08
Feb
10

The Generator!

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Music and Recommendations/Reviews

Release a stunner of a debut, connect with the masses care of your explosive single, and then quietly fade away. This is what I know of Elastica – a British quartet responsible for catchy, upbeat, and pop-oriented tracks with a true kick. Hip, yet totally approachable, no matter whose ears the short and sexy sounds fell upon.

One morning, while at work in my – we’ll say office – one of my co-workers walked in, started bobbing her head and tapping her foot. With a jubilant smile and with an energetic tone, exclaimed, Who is this?! Simply, it was Elastica’s debut. This woman, an avid fan of the arts, said she needed this record for tomorrow. This group had that immediacy in their sound. And I did comply with her wishes. Her life is now complete.

From their follow-up to their self-titled debut, I give you one minute and 50 seconds of freak out. A staccato delivery from our front woman with her counterpart assisting harmoniously; driving, playful guitar work; and a pace that one can only sustain for under 120 seconds. Even a small Trunk Full Amps vibe interspersed.

Elastica :: Generator

Or in live, frolicking form…

03
Feb
10

Secret Machines :: Like I Can

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Music and Recommendations/Reviews

The Secret Machines have done a few things for me:

-Have the ability to grow on me exponentially

- Perform First Wave Intact, a song I still proclaim is my favorite live song. Ever.

- Epically performed an explosive, synchronized performance when they brought their In the Round series to Chicago’s Park West; which quickly became a favorite moment in my showography.

My resume for them is impressive. If they, even though the lineup isn’t the same, release new material, I’ll give it my ears. Again and again…

Secret Machines :: Terrible Lies

Secret Machines :: Like I Can

02
Feb
10

Happy House From the Double Door!

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Culture, Music and Recommendations/Reviews

When you miss a show, one with a momentous closer, do you watch/listen to a live clip in awe or disgust? I’m still trying to figure out the answer to my own question – but leaning towards the latter. Juan Maclean, the spacey house creator of last year’s The Future Will Come, an album best described as if LCD’s Sound of Silver butted heads with Human League, ripped up Chicago’s Double Door last year with Happy House. The evidence, and the ability for you to quickly find your gruuuve, await you below.

Yea, I’m going to go with disgust. 21 minutes of excellence!

30
Jan
10

Won’t You Come on Home…

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Music and Recommendations/Reviews

Nothing wrong with working backwards when it comes to discoveries in the music realm. Sometimes experiencing a cover version first, instead of the original, can work for me. sElf reinterpreting Depeche Mode helped truly expose me to the synth-pop act; Jeppe, the Senior in Junior Senior, set my dance floor ablaze with his version of Johnny Come Home, originally created by Fine Young Cannibals. The energy levels on both versions are explosive. FYC’s is seeped in funky bass, rapid-fire guitar play, sporadic blasts of trumpet jazzing up the beat, all under an intense vocal delivery. How often do you play the original and then quickly queue up the cover? Or, vice-versa?

Fine Young Cannibals :: Johnny Come Home

28
Jan
10

We’ll Always Make Time for Hawksley…

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Canadian, Hawksley Workman, Music and Recommendations/Reviews

And I’ll have to with two releases this year from Toronto’s Hawksley Workman. From Meat, comes We’ll Make Time (Even When There Ain’t No Time) – a slow burner, one that begins one way and closes another. A faint, repeating hum-dum, similar to The Pounding Truth by MM, sets the tone, while Workman attacks with his vocal delivery at a brisk pace. After he’s gotten his point across, lyrically and passionately speaking, the bells intensify, and the crunchy, explosive guitar sways the tempo to another direction. But to me, this is Hawksley at his best: flexing his versatility. Unpredictability is a great attribute to have.

Hawksley Workman :: We’ll Make Time (Even When There Ain’t No Time)

Someone pull me away from this song!

26
Jan
10

Shout Out Loud!(s)

By Dave 1 Comment
Categories: Music and Recommendations/Reviews

Summer in the wintertime. Or, highly energetic pop music from the Swedes. Shout Out Louds have done brilliance – songs (now I know) of epic proportions, really. The single, Tonight I Have to Leave It, from ’07’s Our Ill Wills, immediately caught my attention when I took in the video care of Subterranean. I never ventured beyond this song though. What else lurked in their catalog was to remain hidden, until this year’s release, Work. On the opener, 1999, the exuberance begins with rapid-fire key strikes, a pounding rhythm and an overall pace that never lets up.

