Radio Free Chicago

Moz listening party/Awesome, I Fucking Shot That!

Tonight at 9, The Onion is hosting a Morrissey listening party at Delilah's in celebration his latest release, Ringleader of the Tormenters. Be the first on your block to hear the new Moz, plus get a limited edition 7" record if you're one of the first 30 people at the party.

Delilah's is located at 2771 N. Lincoln Ave.

ALSO TONIGHT...

The Beastie Boys concert documentary, Awesome, I Fucking Shot That debuts tonight at the Landmark Century Theatres, AMC River East and the Century Evanston 18. Word on the street is that it's Nathanial Horblower's finest work yet.

Coming to a Theatre Near You!

If you live on the North Side, that is.

The long-awaited documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston will be released to a ravenous public tomorrow. The Landmark Theatre will be one of a few places in the country to screen the film about underground pop’s favorite living manic depressive. In 2005 the pic played at Sundance and earned director Jeff Feuerzeig a best director award. Who doesn’t love a dreary documentary about middle-aged men with frazzled hair/expressions who create art and music that straddles the line of neurotic indulgence and innocent genius? Hopefully the film will bring Daniel’s intriguing story and eccentric art to a wider audience; at the same time, let’s hope it doesn’t bring him too much attention, because part of what makes him so endearing is that he still isn’t a part of the pop iconography that he worships so much.

Live Review: The National@Double Door 3/24/06

The National has been struggling on the indie circuit for years now, and it's great to see the band finally get it's due. That said, there were still an amazing amount of people talking during their set and a very random crowd made up almost entirely of people over 6'4" in height (men and women, I swear- apparently the National caters to the freakishly tall demographic) and a few silly fratboy-types who actually high-fived between songs, and reached over several people to do so. Still, the band put on their usual impassioned intense show made up mostly of songs from their latest album Alligator, again skipping over two of their arguably best songs, "Karen" and "Friend of Mine." I was pleasantly surprised to hear them play the gorgeous "Wasp's Nest" from the Cherry Tree EP, a song recently featured (sort of) in Syriana (playing in the background at a bar George Clooney was drinking morosely at).

Opening the night was The Cloud Room, another Brooklyn band that has an interesting back story and one incredibly poppy song that Pitchfork deemed "the smash that wasn't", "Hey Now Now." Sadly, none of the rest of their music lived up to that song, not even the one apparently about Elenor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, which we learned about after the singer told a too-lengthy story about trying to talk to her about doing a song together only to realize she wasn't listening to a word he was saying. Meh.

New Releases Tuesday (3/28)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (Interscope) Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket,” says singer Karen O. “Maybe there is some of that electric current flowing through the tracks of our album illuminating us from the inside out for you to laugh at and cry to or fry to. Or not.” Karen O, drummer Brian Chase and guitarist Nick Zinner recorded the album with producer Squeak E Clean and mixed with Alan Moulder. The follow-up to 2003’s Fever To Tell, Chase says “in the early stages the music was STRETCHED WIDE and then tightened up.” Watch Karen O.'s beer-spillin' antics live next month at The Riviera April 14.

Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (Def Jam)
Fifth solo album from the Wu-Tang MC. Vice magazine raves, "What more could be said about Ghostface at this point? His musical contributions are unsung, yet unmatched. He’s single-handedly responsible for the soul sampling that made Kanye famous, the emo raps that became Jay-Z’s blueprint, and the Clarks Wallabees that got you through life without wearing a pair of square shoes. His retrofuturistic slang is inimitable. He gave truck jewels a new cultural significance. He’s the only reason you own a bathrobe….So how does this year’s upcoming Fishscale manage to recapture and even transcend Supreme Clientele’s magic? … the results are spectacular…A cryptic, experimental, and decidedly left-field classic album."

Quickie Album Reviews: Voxtrot, Pink Mountaintops, and B&S

Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives With their second EP, Voxtrot continues to prove that they're willing to work harder for your satisfaction -- both musically and lyrically -- than nearly every other pop band out there today. The eponymous title track is such a charmer that it could completely prop up the rest of the disc, but there’s plenty of likable material to be found here.

Pink Mountaintops – Axis of Evol
Axis of Evol’s premiere track New Drug Queens barely has enough time to suggest you should “Tell your mama gonna stay out late tonight” before it ends, but oh how you’ll build up a sweat in that short time. While the next song Slaves, offers eight minutes plus of psychedelic mojo jojo that threatens to turn you into one of those guys in college who took a few hits of acid and was never quite the same... Even though there are a few skippable bits, several tracks like these manage to make this the best stoner rock album since The Queens of the Stone Age’s Lullabies to Paralyze.

Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Should they be called The New Belle & Sebastian now? This radical change in sound takes the band into some interesting places (one track even sounds like it could be from T Rex...), but if you let your itunes wander into Tigermilk once this album finishes up, you’ll likely begin wistfully recalling the days of B & S’ incredible, early work.

Courtesy of RFC's L.A. Correspondent Joe Fielder.

Mini-Interview: Mr. Scruff

When DJs are booked to play SmartBar, most are generally content to spin for just about an hour or two. However, this isn’t nearly enough time for England’s Mr. Scruff. The Mancunian mixer famous for his cheeky scribble cartoons is scheduled to perform a full seven hour set this weekend, essentially playing the club from open until close. RFC recently caught up with Scruff, known to his friends and family as Andrew Carthy, to find out the motives behind his deck-hogging madness. Radio Free Chicago: Your upcoming Chicago gig is advertised as a 7-hour set??? How do you keep the floor going that long? Also, why are you subjecting yourself to such a long night when you could very easily just fly in for a quick 60-90min set?

Mr. Scruff: I always try and play the whole night wherever I go. That is the way I spin at my UK residencies, and I think it is best if I give everyone the ‘real deal’, so to speak. As for keeping the floor going, I get to warm up & create a mood for the first hour or two, and then get busy for the next five hours! I play a lot of styles of music, so that your feet don’t get bored.

RFC: It seems like you play Chicago a lot...what do you like about playing here?

Scruff: I like the city, the musical heritage, the food, the people (great dancers!), and I really like the SmartBar. It has a good, homely, underground family atmosphere & a great soundsystem.

RFC: What else is on tap for Mr. Scruff in 2006? New album, mixes, cartoons???

Scruff: Roughly in date order, there is a collaboration with Quantic (giraffe walk), a Jazzanova remix, a Big Chill compilation, and then hopefully volume 2 of the Solid Steel mix album, and a new artist album...but don’t hold your breath for the last two!

Album Review: Senor Smoke / Electric Six (Metropolis Records)

Stupid music is, um…stupid. Call me a snob. Call me uptight. Call me pretentious, I don’t really care. Call me a red-stater to your blue. A blue to your red. Call me a posin’ hipster who wouldn’t know a fun time if it jumped up and bit her in the polyester vest. It ain’t no thang. I know the truth, and so I cannot be hurt by your name calling, you feeble-minded, reverse-discriminating, wrong, wrong, wrong person with bad taste in music, you. Ha!

I’m going to state this simply. Senor Smoke by Electric Six is an awful album.

It’s not that I’m against fun, garish, ironic music. Les Savy Fav? Indeed. McLusky? Yes please. Art Brut? I can dig it. What do these outfits have that Electric Six does not? Brains. You can be fun and smart at the same time. In fact, most people would be of the opinion that in any sort of art, these two characteristics are mutually dependent.

What’s that you say? Electric Six isn’t interested in creating art? Hmm. Am I supposed to say then, that if this is the case, Senor Smoke is an amazing album? I don’t think so.

Senor Smoke consists of one cheesy-bad electro garage rock song after another, which draw upon what most of us hate about music from the late seventies and early eighties: murky, over digitized synth work, predictable power chord progressions, and needlessly overwhelming bass lines. There’s a reason the artists who are advancing the modern music scene don’t mimic hair bands and disco rock: it’s terrible music. There’s no refinement, no technical intricacy, no thought.

If you tell me this is the point, that what makes Electric Six innovative is its total lack of respect for the compulsion in today’s music scene to progress for the sake of progression, to create noise for the sake of being able to say I’ve made something unlike anything ever before created, then I’m going to come right back and say that Rob Schneider is a comedic genius. It’s not even the fact that Electric Six isn’t doing anything new. If this album was melodic and full of hooks and beautifully classic pop structures, than I could at least respect a variation on a theme. If it was aesthetically pleasing in the least I wouldn’t have a problem. But what we have here is Dick Valentine talk-screaming in his annoyingly frenetic, raspy voice over various tracks that all sound the same. Electric Six practices no restraint, yet there is nothing pushing the envelope of musical risk-taking. Simple beats, choppy yet boring guitar work, and atrocious lyrics inundate what could have been an interesting experiment in lofty indie pop backlash. If the lyrics were cleverly sardonic it would perhaps salvage a part of this album. Instead we’re subjected to banal, gratuitous, outdated references (“We’ll karaoke all night long/We’ll Macarena till the break of dawn”) and social criticism as profound as the musings of any sixteen-year-old, angst-ridden poet (“Stevie's joined a corporation/Another bee for the beehive/Johnny makes love to a dummy/Says, ‘Ain't it good to be alive?’")

