Chicago Sun-Times

Record Store Day revolves around the comeback of vinyl

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:18:40 -0500

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.

Flaming Lips’ ‘The Terror’ lives up to its name

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:20:05 -0500

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.

Chicago’s world music TV series spotlights sounds from all around

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:41:49 -0500

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.

What’s in a name? For Ivan & Alyosha, watch words are seasoned, sunny

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:42:00 -0500

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 & Alyosha’s singer-guitarist, not seeming too worried. “Journalists are usually, like, ‘Which one’s the atheist? I wanna talk to that one!’” The slightly esoteric moniker stems from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, “The Brothers Karamazov,” which chronicles a lifelong philosophical debate between Russian siblings — two of them named, you guessed it — one of whom is …

Fleetwood Mac: 5 ways the iconic band could reignite the flame

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:19:03 -0500

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

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:35:07 -0500

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

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:07:37 -0500

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’

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 06:03:09 -0500

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’

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:26:00 -0500

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 up acoustic instruments instead of the usual electric barrage. “From the top, we play and sing together, showcasing a song from each artist’s catalog that’s on the bill that evening,” the tour’s founder, Chuck Ragan of the band Hot Water Music, recently told Rolling Stone. “There’re usually five to six artists as well as back-up …

Drovers, Tossers celebrate milestones with Chicago concerts

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:52:01 -0500

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 of the genre’s finest — are reuniting for a special, one-night-only concert at the Abbey Pub. It’s the band’s first performance in a decade, and it marks the return of singer-fiddler Kathleen Keane after 21 years. Then, Irish punks the Tossers celebrate a new album and their 20th anniversary with — what else? — their …

Ravinia ready to rock: Five acts to catch in 2013

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:06:52 -0500

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 tours. Boomers are awash in the requisite Judy Collins (June 6), Jackson Browne (June 26) and a Beach Boy (Brian Wilson with “special guest” Al Jardine, July 26), plus the nearly perennial appearance by Donald Fagen (this year back in his original Steely Dan, Aug. 1-2). Gen-Xers can relive the ’90s with wondrous one-hit package …

Bowie keeps swinging on ‘The Next Day’

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:58:17 -0500

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

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:48:00 -0500

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 more than fun,” Musselwhite says, on the phone from his home in Sonoma County, Calif. “It was like some other word I don’t know yet. It was so rewarding and satisfying — it was like going to church, it felt so good.” He chuckles and thinks a moment. “Well, it might be how some people …

Johnny Marr acknowledges lifetime of work in “The Messenger”

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:11:49 -0500

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

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:19:35 -0500

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

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:19:57 -0500

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’

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 06:09:18 -0500

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

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:12:35 -0500

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.”