Without offering a public hearing or soliciting opinions from the community it will directly affect, the City of Chicago has passed a “promoter’s ordinance” that requires any individual or group producing an event that’ll draw more than 100 people to obtain a license and insurance. So - even if the venue you’re renting out for y our event has licenses and insurance, you still have to obtain additional licenses and insurance.

Jim DeRogatis has a nice summary of the nitty gritty in the Sun-Times, but the bottom line is this: gone are DIY punk shows. Gone are the heart string-tugging benefits concerts that give music fans the opportunity to, say, have Jeff Tweedy playing in their living rooms. Gone are the cool little shows thrown by fanzines or blogs, without the proliferation of some corporate agenda.

Lame, Chicago. So much for being such a music city.

Share This

This week we won’t review that new Coldplay track or The Dandy Warhols (sorry we didn’t want to sign up for authorized spam from the band) or the entirely free Nine Inch Nails record. In all honesty, this music fan is exhausted and didn’t delve deep enough into the far corners of the web during this past week to ensure the highest level of MP3 linking. So today’s ‘bord is more like a tease..

MP3: Head Like A Kite- No Ordinary Caveman from There is Loud Laughter Everywhere (June 17th, Mush)
Dave Elnmo uses found sounds and samples as the framework for his brand of pop rock. As a DJ Shadow enthusiast, the emphasis here is on beats and grooves. The inclusion of the local metropolitan transit announcement at the conclusion is a bit on the cliche side, but the track as a whole is hardly freshman material.

MP3: Joe Pug - Hymn 101 from Nation of Heat EP (May 13th, self-released)
We’ve waxed ecstatic about this young Chicago talent plenty in the past, but we caught his first major performance since completing his debut EP and were not disappointed in the kid’s casual confidence and breathtaking delivery of some heady, Americana-laced folk.

MP3: The Music Tapes - Majesty from Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes (August 19th, Merge)
Julian Koster is probably bes known (and loved) for the atmospheric haunt that he brought to Neutral Milk Hotel, but his symphonic aural efforts with The Music Tapes have not gone stale in the nine years since the group’s last LP. We’re looking forward to August…

An now for this week’s Smörgåsbord Sundae Wafer…
Stream: Local H- 24 Hour Breakup Session from Twelve Angry Months (May 13th, Shout! Factory)
Chicago’s Local H has managed a healthy career since their debut album in 1995. With stints on major labels and several tracks breaking the Billboard charts, their power-grunge rockin’ never seems to go out of style with a somewhat rabid fanbase. The duo’s live shows are not to be missed, so if you’ve got a buddy with an extra ticket to Beat Kitchen later this week– buy them a beer or two to return the favor.

Share This

Ah, Chicago…it’s been a while since you produced a great guitar rock band. Songwriters, alt country, hi hop - you’re covered there, but where is the rock?

Oh, hey - here it is! Enter The Interiors, a trio of slackers-come-serious students of rhythm’s effects on dissonant melody and self-searching counter melody. Next month they’ll release a self-titled debut LP on Michigan indie 54-50 or Fight, and interest in their fascinating brand of shoegaze, 60’s garage pop, and whiteboy reggae is on the verge of piquing. There’s certainly an element of circa-1995 UK guitar buzz and sprawl, but Chase Duncan’s propensity to counter his vocal melodies with sweeping, swirling lines almost literally lift you out of your seat. Bassist Collin Jordan drives much of The Interiors’ jaunty aesthetic, setting his Sting-esque parts skillfully against Duncan’s to create a cohesiveness that’s often missing from young, startup rock bands.

Bottom line: If the Police toured with Modest Mouse and The National and shared one bus, these are the kind of jam sessions that might result. Catch The Interiors next Tuesday, 5/13 at the Empty Bottle.

