Of the two recent major music festivals in Chicago (Lollapalooza and Pitchfork) Lolla is the loud, obnoxious big brother to Pitchfork’s quiet, arty little brother.
Storming into Grant Park like Hannibal across Europe, Lolla flew its corporate flag proudly, and over 225,000 heeded the call. 2008 was another undeniable success for mad genius Perry Farrell, the Willy Wonka of the pop world, with fewer injuries and drunk/drug related arrests than previous outings.
Sweden’s psychedelic rock group Dungen hasn’t hit these shores since 2005, if you can believe it. Three years later, with new drummer Johan Holmegard on board, the group is set to embark on a very special tour to coincide with their latest release, 4. Beginning in New York City during the CMJ Festival this October, the show will include favorites from past albums Tio Bitar and Ta Det Lugnt. Frontman Gustav Estjes has contributed a special guest column to ALARM #33. Don’t forget to grab your copy this September!
On September 13-14, 2008, over 70+ artists invade Morrison, CO for the largest music festival in the history of Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Enter to win two tickets now for 5 stages of non-stop music featuring Devotchka, Atmosphere, TV on the Radio, Del the Funky Homosapien, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, CSS, The Whigs, and many more.
Chicago’s experimental folk darlings, Califone are scheduled to play a free show at the Pritzker Pavilion today at noon as part of Millenium Park’s popular lunchtime music series.
High noon. In my imagination, as the sun reaches its peak in the sky, gun-slinging dudes in Western gear engage in a winner-take-all duel. The Lollapalooza equivalent of such pronounced machismo must be Orebro Sweden’s Witchcraft, whose 70s Black Sabbath inspired psychedelic riffs rifled through the air with the flamboyance of a gang of sharpshooters in “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.”
“Why is everyone so quiet?” questioned Thom Yorke in the latter half of Radiohead’s headlining Lollapalooza gig on Friday night in Chicago. The answer, of course, isn’t that everyone was disinterested, but rather that they were giving their undivided attention to a band that hasn’t graced a major concert stage in Chicago since 2001 – which was, coincidentally, in Grant Park.
Just a reminder that EXO will be playing an acoustic show this Sunday (August 10) at Schubas Tavern. The show will be a benefit for their longtime friend and former drummer, Doug Meis, who died tragically in a car accident in 2005. Friends of the band, Absentstar and Coach K (a Brookyln DJ, not the guy from Duke) are also included on the bill.
Taking a detour into nostalgia, I arrived at the Bud Light main stage for Love and Rockets and it became clear as I strolled to nearly the front row that everyone was over on the south side of Grant Park catching the Gnarls Barkley set, leaving me surrounded by pasty faces in Bauhaus shirts.
Heavily hyped lads The Whigs took the stage in the early afternoon Sunday to a crowd of largely apathetic and sun drained fans.
Here’s your chance to win 2 vip passes to POP Montreal. This year’s gonna be a super fantastic thrill ride featuring such luminous figures as Burt Bacharach, Irma Thomas, The Persuasions, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Dodos, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Ratatat, Akron/Family, Socalled, Sam Shalabi, Julie Doiron and a lot more including: Kids Pop, Art Pop, Film Pop, our Symposium and other POPs that you need to be in Montreal to uncover.
In a festival coup, Roadburn welcomes heavy metal innovators Neurosis in hosting their first version of “Beyond the Pale,” outside of the United States for the 2009 festival. According to Steven Von Till of Neurosis, “The mission of Beyond the Pale is for us to honor the spirit and power of sound with people that we feel are kindred spirits. We want to bring together a diverse group of people who push the envelope, are truly original, and have that unspeakable fire and inspiration flowing through their art.” Therefore, for the last day of next year’s festival taking place Saturday, April 25th, Neurosis will have complete freedom in choosing the bands and organizing the lineup for each of the stages at next year’s festival. Always an arbiter and supporter of underground art and music, Neurosis is prime to organize a truly unique experience for Roadburn 2009.
The folkronic hop moniker that Talkdemonic once proclaimed as an accurate description of their music seems altogether forgotten on their third and latest album, Eyes at Half Mast (Arena Rock). The album, brimming with everything from analog synths, banjos, fuzz violas, and rhodes is more indicative of atmospheric, instrumental chamber pop than the quieter and more subdued moments on the band’s previous two albums, 2004’s Mutinysunshine (Lucky Sunshine) and 2006’s Beat Romantic (Arena Rock). Indeed, whereas Mutinysunshine was a rougher representation of the band’s experimentation with folk instruments, electronic beats, and a hip hop ethos and Beat Romantic was a sweeping, yet softer take on the duo’s original sound, Eyes at Half Mast is fueled by a range of different sounds and instruments to create something fresh.