Record Releases - June 22, 2010

Here's a bunch of crap for you to buy this week:

06/22/10	Bitchin Bajas Tones & Zones	Important
06/22/10	Chain & the Gang I've Got Privelege b/w Detroit Music 7"	K Records
06/22/10	Chief Night & Day 12"	Domino
06/22/10	Cold Cave Life Magazine Remixes 12"	Matador
06/22/10	Coliseum House With A Curse	Temporary Residence Ltd
06/22/10	Diskjokke En Fin Tid	Smalltown Supersound
06/22/10	Fol Chen Part 2 - The New December	Asthmatic Kitty
06/22/10	Gigi The Hundreth Time b/w Some Second Best 7"	K Records
06/22/10	HEALTH DISCO2	Lovepump United
06/22/10	Ital Tek Midnight Colour	Planet Mu
06/22/10	Jeff Mangum Live At Jittery Joes (vinyl reissue)	American Dust
06/22/10	Kele The Boxer	Glassnote
06/22/10	Kode9 DJ-Kicks	!K7
06/22/10	La Otracina Reality Has Got To Die	Holy Mountain
06/22/10	Lemonade Lifted EP	True Panther
06/22/10	Nina Nastasia Outlaster	Fatcat
06/22/10	Perfume Genius Learning	Matador
06/22/10	Psychic Ills Catoptric 12"	The Social Registry
06/22/10	Sebastian Blanck Alibi Coast	Rare Book Room Records
06/22/10	Spectrals 7th Date 7"	Slumberland
06/22/10	Spirituals Spirituals	Waaga
06/22/10	Stars The Five Ghosts	Soft Revolution/Vagrant
06/22/10	Steve Mason Boys Outside	Domino / Double Six
06/22/10	Tender Trap Dansette Dansette	Slumberland
06/22/10	The Roots How I Got Over	Def Jam
06/22/10	Various Artists Welcome Home/Diggin' the Universe	Woodsist
06/22/10	Windsor for the Derby Against Love	Secretly Canadian
06/22/10	Wovenhand The Thrashing Floor	Sounds Familyre

This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

Newly added to the SHOWcal this week include such things as Minus the Bear, an excellent post-Lolla double bill of The Walkmen and Warpaint, an unbelievably lineup at Wicker Park Summerfest including a rare Torche appearance, and a rare ticketed event at Millennium Park with Pavement and No Age. I think you'll agree - a pretty good week of announcements!


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

	Friday, June 18, 7:30pm		MGMT @ Riviera
	Friday, June 18, 10:00pm		Fiery Furnaces @ Empty Bottle
	Friday, June 18, 10:00pm		Phenomenal Handclap Bank @ Lincoln Hall
	Saturday, June 19, 4:00pm		Lucero/Mucca Pazza @ Taste of Randolph
	Saturday, June 19, 8:00pm		EyeHateGod/Nachtmystium/Anal Cunt @ Empty Bottle
	Saturday, June 19, 8:00pm		Delta Spirit @ Metro
	Sunday, June 20, 4:00pm		Superchunk/Califone/Headlights @ Taste of Randolph
	Sunday, June 20, 8:00pm		EyeHateGod/Nachtmystium @ Empty Bottle
	Monday, June 21, 12:00pm		Dosh @ Millennium Park
	Monday, June 21, 6:00pm		Brooks/Via Tania @ Millennium Park
	Tuesday, June 22, 9:00pm		Mates of State @ Lincoln Hall

Local Natives @ Schubas 5/14/10

Man am I behind on concert reviews, so time to knock some of these backlogs out. First up (and briefly): Local Natives. I had heard most of their debut album "Gorilla Manor" prior to this show, largely b/c seemingly every song off it is a single and/or co-opted for a TV commercial, yet I was more excited to see their opener (who I can't even remember). But this show really blew me away. Live, LN plays much more aggressively than the forest-rock harmonies so prevalent on record, and sounds like an entirely different band. I've since picked up the record, and can't help but feel a little let down in comparison to the live show. Which isn't to say its not a great record - it is. But if you get a chance to see them live, you won't be disappointed.

15 Second Record Review - Champ by Tokyo Police Club

 "Champ" marks TPC's second full-length album, neither of which comes close to matching the brilliance on their 2006 breakthrough EP "A Lesson In Crime". Champ continues the band's evolution first marked by the previous LP "Elephant Shell" from hyper-frantic ear-worm punk inspired pop to more nuanced, deliberate songcraft not too dissimilar from the tactic taken by Weezer, except in reverse. I can't help but feel that Champ is TPC's attempt at making its own "Pinkerton", which sounds promising on paper, but falls far short. Instead, Champ is merely a bland, listless record incorporating relatively few interesting aspects of every other beige indie band of the moment. This band's maturity is into something far from what worked so well on A Lesson in Crime, which after such a bombastic and exciting start, is nothing short of disappointment. Buzz-Kill

Record Releases - June 15, 2010

Lookie lookie, buy this cookie:

