conner
Thomas Conner biography
Pop Music Critic Thomas Conner has worked in music and features journalism for nearly 20 years. At the Sun-Times, he's been Music Editor since arriving …Read More
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Record Store Day revolves around the comeback of vinyl
THOMAS CONNER: In an annual tradition, independent record shops will open early Saturday, have sales, spotlight live bands and stock what they can from an eagerly anticipated list of records released especially for the occasion.
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Flaming Lips’ ‘The Terror’ lives up to its name
THOMAS CONNER: “The Terror,” indeed. The Oklahoma City band’s 13th album is a spookhaus of eerie soundscapes and synthesized atmospherics. Listening to this album alone, in even the sunniest of rooms, is a recipe for deep despair.
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Chicago’s world music TV series spotlights sounds from all around
THOMAS CONNER: “Musicology,” debuting Friday on WYCC-Channel 20, tells the stories of diverse artists and presents their songs from the stage of the Old Town School of Folk Music.
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What’s in a name? For Ivan & Alyosha, watch words are seasoned, sunny
They’ve made me write the column of criticism and so life was made possible. —from “The Brothers Karamazov” First things first: The band name is Ivan & Alyosha, but it’s a quartet, not a duo. “It’s been a bit confusing,” says Tim Wilson, Ivan & …
Fleetwood Mac: 5 ways the iconic band could reignite the flame
THOMAS CONNER: If only the classic rock institution (returning to Chicago on Saturday) could liberate itself from “Don’t Stop” and “Rhiannon,” play some theaters and bring back Christine.
The Joy Formidable making some serious music
THOMAS CONNER: The Joy Formidable doesn’t always sound punk — the bright vocals, the shoegazing guitars, the latest links in the Jesus & Mary Chain — except when they talk. “We’re of a mindset of, you know, f--- you. We are what we are,” said bassist Rhydian Dafydd last week at South by Southwest.
Green Day sets off on reinvigorated tour after SXSW outing
THOMAS CONNER: Green Day reboots their tour this spring, beginning Thursday night at the Chicago-area Allstate Arena. If this comeback showcase during the South by Southwest music conference and festival was any indication of what’s to come on the remianing dates, Armstrong couldn’t have looked more refreshed, reinvigorated and grateful.
Depeche Mode offers more moan than melancholy on ‘Delta Machine’
THOMAS CONNER: “Delta Machine,” the 13th studio disc by Depeche Mode, cranks to life slowly, laboriously, dripping with the trio’s typical world-weary drama.
The Revival Tour an ‘unplugged hootenanny’
Since 2008, the Revival Tour has been an annual traveling conclave of punk musicians — who all play unplugged. Previous tours have found members from bands such as Against Me!, Flogging Molly, the Gaslight Anthem, Bedouin Soundclash, Chicago’s Lawrence Arms and many more, each picking …
Drovers, Tossers celebrate milestones with Chicago concerts
Chicago has produced some of the finest Irish rock bands in the country — two of which are back together and celebrating milestone occasions this St. Patty’s weekend. First, the Drovers — formed on St. Patrick’s Day back in 1988 and widely acclaimed as one …
Ravinia ready to rock: Five acts to catch in 2013
Nestled within the Ravinia Festival’s annual summery slate of intriguing classical and jazz concerts are regular pop and rock bookings — a festival within the festival. This summer’s pop shows at the beautiful North Shore lawn and pavilion are heavy on nostalgia acts and package …Read More
Bowie keeps swinging on ‘The Next Day’
THOMAS CONNER: Bowie obsessives will find plenty here for forensic analysis, musically and lyrically, but ultimately “The Next Day,” his first disc in a decade, stands on its own, or at least as the culmination of what “Heathen” and “Reality” were trying out. Finally comfortable with his own legacy, Bowie has made a record that feels like classic Bowie.
Charlie Musselwhite, Ben Harper unite for dynamic album, tour — finally
This is why Charlie Musselwhite is such a good blues songwriter. He actually talks like this. He’s describing how he feels about his newest project — “Get Up,” an album and resulting tour with roots-rocker Ben Harper — and, brother, he’s feeling good. “It was …Read More
Johnny Marr acknowledges lifetime of work in “The Messenger”
THOMAS CONNER: Since Johnny Marr established himself as one of the greatest guitarists of my generation,
10 years after E2 stampede, Chicago clubs take an extra level of caution
THOMAS CONNER: The tragedy was followed by a “pretty brutal” crackdown, a misguided City Council proposal and then stepped-up inspections. A Fire Department spokesman notes that in the last decade, “we have not had a serious injury in a nightclub” as a result of a code violation.
Rock violinist Kishi Bashi stays true to himself
THOMAS CONNER: From the unconventional and creative sounds on his debut solo album, few might guess that Kishi Bashi emerged from the realm of “Mad Men.” “It was a long time ago, and it was very unsatisfying,” says Seattle-born Kaoru Ishibashi, aka Kishi Bashi, 37, of his ad-agency past. He performs Thursday at Lincoln Hall.
Voices of hope and doom on Hayden’s stellar ‘Us Alone’
THOMAS CONNER: Behold the splendid surprise of “Us Alone,” from Toronto’s Hayden. Who knew he was still making records, but this disc (his seventh) is pretty much a triumph of soft-spoken, plains-born hope and doom.
Harry Belafonte has some hunches what Dr. King might have said
THOMAS CONNER: The entertainer, who speaks about his late friend Monday at Northwestern University, finds when he speculates about how King might have felt today, “people pause a little longer before giving you a rebuttal.”
Morrissey vows no reunion: ‘Smiths almost left me on a mortuary slab’
THOMAS CONNER: Lucrative offers pour in to team up again with Johnny Marr, but the rocker insists, “Money is the wrong reason to re-form.”
Walk the Moon gives ’80s vibe a fresh face
Nicholas Petricca was born in 1987. Which was way too late. The pop band Petricca formed, Walk the Moon, plays bright, upbeat dance-rock straight out of Bow Wow Wow’s rhythmic wheelhouse. At Lollapalooza 2011, they covered Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” — and their latest EP, “Tightrope,” …