MP3: The Interiors - Power Lines

Share This

Another strong week of live shows in the second city. Two founding members of Chicago’s indie rock scene are going head to head with multi-night residencies, so hit the HoB for Ministry or the Beat Kitchen for Local H. Other highlights include the baroque pop of Devotchka, Tokyo Police Club’s sprint style indie, and the 60’s invasion-era sunshiny rock of Locksley. If you can handle arena shows, check out The Police and Elvis Costello at Allstate.
Monday, May 5:

Tokyo Police Club w/ Smoosh and Maps & Atlases at the Metro
Landon Pigg w/ IJ Quinn at Schubas
Rooney w/ Locksley at the House of Blues

Tuesday, May 6:

Megadeth w/ In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy and High on Fire at the Aragon Ballroom

Wednesday, May 7:

Cut Copy w/ Black Kids and Mobius Band at the Abbey Pub
Robyn at Park West
Black Hollies w/ the Yolks and the Lusties at the Empty Bottle
Film School w/ Airiel and Urbanites at Schubas
Local H at the Beat Kitchen (also Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
Rue Royale at Subterranean

Thursday, May 8:

Ministry w/ Meshuggah and Hemlock at the House of Blues (also Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
Black Bear Combo w/ Johnny and the Limelights, Hidden Mitten and Cameron McGill at the Empty Bottle
Dolly Parton at the Chicago Theatre (also Friday)
Black Ghosts w/ Thunderheist at the Hideout

Friday, May 9:

Soulja Boy w/ Lloyd and Hurricane Chris at the Arie Crown Theater
Jim White at the Old Town School of Folk Music
M.I.A. w/ the Holy Fuck at the Aragon Ballroom
Devotchka w/ Basia Bulat at the Vic Theatre
Presidents of the United States of America at the Abbey Pub
The Kills w/ Telepathe at the Metro
Sybris at Subterranean
Singer w/ Detholtz and Cloudland Canyon at the Empty Bottle

Saturday, May 10:

Local H at the Beat Kitchen (also Sunday)
Russian Circles at Subterranean
Schaudenfraude w/ Yuri Lane and Blue Ribbon Glee Club at the Empty Bottle
Sunday Morning Chameleon w/ the Alarmists at the Metro
The Police w/ Elvis Costello & the Imposters at Allstate Arena
Crowded House at the Vic Theatre (also Sunday)
VHS or Beta w/ Tigercity at the Empty Bottle
Was Not Was w/ Todd Snider at the Abbey Pub

Share This

I’ll admit that I was intrigued when Langhorne Slim’s self-titled debut landed on my desk last week primarily because Malachi DiLorenzo, a schoolmate from my hometown, produced and plays drums on the record. Add to that the instant ambiguity about the artist (Is it a man? Is it a band?) and rumblings about mature, dirty, country-tinged rock with a stellar backing band, and Langhorne Slim went straight to the top of my pile.

Turns out ‘Langhorne Slim’ is the adopted moniker of one Sean Scolnick, a 27-year-old lifelong musician from - yep - Langhorne, PA. After cutting his teeth touring with the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Slim assembled his band, The War Eagles, and put out an EP on V2 before that label folded. Fast forward through a new contract with hot shit indie Kemado Records to the recording and release of this first full-length and you have 13 incredibly smart, well written and well played songs that chronicle the perilous bridge to adulthood that we call “the mid-twenties.” Slim’s often ragged vocals are endearing and authentic, reminding the listener of just how confusing it is to navigate the waters of love, life’s purpose, friendships, spirituality, and personal relationships…when you’re not quite all grown up. Oh yeah, and he does it all with a band that sounds as devoted to the roots of rocknroll as the another young band called the Rolling Stones did some forty years ago.

Standouts are the rollicking “Rebel Side of Heaven,” which explores the possibility that heaven and hell are the different sides of the same place over a bouncing blues-rock melody, and the dichotomized “She’s Gone,” which pairs a howling but totally hum-worthy lament of lost love over and upbeat, frantic rocker. The touching, sweet piano melody and softly delivered lyrics of “Worries” show that the kid isn’t afraid to explore the kinds of insecurities that spring up on both sides of a new relationship, and the lovely refrain of losing yourself in another person is the backbone of the pop-perfect “Colette.”

Bottom line: give Langhorne Slim a spin - you’ll find a charged, tight, bluesy folk-rock record on the surface, but underneath lies a poignant, thoughtful, lasting work from an artist with a lifetime of material buried in his young chest.

MP3: Langhorne Slim - She’s Gone

MP3: Langhorne Slim - Colette

Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles play Schubas in Chicago on May 28 with The Builders & The Butchers

Share This