DeVotchKa w/ Basia Bulat @ The Vic 5/9/08

There are very few bands, if any, that make music as innately beautiful as DeVotchKa.  A band of modern day gypsies capable of haunting, possessing and inhabiting souls that are in search of the fantastic and they do it all with a flair distinctly their own.

Download: DeVotchKa - "Till the End of Time"

Peter Morén with Tobias Fröberg @ Schubas 4/26/08

Of course, everyone knows of the world famous Peter Morén of Sweden’s Peter, Bjorn, and John but what they don’t know is that he may just be the main man behind all those glorious pop songs and, if isolated from his other two bandmates, he has the capability to put on a swell show full of not only his own songs but songs from PB&J and fun covers to boot.  He’s clearly not going to disappoint anyone who sees him on this tour.

Download: Peter Bjorn & John - "Objects of my Affection"

Foals @ Subterranean 4/26/08

It seems like every week, there's a new buzz band being imported from the UK. Since the Arctic Monkeys made it big a few years ago, the world has turned its attention to the UK to find the next big thing. People in the UK are more fickle about bands than they are here in the U.S. They may like a band for a hot minute, then discard them and move onto the next over-hyped one. At the beginning of the year, several publications came out with their "bands to watch in 2008" lists. Oxford, England quintet Foals made an appearance touted to breakthrough this year. The band released its debut a few weeks ago, Antidotes, to tepid reviews. In a month they will have been forgotten overseas, which is a shame because Foals' record is solid and its live performances intense, frenetic and satisfying enough to prove just maybe Foals is more than a flash in a pan Vampire Weekend.

Download: Foals - "Two Steps, Twice"

Mini Interview: Farmer speaks with The Foals

Not to be too Anglophilic in my writing here, but there is sometimes a striking difference between the sounds created from across the blistering North Atlantic, for better or for worse. Luckily for the crowd at the near capacity Subterranean in Chicago, this was to all of ours advantage. Hailing from Oxford, England, the city of one of Western Civilizations oldest universities, (and the home of another little English band, Radiohead) the Foals made a stop here on their first proper tour of these United States.

Earth with Helen Money @ The Note 4/25/08

Although it’s technically true to say that Earth is a drone band, this genre doesn’t fully describe their sound.  There are many drone bands that tend to come off as just downright noise based or trying to be more experimental than anything else.  Though this instrumental four piece from Seattle definitely offers an alternative to your standard American pop band, they’ve created music that is effective in eliciting an emotion as well.

Download: Earth - "Engine of Ruin"

Grand Ole Party @ Schubas 4/18/08

In this treacherous election year, the GOP tries to maintain its perch at the White House. San Diego band Grand Ole Party (GOP) thankfully doesn't appear to be Republican (O-bombs is their number one Myspace friend). This trio toured with Rilo Kiley year and had their debut record, Humanimals, produced by Kiley member Blake Sennett. Lead singer Kristin Gundred vocals's encapsulate the blues of Amy Winehouse, the fierceness of Karen O, and the wailing of Janis Joplin. Gundred snarls and brazenly belts out garage-blues songs on love gone wrong, the devil, drinking and other sins, all the right elements for quite a celebration.

Download: Grand Ole Party - "Look Out Young Son"

Caribou @ Empty Bottle 4/11/08

The story of Caribou has become legendary. Canadian Dan Snaith formed Manitoba in 2001 and released two albums under that moniker. But when punk rockster/wrestler Dick Manitoba sued Snaith for illegally using his name, Snaith settled on Caribou. 2005's Milk of Human Kindness was Snaith's first record under the new name. Last year's sunny pop/psyche-electronic record Andorra garnered spots on several top ten lists and solidified Snaith as superstar, especially since he played all the instruments himself. For the tour, he's enlisted a 4-piece band consisting of two drummers. Even though the Bottle's stage is small, it's the perfect venue to absorb the band's beautiful noise.

Download: Caribou - "Hello Hammerheads"

Blitzen Trapper @ Schubas 4/6/08

The first time I listened to Blitzen Trapper's 2007 release, Wild Mountain Nation, I confess to thinking it was a bit of a disjointed mess.  But, after seeing the band live several months ago, the album became a magnificently disjointed mess.

Download: Blitzen Trapper - "Wild Mountain Nation"

The Everybodyfields @ Schubas 4/4/08

The Everybodyfields pen delicate dreamy country songs that are most at home when wallowing a bit in melancholy and despair.

