hundreds of fans were hanging on her every word, trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about. It was really great to see someone beloved by so many proudly act like a total dork on stage; it gave her an air of accessibility that many artists lack.

It’s not easy to make a show filled with twang-y, often depressing songs about love (or birds) so fun, but Neko Case certainly had no problem doing just that at the Metro Friday night. It became pretty clear by the end why everyone loves her so much. Sure, she’s a fabulous singer with an incredibly unique voice. But even more than that, she seems like the type of person I’d want to go party with (WOOOO PARTY!!!!). I bet she’s a total blast.

-Nicole Chavas, ThePerfectFaceForRadio.com

New Releases Tuesday (1/18)

Please feel free to post anything that I may have missed, but it looks like slim pickins this week on the new releases calendar:

Secretly Canadian is releasing a live album from Magnolia Electric, Alternative Tentacles is offering a domestic release for the latest Bell Rays album...and, um.... that's about it. However, don't blow your entire wad on 50%-off records at Reckless this week, because there is a slew of notable releases out next Tuesday (1/25).

Stay tuned...

Even we can't compete with

Even we can't compete with prices like these!

Save Big Money at Reckless...and play free Ping-Pong

Today Reckless Records is kicking off another installment of their immensiely popular "50% off old shit*" clearance sale. (*may not be actual name of sale)

Here's how it works: Anything that's been in stock since August or earlier is half-off, while anything that's been in stock 3 to 4 months is 30% off. This sale is a personal favorite of mine, as it's a great time to stock-up on expensive UK-only import vinyl and other overpriced music collectibles. Run out to yer favorite Reckless location now until Sunday (1/23) to catch some of the hot savings action.

If that's not enough Reckless fun for ya, you can also check out their Martin Luther Ping (Pong) Party at Schubas, Tuesday night at 9pm. Record collectors 21 and up are invited to stop by for free ping-pong while Reckless staff members spin the hot releases that made it onto their "Best of 2004" lists. Besides free exhibition play, there will also be official ping-pong tournament play where the winner can take home some free cds. Tournament losers and all other attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase some of the releases featured throughout the night.

For more information on the big sale and ping-pong tournament, visit the Reckless website at www.reckless.com.

Tomorrow Never Knows at Schubas

This weekend at Schubas Tavern, the Paper Airplane Pilots present Tomorrow Never Knows, a three day festival of local music.

According to their press release, Jeremiah Wallis of Paper Airplane Pilots had a dilemma...he couldn't figure out which local bands he wanted to play with for the band’s upcoming record release show. This dilemma then grew into an idea...why not try and get as many great pop acts into one venue, over one weekend? Jeremiah decided to put the record release on the back burner, but instead pursued the idea of a mini-fest of local music.

Headlining tonight's show is Chicago via Nebraska act Head of Femur along with fellow Chicago indie popsters, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. Local rockers, The Bon Mots headline Saturday and Polyvinyl recording artists Saturday Looks Good To Me headline on Sunday. If you like to rawk indie-pop style, you'll definitely want to make a trip to Belmont and Southport sometime this weekend.

For more information and a complete line-up, visit Schubas.com or the festival website at www.paperairplanepilots.com/tnk.html.

Schubas Tavern is located at 3159 N. Southport

Rockin' the Lone Star State...

Rockin' the Lone Star State...

Tweedy on the 'Tele'

Time to fire up the TiVo or finally figure out how to program your VCR this weekend as channel 11 will be airing Wilco's performance on the long-running PBS music program Austin City Limits. Originally recorded last September, Tweedy & Co. will be mostly playing tracks from their latest record, A Ghost Is Born. Conor Oberst's Bright Eyes will also be featured on this episode that is dedicated to "musical innovation."

Much like Wilco, it seems that Austin City Limits is also branching out from their alt-country roots and expanding into other musical territories. Upcoming episodes include Modest Mouse/Guided By Voices, The Pixies, Polyphonic Spree/Ozomatli, Elvis Costello, and Flaming Lips/Shins. Yeah, there's also an episode featuring Michael McDonald and Joss Stone, but hey...overall, it's pretty damn good line-up for a PBS show.

