Articles in Uncategorized
As The Disco Biscuits step on stage for their fifth and final set of the weekend, bassist Marc Brownstein jokingly states, “It wouldn’t be Camp Bisco if it wasn’t Camp Bisco. You know what I mean? I know at least some of you know what I mean.”
On the surface it seems like he is just a little spun, but for regular attendees of the upstate New York festival Brownie is speaking truth. Simply put, it just wouldn’t Camp Bisco witho…
If there is one thing everyone can agree upon about The Heartless Bastards show at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge, it is that it was a thoroughly sultry experience. Even with the AC on and the fans at full RPM the ambiance was decidedly sweaty. It was a July evening that called for cold beer, an occasional cup of ice, and some rock n’ roll.
The last two times the Heartless Bastards played Chicago was when they opened for Wolf Mothe…
Currently the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots started with only Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson back in 1987. After adding three other members and changing their name from The Square Roots they released their first album in 1993; seventeen years later, the band known for their funky, sophisticated brand of hip-hop has come out with their ninth album, “How I G…
Comprised of only two members – Tom Rowland and Ed Simmons – with six albums already under their belt, The Chemical Brothers have a pretty sturdy reputation for making quality, big beat electronic tracks. It’s safe to assume that their more recent music is held to a standard that the band set for themselves when they started consistently producing chart topping records. The pressure to improve exponen…
Veteran grunge rockers Stone Temple Pilots are back. On May 21st, STP released their self-titled 6th album and their first since 2001. The band has been rocking since 1992 and, upon first listen; you will see they have in no way compromised their sound in order to keep rocking until now.
After achieving commercial success with a solo album and two albums with rock supergroup Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland comes bac…
Twenty years since releasing their last album and following the anticipated completion of a fan-involved album production process, the new-wave band Devo has come out with “Something for Everybody”. Having emerged from the shadows of their wildly popular tune “Whip It,” the now nearly sixty-year-old performers (in addition to the considerably younger drummer, Josh Freese of Nine Inch Nails and G…
Excitement was the mood in Chicago’s relatively new – yet completely fun and well designed – Lincoln Hall; as the band Black Mountain was gearing to take the stage, smoke machines billowed and signaled the band’s imminent arrive. It wasn’t a sold out crowd, but not too far off, creating for that terrific balance of crowd-energy yet with a bit of precious personal space.
Black Mountain brings to the table a sort o…
The old adage is, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” Well, in music this adage is changed to, “If you don’t have anything interesting to say, don’t say it at all.” Somebody should have relayed this message to Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy before he released his solo album, Lazarus, a couple of weeks ago.
The reason this album is such a let…
The crowd had no problem waiting around until after 11pm on this Thursday evening to catch The Sleepy Sun playing Chicago’s venerable Double Door. Having work the next day is no proper thought when one has the opportunity to catch such skilled psychedelic rock n’ roll.
The Sleepy Sun are a six-piece band that plays a very interesting style of psychedelic blues-rock. It is entirely, and unabashedly, based on the funda…
The indie rock supergroup, The Dead Weather, second album is Sea of Cowards, and was released in the US on May 11. Originally formed in Nashville, Tennessee, the band is composed of The White Stripes founder, Jack White, The Kills lead singer, Alison Mosshart, The Greenhornes bassist, Jack Lawrence, and the guitarist/keyboardist for The Waxwings and Queens of the Stone Age, Dean Fertita. The albums si…
When one has a “traditional” band comprised of two people, and only 4 hands, it is quite difficult to consistently produce quality songs. This proves even truer within the genre of blues-rock. The sound must be creatively cared for so as not to become repetitively thin, and/or dull to the ears-and-mind. The Black Keys are no novices to this particular challenge, and in their new album “Brothers” we find their 6th musi…
