If music is our primary obsession, photography most certainly runs a close second. Almost everyone at Radio Free Chicago loves taking pictures, and from the seasoned pro to the amateur shutterbug, we rarely leave for a gig without a camera in tow. With only a few hours remaining in 2008, let's take a look back at its photographic highlights before we start snapping more tomorrow. (Pictured above: Andrew Bird by Jeremy Farmer)
And now, round two of our favorite albums and shows from 2008...
Yes, we have, indeed, agonized once again and compiled our top list of albums and shows from the past 12 months. Here's the first batch, more to follow tomorrow.
The rich festival culture in the UK has a wonderful side-effect for those who can't be bothered to spend an entire weekend gigging away: much of the talent spills into the capital during the adjacent weeks. Fresh from the recent All Tomorrow's Parties festival that they co-curated with Mike Patton, The Melvins treated their London fans to a night of heavy sludge at Scala in King's Cross. Supported by Big Business, with whom they now share members, the night was also opened by the band's original 1983 line-up peforming as, appropriately enough, Melvins 1983. With a bill so brilliantly distilling ATP's weekender into one night in the city, those of us too lazy to trek out to Minehead had no excuse for missing an event so close to home.
I don't often find myself clamoring for more past the token encore these days but then not many bands can turn a venue into a party quite like Cansei de Ser Sexy.
Download: CSS - "Left Behind"
With the year almost coming to an end and all of our loved ones getting laid off, it's time to finalize our party plans for the year. Even though the economy is crashing harder than Amy Winehouse, there's a superfluous amount of free booze and cheer to be had. Let's take a look at this week's best drinking events that should shake the bah humbug outta ya. All listings will be accompanied with Christmas songs.
Andrew Bird just finished up two ultra sold out, "secret", pre-album-release-new-music-introduction shows at the Hideout. I attended the first night (the 50 degree Sunday, not the 5 degree Monday).
While we have to wait until January for a proper copy of the new album, Noble Beast, Andrew and his band presented us with an evening of new tunes, plus a few old ones, like "Tables and Chairs" and "Plasticities", ending with the wondrous "Giant of Illinois".
If you missed this one, worry not. Andrew and Dosh and co will be playing in April at the Civic Opera House.
Continue reading "Live Pics: Andrew Bird @ Hideout 12/14/08" »
What's this I'm hearing? Bass at Schubas? And who is this sleazy lounge singer that's taken over the place?
Download: Sebastien Tellier - "Roche"
When I worked at my college radio station in the mid-90s, we ran it like a rock 'n' roll university. Before you got anywhere near getting your own show, you had to learn a fair bit of indie history. Since this was in the dark, pre-Wikipedia ages, this knowledge was disseminated via photocopied handout sheets written by music directors as instructional guides for junior members of staff. It all might sound like it was sucking the fun right out of rock music, but quite the contrary: it was our way of preserving a secret history. When I should have been studying chemistry in my dorm room, I spent late nights alone in our music library playing song after song on our little stereo, slowly bringing to life eras I'd previously only read about.
It didn't take long for me to veer off the music director's coursework and start listening to anything that looked remotely interesting, just to find out what it sounded like. This is how I discovered The Rezillos.
Download: The Rezillos - "Top of the Pops"
Continue reading "The Rezillos @ Islington Bar Academy (London)" »
The current tour that finds Ryan Adams & The Cardinals serving as the opening act for Oasis is an interesting juxtaposition to say the least. On one end of the bill, you've got a turgid group of limey rock dinosaurs who've relied on the same stodgy formula for the past 15 years and on the other you've got the shy and spazy alt-country manchild who has made a career of constantly reinventing himself.
Yes, musically we're talking "apples and oranges" here, but for some strange reason after seeing the two entities perform last Friday at the Allstate Arena, I felt compelled to try to evaluate in my mind who is actually the better musical act.
With the Christmas season in full swing you might be wondering what to buy for that annoying music geek in your life that already has every record he or she could ever want. The key in successfully gifting this special class of human is, first of all, to stop trying to think of music you can buy them. They already own it or they're in the shop right now buying it. Luckily there are plenty of other things you can get them, since they spend all their money on records and generally don't have much left to spend on anything else. Although even a hot meal would probably be well-received, here are some slightly less perishable goods for you to consider instead.
No matter what you think of Amanda Palmer's music, or the Dresden Dolls for that matter, there can be no denying her magnetism as a live performer.
Download: Amanda Palmer - "Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing"
Still agonizing over your end-of-year top 10 list? Here's something to take the pressure off.
As we get closer to the end of the month, we're gonna see a metric fuckton of these lists spring up all over the place, culminating with the hipster bible, Pitchfork, officially decreeing all previous end of year top 10 lists null, void and/or derivative. But I've noticed in the past couple of years of my music writing/bloggery a certain pack mentality that creeps into these lists. That's cool, great minds often think alike and some albums really are just standouts in a particular year. For example, I wasn't particularly in love with TV On The Radio's Dear Science, but I understand why a lot of people were, and why it's gonna show up on a lot of lists, just as Cookie Mountain did a couple of years ago.
This year, every music list on the internet will have Bon Iver, mark my words. But why? Last year, every indie blogger was pissing their pants over Panda Bear and LCD Soundsystem, and I can't help but wonder how much perceived “indie cred” or the need to be seen as an “authority” plays a role in people's top 10 choices. It shouldn’t!
Building off of a list of top 10 rules from Pretty Much Amazing, here's my list of things you don't have to worry about when coming up with your own list.
Continue reading "Still agonizing over your end-of-year top 10 list? Here's something to take the pressure off." »
Dec 19, 2008 9:22:00 AM | Commentary