15 Second Show Review - Destroyer @ Lincoln Hall 3/29/11

It's been a damn long time since we've posted any reviews. Might as well pick it back up with this one. Dan Bejar brought his drunk/brooding Russell Brand-meets-Sideshow Bob routine back to Chicago last night, along with an 8-piece backing band including saxophone and trumpet. The pristine Lincoln Hall sound did wonders to boost their technical mastery as they focused almost exclusively on the new album. Dan, however, was not at his best. Not by a long shot. The previous times I've seen him perform (either as Destroyer or in New Pornographers), he's been drunk and happy - gleefully playing with the crowd. Last night, he was just drunk and moody. There was absolutely zero banter between songs, just uncomfortably long silences. Attempts by several audience members to elicit a response, any response were ignored. And Dan repeatedly had to refer to printed page to remember his own lyrics. He put more effort into mingling with patrons after the show out in the front bar and outside on the sidewalk than he put into his act. On this night at least, this was a technically proficient show that lacked any soul.  Buzz-Zzz

Record Releases - March 29, 2011

Here's what comes out this week. Stuff marked * should be good:

Mar-29-11	All Tiny Creatures - Harbors	Hometapes
Mar-29-11	Arrington De Dionyso's Malaikat Dan Dinga - Suara Naga	K
Mar-29-11	Bibio - Mind Bokeh	Warp
Mar-29-11	Bosco Delrey - Everybody Wah	Mad Decent / Downtown
Mar-29-11	Broken Bells - Meyrin Fields*	Columbia
Mar-29-11	Chalk Circle - Reflection	Mississippi / PPM
Mar-29-11	Craft Spells - Idle Labor	Captured Tracks
Mar-29-11	Generationals - Actor-Caster	Park The Van
Mar-29-11	Josh T Pearson - The Last of the Country Gentleman	Mute
Mar-29-11	Ladytron - Best of Ladytron: 00-10*	Nettwerk
Mar-29-11	Mazes - A Thousand Heys	FatCat Records
Mar-29-11	Moon Duo - Mazes	Sacred Bones Records
Mar-29-11	Naked on the Vague - Twelve Dark Noons EP	Sacred Bones Records
Mar-29-11	Obits - Moody, Standard and Poor	Sub Pop
Mar-29-11	Orchestre Poly-Rhthmo de Cotonou - Cotonou Club	Strud/Sons D'Allieurs
Mar-29-11	Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (Deluxe Edition)	Epic/Legacy
Mar-29-11	Pearl Jam - Vs. (Deluxe Edition)	Epic/Legacy
Mar-29-11	Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme some*	Star Time International
Mar-29-11	Sarandon - Age of Reason	Slumberland
Mar-29-11	Spectre Folk - Blackest Medicine Vol. 2	Woodsist
Mar-29-11	The Books - Lost and Safe (reissue)	Temporary Residence LTD.
Mar-29-11	The Feelies - Here Before	Bar/None
Mar-29-11	The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck	Merge
Mar-29-11	The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong	Slumberland
Mar-29-11	The Sandwitches - Mrs. Jones' Cookies	Empty Cellar
Mar-29-11	Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose	Oh Wow Dang
Mar-29-11	Toro y Moi / Cloud Nothings - Split 7"*	Carpark
Mar-29-11	Trust - Trust 7"	Sacred Bones Records
Mar-29-11	UV Race - Homo	In The Red

This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

New stuff like Death Cab @ Metro and Tame Impala/Yuck @ Scubas added to the SHOWcal. Here's what's on tap this week:

	Friday, March 25, 9:00pm		De La Soul @ Shrine
	Friday, March 25, 10:00pm		Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. @ Schubas
	Saturday, March 26, 7:00pm		Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Metro
	Saturday, March 26, 10:00pm		Rural Alberta Advantage @ Lincoln Hall
	Sunday, March 27, 7:00pm		Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Metro
	Sunday, March 27, 8:00pm		British Sea Power @ Lincoln Hall
	Monday, March 28, 7:30pm		Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Vic
	Tuesday, March 29, 9:00pm		Destroyer @ Lincoln Hall
	Thursday, March 31, 7:00pm		Devotchka @ HOB