It’s painfully obvious that the men of Electric Six are in love with themselves. It’s one thing to reject trends. It’s one thing to make music that is purposefully unpleasant. But when you regurgitate crap people were regurgitating two decades ago, and you don’t have any good reason to do so, if you’re creating idiotic music as easily as an idiot would, I’m sorry, but you can’t expect anyone to give a shit about what you’re doing. Putting out a bad album isn’t a matter of a band’s confidence in its ability to be ironic. It’s a matter of a band thinking so highly of itself that it doesn’t care if it wastes the time and money and eardrums of the people who give it the opportunity to record its bad music in the first place. On Senor Smoke Electric Six tries too hard (or not enough) to be pop culture whores, and the result is unimaginative and anything but ironic. It’s revoltingly indulgent and…well, stupid.

Electric Six plays the Double Door on Monday, March 27.

Live Review: The Wedding Present@Double Door 3/12/06

After retiring the Wedding Present moniker in 1997 to pursue his epic pop project Cinerama, David Gedge resurrected the "Weddoes" the last year for a brand new album and tour. Hardly a household name in The States, The Wedding Present are legends in the UK and are arguably one of the biggest indie pop acts to come of England outside of The Smiths. In their career, The Weddoes managed to chalk up 18 UK Top 40 singles, a feat undoubtedly helped by the fact that one of their biggest fans was the legendary BBC DJ John Peel. (“The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong!” -John Peel) Leading his latest version of The Wedding Present, David Gedge pulled out a wide range of hits spanning the duration of his career at their recent Double Door show. Dating all the way back to 1985, The Wedding Present has always been a bit of a "one-man band," with a rotating cast of drummers, guitarists, etc. backing up Gedge through the years. This latest incarnation was no exception, and with a new youthful line-up in place, it almost liked Gedge was the "hip dad" singing and playing guitar with his kids' rock band. In fact, before introducing one of the Weddoes earliest singles, Gedge quipped, "this next song is almost older than our drummer."

Superficial impressions aside, Gedge and his current Weddoes (Terry de Castro on bass/backing vocals, John Maiden on drums and returning guitarist Simon Cleave) did an admirable job of tearing through the entire catalog. Gedge may look a bit older these days, but he certainly hasn't lost any energy. Overall, the band was tight and wasted little time in between songs. Gedge made an occasional quip or anectdote here and there, but most of the time they went from song to song without hardly even a breather.

I have to admit, I only recently became a fan of David Gedge's work a few years ago via Cinerama and I was still in grade school when The Weddoes debut album, George Best, was released, so I really have to basis as to whether Wedding Present '06 lives up to Wedding Present '86. I can't say that I was blown away by this recent peformance, but there's no doubt that Gedge is a great songwriter and still has plenty of gusto in him to keep the Weddoes going for a few more years.
Check out more pics in RFC Live Photo Archive...

New Releases Tuesday (3/21)

Loose Fur - Born Again in the USA (Drag City) The Tweedy/O'Rourke/Kotche side project returns with another batch of fine tunes for Drag City. Amazon sez, "originally seen as Jeff Tweedy's noisier outlet, it's arguably as tuneful as his main band's most recent releases."

The Editors - The Back Room (Kitchenware)
Yet another band of late that comps the sound of classic Joy Division, though at least these guys are British (I'm looking at you, She Wants Revenge) and actually hail from Manchester.

Liars - Drums Not Dead (Mute) After what many considered to be a sophomore slump with the odd They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, the New York-based band moved to Berlin and are now back with what many are calling their best album yet, worthy of a sweet 9.0 on the 'Fork.

Also this week...

Richard Ashcroft - Keys to the World (Virgin)
Howe Gelb - Sno Angel Like You (Thrill Jockey)
Madlib - Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2 (Stones Throw)
Mates of State - Bring it Back (Barsuk)
Ms. John Soda - Notes and the Like (Morr Music)
Gary Numan - Jagged (Metropolis)
Quasi - When the Going Gets Dark (Touch & Go)
Josh Rouse - Subtitulo (Nettwerk)

Pitchfork vs. Intonation

Anybody else notice that Pitchfork hasn't even acknowledged that the Intonation Festival exists this year? Obviously there's still some bad blood there...but you'd think they'd at least would have given them a quick blurb about the headliners being announced just to be diplomatic. Or perhaps in classic Pitchfork form, mention snarkily that "the other festival at Union Park" has booked Bloc Party and The Streets.

