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This Week in Great Music: 4/12 – 4/18

Sarah — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:02:15 +0000

I am too sleepy for commentary this morning, so have the below list of shows which I have deemed to be Awesome. I’ll be at the Empty Bottle on Thursday to catch Dosh’s show, and hopefully I won’t forget about the tickets I have to the Old Town School of Folk Music on Sunday, for Eliza Gilkyson and Carrie Newcomer. Folktastic!

Monday, April 12
Robbie Fulks, Robbie Gjersoe; Hideout. 7 pm, $10 suggested donation
Florence and the Machine, Holy Hail; House of Blues. 7 pm, $18-21
The Morning Benders, Miniature Tigers; Lincoln Hall. 8 pm, $12

Tuesday, April 13
Gebhard Ullmann Clarinet Trio, Chicago Cultural Center. 12:15 pm, free
The Rocketz, The Honeybees, Pearls Mahone; Reggie’s Rock Club. 6 pm, $8
Kevin O’Donnell’s Spring Spectacular, Martyrs’. 8 pm, $8
Identity Crisis, Natalie Oliveri, Leslie Beukelman, Paper Thick Walls; Double Door. 9 pm, $5

Wednesday, April 14
Aetiology, Children of Nova, Debello, Jeff Ruby; Elbo Room. 8:30 pm, $8
NIU Steel Band, Old Town School of Folk Music. 8:30 pm, $5 suggested donation
Gebhard Ullmann Clarinet Trio, Hideout. 9:30 pm, $10

Thursday, April 15
Elton John, Sears Centre (5333 Prairie Stone Pkwy., Hoffman Estates). 8 pm, $39.50-169
Vieux Farka Toure, Martyrs’. 8 pm, $25
Micah Dalton, Rachael Sage, Mori Einsidler; SPACE. 8 pm, $8-18
Blues Traveler, House of Blues. 8 pm, $30-55
Adam Green, The Dead Trees; Schubas. 9 pm, $15
Dosh, White Hinterland, Roommates; Empty Bottle. 9:30 pm, $10

Friday, April 16
Ellis Paul, Adam Ezra; SPACE. 8 pm, $18-30
Laura Freeman, Davenport’s Piano Bar and Cabaret (1383 N Milwaukee). 8 pm, $15, two drink minimum
Owen, Rocky Votolato, Brooke Waggoner; Lincoln Hall. 10 pm, $15
Kevin Andrew Prchal, Arthi Meera; Uncommon Ground (1401 W Devon). 10 pm, $10 suggested donation

Saturday, April 17
OK Go, Earl Greyhound, The Booze; Metro. 7 pm, $17-19
Graham Parker, Old Town School of Folk Music. 7 pm and 10 pm, $18-22
Jeffrey Foucault, Andy Friedman; Schubas. 7 pm, $12-14
Loudon Wainwright III and Richard Thompson, McAninch Arts Center (425 Fawell Blvd, Glen Ellyn). 8 pm, $30-65
ChickenFat Klezmer Orchestra, Relax on Milwaukee (2937 N Milwaukee). 9 pm, free
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, Phil Cohran; Schubas. 10 pm, $12

Sunday, April 18
Carrie Newcomer, Eliza Gilkyson; Old Town School of Folk Music. 7 pm, $18-22
Legendary Shack Shakers, The Hackensaw Boys, Tangleweed; Double Door. 8:30 pm, $15

2009 Favorites: Part Four

Sarah — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:59:25 +0000

Happy NYE to those of you in time zones where it hasn’t happened yet! (Sorry, Australia and thereabouts, I missed you all.) I’ll be ringing in the new year on a rooftop in downtown Chicago, freezing in the name of fashion and a good celebration. It’s been an interesting year in many respects, and I’ve had a ton of fun in launching this website, jumping right in to the world of music bloggers, and meeting tons of new people. I’m looking forward to an even more interesting and music-filled 2010.

