Sheesh. I’m getting pretty burnt out down here, I gotta say. [Yeah, tough life.—Ed.] Nevertheless, onwards and upwards!

As a Colorado native, I felt compelled to stop by the Mile High Fidelity showcase, an exhibition of CO bands. I was there for Meese, which was a little too emo/Dawson’s Creek–soundtracky for my taste. Nevertheless, Colorado is the best place on the planet. Deal with it.

I jumped on over to the Pitchfork day party where WAVVES was playing for the 1,000th time this week, and there was a 1,000-person line to get into the Dirty Projectors show. So I said “peace” to that business and ended up over at the Insound Party for The Hold Steady.

More after the hop.

Read more »

Is Secretly Canadian the best U.S. indie label right now? Consisting of Dead Oceans and Jagjaguwar, the Bloomington, IN, label’s showcase at Mohawk’s last night certainly suggested so, with a bill including new signees Dinosaur Jr., alongside Akron/Family and Richard Swift.

It helps that the venue itself is such a winner: The outdoor stage has two huge balcony bar areas, so you can watch your fave band from pretty much any angle (including directly over the stage), and there’s a happily sweaty indoor room, too.

Dinosaur Jr.

Piano-pop maestro Richard Swift opened the show. A big, intense-looking fella, Swift sings, variously, with the voice of a teenage doo-wop teen, a ’70s funkateer and Justin Timberlake, and plays the keys with the furry-fingered joie de vivre of Rowlf from The Muppet Show. A winning combination if ever there was one. Look out for his new album, Atlantic Ocean, in April, and check out show closer “Lady Luck” on Swift’s MySpace page if you need further convincing. Do it now!

So what happened next?

Read more »

When in doubt, trust Todd P. The New York concert promoter may have a really annoying website and, perhaps, a more annoying following, but, sheesh, homey has put together some radical lineups for his day parties over at Ms. Bea’s.

I stopped by yesterday afternoon and had the pleasure of taking in a set by Toronto’s DD/MM/YYYY. The boys brought the electro heat to the tiny floor-level stage. Read more »

I’m not sure what’s the way to go down here. Either (a) leave for the day with an hour-by-hour plan, or (b) walk outside and just aimlessly scamper about. Yesterday I opted for the latter and things sort of started out pretty slowly.

The barbecue at the Iron Gate was excellent, but San Diego’s Writer didn’t quite measure up to the smoked hot links. They’ve got some strong songs and potential, but the band’s sound was largely middle-of-the-road, innocuous indie.

Once I was on the other side of the highway I stuck around the ‘hood and hopped over to to the Fader Fort. The music mag has quite a setup over there and pretty strong lineups daily. I caught the Hot Melts, from Liverpool, who brought out frantic power chords and attitude. They’re the kind of band that could be huge but would ultimately leave me wondering why.

Read more »

Rounding up some music news and gossip regarding our fair city, from the city of BBQ and bats:

Red Red Meat, circa 1996

1) Jim DeRogatis reports that Red Red Meat, which recently reissued the wonderful Bunny Gets Paid on Sub Pop, played a new tune at the Radio Room Patio. Could this mean that Tim Rutili and crew are again a going concern, looking to record a new record? Greg Kot also reports on the RRM gig, including some feedback from other Chicagoans in attendance, such as Local H and Sybris.

2) More Lollapalooza bill-toppers came to light, perhaps. Sixth Street buzz has the ever-cantankerous Lou Reed as a possible headliner. Pity those journalists who have to interview the chiding, grumpy Velvet Underground man. Though, it’d be awesome to hear “Perfect Day” rising over the skyline. Supposedly, Andrew Bird and Neko Case are likely Lolla-gaggers, too.

3) Did the Taste just get some local flavor? Local label owners are whispering that this year’s Taste of Chicago in Grant Park will devote an entire stage to Chicago indie labels and acts.

4) Stereogum posted pics of local violist Anni Rossi, who just released the lovely Steve Albini–produced Rockwell on 4AD.

I ventured out of my hotel, into the heat and straight to the Fat Possum Records day showcase. The label has put together an impressive roster of young talent and it could be argued that the bands I caught are more vital than, say, FP’s more established artists like Heartless Bastards or Andrew Bird [Um, no.—Ed.].

First up was WAVVES. The buzz ‘n’ fuzz man behind the project, Nathan Daniel William, maintains a Daniel Johnston-like opaqueness on record, but live (with a drummer) his songs really fill out and clean up. It’s  a different band.