Download: The Everybodyfields - "Aeroplane"

Kaki King @ Empty Bottle (4/1/08)

I've been listening to Kaki King for upwards of four years now. The first track I ever heard being "Carmine St", (which was regrettably lost in the great iPod crash of....three weeks ago) it was one of the most beautiful and simultaneously transcendent songs I had ever heard.

The Felice Brothers @ Schubas 4/1/08

If The Felice Brothers most recent self-titled release summons visions of The Band via The Basement Tapes you would certainly not be alone but prepare to have such lovely illustrations shattered if you take in a live show.

Download: The Felice Brothers - "Frankie's Gun!"

Explosions in the Sky with Lichens @ The Congress Theater

The genre of post rock has always been a curious one… It’s almost as if it implies that rock music has disappeared off of the face of the Earth. I always feel like I’ve missed some catastrophic event, as if I was in a coma the day the aliens came and informed every man and woman playing a guitar “Rock is over.  Now, begin the next stage of your life!”  Explosions in the Sky have often been labeled with the post rock moniker and it feels ill fitting to me. For example, though they are not by any means a standard rock band, their guitar playing builds and intensifies throughout many of their songs as the very name of the band suggests. It’s not exactly rock music but it has its roots based in the genre. Perhaps, it just uses some of this and can take it farther. It would be fair to call the band experimental and instrumental. They are also incredibly creative in their use of musical frameworks that develop over the course of each song. Though it’s not a specific genre, I’d also call them experiential because it’s the sort of music that fills you up and, at its best, takes away the emptiness inside.

Download: Explosions in the Sky - "First Breath After Coma"

Bodies of Water, Le Loup, and The Ruby Suns @ Schubas

It’s always something to be ecstatic about when you run into a lineup as exceptional as this one last Friday night at Schubas. The Ruby Suns dimmed the lights but brought out some fantastic psychedelic melodies.  Le Loup played a joyfully energetic set as well, definitely not disappointing the crowd in the least while headliners Bodies of Water sang as if their lives might depend on it!

Beach House @ Schubas 3/26/08

Headlining a sold out show at Schubas, Beach House fans surely echoed the Devotion. Though I’d seen them two previous times, once opening for The Clientele at the Subterranean and another time playing Pitchfork music festival last summer, this third time at Schubas felt more right than either of the previous. With it’s warmth and hard wood floors, the languid and enveloping tones of the music was brought out perfectly. It shouldn’t also be understated that Beach House’s live performance has shown some improvement as well in the last year. Both with the release of their second album and with touring, their sound has really come to fruition. The super melodic songs of this Baltimore two piece seem altogether more self assured and capable of filling the void of emptiness within any human space.

Download: Beach House - "Turtle Island"

British Sea Power @ The Empty Bottle 3/24/08

Once in awhile, you get to experience a band that you know without a doubt is going to become bigger than a small club will ever allow.  I felt that way when I saw The Shins at Schubas and around this time last year when I saw Peter, Bjorn and John at the Bottle in a similar two shows in one night setup. Monday night at the Bottle was no different as British Sea Power's set varied from cascading guitars to modern anthems.  When the feeling comes, you have to savor it like a slowly melting candy because it doesn’t come often.  Yes, British Sea Power are on their way up and when they ask the question "Do You Like Rock Music?" There are many in line to give them a resounding “Yes!”

Ting Tings @ Av-aerie 3/20/2008

Hailing from outside of Manchester, England, Ting Tings has become the latest UK electropop group trying to infiltrate the States to spread their Blondie and Talking Heads-inspired musings. Consisting of duo Katie White and Jules de Martino, White sings and plays guitar as de Martino beats those drums. Buzz has been escalating since the debut of their first demo single, the insanely catchy "Great DJ." Before signing to Columbia, they toured with only three songs in their arsenal. Luckily, they have more songs now that'll be released on their Columbia debut album sometime this year. In the vein of international jet setters New Young Pony Club and the Sounds, Ting Tings set out to become the next big thing.

