10/31/2005
10/28/2005
Live Review: Juana Molina@Old Town 10/28/05
Juana Molina's album, Tres Cosas, is an experimental, ambient jewel from my World music collection. Juana Molina on stage, however, was not at all what I was expecting.
Her instrument set-up was bizarre for a solo act. She had an odd contraption with many knobs on top of a set of multiple keyboards, a myriad of pedals and wires, and a guitar. The way she played her songs was fascinating, she began with a guitar riff or a keyboard chord/melody and recorded it. Then she looped that sound and continued with her song. Her music can be haunting, but her live presence was the complete opposite. In fact, she had a sense of humor! Song intros, funny stories, and even a French serenade peppered the performance with a light feeling. I still have yet to decide if I liked her personality. On one hand, she is poking fun at herself. On the other hand, is making music a joke to her? At times it was hard to tell where her performance was coming from--then again, this also could be attributable to the fact that I don't speak Spanish. Attitude aside, the quality of her voice was not disappointing. Molina has a very pure voice and it resonated with perfect tone throughout the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Editor's note: Couldn't agree more with Megan about the strange juxtaposition between Molina's live and recorded presence. Listening to her records, I always thought she sounded a bit dark and mysterious. On stage, she was a total flake! A bit confused by the whole experience, I looked up Molina's bio the next day on AllMusic and it explained everything:
"[Molina] is best known in South America as a comedic television actress."
Here I was expecting to see Argentina's answer to Beth Orton, and it turns out she is more like Argentina's answer to Lisa Kudrow...if she were to take her "Phoebe" routine and attempt serious music. Granted that is short changing Molina quite a bit, but remember Phoebe's "Smelly Cat" song? Well, Molina sang "El Perro" (the dog) where she literally barked and whined like a dog for well over the last minute of the song. Needless to say, I'll never be able to listen to Molina in the same way again.
When you're hot, you're hot...
The local sports scene hasn't been the only piece of Chicago placed prominently in the national spotlight lately...the local underground music scene has also been getting a lot of love this month thanks to the good people at XLR8R magazine:
Our fourth annual city issue jumps into the heart of Chicago, a place that has most of the XLR8R staff wanting to relocate offices. We got a chance to uncover what goes on on in local music, fashion and design, both old and new, all the while falling more deeply in love with The Windy City. Thrill Jockey founder Bettina Richards sets the tone of the issue with her personal intro to Chicago, then we follow up with over 40 features including Steve Albini, DJ Funk, Struggle Inc, Galapagos 4, Hefty, Chocolate Industries, Ron Trent, Pit er Pat, Drag City, Groove Distribution, a photo essay by Matthew Taplinger, Lumpen, Consumer Research & Development, an invaluable city guide and much more.
10/27/2005
Brazilian Booty Bash!
I knew Diplo was going to be at Sonotheque this Friday, but I didn't know it was going to be a Brazilian Booty Bash! Hell ya, I'm totally there. In all seriousness, though, this should be a great show...except that there are like 6 other great shows going on that night (not to mention all of those Halloween parties your friends are throwing), so it's going to be a tough call on what to check out. Chances are you already know about Diplo, so here's the scoop on DJ Marlboro via the Sonotheque website:
Hmmm...it is hard to resist a Booty Bash, might be a good option if your friend's costume party turns out to be lame. Whatever you decide for Friday, all I've got to say is pace yourself... Halloween isn't even officially until Monday!
10/26/2005
Majorie Fair back in town...again
Received this listing via The Onion events newsletter:
Marjorie Fair are hitting the open road this fall playing dates with Doves, Tegan & Sara, The Redwalls, Northern State, and Youth Group. Check them out at this intimate Apple in-store event as they preview their live show and songs from their latest album, Self Help Serenade.They will also perform later that night at Park West with Will Hoge. E-mail promotions[at]theonion.com with "Marjorie Fair" in the subject line for your chance to win a pair of tickets and and iPod Shuffle!
OK, first off...how many times has Majorie Fair been in town as an opener already this year?? Without even trying, I've somehow managed to see them twice already...and I swear I've seen their name on at least two or three other random bills since. Now they're opening for Will Hoge this weekend and will be opening for the likes of The Doves, Redwalls, Northern State, etc. the rest of the fall. Damn, these guys get around! Despite inadvertently seeing them twice, I still really don't have a good read on the band. They do meloncholic pop ala Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Red House Painters, etc. (a genre that I dig), but I'm not completely sold on their version of it (a bit too derivative, perhaps?). However, they don't completely suck either...which is probably why they keep bouncing around between so many opening slots and not headlining their own gigs.
Second, "win a chance to win...an iPod Shuffle"??? Didn't they discontinue those things??? (good-bye Shuffle, hellooo Nano!) This seems like a really shitty giveaway... an outdated piece of technology left over from the Apple Store's basement and a pair of tickets to see a second-rate band?? Don't e-mail your contest entries all at once, I'm sure The Onion's e-mail server is already struggling to keep up with the demand for this!