R.I.Y.L :: Spoon, Arcade Fire, Sea Wolf, and greatness

Shout Out Louds :: 1999

23
Jan
10

Hard Times with Prairie Cartel…

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Chicago 90s, Culture, Music and Recommendations/Reviews

If I was ever going to fall for a band before I even heard a note, it was inevitably going to be Prairie Cartel. A Chicago-based, smart, electro-rock act. Sure, the location this trio (ultimately) stemmed from helps; a passion for rock and dance-based music isn’t going to hurt either; but it’s where they really come from that secured a place in my rotation. From the ashes of Fig Dish, a 90s sound, meets power-pop Chicago act; and Caviar, the reincarnation of Fig Dish as a smarter, wittier act, who like its 90s older brother, met their demise because of major label drama. Fine and good, because Blake Smith and Mike Willison, both driving members of both aforementioned acts, teamed up again to found Prairie Cartel.

This 3rd generation Fig Dish does not stop there though – what cemented a fervent interest in this act was when they recruited local Scott Lucas, who receives an occasional head nod over here. Placing these three veterans together churned out, Where Did All My People Go, a serious, potentially party-like record, one that should have ranked higher in ‘09.

Recently, the China Shop began an exposé on this Chicago supergroup and its long road to finally recording last year’s dirty rock record. Blake Smith was recruited to report, in narrative form, this long and treacherous journey.

Prairie Cartel :: Jump Like Chemicals

Prairie Cartel :: 10 Feet of Snow

21
Jan
10

Canada’s Workman Dances to Yesterday….

By Dave 1 Comment
Categories: Canadian, Culture, Hawksley Workman, Music and Recommendations/Reviews

Oh, 2010. It just don’t stop. The year has already unleashed greatness; more goodness awaits us. The Canadian one-man jam, Hawksley Workman, who has become a favorite as of late, is putting out two, yes, two new releases in this momentous year. (could be?) A quick blurb:

Workman will be cementing his electro-rock corner with his dual releases this year. With the albums Meat, out tomorrow on his own imprint Isadora Records, and Milk, a digital release which will premiere a track at a time on his website, Workman says he’s relocated an experimental, wild groove he hasn’t felt since 1999’s breakthrough For Him and the Girls. It took him a long time to process the fickle nature of being a pop super star.
18
Jan
10

Johnny, Cover This!

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Culture, Music and Recommendations/Reviews

It seems I’ve been in the cover mood lately? Or, is it simply: I’m always on the prowl for pure pop greatness. The source? Originally, Fine Young Cannibals – an act I never knew were so capable. This 80s/90s English trio put out the driving scorcher Johnny Come Home – why did I hear this for the first time in 2010? Junior Senior, an over-the-top Danish pop act gained some popularity for Move Your Feet. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this duo became defunct to pursue solo careers. Senior, who is going under his first name, Jeppe, has unveiled where he is headed. His cover is robust with 80s synth dance madness. If I was more literate in Fine Young Cannibals, I might have objected to touching their pop perfection; but since I’m not, I’ll bask in the glory of both versions.

Jeppe :: Johnny Come Home

16
Jan
10

Nada Surf Unplugs in Seattle…

By Dave Leave a Comment
Categories: Culture, Music and Recommendations/Reviews

I receive an email from a like-minded music friend a few days ago with Nada Surf’s forthcoming tour for their upcoming covers record, if i had a hi-fi – a palindromic title. In this email thread, a comment was made that post Let Go, Nada Surf has withered down; plus, fuck Nada. Sure, the consistency on record has not been as strong; but by no means will I forget this act.

The band, who have been around since ‘92 or so, have put out stellar records, albums that are returned to on a consistent basis. With melodies, harmonies, and Caws’ soothing delivery, and also their tendency to bring the upbeat rhythms, this trio, who sometimes receive their highest marks when folk-inspired minimalism is in place, have cemented their status with me. Release a new record, I’ll anxiously spin it; most likely fall for it. A career spanning 18+ years is bound to not always generate brilliance. But with near perfect albums like Let Go, records that have created timeless songs, this NY trio will always keep me intrigued to hear a forthcoming record – especially one where they put their own spin on songs like Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence. When Nada stepped into KEXP’s studio in Seattle to lay down four tracks, including two covers from the aforementioned LP, they only further prove how and why they’ve survived this long.

Tracklisting:

Electrocution
Love Goes On
Weightless
What Is Your Secret

Full performance

Fuck Nada Surf? Remember the quality they birthed when covering, If You Leave, for The O.C.?

Nada Surf :: If You Leave (OMD cover)

« Previous Entries

Denver and maybe Chicago? Shows

2/13 :: St. Vincent, Bluebird Theatre

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