Now to the most pressing matter… I doubt that many of my top five choices will be a surprise to anyone, although two of the albums here were latecomers, sort of sneak-attack albums that popped up and grabbed my attention recently. To see my other top choices of 2009, check out albums 6 through 10, 11 through 15, and 16 through 20.

Without any further procrastination, I bring you (in alphabetical order), my five favorite albums of the past year.

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast.

Look, I’ve talked about Andrew Bird, and about this album, all year. I love this album, it’s that simple. I think it’s in a different category than The Mysterious Production of Eggs, which was Bird getting his feet wet and experimenting with putting out a full-fledged solo effort, or Armchair Apocrypha, which is as close to a rock album as Bird may ever get. Noble Beast may be playing it safe, but this album is much smoother than its predecessors, and it really seems to tap into the whole natural world sort of vibe that’s run through Bird’s music in the past. From the lyrics to the photography, from Diane Sudyka’s gorgeous artwork to the album’s title itself, Noble Beast is saturated in Bird’s love of the natural world. An additional nod of appreciation goes to Useless Creatures, the bonus disc packaged with the deluxe edition of the album. Useless Creatures is Bird’s “self indulgent” album, an eclectic mix of instrumental work, which may in fact be more innovative than anything on Noble Beast.

Noble Beast was released January 20 by Fat Possum.
Official Website | MySpace | Twitter
Purchase the album here.

The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love.

I thought that maybe I would get tired of this album as the year’s gone on, but I haven’t. This album gave Colin Meloy and company a chance to show off their prog rock leanings, a tendency that’s always been a bit buried beneath the hurdy-gurdy and the Civil War-era tinkering. This album is best appreciated as a whole unit rather than as individual songs, although “The Rake’s Song” seems to hold its own outside of the album. I love this album because it’s just so different from what we’ve been seeing recently. In a time where the mainstream media keeps trying to tell us that the album is dead, the Decemberists have shown that you can still put together a solid hour of cohesive music and make it awesome.

The Hazards of Love was released March 24 by Capitol.
Official Website | MySpace | Twitter
Purchase the album here.

Fanfarlo, Reservoir.

If there’s any such thing as a perfect indie pop album, Reservoir might just be it. Everything about this collection of songs just feels good. I regrettably didn’t discover how much I loved this album until after I’d missed the band’s show at Schubas, but I’m hoping they swing back across the US and make it to Chicago again in 2010 so I can make up for that. What’s not to like about this album? There are catchy songs, trumpets and mandolins and plucky violin notes. It’s enjoyable all the way around.

Reservoir was released September 29 by Atlantic.
Official Website | MySpace | Twitter
Purchase the album here.

Florence and the Machine, Lungs.

Handclaps! A crazy disco pop sort of sensibility! Strong female vocals! This album was made for me to love. I didn’t expect to love this album as much as I do, but for a while there, I couldn’t stop listening to it. The songs here are equally at home in a dance club or as background music to hilarious scenes on TV (see: “Kiss With a Fist” on the Christmas episode of Community). I’m interested to see what Florence Welch follows up Lungs with, and whether or not it will be able to top this. Fingers crossed for 2010.

Lungs was released on October 20 by Island.
Official Website | MySpace
Purchase the album here.

Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More.

It might not be fair to put this album on my favorites list, as I’ve just discovered it within the past month or so, influenced by the album making appearances on several other Best of 2009 lists. But I haven’t really stopped listening to it since finding it, so I think that makes it a fair inclusion. With vocals that at times remind me of a rowdier, Frames-era Glen Hansard, with banjo and bluegrass and tambourine and some incredibly tight folk drumming, this album definitely took me by surprise and hasn’t quite let go yet. Here’s to hoping that the album sees a release here in the US and that they hit a few more cities here than just NYC and LA/San Francisco.

Sigh No More was released on October 5 by Island.
Official Website | MySpace
Purchase the album here.

And while you’re still reading, here are some other albums which I’ve enjoyed throughout the course of the year, but just didn’t get to know them well enough to bump them up onto my top 20. Don’t worry, extra list of albums, you’re still some great, great music.

