This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

Summer must officially be here, b/c bands aren't touring much (it's festival season). Nevertheless, SHOWCOWGO tirelessly updates the SHOWcal with all the newly announced shows, the few that there are. And for those too lazy to actually hit the link, here's what you can go see this weekend and next week. I'll be seeing Killing Joke at Empty Bottle this weekend. Can not wait.

	Friday, May 28, 10:00pm		Tallest Man on Earth @ Lincoln Hall
	Friday, May 28, 10:00pm		Killing Joke @ Empty Bottle
	Saturday, May 29, 8:00pm		Smoking Popes @ Lincoln Hall
	Saturday, May 29, 10:00pm		Killing Joke @ Empty Bottle
	Sunday, May 30, 7:00pm		Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Metro
	Sunday, May 30, 8:30pm		Eleventh Dream Day @ Hideout
	Monday, May 31, 6:00pm		Hum/Volcano! @ Millennium Park
	Monday, May 31, 7:30pm		Broken Bells @ Vic

15 Second Record Review - This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem

So, James Murphy put out his third album. And as you probably know well by now, he tries to sing this time. It's nuanced, and way less hit-driven than previous efforts (the fact each song is over 7:00 would be a good indicator). But in many ways, This is Happening is the best album of the three. Other than the throwaway single "Drunk Girls" this album is much more in the vibe of what is LCD Soundsystem's best all-time song "All my Friends" - a meloncholy look at one's past, semi-desperate, semi-hopeful anticipation of the future, and a self-aware and knowing irony of the present. That sentiment, coupled with some of Mr. Murphy's finest arrangements, build-ups, deconstructions, and overall dancey fun make this a terrific album.

Buzz-Worthy

Record Releases - May 25, 2010

Here's what drops today. Kind of weak compared to the last few weeks, no?

5/25/10	Andy Bell Non Stop	Mute
05/25/10	Beach Fossils Beach Fossils	Captured Tracks/Woodsist
05/25/10	Damian Jurado Saint Bartlett	Secretly Canadian
05/25/10	David Cross Bigger and Blakerer	Sub Pop
05/25/10	Ellen Allien dust	Bpitch Control
05/25/10	Greg Ashley Requiem Mass And Other Experiments	Birdman
05/25/10	James Holden DJ-Kicks	!K7
05/25/10	Karen Elson The Ghost Who Walks	Third Man / XL
05/25/10	Kurt Vile Square Shells EP	Matador
05/25/10	Lower Dens I Get Nervous b/w Johnssong	Gnomonsong
05/25/10	Neverever Angelic Swells	Slumberland
05/25/10	Qua Q&A	Mush
05/25/10	Ramases Space Hymns	Mexican Summer
05/25/10	SDM Stith Heavy Ghost Appendicies	Asthmatic Kitty
05/25/10	Solvent Subject To Shift	Ghostly International
05/25/10	Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots	Atlantic
05/25/10	The Cure Disintegration (Deluxe Reissue)	Polydor/Universal
05/25/10	The Mantles Pink Information 12"	Mexican Summer
05/25/10	The Ponys Deathbed + 4 EP	Matador
05/25/10	The Samps The Samps	Mexican Summer
05/25/10	The Smashing Pumpkins Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol.1 | Songs for a Sailor	Rocket Science
05/25/10	The Young Voyagers Of Legend	Mexican Summer
05/25/10	Tobacco Maniac Meat	Anticon
05/25/10	Twin Sister Color Your Life	Infinite Best
05/25/10	Ty Segall Melted	Goner
05/25/10	Wild Nothing Gemini	Captured Tracks

New Shows, This Weekend In Shows (TWIS)

This is a summer for nostalgia acts. Expensive nostalgia acts. Added to the SHOWcal this week include such stalwarts as Billy Idol, Iggy and the Stooges, Beach Boys, Cheap Trick and the B-52s. Don't worry, though, there's some acts from the last 20 years in there too, like a promising Vampire Weekend/Beach House/Dum Dum Girls triple bill (unfortunately at the Aragon). Here's what you get to choose from this coming week:

	Friday, May 21, 10:00pm		Voxtrot @ Lincoln Hall
	Friday, May 21, 10:00pm		Dengue Fever @ Empty Bottle
	Saturday, May 22, 10:00pm		Mono/Twilight Sad @ Lincoln Hall
	Sunday, May 23, 6:00pm		Local H @ Metro
	Sunday, May 23, 7:30pm		Imogen Heap @ Riviera
	Sunday, May 23, 8:00pm		Buzzcocks @ Double Door
	Sunday, May 23, 8:00pm		Tim Fite @ Schubas
	Sunday, May 23, 8:00pm		Midlake @ Lincoln Hall
	Sunday, May 23, 8:30pm		Eleventh Dream Day @ Hideout
	Monday, May 24, 6:00pm		Besnard Lakes/Ponys @ Millennium Park
	Wednesday, May 26, 8:00pm		LCD Soundsystem @ Metro

Record Releases - May 18, 2010

Here's what drops this week. Another strong week for new music. Stuff with * should be good.