Austin’s own the Strange Boys followed and, boy, did they live up to the name—in a good way. The lead singer, Ryan Sambol, has a whiny yawl, like a child who’s candy has been taken away. He might be crying, but I was smiling.

Thomas Function was impressive, as usual, but the sound at Emo’s wasn’t up to the task. Their strongest song, “Belly of the Beast,” lacked its normal punchy crispness.

Next, I ventured over to Club de Ville for a packed Thermals set. The Portland band has a good new record coming out, but, as expected, the fiercest songs live were from 2006’s The Body, The Blood, The Machine.

After the illuminating (previously discussed) set from Iceland’s Sprengjuhöllin, it was time to go to a “big show.” Friends reported that the M.Ward/Deparment of Eagles/St.Vincent/Camera Obscura show was fire-department-violation packed and a friend had to pull some strings with his own label to get into the Heartless Bastards/Decemberists affair. As I contemplated my next move walking down 6th St., a friend from New York pulled me into line and I found myself at Dan Auerbach’s show.

The Black Keys frontman presents a typical problem: While his “side-project” material isn’t bad, he needs to get Jack White on the phone and agree to go back to work in their respective, color-minded main gigs.

I finished out the night with a sonically (and visually) beautiful performance by Brooklyn’s School of Seven Bells. While the Deheza twins and Benjamin Curtis were super-duper annoying at the the beginning of the show—they kept a verbal tennis match going with the sound man for a good 15 minutes—the persistence paid off and blissful vocals shepherded me off to a good night’s sleep.—Colin St. John

Yeah, I don’t know how to pronounce it either. And I have an advantage: The Icelandic band’s lead singer spent about three minutes explaining to the crowd how to say the multisyllabic word.

Nevertheless, this is a band to be discovered. I was fortunate enough to have a tip from a couple of dudes at eMusic (who were hip to Sprengjuhöllin from the get-go) to head over to Opal Divine’s.

The quartet—which just recorded an album of past Icelandic songs in English—was too much fun for words. The lead singer, who aside from deconstructing Icelandic words had some of the better (and goofiest) stage banter I’ve heard in some time, proclaimed to the sparse but energetic crowd that “no matter how many people are at our shows, we try our hardest.”

Sprengjuhöllin

And they did by unleashing upbeat, poppy tunes that brimmed with such force that the band members just had to smash into each other, and onto the ground. They said they want to be rich and famous in America and I don’t see any reason that that shouldn’t be the case (besides the collapse of the record industry).—Colin St. John

So! Night No. 1 in Texas finds…well, Austin’s population increased by 20,000 people for starters, most of whom are flocked around taco joints on this balmy evening.… Then there’s the nightly, noisy bat chorus competing with a supremely filthy guitar dirge emanating from legendary Austin venue Emo’s.

Our first musical stop however, is the Paradise bar for South Africa’s BLK JKS. And you know, I really want to like this band. They look so good, all black instruments, duds and dreads, and they move like they’re together, a real band. But sonically…

Read more »

The king of snark and Brooklyn star-searching announced the dates for its fourth annual music festival (fifth, if you count its turn curating the inaugural Intonation Festival in 2005). As usual, Pitchfork Music Fest’s set for late July, the weekend of the 17th through 19th, in Union Park.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 13.

Hey, no acts have been announced, but let’s take a crack at the lineup. In my Lolla crystal ball–gazing, I mentioned that Grizzly Bear seemed like a shoe-in headliner. The band’s upcoming album is, somehow, like the Iron Man 2 for kids who shop at American Apparel. I would’ve put the much-hyped Animal Collective at the top, but the band played last year—just before it really blew up. Doh!

But here are the other acts that the site’s been big on in the last few months. Put money on ‘em:

Read more »

When the Smashing Pumpkins “reformed,” many fans were up in arms over the absence of James Iha and D’Arcy. The immediate question that sprang to minds was, “What ever happened to James Iha, anyway?”

Let’s catch up. After playing in A Perfect Circle, scoring a pretty cool Japanese film (Linda, Linda, Linda) about an all-girl punk band (seriously, Netflix it) and teaming up with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne for a cover of “Splish Splash” for the Because of Winn-Dixie soundtrack (leave that one off the queue), the former Pumpkins guitarist has been jamming with a dude from Hanson in a new band: Tinted Windows.

Read more »