New Shows & This Weekend in Shows (TWIS)

This Valentine's Day weekend has only a few shows over on SHOWcal. I've only seen Flosstradamus at SmartBar, so it'll be interesting to find out what kind of sweaty underage dance party Lincoln Hall can put on. That should help somebody have a nice V-Day. Fucked Up at Empty Bottle is always a good time, and  if you like bald sweaty fat men rubbing on you, there's a good chance of getting some there. Or if seeing live music on actual V-Day is more your style, you can't go wrong checking out Dirty Rooks' record release show with surprise special guests (I know who they are, but aren't telling) on Sunday night, again at beautiful Lincoln Hall. I'm also giving advance notice about next week's shows since there's a couple of heavy hitters in there at the Metro that are can't miss (well, I'm not going, but you should).


I've also added new shows, including White Rabbits, some obnoxiously overpriced shows at the Vic, and an absolutely unbelievable surprise 2-night-stand by the one and only Killing Joke at Empty Bottle, of all places. I already bought tickets to that, and CANNOT wait. 

	Friday, February 12, 10:00pm		Flosstradamus @ Lincoln Hall
	Saturday, February 13, 10:00pm		Fucked Up @ Empty Bottle
	Sunday, February 14, 8:00pm		Dirty Rooks @ Lincoln Hall
	Tuesday, February 16, 7:00pm		Snopp Dogg @ Metro
	Tuesday, February 16, 8:00pm		Cracker (acoustic) @ Evanston Space
	Thursday, February 18, 8:00pm		St. Vincent @ Metro

15 Second Record Review - One Life Stand by Hot Chip

This album might help get your groove back, but certainly won't help get your groove on. This is a sultry, romantic album, that verges on utter-boredom at time and peppered only sporadically with the dance-pop that makes Hot Chip a fun band. Call it progress, regress, whatever. It's a boring album. D

The Ruby Suns - Fight Softly

The Ruby Suns are a nice band, and their newest recording, Fight Softly, is a nice effort, even if it is a bit dense and difficult at times. There's not as many obvious highs as their last record, the mostly wonderful, sometimes grating Sea Lion, but that's ok, because Fight Softly is less spastic and more consistent than its predecessor. It features only one clunker, the insanely irritating "Haunted House." Every other song here is good-to-great, and though the melodies aren' t kick-you-in-the-seat awesome, they are oddly memorable. I started humming one while pumping gas not 30 minutes ago! Plus, the whole album sounds gorgeous on headphones, and there are many moments of warm goofy awesome atmospheric bliss. "Closet Astrologer" is such a highlight. It's got a great rhythm track and some sounds that wouldn’t sound too out of place on an Ulrich Schnauss record. Wait, it isn’t boring like Ulrich Schnauss records tend to be lately! It's good!

Other highlights include “Dusty Fruit.” It sounds like it could be in a tourism commercial for some banana republic-if that banana republic's tourism board was mercilessly purged and replaced by rogue members of Animal Collective. The penultimate track, “Two Humans,” builds very nicely over its final half, serving as an excellent intro to the album’s true peak, the closing “Olympics on Pot.” Well, that’s a terrible name for a song, but it’s a really good song, with excellent low-end/drum interplay and beautiful vocals.

It’s good, if somewhat backloaded. There's lots of fun summer beach sounds, hidden melodies, enjoyable vocals, and semi-killer beats. Bring on the warm weather, please. B+

Record Releases - February 9, 2010

From Insound:

Out This Week
	AM Future Sons & Daughters With, arguably, some of the best bridges and choruses in the bizness, drawing from The Beatles and Badfinger or Curtis Mayfield and Jorge Ben, AM demonstrates over and again the simple fact of songwriting life: that imagination and taste is what it's all about. Future Sons and Daughters was produced by Charles Newman (Magnetic Fields). CD $9.99			Gil Scott-Heron I'm New Here Much can be said about why this Gil's lyrics are so original and powerful, but it is important not to overlook his utterly singular voice which is so distinctive and rough and tender. It is a voice of experience. A new record from Gil Scott-Heron, forty years after his first solo album, is a cause for major celebration and something that the world needs now more than ever. CD $13.99 LP $13.99
	Hot Chip One Life Stand One of the most exuberantly inventive and acclaimed bands around today, Hot Chip have built a devoted fanbase with their soulfully eclectic records and incendiary live shows. Hotly-anticipated by fans and media alike, One Life Stand is the band's most boldly accomplished record yet, at once offbeat and anthemic, cerebral and danceable. CD $16.99 CD+DVD $21.99 2xLP $20.99			Massive Attack Heligoland With the release of Heligoland, the legendary electronic and trip-hop pioneers re-establish themselves with resounding fanfare, composing a dark, challenging work that sounds both diverse and focused. Most of the songs are brimming with well-known vocalists and musicians, including Tunde Adebimpe, Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey (Elbow) and Portishead's Adrian Utley on guitars. CD $17.99
	Pantha du Prince Black Noise On Black Noise, Pantha Du Prince fuses house, techno, shoegazy electronica and psychedelic electro-acoustic soundscapes into music that is at once both beautiful and bewitching. He has released several recordings to date through the respected German label Dial Records, which is run by and for its artists and now makes the jump to Rough Trade. CD $13.99 LP $19.98			Phantogram Eyelid Movies Using various samplers, tapes, records, synths, drums, and both percussive and stringed instruments, Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, the duo that make up Phantogram, have allowed their natural surroundings and metropolitan influences to mix, resulting in brilliant, unusual recordings that are beautiful yet hard, dreamlike yet substantial, danceable yet smart. CD $10.99 LP $18.99
	Screaming Females Singles A low-priced CDEP comprising all of their singles and split 7" tracks to date! "While there's only one screaming female in the group (the electrifying Marissa Paternoster, who just might be our generation's official guitar hero), the name hints at the power and fury that comes out when this band hits play. CDEP $9.99			Smile Smile Truth on Tape Blend hauntingly beautiful vocal lines with a modern folk sound, add emotionally bare, intimate lyrics. . . and the result is Smile Smile. The songs on their sophomore album, Truth on Tape, detail the heartbreaking end of a union, emotions to which we all can relate. CD $12.99
	The Watson Twins Talking to You, Talking to me The Watson Twins present their sophomore release and most ambitious album to date, Talking To You, Talking To Me, on Vanguard Records. The new album finds the Watson Twins taking a soulful turn a la Carole King, but with a pop edge reminiscent of Feist. The result is a heartfelt nod to their roots, retaining the ethereal harmonies that have become their signature while incorporating a variety of influences and inspirations. CD $17.99 LP $23.99			Various Artists Preservation Subtitle: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall and The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program. Over the course of 2009, more than twenty of American music's most exciting artists traveled to Preservation Hall in New Orleans to collaborate with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on classic New Orleans repertoire. Guest musicians and artists include: Andrew Bird, Tom Waits, Yim Yames (aka Jim James), Ani DiFranco, Pete Seeger, Jason Isbell, Richie Havens, Merle Haggard, Dr. John, Louis Armstrong, Steve Earle, and more! CD $13.99 CD $18.99 LP $26.99
	Yeasayer Odd Blood While their first record was conceived in total artistic isolation, constant touring forced Yeasayer to finally engage with their contemporaries. If All Hour Cymbals was Yeasayer's attempt at global and ambient cultural mash-up then their new album, Odd Blood, takes place in an off-world colony sometime after the Singularity. CD $12.99 LP $13.99			Zeus Say Us Zeus was born from the musical friendship of Mike O'Brien and Carlin Nicholson. The two Toronto-based musicians have been living on the road for the past few years as the backing band for singer/songwriter and Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett. Zeus draws upon classic influences to craft timeless songs, complete with fuzzed out guitars and shimmering harmonies. CD $14.99 LP $15.99

15 Second Record Review - The Courage of Others by Midlake

This is a relatively short album, given the folkrock revival genre, but disappointingly falls flat after track 8 (or so). Unfortunately, this mars an otherwise fantastic opening sequence of songs. "Acts of Man" comes close to meeting the band's prior, ultra rare, commercial-artistic pinnacle "Roscoe" and manages to build strength from there despite being self-confined to the narrow headspace of a plush, dreamlike Herbie Mann-meets-Fleetwood Mac Frankenband. As I was listening to this album for the first time in a beer-induced trance while riding the CTA home from downtown, I texted Condiment King how enamored I was with this sure-to-be album of the year. The closer I got to home, however, the more out of love I fell with this record. Finally, as I was making the short walk from the train to my door, the album ended. The frigid wind tore at my face, and my heart sunk. So much initial promise led to boredom. I've listened to the record 3 more times since then, and my heart has done the same dance of beat-skipping euphoria slowly devolving to complacency and eventual indifference. A strong album, this, that produces so much aesthetic diversity in one person. Alas, none intentional, and ultimately flat. B-  

Pitchfork Lineup, Other New Shows, TWIS

Pitchfork tickets go on sale at noon (central) today. Friday's headliner is to be Modest Mouse. Far more interesting is that LCD Soundsystem plays Saturday, and the Pavement rumors are true - they will headline Sunday.

These, and all other new shows have been added to the SHOWcal.

This weekend, enjoy any of these fine programs. I'll be at one of them!

	Friday, February 5, 7:00pm		Slayer/Megadeath @ UIC
	Saturday, February 6, 9:30pm		Jemina Pearl @ Beat Kitchen

15 Second Record Review - Chemicals EP by Elsinore

Elsinore continues to tease us with these EPs in anticipation of their long-awaited, and oft-delayed, debut LP.  But, when EPs are as good as this one, who can complain? The Chemicals EP (available for download here) packs 6 songs for $5, including the masterful title track and a standout remix of "Yes Yes Yes" (the first single of the upcoming LP) by Eric Enger of Gentleman Auction House. Those two tracks alone make the $5 entry fee seem downright cheap, and give the uninitiated a smart sampling of this genre-bending pop-indie-Americana band's capabilities and appeal. The remainder of the EP is slower and far more in line with frontman Ryan Groff's solo material, which is an added bonus for those unfamiliar. Hopefully the Chemicals EP is an indicator of the LP's craftsmanship (whenever it releases). A-

Record Releases - February 2, 2010

Not a big list this week, but a couple of anticipated releases. From what I've heard of the Midlake and Besnard Lakes albums, not only are the band names similar, but the general aesthetic is, as well. Perfect dreamy mood music for a long winter's day. Which are plentiful right now.

Upcoming Releases

February 2nd, 2010

Midlake The Courage of Others  LP $17.99 **

Mount Eerie Black Wooden EP  12" $14.99

Priestess Prior to the Fire  LP $19.98

The Album Leaf A Chorus of Storytellers  LP $15.99

The Besnard Lakes Albatross  12" $12.99 **

The Brunettes Paper Dolls  CD $13.99 *

The Soft Pack The Soft Pack  LP $15.99 * Key: ** Should be good, * Might be good