The Antlers, Hospice / Antony & the Johnsons, The Crying Light / Bill Callahan, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle / Bon Iver, Blood Bank EP / Brandi Carlile, Give Up the Ghost / Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career / Cass McCombs, Catacombs / Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King / Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca / The Flaming Lips, The Dark Side of the Moon / Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest / Hockey, Mind Chaos / Jesca Hoop, Hunting My Dress / Jim Gaffigan, King Baby / jj, jj n° 2 / Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Want / Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, Loomings / Lady Of The Sunshine, Smoking Gun / M. Ward, Hold Time / Miike Snow, Miike Snow / The Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice, Moon Colony Bloodbath EP / Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms / Patrick Wolf, The Bachelor / Patton Oswalt, My Weakness Is Strong / Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11 / Regina Spektor, Far / Tegan & Sara, Sainthood / Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Know Better Learn Faster / Vandaveer, Divide & Conquer / Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!

Music Memoirs: Looking Back on 2009

Sarah — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:39:26 +0000

Today’s Music Memoirs post asks you to look back on 2009. Feel free to play along.

The albums that you love the most
While I’m still working on getting my Best of 2009 list up and running, I’ll give you a sneak peak at it now, I suppose. Fortunately for all of us, I wrote my list out at home, and I’m typing this up at work, so I don’t really remember what order I had my list in. So here are three 2009 albums that I know I’ve been loving.

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast. There are enough Bird fans out there who felt let down by this album that I almost feel like I shouldn’t love it as much as I do, like there’s some memo I missed out on getting. Sure, the record is no Armchair Apocrypha, but Armchair was no Mysterious Production of Eggs, either. I remember fans being similarly disgruntled whenever Armchair came out, saying that it didn’t live up to Eggs. Not to get into some music nerd discussion about it (ugh, this was supposed to be like, one sentence about why I love the album, not a dissertation) but I really feel like each album has its own motif, both in sound and in concept, and that it’s kind of difficult to compare the three, which are drastically different from one another. When Bird releases an album that I feel falls short of the mark, I’ll call it out, but for me, Noble Beast is not that album (in my opinion, blah blah disclaimer, you’re entitled to your own opinion and I won’t hate you for it).
Florence and the Machine, Lungs. The verdict is still out on Florence, mostly because I haven’t been wowed by her live performance (the recordings/videos that I’ve seen), and because I’m just not sure what she’ll follow up her debut album with. There are some fantastic songs on this album, though, and I’m hoping that she continues to bring it in 2010.
The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love. I have a love/hate relationship with the concept album nature of this one. I love and appreciate the fact that there are still artists out there who are creating albums that are pieces of art, that are meant to be taken in as a whole. But because it’s a concept piece and is meant to be listened to from start to finish, it makes for some abrupt changes when tracks change on the shuffle of my Not iPod.

Any new artists you discovered
2009 was an awesome year for discovering new artists (both new to music and new to me), but I’ll go with two similar-ish acts: The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons. I’d heard a few songs by The Avett Brothers before this year, but hadn’t really delved too much into their back catalog or anything. They got a lot of buzz with the release of I and Love and You, so I decided to check them out, and I’m really enjoying what I’ve heard. Mumford & Sons, I got into because I saw them pop up on the Best Of lists of some fellow bloggers whose opinions I trust, and I was totally blown away. Their music is fantastic, gritty folk rock, and “Little Lion Man” is pretty much one of the best songs I’ve heard all year.

Best concert you attended or watched
Andrew Bird and Alpha Consumer at Schubas. It wasn’t the tightest show I’ve seen from him, but the energy and vibe and feeling of community in that packed room was intense. It was one of those shows where you know you may never have an experience like that again, and so you appreciate every last moment of it. Plus, there was the added bonus of being pressed right up against the stage. Fangirl moment, what what?