Download: Ting Tings - "Great DJ"

Hanne Hukkelberg w/ Haley Bonar@ Schubas 3/17/08

This happens year after year: winter wears on me.  I feel so sick of the snow, the howling wind, the feeling of cold in my bones that I can’t keep out with a million radiators.  I ask myself, “Why do I live in this cold city?”  And then, someone as fantastic as Hanne Hukkelberg comes along and pulls me out of it with a radiance of her own.  I come to realize…it’s not just the fact that there are people as creative as her in existence that make life worthwhile but the fact that we live in a city committed to supporting international bands and musicians like her.  It makes you start to realize that, when this is possible, there is much less isolation.  Instead, ideas are shared and you’re filled with a sense of awe and luck. At the end of the day, seeing someone as creative as Hanne from Oslo, Norway changes you in a positive way.

Download: Hanne Hukkelberg - "Cheaters Armoury"

The Magnetic Fields @ Old Town School of Folk Music, 3/14/08, First Show

The Magnetic Fields must really like Chicago, for over the course of the three nights, they played two shows a night--more than any other city on their tour. The last time the Fields played in Chi-Town was in 2004 in support of their record i. In January, they released Distortion, an affable album filled with fuzzy feedback, ironic considering lead singer Stephin Merritt suffers from hyperacusis. It's a condition where high frequencies, ie, distortion, causes great pain in his eardrum. To abate his condition, the band only plays acoustic songs with hardly any electronics present. Despite this scenario, the Magnetic Fields impressed with a lovely and engaging set. Those folks in Austin didn't know what they missed.

Download: "Too Drunk to Dream" - The Magnetic Fields

Grand Archives/The Acorn/Builders and the Butchers at Schubas 3/8/08

This was a fantastic night of music, headed by Seattle’s Grand Archives, a five piece led by Matt Brooke, previously of Band of Horses and Carissa’s Weird.  Grand Archives stays truer to form to Carissa’s Weird with more of the darker introspective sense than the overblown rock band I’ve always found Band of Horses to be a little guilty of.  Because of that, it’s perhaps easier to connect with on smaller stages and a nice balance between both of these previous efforts. Brooke also seems like a sweet and modest guy, thanking Chicagoans for buying his record (apparently the 2008 Sub Pop release has sold really well in Chicago in particular.)  Their set wasn’t incredibly long in length due to the fact that the band’s incarnation is recent but they did play a new song not on the record and ended with a long medley of covers beginning with the famous “I Started a Joke” by the BeeGees.

Download: Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"

Nina Nastasia @ The Hideout 2/11/08

There will always be countless numbers of folk singer-songwriters strumming their acoustic guitars at any given moment, but few will ever make music as compelling and convincingly personal as Nina Nastasia.

Download: Nina Nastasia - "Settling Song"

Freezepop @ Subterranean 2/13/08

So, there's this synthpop band called Freezepop. Until last Wednesday night, I'd never heard of them. My friend is a huge fan and roped me into going. The trio is best known for contributing their music to video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It makes sense since Freezepop's music encompasses bleeps and beeps and centers on lyrics about school boy crushes and technology. At the venue, I was shocked to discover what a cult following this band truly has. The place was packed with a division of either 20 year-old ravers or video game geeked out guys. What followed was surely a memorable evening.

Download: Freezepop - "Brain Power"

Freezepop @ Subterranean 2/13/08

So, there's this synthpop band called Freezepop. Until last Wednesday night, I'd never heard of them. My friend is a huge fan and roped me into going. The trio is best known for contributing their music to video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It makes sense since Freezepop's music encompasses bleeps and beeps and centers on lyrics about school boy crushes and technology. At the venue, I was shocked to discover what a cult following this band truly has. The place was packed with a division of either 20 year-old ravers or video game geeked out guys. What followed was surely a memorable evening.

Download: Freezepop - "Brain Power"

Super Furry Animals @ Metro 2/16/08

I hold these truths to be self evident: 1. Super Furry Animals are one of the top ten bands of all time.  2. The Super Furry Animals put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.  3. Out of all of the bands putting out music in the world today, the Super Furries are one of the most creative, dynamic, and perhaps just downright weird bands I’ve ever heard or witnessed in the flesh.

Basia Bulat @ Schubas 2/7/08

Basia Bulat's debut full length, Oh, my Darling, is every bit as precious as the title would insinuate.  The album is full of sweetly seductive vocals atop of ukelele, strings and claps that seem to insist upon your return for more, all while maintaining a sort of a harmless, wholesome perspective. 