It seems kind of lame just to ignore the elephant in the room, so I'm going to have to give the 'Fork a big Stephen Colbert-style "wag of my finger" on this. Stay here on RFC and we'll keep you updated on all of the latest Intonation and Pitchfork Fest news.

Speaking of which, here's the latest line-up for Intonation:

6/24
The Streets, The Stills, Lady Sovereign, Boredoms, Jose Gonzalez, Chromeo
6/25
Bloc Party, Jon Brion

and the latest for Pitchfork:

7/29-30
Spoon, Yo La Tengo, Silver Jews, Tapes 'n Tapes, Mission of Burma, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Mountain Goats, The National, Jens Lekman, Hot Machines, Man Man, Aesop Rock

Kanye, Wilco, Lips, Ween, etc. to headline Lollapalooza

Yes, the long-awaited Lollapalooza '06 line-up is here and it's damn good:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Manu Chao, Wilco, Death Cab For Cutie, The Raconteurs, The Flaming Lips, Ween, Queens of the Stone Age, The Shins, Common Matisyahu, Ryan Adams, Umphrey's McGee, Sonic Youth, Thievery Corporation, Sleater-Kinney, Nickel Creek, Blues Traveler, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Iron & Wine, Poi Dog Pondering, The Secret Machines, Eels, Panic! At the Disco, The Disco Biscuits, Reverend Horton Heat, The Smoking Popes, Andrew Bird, Gnarls Barkley, Stars, Cursive, Blackalicious, Editors, Lyrics Born, Lady Sovereign, Calexico, Nada Surf, Feist, Aqualung, The Frames, The Hold Steady, The Go! Team, Mates of State, Pepper Particle, Wolfmother, Sound Team, The M's, Husky Rescue, Sybris, Ohmega Watts, etc, etc, etc. plus more bands still to be announced?

Even better than Lolla '05, no?

Powerbook Deathmatch!

Check out "electronic music's new cultural phenomenon" this Saturday for free at SmartBar:

LAPTOP BATTLE CHICAGO
Saturday, March 18
Tickets: Free
21 & over
Doors: 7:30pm / Show: 8pm

>The laptop battle is a competitive event for laptop musicians to match their skills against one another. Battles are chosen randomly and conducted in 3 minute rounds. A panel of judges decides which contestant advances to the next round, single elimination style.

> It's a fusion of sound design, composition and stage performance, and a chance for laptop musicians to prove their skills in battle and develop techniques and strategies.

For more information, visit laptopbattle.org.

Weekend Preview: Saturday, March 18

It is the curse and the blessing of living in a large metropolitan area that brings choice squires of underground rock through our thoroughfares in droves thicker than Lake Michigan sludge. As RFC’s chief indie rock correspondent, I would like to take it upon myself to help lead you crazy pasty white folk through what might be a perplexing ordeal on this St. Paddy's Day weekend: choosing the right show.

Like Aristotle, every indie kid knows the world is comprised of four elements: ambience, buzz, cred, and rep. Using these criteria to evaluate five artists that will land on our shores this Saturday, March 18, I hope to aid you in uncovering what act it is that your oversized Leprechaun heart truly desires.

1. Arctic Monkeys

Ambience: the Metro should be the perfect setting for you to get your Brit power pop groove on. You and all the other eighty million kids going to this sold out show.

Buzz: Presently approaching its zenith. Beware of falling conductor caps.

Cred: Well, they’re saying Arctic Monkeys are the saviors of British music, and they're hailing vocalist Alex Turner as the next Morrissey. Who’s saying these things? I don’t know.

Rep: All accounts indicate these lads are bursting balloons of volatile energy. Could be hit or miss, depending upon how drunk the band and/or the crowd becomes.

2. Mike Doughty

Ambience: Old Town School of Folk Music. Yawn. But an appropriate venue for an old indie townie who plays folk music.

Buzz: Yeah, like, ten years ago.

Cred: Seems to be going down at a steady pace since he went solo. But he does have his faithful followers who swear by his genius.

Rep: Mr. Doughty is a charmer who, between acoustic guitar strums, does a lot of pleasant bantering with the crowd and isn’t afraid to make jokes. So expect a laidback show. Expect guffawing and warm fuzzy feelings of love in your tummy.

3. Shipping News

Ambience: Shipping News’s intricate drone should fill up Schubas just fine, and perhaps dissuade the drunken yuppies from crawling in from the tavern, leaving the indolent head bobbing to we who really mean it.