The song that best defines 2009 for you
I don’t know that I can pick one song, but I’d say my 2009 Mix would be defined by delightful yet mostly meaningless pop music. Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, anything with a good beat that would get me dancing around. 2009 had its fair share of crappy moments, but I also had a lot of fun, and a lot of that fun was had while flailing around on disgustingly dirty dance floors. And during those crappy moments, The Mountain Goats’ “This Year” has and always will be one of those songs that gets you through. “I’m going to make it through this year if it kills me,” indeed.

Music Memoirs: Concerts

Sarah — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:07:24 +0000

Today’s questions from Music Memoirs are all about concerts.

What’s the best concert you’ve attended?

I’m going to cheat and name two.

1.Over the Rhine in Kent, OH; April 2005: I traveled a ridiculous distance by car to go see them, was sleep deprived after spending one night driving straight through from Pennsylvania to Michigan and spending the next night sleeping on a floor or a couch or something, followed by more long and tedious driving (in a snowstorm, no less) from Michigan to Ohio. I was more than a little delirious by the time of the concert. This was my first ever Over the Rhine concert, and I was in the company of great friends who loved the group as much as I did. Being an almost-hometown show for the group, there was a very special vibe in the theatre that night. I couldn’t tell you much about the set list now, only that I sat spellbound in a creaky old Ohio theatre listening to new and old songs from one of my favorite bands.

2. Andrew Bird at Millennium Park, Chicago; September 3, 2008: I could name any Andrew Bird show that I’ve seen so far, as they’ve all been “the best” for their own reasons, but this one wins simply because it introduced me to the sheer genius that is an Andrew Bird live show. I’d been a fan for a while, since around the time The Mysterious Production of Eggs was released, but had never had the opportunity to see him perform live before. I’d always managed to miss his shows in Chicago for some reason, but this was a free show downtown, and I wasn’t going to pass it up. From the second that man stepped out on stage and began performing, I knew I was going to see something amazing. I don’t know how anyone could have walked away from that show without being completely blown away.

What’s your dream concert lineup?

There is no good answer to this question. But let’s see… I would probably organize a Dream Festival Lineup if I sat down and really thought about it. One day would be performances from the whole Wainwright clan there, plus their friends and associated acts. Like one of their Christmas concerts, only better and longer. One day would be Classic Rock Music That I Love, Even If Those Artists Aren’t Alive Anymore. And one day would be be so hip and indie that it would make Pitchfork cry. The end.

Smallest/largest concert you’ve attended:

For smallest, I’m going to exclude things like cover bands in bars in my college town, and instead go with the category of “Anything I’ve Ever Seen at Schubas”. I think the Teddy Thompson show I went to was potentially the smallest show I saw there, as I distinctly remember being able to breathe and maybe even back up a few paces from where I was standing. But for the most part, I think all the crowds have been more or less equal there. Even the uber-sold-out Andrew Bird show didn’t make me feel as crushed and claustrophobic as I have at other larger venues (yes, I’m talking to you, House of Blues and your incredibly drunk, rude patrons).

As for largest, if you exclude Lollapalooza, it would probably be the Vote for Change tour (My Morning Jacket, Jurassic 5, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and Dave Matthews Band) from October 1, 2004. It was held at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA, which has a capacity of 16,000+ for concerts. Anything I saw at Starlake Amphitheater (now known as the Post-Gazette Pavilion) may beat that: it apparently now has a capacity of 23,000+, although I don’t know if it had the same capacity back in the 90s.

One artist you’d like to see in concert:

Hm. I’ve been fortunate to see most of my favorite artists perform. (Of the top 10 from my stats on last.fm, I’ve seen 7 of them.) I’d kind of like to see someone huge and iconic from the classic rock era — Elton John or the Eagles come to mind — but only if I could be sure to have a seat where I could actually see things instead of just looking at the giant screens, and also if that awesome seat didn’t cost ridiculous amounts of money. Of recent artists that I’ve been enjoying, I’d like to see Florence and the Machine, and Thao with the Get Down Stay Downs (who are coming to town but on a night when I’ve already got other plans). I’d also like to see Jason Webley, who doesn’t get out to the Midwest often. I can never just pick one of everything. :(