Austin City Limits airs Friday nights at 8pm on WYCC-TV 20 and Saturday nights at midnight on WTTW-TV 11.

In stores now...

In stores now...

New Releases Tuesday returns!

Ah yes, the holidays (more like holidaze) are over, and new releases are returning to record store shelves. You won't go broke this week buying new music because things are still a bit slow, but there are some notable releases worth treading through black slush for.

Local and related:

-Felix da Housecat - Playboy: The Mansion (Soundtrack) (Koch)
Chicago house legend drops another hott mix...this time for a video game. Here's the not-so-glowing review from the New York Post:

After years of making landmark dance re-mixes and original music, Felix da Housecat is unable to pull goodness out of his bag of tricks here. On this soundtrack to the video game, where you get to slip into Hugh Hefner's bathrobe and build the Playboy empire - two breasts at a time - Mr. Housecat presents a dozen re-mixes that are not only mind-numbingly repetitive, but in fact a fraud, if you consider that only four are actually in the game.
If you heard just one cut off this disc, you might be tempted to snag the record because of the infectious, faster-than-your-heart beats. Yet listening to the entire collection at once makes it clear how few musical ideas Felix has to supercharge a song. He reserves his best talents for his own "Do Me What I Do," an original that dabbles in a cross-pollination of reggae and electronica.

-The Fiery Furnaces - EP (Rough Trade)
NYC via Chicago duo drop this latest release featuring a collection of UK singles, b-sides and previously unreleased tracks.

Other notable releases (1/11)

-The Libertines - s/t (reissue w/bonus DVD) (Rough Trade)
-Various Artists - KCRW Sounds Eclectic 3 (Palm Pictures)
Features live performances from Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand and more. Sorry, autographed Nic Harcourt poster not included.

Second Slint show added!

Metro has just announced they've added a second night of Slint live...Thursday, March 24 at 9pm. Tickets are available NOW. The previously scheduled show on the 25th sold out almost instantly, so if you missed out before, don't delay. Also, do yourself a favor and stop by the Metro box office or next door at Hi Fi Records to avoid the TicketBastard service charges.

"Slint Who?" you say??? Here's a brief history of the band courtesy of the good people at Metro:

In 1987, Slint recorded their debut album, "Tweez", with Steve Albini behind the board in Chicago and released it on the short-lived and enigmatic Jennifer Hartman Records and Tapes label. At this time, Ethan Buckler departed and was replaced on bass by Todd Brashear. 1989 saw the recording of their untitled EP, engineered by Steve Albini, mixed by Brian Paulson, and released by Touch and Go Records.

In 1990, Slint recorded the landmark "Spiderland" album in Chicago with Brian Paulson both engineering and mixing. This release, in particular, became an independent music touchstone, loved and admired by hundreds of thousands of fans and emulated by a generation of musicans.The following year, the year in which "Spiderland" was issued by Touch and Go, Slint broke up.

For almost fourteen years, the members have not performed together as Slint. Now, for a very short time, they do so again...

Dutch electro madness at Sonotheque

Weekend Records is presenting Dirty Brown and Miserable 2005: The Return of the Bunker-Creme Team Tuesday night at Sonotheque. Bunker Records and Creme Organization are Dutch electronic labels that specialize in "Electro-Funk, The Sound of West Holland." Tonight's performance will feature the labels' Eurolectro dream team who will be spinning deep, moving and twisted electronic music.

Headlining the show will be Legowelt, aka Danny Wolfers. According to Weekend, Legowelt dishes out a hybrid form of slam jack Den Hague electronix combined with deep Chicago trax, obscure & romantic ghetto technofunk, EuroHorror Soundtracks and much more.

Finally, Weekend sez: "Working Class Hedonists Unite!--for this rare opportunity to escape the "moral values" of our oppressor!" RFC sez: Also check out the $2 PBR special...a few cheap cold ones will keep you refreshed during your hedonistic electro-Danish funk exploits.

Admission is $8, 21 and over...Sonotheque is located at 1444 West Chicago

Tonight at Empty Bottle

Tonight at Empty Bottle