Download: Basia Bulat - "Snakes and Ladders"

Yeasayer w/ MGMT @ Schubas 2/08/08, Late Show

New York City has always been one of the best cities in the world to discover new bands. This year alone, Brooklyn is manifesting a new crop of buzz bands including the psychedelia/classic rock influences of duo MGMT (not pronounced "management" as previously thought) and tripsters Yeasayer. The popularity of these bands forced an earlier show to be added to accommodate the overwhelming response. How do the kids even know about these bands? Does everyone in Chicago really read Pitchfork? Both bands put on quite a show proving headbands and wife beaters are cool again.

Download: MGMT - "Kids"
Download: Yeasayer - "2080"

Cat Power @ The Vic 2/10/08

Cat Power, a.k.a Chan Marshall, has reinvented herself over the past year. Critics would comment on her apologetic performances, self-conscious ways and crying fits onstage, but since becoming substance free, she's become a more stable, consistent and confident performer. Mainly drawing from her latest covers record, Jukebox and backed by the prolific Dirty Delta Blues band (featuring Jim White of the Dirty Three and Judah Bauer from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), Marshall enraptured during her sold out one woman show.

Download: Cat Power - "We Dance" (Pavement cover)

Baby Dee w/ Mucca Pazza @ Empty Bottle 2/7/08

Thursday night in Chicago saw the return of Baby Dee, the Drag City artist who sings songs that sound  kind of like a combination between sea shanties and fairy tales gone mad. It's an eccentric show to behold as she belts out lyrics involving everything from Jesus to Albinos. With unpredictable flourishes of melodies played alternating between harp and piano, Baby Dee varies her arrangements between the very loud, almost cabaret, style to soft lullabyish intricacies all permeated with a pervasive sense of anguish.

Liars @ Metro 2/5/08

This was the second trip thru town for the Liars in support of their 2007 self-titled release. With an album that is oft described as their most pop/accessible, coupled with their mystifying "improptu" jam (treat or debacle depending on who you asked) with Interpol known as Reefer Duberland the last time in town, how could one not be slightly intriguied as to what might occur last Tuesday night at the Metro.  With that said, one hardly needs a reason to be intriguied when the Liars are going to perform.

CoCoComas & The Submarine Races @ Hideout 1/31/2008

First month of the new year down, and I’ve only been to 2 shows. (Can we say slowwww) While the winter months with its crazy random snow storms divert most touring bands away, locals remain undaunted. It’s easy and its a travesty to some extent to say “oh those guys are local I can catch them anytime but X band is in town tonight”. I am afraid to say I have done that too many times with these bands and I would like to apologize. CoCoComas and The Submarine Races I promise to try catch more of your shows in the future!

The Hard Sell: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist @ Park West 2/1/08

Two Men. Eight Turntables. Hundreds of seven inches and musical mayhem. Friday’s night’s sold out Park West show saw the meeting of two great minds: Cut Chemist, aka Lucas MacFadden, and DJ Shadow, otherwise known as Josh Davis. The two have collaborated both with other DJs and each other in the past and demonstrated a fantastic dynamic presence and timing that comes from countless hours of planning and rehearsal. Turntabilism at its best uses the countless influences throughout music and pop culture since vinyl was invented and spins them as if they are all happening at the same time, creating something new from it all. Though they weren’t playing instruments, the coordination of all of these different aspects of songs in a way that makes auditory sense is nothing short of amazing to anyone who loves music.

Girl Talk w/Dan Deacon @ Metro 1/26/08, Late Show

Church is a means for people to worship a deity, whatever shape or form that may be. But for some people, there is such a thing as a music god. Sunday may be a day for attending mass, but Saturday night at Metro became a different sort of worship. Led by demi-gods Dan Deacon and Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk, they basically led their congregation of kids into a blitzkrieg of electronic beats and transformed the youth into abiding, sweaty dance machines.

Download: Girl Talk - "Bounce That"
Download: Dan Deacon - "The Crystal Cat"

Two Ton Boa @ The Vic 1/5/2008

Usually in the beginning of the year, the winter doldrums set in causing a dearth of solid shows. But a week into the new year, Olympia, Washington opening act, Two Ton Boa, gave a worthy performance. Two Ton Boa is primarily Sherry Fraser and her backup band. Opening for superstars the Dresden Dolls isn't an easy feat, but she's an impenetrable frontwoman who carried the show.

