I was not among the critics who picked Merriweather Post Pavilion as the best album of 2009, though I would give it the award for best outdoor amphitheater at which to see New Order, Public Image and the Sugarcubes in 1989—shout out to D.C. high-school friends, y’all.

But sneaking into my top 10 for 2009 was a self-titled  album of slightly cosmic heavy blues rock from the Entrance Band, which has Chicago connections, but has since relocated. What I did sleep on was the band’s Thursday night gig at the Bottle—I didn’t make it out, but sure wish I had. And what do you know—Guy Blakesee of Entrance is originally from Baltimore—I knew there was a Maryland connection in there somewhere. Guy, I’m coming next time.

Photos: Marzena Abrahamik

As we teased a couple days ago, the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival announced its first wave of headliners this morning. Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem and Pavement top the bill on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 16–18, respectively.

LCD Soundsystem should have a third LP to promote by then, or at least its score for the new Noah Baumbach movie. Modest Mouse last released an EP, No One’s First and You’re Next, in 2009. Johnny Marr has not been playing with the band of late (he’s in the Cribs, [likely] playing Lolla), and former Grandaddy man Jim Fairchild has stepped in on second guitar. Pavement, of course, is reuniting for the first time in a decade.

No word yet on if any of these appearances will follow the “Don’t Look Back” or “Write the Night” concepts.

So far the lineup looks like this:

Friday
Modest Mouse

Saturday
LCD Soundsystem
Raekwon

Sunday
Pavement
St. Vincent
Lightning Bolt
Cass McCombs
Here We Go Magic
Sleigh Bells

Tickets go on sale at noon today.

It’s not really shocking news after five years, but the Pitchfork Music Festival will officially happen again on the third weekend of July at Union Park. More importantly, some of the bands playing July 16–18 are to be announced this Friday, February 5. Which gives you 23 solid weeks of can’t-stand-it impatience before seeing some new blog bands and dudes from the ’90s play in a field.

Tickets also go on sale on Friday—single-day tickets for $40 and three-day passes for $90. There will be no two-day passes. Most interestingly, the press release explains that Friday—up until now just three bands playing classic albums or fan favorites—will start earlier to include more acts. Does this mean three full days? Perhaps.

So what’s filling this expanded festival? I’ll take a crack at it. Pure guessing.

Our money’s on Pavement as the big, headlining get. For other top-of-the-bill bands, I’d wager on Beach House, Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene, She & Him, Hot Chip, Joanna Newsom. Beyond that, (and just reading the Pitchfork website) one can reasonably expect Surfer Blood, Bear in Heaven, The Knife/Fever Ray, Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian, Caribou, Memory Tapes, JJ, Freddie Gibbs (token rapper), Jay Electronica (ditto), Happy Birthday, Dum Dum Girls, Girls, Girls Names, Young Girls, any other band with “Girls” in the name and stuff from the Gorilla Vs. Bear blog.

Oh, and something, somehow related to Animal Collective. I mean, come on.

Wait, who’s got Spoon this year? Lolla or P4K? That band is like the child of a divorce—always alternating summers between mom’s house and dad’s.

An electro-pop group, not a person as is often reported, La Roux sold out its Lincoln Hall show well in advance so anticipation was high for the live gig from the crossover club sensation. Eleanor Jackson and her bandmates hit all our bullet points for British synth-pop: avant-garde hairdo, electronic drum pads and smoke machine-aided atmosphere.

Photos: Sydney J. Walters

Photos: Amy Mokris

I came hungry and I left full. What else can you ask for from TOC’s annual Chili Cook-Off? How about awesome music? Check, thanks to the fearsome blues rock from the Chicago Stone Lightning Band. Good company? Yep, an eclectic crowd sipping beers and enjoying the scene at Martyr’s. Helped a good cause? You betcha: The event collected two big and brimming bins of canned food for the Chicago Food Depository.

Okay, okay. How about good chili? Yes, we definitely had that, too. All 15 of the competitors who shared their chilis with the hungry crowd deserve a major round of applause. There were vegetarian, vegan, bison, venison, pork and short-ribs versions. There were fried leek toppings and honey-sweetened pots. Some offered up bold and risky concoctions (we’re thinking of you, #3, the vegan chili with notes of banana and chocolate shavings on top). Some were more traditional (like the straight-up version at table #12, which used Chicago’s own Half-Acre beer). Most had heartfelt stories about their beloved pot of deliciousness (like the family-effort at table #4, which used venison courtesy of a hunting trip to Wisconsin).

Many tried to charm the voting masses with accoutrements, such as corn bread, chopped peppers, shredded cheese and sour cream. In the end, it was all good. But only one could claim the title of “winner” from our discerning Eat Out critics, David Tamarkin and Julia Kraemer. And only three could rise to the top in the battle for crowd favorite. The winners are below and the winning recipe will be in the mag soon!