06/15/10	Fang Island Fang Island (vinyl)	Sargent House
06/15/10	Foals Total Life Forever*	Sub Pop
06/15/10	Jack Rose and D.Charles Speer and the Helix Ragged and Right 12"	Thrill Jockey
06/15/10	Laurie Anderson Homeland	Nonesuch
06/15/10	Mountain Man Made the Harbor	Bella Union
06/15/10	Oval Oh	Thrill Jockey
06/15/10	Pernice Brothers Goodbye, Killer	Ashmont
06/15/10	Sunglasses Sunglasses EP	Lefse
06/15/10	The Gaslight Anthem American Slang	SideOneDummy
06/15/10	The Golden Filter Voluspa	Brille

Stuff marked * could be good

This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

Newly added to the SHOWcal include such fine things as Best Coast, The Faint, Fucked Up, Belle & Sebastian, and more! Here's what you can do with your time this weekend and next week, assuming the Hawks championship buzz has worn off, and you don't like soccer:

	Friday, June 11, 7:00pm		Psychedelic Furs/She Wants Revenge @ Metro
	Friday, June 11, 10:00pm		White Mystery @ Hideout
	Friday, June 11, 10:00pm		Dutchess & The Duke @ Empty Bottle
	Saturday, June 12, 7:30pm		Concrete Blond @ Vic
	Saturday, June 12, 10:00pm		Futureheads @ Lincoln Hall
	Sunday, June 13, 12:00pm		Pegboy, Akron/Family, Margot & TNSS, others @ Metronome Celebration (2135 N. Milwaukee)
	Sunday, June 13, 7:00pm		Handsome Family @ Old Town
	Sunday, June 13, 8:00pm		The Donnas @ Double Door
	Sunday, June 13, 8:00pm		Junip (Jose Gonzalez) @ Lincoln Hall
	Monday, June 14, 12:00pm		Cool Kids @ Millennium Park
	Monday, June 14, 6:00pm		Tony Allen/Great Lake Swimmers @ Millennium Park
	Wednesday, June 16, 9:00pm		Born Ruffians @ Lincoln Hall
	Thursday, June 17, 8:00pm		New York Dolls @ Double Door
	Thursday, June 17, 10:00pm		Cold Cave @ Empty Bottle

15 Second Record Review - LP4 by Ratatat

This, the 4th LP (duh) from NYC electronic/indie instrumental duo, Ratatat, is pretty boring. It would be ground breaking if it was LP1, but the world has already been witness to LPs 1-3. They're all just about the same. Ratatat has always been a pretty fun live act, which is bizarre since I generally hate bands that have zero audience interaction. I guess Ratatat is the exception, as they ooze fun dance party time, at least live. On record, though, especially this one, especially after they already put this album out a few times over, it's snooze-fest. I'd appreciate at least a different guitar effect. That bendy, stringy sounding thing they use is grating after awhile.

Buzz-Zzzzz

Lolla Schedule Released

The Lollapalooza schedule was released today. Normally, there are lots of tough decisions when interesting bands play at the same time on opposite ends of Grant Park. This year, though? Not so much. In fact, the whole lineup this year is pretty meh. My attendance is likely to be a game-time decision.

Click here for the schedule.

Record Releases - June 6, 2010

Here's what you can spend your dirty money on this week:

06/06/10	Woodsman Mystery Tape	Lefse
06/08/10	Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Before Today	4AD
06/08/10	Blitzen Trapper Destroyer of the Void*	Sub Pop
06/08/10	BLK JKS Zol!	Secretly Canadian
06/08/10	Casiokids Topp Stemning Pa Lokal Bar	Polyvinyl
06/08/10	Crystal Castles Crystal Castles (2nd Album)*	Last Gang
06/08/10	Deer Tick The Black Dirt Sessions*	Partisan
06/08/10	Here We Go Magic Pigeons*	Secretly Canadian
06/08/10	King Lee (featuring Quintron) Tire Shop	Goner
06/08/10	Konono No 1 Assume Crash Position	Crammed
06/08/10	Nachtmystium Addicts: Black Meddles Pt. II*	Century Media
06/08/10	Nada Surf If I Had a Hi-Fi*	Mardev
06/08/10	Ratatat LP4*	XL Recordings
06/08/10	Robyn Body Talk Pt. 1	TBD
06/08/10	Suckers Wild Smile	Frenchkiss
06/08/10	Tame Impala Innerspeaker	Modular
06/08/10	Teenage Fanclub Shadows*	Merge
06/08/10	The Chemical Brothers Further*	Freestyle Dust/Astralwerks
06/08/10	The Drums The Drums	Moshi Moshi/Island
06/08/10	The Pains of Being Pure At Heart Say No To Love b/w Lost Saint &"	Slumberland
06/08/10	Tokyo Police Club Champ*	Mom + Pop
06/08/10	Trentemoller Into the Great Wide Yonder	In My Room
06/08/10	Viernes Sinister Devices	Kanine
06/08/10	Villagers Becoming a Jackal	Domino
06/08/10	Wye Oak My Neighbor | My Creator	Merge
06/08/10	Yo La Tengo Here To Fall Remixes EP	Matador

Stuff with * should be good