Buzz: Ha! They don’t even have a functional Myspace page.

Cred: Eh. Their latest effort might not be the best, but it’s nothing that’s ruined their credibility as an under the radar, under-appreciated indie pop goody. And their utter lack of buzz only adds to their street cred. Don’t be afraid of the non-hype, kids.

Rep: As far as I’ve read, they put on a modest, tight show that might not blow you away, but it just might make you a fan.

4. Akron/Family

Ambience: The gritty indie haven that is the Empty Bottle. Akron/Family’s pop delicacy might be lost in the muffled mess of bar chat and bad acoustics; however, this might not make a difference (see rep).

Buzz: A/K’s hype was so 2005. Things have calmed, people have stopped thinking about top ten lists, and in 2006 they’ve become hipster-approved.

Cred: Fairly solid. They’re on Young God, a label unsurpassable in its quietly quirky and chic respectability, and critics agree that last year’s self-titled album and split release with Angels of Light actually deserved the critical praise critics gave them.

Rep: Their live show can be described in the following outburst: “Weird. Bizarre. Oww, noisy! WTF! Was that good? I think I’m in pain. I think I might like it.”

5. Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers

Ambience: The Abbey Pub. The Abbey Pub? These psychos should be playing in a dilapidated garage somewhere, during a garage party thrown by the pimply punks who make your sandwiches down at the Jimmy Johns.

Buzz: These guys are way too fucking cool to have ever been buzzworthy.

Cred: They’ll never win a Grammy, they’ll never be invited to Spin’s birthday party, and no critic will ever worship them.

Rep: Apparently they’re only the greatest live act on the planet!!!!!! Front man J.D. Wilkes is manic and unashamed and will delight you with cartwheels and karate kicks and every other spastic dance move he fancies. Be prepared to be disturbed into a frenzy.

In conclusion: Don’t sell your Arctic Monkeys tickets on Craigslist. But don’t buy Arctic Monkeys tickets on Craigslist either. Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers might be your best bet, but the more adventurous will probably want to hit the Bottle and take a chance on the bizarre indie pop noise of Akron/Family. Do not, however, count out Shipping News and their sleeper capability. I just don’t think I’d want to be on the corner of Southport and Belmont on St. Patrick’s Day Saturday. I’m not that adventurous. Of course I’m not. That’s why I’m a chief indie rock correspondent.

Austin or bust

Featuring something like 120,000 bands this year (actual figure may vary), the 20th annual South By Southwest Music festival kicks off tomorrow in Austin. You've probably already seen the SXSW feature this week on the 'Fork, but I also recommend checking out a post that Brooklyn Vegan pointed to earlier this week from a Blog called "Crackers United." In addition to the usual barrage of showcase balancing tips, the site also links to some other essential on-line SXSW resources like SXSW Baby!, Showlist Austin and See You in the Pit. Click here for the complete article, but first, let me echo what are probably the two most important rules of SXSW:

• Catch as many free day shows and parties as you can (preferably ones that offer free beer + bbq + swag).

• Drink Shiner beer, not Lone Star.

New Releases Tuesday (3/14)

Nicolai Dunger - Here Is My Song You Can Have It I Don't Want It (Zoe Records) The Swedish music scene has brought the world many great pop acts over the years and has recently been a hotbed for edgy indie rock. But Sweden has not been known for introducing amazing singer-songwriters to the world. Until now. Enter Nicolai Dunger, a former professional soccer player who was discovered by a producer while he sang on a balcony in his hometown and gave up his sports career to pursue his passion for music...Nicolai is a tremendous talent whose voice recalls the joyful pastoral soul of vintage Van Morrison and the melancholy crooning of both Tim and Jeff Buckley. On his latest relesase, Nicolai is backed by the mighty Mercury Rev. Dunger's aching melodies and soulful vocals mesh with Mercury Rev's dreamy yet driving sound seamlessly and with an ease that reflects the fun the musicians had playing together. -Amazon.com

Devo - Devo 2.0 (Disney)
What the hell is this garbage???? This is sacrilege!!

The original members of Devo rerecorded ten of their old songs (some with revamped lyrics) and two brand new ones with Devo 2.0, a group of five talented kids aged 10 to 13...Devo is one of my favorite bands," Buena Vista Music Group EVP & GM David Agnew said in a recent interview. "I think their music was years ahead of its time--and is timeless... it's playful and great to dance to, which is the key to any good kids' music. When you consider that Disney has been responsible for some of the most popular children's music of all time, and that most people trust Disney to bring them music that is appropriate for their kids, it seemed like a winning combination to me."
-Amazon.com