Download: Two Ton Boa - "Comin' Up from Behind"

White Williams @ Schubas 1/18/2008

White Williams (Ne Joe Williams) has been breaking out since dropping his debut record, Smoke, last November. Pitchfork and many other media outlets gave it quite a bit of love. This fall he opened for mega-group Battles so it was just a matter of time before he'd headline his own show. Using processed beats, analog synths, and live guitars and bass, Williams instantly garnered comparisons from party monster Girl Talk to throwbacks of glam rock and everything good that's evolved from electronica in the past 20 years. But with such great songs and great hype on his side, why did Williams fall flat?

Download: White Williams - "New Violence"

STAR @ Reggie's 1/8/08

It's a Tuesday night. South Side rock club Reggie's is practically dead. It could be because it is a Tuesday ,but also it's been raining for days. Some goth kids keep dancing to a DJ set that includes PB&J. Who would've thought? After a few bands, Chicago natives STAR hit the stage (not to be confused with Canadian uber-group Stars). Comprised of lead singer Shannon Roberts, bassist Ted Beck, and guitarist Scott Cortez, they've been making a name for themselves on the local scene since their full-length self-released debut, Devastator, last year. Time Out Chicago named it the second best local album of the year. Comparisons to shoegazers My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain spring to mind, but Roberts sounds akin to Tanya Donelly of Belly than the aforementioned groups.

Download: STAR - "Pure Gold Reason"

Cold War Kids w/ We Barbarians & A.A. Bondy @ Metro 12/07/07

Cold War Kids became one of the biggest buzzes of 2006 and have surprisingly kept their momentum up through 2007. With a few EPs, they translated their nuggets into last year's full-length debut, Robbers and Cowards. With performances at SXSW and Lollapalooza this year, the Kids have been ubiquitous spreading their SoCal gritty pop hits like "Hang Me Out to Dry" and "Hospital Beds."

Download - Cold War Kids - "Hang Me Out to Dry"

The Sounds @ The Vic 12/18/07

The most daunting thing about walking into the Camel sponsored show at the Vic was to be greeted by glowing neon pink outlines of camels and free makeovers being given to the crowd's 22 year olds, both male and female. Sometimes corporate sponsorship can help a band but it also can hurt a band. After getting past the plastered faces, The Sounds took the stage and everything felt a little more normal. Somewhat.

Download: "Painted By Numbers" - The Sounds

Allroh @ The Hideout 12/15/07

I didn’t know what to expect of Allroh, who flew into Chicago from Berlin just to play the afternoon Shellac show in a very rare North American performance on Saturday. She gleamed in white and carried a piercing look in her eyes as heavy as a suitcase. As she played those first chords on her electric guitar, I felt a chill in the air shimmy up my spine and it wasn’t from the temperature in the room or anything that remotely tangible. Allroh is a visionary, a fully realized woman who delivered one of the most awe inspiring performances I’ve seen all year.  Between the delicateness of a José González and the raw untamed passion of a younger Polly Jean Harvey (circa Rid of Me) exists a visionary known as Allroh and make no mistake about this…she is brilliant.

Balkan Beat Box @ Logan Square Auditorium 12/7/07

I don’t want to get too personal here but the whole tone of the evening leading up to seeing Balkan Beat Box was replete with the bittersweet. After losing one friend to Seattle, I had to say goodbye to another good friend of mine who is heading west. The way I was feeling, I didn’t even want to take pictures when I entered the large Auditorium. If I hadn’t been with him, I was in the sort of mood to be by myself all alone drinking tea and sulking to Belle and Sebastian. It’s fairly crucial that I mention all of this because it shouldn’t be understated how dramatically Balkan Beat Box lifted my mood that night. I went from despondent to dancing in the geography of about an hour.

Shellac @ The Hideout 12/15/07 (noon show)

Yes, despite what we all might think, bands are able to get up and be at a venue before the noon. Also, it might be enlightening for people who attend shows in Chicago to know that bars do have windows which allow light to get in. Most of these things one usually assumes are not true due to the nature of rock shows, especially one of this caliber. Extra bonus, there were free donuts before the show!

John C. Reilly @ Cubby Bear 12/6/07

It’s always a little surreal to see the actors you’ve watched on screen standing two feet in front of you to begin with. John C. Reilly’s performance heightened this further as an over the top and frequently lewd escapade that left the audience guessing what he might say or do next. Coming off as a southern musician singing throughout the decades, Reilly performed in the character of Dewey Cox. The performance was a promotion for this new film (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) but Reilly took it to a level of wondering where reality ends and meets with something made up in show.

The Panda Band @ Subterranean 11/30/2007