The Apple Store is located at 679 N. Michigan, the Marjorie Fair in-store is Saturday at 2pm
10/25/2005
New Releases Tuesday (10/25)
Various Artists - This Bird Has Flown (Razor & Tie)
I can't remember the last time I've been so annoyed at a single release....I absolutely DESPISE this record. To be fair, I haven't listened to it in its entirety, but I keep hearing countless tracks from it via KEXP, KCRW, WOXY.com, etc. and it's driving me up the wall. In general, tribute albums almost always suck (exception to the rule: that Lee Hazlewood tribute on Astralwerks) and this one really takes the cake.
There are already like a million Beatles and Beatles-related tributes out there already, does anybody in their right mind really think that someone like The Donnas are going to be able to bring something new to the table? "Oh my god, I've never got 'Drive My Car' ride before, but after hearing Donna A. sing it, I totally understand the genius of this song!!"
If the sheer redundancy of this project wasn't bad enough, the performances here are absolutely worthless. The paint-by-numbers covers are boring and the reinterpretations are unbelievably annoying. In fact, I think The Fiery Furnaces may have actually replaced William Shatner for the title of "Worst Beatle Cover Ever" with their butchering of "Norwegian Wood." I've always kind of thought there should be a law against covering The Beatles, and now I think this law should apply doubly to indie rockers. Do yourself a favor, avoid this record at all costs and pick up a cheap used copy of the real thing.
Releases out today that ARE worth your time:
Annie - DJ-KiCKS (K7)
Calvin Johnson - Before the Dream Faded (K)
Quintron & Miss Pussycat - Swamp Tech (Tigerbeat6)
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop)
Tom Vek - We Have Sound (Startime Int'l)
10/24/2005
DJ Who??
I didn't stick around long enough at Sonotheque last Thursday for the Biz Markie performance, but I did discover this great DJ who was the opener. He goes by "DJ Mel" and is apparently the hip-hop buyer for Waterloo Records in Austin, TX, which is an amazing store on par with the Amoeba stores in California.
I wasn't able to find much else about DJ Mel and he seems to be a relative unknown outside of Texas...but damn, this Lone Star can spin! After a solid 20 minutes of cutting some of the best new hip-hop jams, he started dropping in some sick 80s samples. He mashed-up Men Without Hats with 50 cent, Ying Yang Twins with Janet Jackson and even dug deep in the crates to scratch up some Nu Shooz. Yes, that's right, I said Nu Shooz...the one-hit wonder band who struck synth-pop/dance gold with "I Can't Wait." DJ Mel even managed to make Hall & Oates sound cool. I was at the bar ordering a drink when he played "I Can't Go For That," and everyone around me went crazy.
I'm sure Biz was great as well, but what Mel put together was an ideal set for me. Mostly new, mostly hip-hop but with a dash of 80's blended in to keep things unpredictable and interesting. It's a formula that I've always advocated, but Mel nailed it down as good as anyone I've heard.
Live Pics: Quintron fundraiser at Iron Studios
Fresh in the RFC Live Photo Archive are pictures from Saturday's Quintron benefit show at Iron Studios. Unfortunately, I missed the Magas set, but I did catch most of the very entertaining Paper Rad performance and the entire closing set from Chicago's very own Bobby Conn.
Click here for the complete set of pics from the night.
10/22/2005
Quintron Benefit tonight in Bridgeport
I don't usually make posts on the weekend, but I was trying to catch up on the events/concert calendar this morning and had to pass this along (via RottenMilk).
Fundraiser for Quintron (New Orleans Artist Fund)
featuring Paper Rad, Doo Man Group, Gay Nerds, Paper Rad Videos, Bobby Conn & Magas
9pm at Iron Studios
3636 S Iron St 2nd floor
http://www.lumpen.com/communityofthefuture/home.html
www.selectmediafestival.org
If you haven't heard the story yet, quirky New Orleans indie electronic pop artists Quintron and Miss Pussycat lost everything when Katrina ripped through their home/recording studio/music venue in the Ninth Ward. For more on the story and the latest updates, go to: www.quintronandmisspussycat.com. They'll also be in town themselves next week on the 31st at The Empty Bottle, which (in my opinion) should be the hottest ticket for Halloween night.
10/21/2005
Metric @ Empty Bottle 10/18/05
M-eh-tric
I like Metric. Their new release, Live It Out, is good. Their performance Tuesday night at the Empty Bottle was enjoyable.
In about three weeks I think I’ll be over all three.
Emily Haines and company have a sound and a style that they manage well. They’re a wonderful mix of synth pop and punk and are catchy and danceable and rockin-outable and often make me want to, and feel like I could, go out and kick some ass. But their sound just doesn’t stay fresh for long. At first listen Live It Out was exciting and when certain songs came on I’d stop what I was doing, give them my full attention and say to myself, Damn, this is good shit.