05/18/10	Aluk Todolo Finstrenis	Public Guilt
05/18/10	Band of Horses Infinite Arms*	Fat Possum/Columbia
05/18/10	Cave Pure Moods	Drag City
05/18/10	Daniel Higgs Say God	Thrill Jockey
05/18/10	Dreamend Maybe We're Making God Sad and Lonely	Graveface
05/18/10	Friendo Cold Toads	St. Ives
05/18/10	Harvey Milk A Small Turn of Human Kindness	Hydra Head
05/18/10	High Places Can't Feel Born*	Thrill Jockey
05/18/10	Holy Ghost! Static onf the Wire EP	DFA
05/18/10	Jacuzzi Boys Mex Summer 7"	Mexican Summer
05/18/10	Jamie Lidell Compass	Warp
05/18/10	Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid	Wonderland Arts Society/Bad Boy
05/18/10	Keepaway Baby Style	Lefse
05/18/10	Kleenex/LiLiPUT LiLiPUT 4LP box set	Kill Rock Stars
05/18/10	LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening*	DFA/Virgin
05/18/10	Moby Wait for Me (remixes)*	Mute
05/18/10	Nas and Damian Marley Distant Relatives	Universal Republic
05/18/10	Pontiak Living	Thrill Jockey
05/18/10	Rangda False Flag	Drag City
05/18/10	Red Mass Split Brain Experiment	Rococco Records
05/18/10	Rhymefest El Che	dNBe Entertainment
05/18/10	The Black Keys Brothers*	Nonesuch
05/18/10	The Depreciation Guild Spirit Youth*	Kanine
05/18/10	The Poison Control Center Sad Sour Future	Afternoon Records
05/18/10	The Rolling Stones Exile on Main St. (Deluxe Edition Reissue)	Universal
05/18/10	Tracey Thorn Love and its Opposite	Merge
05/18/10	Woven Bones In and Out and Back Again	HoZac

15 Second Record Review - Treats by Sleigh Bells

Darling buzz band of the moment and the next in a seemingly never ending line of Brooklyn indie sludge, Sleigh Bells' inaugural debut has been greatly anticipated for many months now. With nearly every track already a single, and the band already heavily booked at large summer festivals, it's impressive there hasn't yet been a significant push back of derision a la Vampire Weekend, et al. And the reason is simply because the music is so strong. Sure, the overmodulated bass is annoying after awhile (is it really necessary on every song?), and the band really only has one tempo. But it works b/c Derek Miller (self-admitted Nu-Metal and hardcore fan) pulls in some aggressive, almost industrial, elements to punctuate the trance-pop electro-groves, which nicely contrast singer Alexis Krauss' light and pretty vocals. It is this heavy riffing that weaves in and out of songs that separates Sleigh Bells from all the other fuzz bands currently pouring out of Brooklyn, seemingly endlessly.

Speaking of buzz bands, this review marks the first using our new ratings system.  Gone is the lettering system (A+/A/A-, etc.), replaced by "Buzz-worthy", "Buzz-Zzz", and "Buzz-kill".  So how does "Treats" rank on the new system? Buzz-worthy!

This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

It's in-between time. Not quite ready for summer festival season, but bands are off tour, waiting for summer festival season (and the festivals require their performing artists not to play in the cities of the festivals for so many weeks before the festival, to drum up demand). So that means not many new shows have been announced this week. Don't worry though, it'll only be a week or two before all the bands playing Pitchfork and Lolla start booking their late-night, small-club shows, which we'll be on top of.

Here's what you can go see this weekend and next week:

	Friday, May 14, 6:00pm		Coheed & Cambria/Torche @ Congress
	Friday, May 14, 7:00pm		Local Natives @ Schubas
	Friday, May 14, 7:30pm		Local Natives @ Schubas
	Friday, May 14, 10:00pm		Murder By Death @ Lincoln Hall
	Friday, May 14, 10:30pm		Local Natives @ Schubas
	Sunday, May 16, 8:30pm		Eleventh Dream Day @ Hideout
	Tuesday, May 18, 6:30pm		Them Crooked Vultures @ Aragon
	Thursday, May 20, 7:30pm		Metric @ Vic
	Thursday, May 20, 9:30pm		Spits/Nobunny @ Empty Bottle