Critics’ pick…

#7, Jeff Haushalter

Fan favorites…

1st place - #10, John Jamieson and Ginger Semany

2nd place - #1, Fred Sanders

3rd place - #9, Aram Elie

photos courtesy of Robert Loerzel | www.undergroundbee.com

Chicago’s newest live venue, Lincoln Hall, is a sight to see. With it’s hardwood floors, disco ball and intimate proportions, it’s a beautiful addition to the city’s nightlife. It’s almost a shame then, that the minute Helena Noguerra and Karina Zeviani—the sexy International chanteuses of Nouvelle Vague—took to the stage that the venue receded from focus, all eyes now on the charismatic frontwomen.

At first I was surprised to hear that the band’s appearance this weekend was a downsize from its last visit, when the group performed at Metro, but once into the opening bars of “So Lonely” (a Sting cover), the slow burning warmth of its twangy bossa lounge seemed a better fit here, in a cozier environment. It didn’t hurt that my aggressive concert-going companions had weaseled us up to within five feet of the stage. All the better to see the Brazilian-born Zeviani and her Belgian-born, actress-turn-songstress counterpart Noguerra bounce, shimmy and shuffle through more than twenty songs—two encores?!—from the band’s three album catalog. It was clear that the ladies were the center of attention, with Nouvelle Vague’s instrumental brain trust, Marc Collins and Olivier Libaux, book ending the band at opposite ends of the stage.

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Strong but short sets from Chicago hip-hop favorites and a few out-of-towners made the One Drop Counts benefit show something special. BBU got the crowd up and moving, while headliner M1 from Dead Prez as unable to make the gig. GLC was the fill-in headliner.—Max Herman

Organized by Fake Shore Drive, other performers at the benefit included Rhymefest, The Cool Kids, Jean Grae, He Say She Say and Fred Hampton Jr.

Photos: Max Herman

The Cold War Kids took the stage to a sold out crowd at the Vic Theatre Saturday night, only after Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah performed an opening set with his side project Flashy Python. As soon as the Kids took the stage, lead singer Nathan Willett began crashing into bassist Matt Maust and guitarist Jonnie Russell. The three seemed to be feeding off each others energy for the entire evening. Willett and Russell took turns on the piano and keyboards and provided the extra percussion that makes up much of the band’s sound. Willett’s voice seemed to take over the crowd’s attention and elicit its excitement. The band was performing one of the last shows of the Kids’s current tour and played most of 2008 album Loyalty to Loyalty as well as their newest release “Audience of One” and treated the crowd to a nice version of “Long as I Can See the Light” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The crowd roared to life at the finale. The entire theatre sang along for “Something Is Not Right with Me” before the Kids laid into their encore. And not to leave us empty-handed, the band graciously provided a link and password for a free download of the concert to ensure we won’t forget these Kids too soon.

Founded during the days of acid rock, its simply noteworthy that Pentagram even exits in this decade. Especially since the band has never had a major label backing its music—legend has it that members of KISS tried to persuade the big boys to sign the Virginia band years ago, but the deal never was done. Instead, the rock quartet has been characterized by instability and line-up changes, sporadic activity and fertile periods of recording and regional touring but also recent renewed appreciation and respect—especially for its early recordings. Recent tours have brought it as far as Eastern Europe—where its legend is well-known. Many consider it the doom metal forefather—and the rest of us can count it along with Blue Cheer as a key group in the story of American metal’s pre-history. Saturday night, the band took to the Empty Bottle stage for a fearsome set. Yours truly was unable to attend, so please refrain from telling me how awesome the aural carnage was.

UPDATE: Via halcoholic, it sounds like Pentagram recorded a live album at the Bottle this past weekend—can’t wait to hear it. Also, “the crowd was wild and the band sounded heavy as ever.” But, we knew that.

What’s the quickest way to a young voter’s heart? Hosting a benefit concert with homegrown hip-hop superstar Lupe Fiasco, perhaps? Looking to secure the lower age bracket in the February 2nd primary elections for a seat in the U.S. Senate, Democratic hopeful Cheryle Jackson was the guest of honor at Thursday night’s show. But the crowd seemed more interested in seeing Lupe than any of Jackson’s politics.

I’d never been to the Shrine before, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The club is, in a word, sleek. The decor is au courant and the space is roomy with two bars, one of which resides beneath the stage like some kind of backward orchestra pit. The downers here are the mandatory $4 coat check and the apparent disregard for any typical concert schedule I’ve ever encountered. The show was supposed to start at 9pm but didn’t get rolling until well past 10. And when I say get going, I mean at least three opening acts (Davion, Lorenzo Owens and J. Ivy) and an emcee (WGCI host Leon Rogers) doing everything from R&B jams about cavities to a song about 140-character hook-ups called “Twitter Me Baby.” As the crowd grew progressively drunker and more restless, there was an audible groan from the audience as the emcee appeared around midnight to deliver the bad news. Lupe wouldn’t come on until after a 15 minute intermission. But, as these things tend to happen, when Lupe finally took the stage, his energy blew in a second wind and as he dove into “Kick, Push,” all was forgiven.

Photos: Julia Korol