It took less than a week for me to get slightly bored, especially when I realized that this was nothing the Brits weren’t doing in the nineties and the New Wavers in the eighties and every Pseudo Punk since Punk could be pseudo. Not that taking from those who came before is condemnable. But I think that Metric is trying too hard, or perhaps not trying hard enough. They sound like they’re playing it safe and the result is blah; I want them to either shed all pretense and start banging their guitars against the walls, or to go the other way and start wearing matching shiny suits and sunglasses.
They’re halfway to that kitsch that would make them amusingly endearing. The Empty Bottle stage was decked in tube lights that ran along the floor and amps and even Joules Scott-Key’s drum kit. The house lights dimmed and a recording like a strange answering machine message from a B-horror film ran a few minutes before Metric hit the stage. Haines in her little black dress, messy blonde hair and with dark circles around her eyes looked like Uma Thurman after a lost weekend. Guitarist Jimmy Shaw and bassist Josh Winstead wore dress shirts and skinny ties. Only Scott-Key in his slacker jeans and shaggy hair didn’t look like he had just come back from a halfhearted nu-New Wave cocktail party.
The first half of their set consisted mostly of tunes from the new album, which Haines later commented she thought flowed well with the older stuff, despite critics’ apparent shock that they had jumped into rock with Live It Out. But rocker Emily Haines unfortunately is not. There were certain moments, like during “Glass Ceiling” and “Patriarch on a Vespa” when she abandoned her synths, grabbed the mike for dear life and let her jarring voice yowl, that I could see the punk rocker trying to break out of the post-punk. But for the most part she had the stage presence of a sexy automaton channeling Deborah Harry, throwing in pretentious head banging and running in place with high kicks that revealed her twiggy legs, and perhaps a little more.
I hate to turn this review into just an assessment of Haines’s performance but she is undoubtedly the biggest draw to the group, and her onstage insanity overshadows what the fellows in the band are doing, which isn’t much. Winstead even had time to stick his hands in his pockets when there was nothing else for him to do. During the show there were exactly four drunk guys in front of me and one behind, and all of them were dancing awkwardly, knowing that Emily was singing only to them. If anything I’ll give it to Metric for being able to make grown straight men dance like little gay boys. During the closer, Dead Disco, Haines leaned over the stage, got in the face of some guy in the front row, stuck the head of the microphone into her mouth and screamed. The guy looked up at her as if concentrating seriously on her refined performance. Give me a break. We all know what was going on in that dude’s jeans.
It was a fun performance. The energy was high and the sound was tight. Metric played for an hour, having to pack up early without an encore in order to be done in time for the later show, which was fine by me because this was the loudest concert I’d been to in a while and my ears were dead. Still, when the lights went up and we made our way out, part of me was looking back, hoping to see the band stumbling back on stage wearing boas, smoking pipes and chucking beer bottles at each other. No, what I really wanted was for the guys to come out bare-chested, wearing black lipstick and pleather pants while Haines dressed like Michael Jackson and told us all to go fuck ourselves. My god the possibilities are endless.
10/20/2005
Select Media 04
The 4th installment 0f the Select Media Festival kicks off tonight in Bridgeport with an opening party at Hey! Cadets (1st floor of The Texas Ballroom), 3012 S. Archer. Leading the soundtrack for tonight's festvities will be the "epic stoned out jams" of Warhammer 48K. Direct from Columbia, MO, the band is the brainchild of Cooper Crain, the soundman for local favorites Mahjongg. Also on the bill are fellow psychedelic Columbians Jerusalem & The Starbaskets, the self-described “spazztasmic ejaculation of gabber gabba bomb beat cheap trix for the old millennium post-rave spectacle testicle wallet watch" of Carpet of Sexy and a one woman musical machine disguised as a human unicorn known as Soft Serve.
The entire festival lasts until November 13 and there are waaaay to many events to list here. Pick up a copy of the latest issue of Lumpen (#97) or go to www.selectmediafestival.org for the complete run-down.
10/19/2005
Sonotheque's got what you neee-eeed...
The diabolical Biz Markie returns to Chicago Thursday night for another one of Scion's free DJ nights at Sonotheque. The event starts at 9pm, with opening DJ sets by Austin's DJ Mel, Twlight Tone of Greet Weekend and Tone B. Nimble of All Natural. Again, the event is free, but there is one catch: in order to gain admission, you have to qualify for a ticket by drag racing a Scion down Chicago Avenue and beating the time of the person in line ahead of you.
Come on, I'm not even going for it...
OK Biz, you got me...all you have to do is RSVP by clicking here. Must be 21+ as always and they recommend arriving early as the RSVP does NOT guarantee your admission to the event. In other words, they overbook the shit out of these things and if the house is full when you arrive, you're going to have to wait outside until someone else leaves.
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