Free Summer Shows at Millennium Park

Millennium Park's excellent free summer concert series was announced today, and the lineup looks pretty stellar, as usual. All shows are free and begin at 6:30pm:

MAY
23 Bonnie "Prince" Billy featuring the Cairo Gang + Special Guest TBA
30 Justin Townes Earle + Andre Williams & The Goldstars

JUNE
6 Iron & Wine + The Head and the Heart
13 Special Guest TBA + Campbell Brothers
20 Kings Go Forth + Ben l'Oncle Soul
27 Low + Special Guest TBA

JULY
4 Seefeel + CAVE
11 Delicate Steve + Bombino
18 Blonde Redhead + Special Guest TBA
25 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists + Rachel Ries

Record Releases - March 22, 2011

Here's what drops this week. Stuff marked * should be good:

Mar-22-11	Adventure - Lesser Known	Carpark
Mar-22-11	Algodón Egipcio - La Lucha Constante	Lefse
Mar-22-11	Baby Dee - Regifted Light	Drag City
Mar-22-11	Belong - Common Era	Kranky
Mar-22-11	Ellen Allien - Dust Remixes	Bpitch Control
Mar-22-11	Keren Ann - 101	Blue Note
Mar-22-11	Maritime - Human Hearts	Dangerbird
Mar-22-11	The Paperhead - The Paperhead	Trouble in Mind
Mar-22-11	The Strokes - Angles*	RCA
Mar-22-11	Various Artists - Sufjan Stevens Seven Swans Tribute	On Joyful Wings
Mar-22-11	Wrong Words - Wrong Words	Trouble in Mind

Record Releases - March 15, 2011

Here's what drops today. Pretty good week. Stuff marked * should be good:

Mar-15-11	Alex Turner - Submarine	Domino
Mar-15-11	Antonionian - Antonionian	Anticon
Mar-15-11	Brave Irene - Brave Irene	Slumberland
Mar-15-11	Brown Recluse - Evening Tapestry	Slumberland
Mar-15-11	Cornershop Featuring Bubbley Kaur - Conershop & The Double 'O' Groove Of	Cargo
Mar-15-11	Crystal Stilts - Through the Floor 7"	Slumberland
Mar-15-11	D. Charles Speer - Arghiledes	Thrill Jockey
Mar-15-11	Eleventh Dream Day - Riot Now!	Thrill Jockey
Mar-15-11	Eternal Tapestry - Beyond the 4th Door	Thrill Jockey
Mar-15-11	Forbidden Friends - Tiny Hands b/w For You 7"	Kill Rock Stars
Mar-15-11	Hype Williams - One Nation	Hippos In Tanks
Mar-15-11	J Mascis - Several Shades of Why	Sub Pop
Mar-15-11	Mastodon - Live at the Aragon*	Reprise
Mar-15-11	Mi Ami - Dolphins EP	Thrill Jockey
Mar-15-11	Owls - Owls (reissue)	Jade Tree
Mar-15-11	Panda Bear - Surfers Hymn 7"*	Kompakt
Mar-15-11	Pyramids / Horseback - Split	Hydrahead
Mar-15-11	Rise Against - End Game	DGC / Interscope
Mar-15-11	Tape - Revelationes	Immune
Mar-15-11	The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar*	Canvasback / Atlantic

This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

Lots of stuff added this week to the SHOWcal, including TV on the Radio at Metro, CSS at the Metro, and, well, a bunch of others. Here's what's going on this week:

	Friday, March 11, 8:00pm		Get Up Kids/Miniature Tigers @ Bottom Lounge
	Friday, March 11, 8:00pm		Cold War Kids @ Riviera
	Friday, March 11, 8:00pm		Johnathan Richman @ Metro
	Saturday, March 12, 8:00pm		Crystal Castles @ Riviera
	Saturday, March 12, 9:00pm		Get Up Kids @ Lincoln Hall
	Monday, March 14, 7:00pm		Michael Showalter @ Schubas
	Monday, March 14, 10:00pm		Michael Showalter @ Schubas
	Tuesday, March 15, 7:30pm		Bright Eyes @ Riviera
	Tuesday, March 15, 9:00pm		Salem @ Empty Bottle
	Wednesday, March 16, 8:00pm		Simian Mobile Disco @ The Mid
	Thursday, March 17, 9:30pm		Cave @ Empty Bottle

Record Releases - March 8, 2011

Here's what drops today. Stuff marked * should be good:

Mar-08-11	Dignan Porch - Deluded 12"	Captured Tracks
Mar-08-11	Ellie Goulding - Lights	Cherrytree / Interscope
Mar-08-11	Grails - Deep Politics	Temporary Residence, Ltd.
Mar-08-11	Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo*	Matador
Mar-08-11	Los Dug Dug's - Los Dug Dug's	Lion Productions
Mar-08-11	Lupe Fiasco - LASERS*	Atlantic
Mar-08-11	Memphis - Here Comes a City	Arts & Crafts
Mar-08-11	Parts & Labor - Constant Future	Jagjaguwar
Mar-08-11	R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now	Warner Bros.
Mar-08-11	The Curious Mystery - We Creeling	K
Mar-08-11	The Dodos - No Color*	Frenchkiss
Mar-08-11	We Creeling - The Curious Mystery	K
Mar-08-11	Western Hymn - Out of the Way EP	K
Mar-08-11	Wye Oak - Civilian	Merge
Mar-08-11	Young Widows - Future Heart 7"	Temporary Residence, Ltd.

This Weekend In Shows (TWIS) & New Shows

Holy crap there's a lot of new shows added to the SHOWcal this week. Matt & Kim, Battles, Junip. My wallet's gonna get a workout. Here's all that is on tap for the coming week:

	Friday, March 4, 7:00pm		Girl Talk @ Congress
	Friday, March 4, 7:30pm		Iron and Wine/11th Dream Day @ Riviera
	Saturday, March 5, 7:00pm		Girl Talk @ Congress
	Monday, March 7, 6:30pm		Menomena @ Empty Bottle
	Tuesday, March 8, 8:00pm		Datarock @ Bottom Lounge
	Thursday, March 10, 6:30pm		Marnie Stern @ Sub-T

Record Releases - March 1, 2011

Here's what drops today. Stuff marked * should be good:

Mar-01-11	Acrylics - Lives and Treasure	Friendly Fire/ Hot Sand
Mar-01-11	Cosmetics - Cosmetics	Captured Tracks
Mar-01-11	Davila 666 - Tan Bajo	In The Red
Mar-01-11	Devotchka - 100 Lovers*	ANTI-
Mar-01-11	Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High 12"*	Sub Pop
Mar-01-11	Earth Girl Helen Brown - Story of an Earth Girl	Forest Family
Mar-01-11	Evil Madness - Super Great Love	Editions Mego
Mar-01-11	Faust - Something Dirty	Tapete Records
Mar-01-11	Lumerians - Transmalinnia	Knitting Factory Records
Mar-01-11	Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes*	LL Recordings
Mar-01-11	Papercuts - Fading Parade	Sub Pop
Mar-01-11	Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age (reissue)	Domino
Mar-01-11	Rainbow Arabia - Boys and Diamonds	Kompakt
Mar-01-11	Sonny & The Sunsets - Hit After Hit	Fat Possum
Mar-01-11	The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing	Saddle Creek
Mar-01-11	Withered Hand - Good News	Absolutely Kosher