The singer and guitarist brought her striking live show to the Windy City, complete with Talking Heads-like choreography and a tribute to Kurt Cobain.
Chicago has announced the artists for its free summer concert series in Millennium Park, Downtown Sound and Loops and Variations. Clear your Mondays and Thursdays.
Mucca Pazza: Safety Fifth (Electric Cowbell, 6/12/12)
“Boss Taurus”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Mucca_Pazza_Boss_Taurus.mp3|titles=Mucca Pazza: “Boss Taurus”]If Chicago’s tourism committee was serious about a new theme song—one that made people want to come to Chicago rather than, you know, kill themselves—they wouldn’t have chosen Chicago (the band), Buddy Guy, and Umphrey’s McGee. They would’ve chosen Mucca Pazza.
Malian blues band Tinariwen kicked off its North American tour last night at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, playing tunes from its forthcoming album, Tassili (Anti-, 8/30/11). To record the new album, the band took to the Algerian desert with only acoustic guitars and percussion. Joining in the recording process were TV on the Radio members Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone and Nels Cline of Wilco and the Nels Cline Singers.
Though the band’s numbers can swell to upwards of 10 musicians, a more-than-capable quintet took to the stage in Chicago. Clad in traditional Malian tunics and turbans, the band worked the crowd into a fervor with equal parts uptempo, guitar-driven rock and plaintive African blues.
The unlikely pairing of hip-hop artist Aesop Rock and indie-pop songwriter Kimya Dawson recently took the stage in Chicago. The two have been collaborating on new material and have already performed together a handful of times this year. The show at Lincoln Hall, which also featured performances from Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz (with Aesop, the three comprise the new group Hail Mary Mallon), kicked off with an acoustic set from Dawson. At one point or another in the night, everyone performed with everyone else, breathing new life into old tunes and introducing new tunes to an eager audience. Photographer Tracy Graham captured these shots.
Crates of vinyl, four turntables, multiple DJs, a packed house — it was like something out the distant ’90s. The recent “Mayhem at The Mid” event, featuring headliner RJD2, had no shortage of scratch talent; DJ Intel, Big Once, BRC, Avi Sic, and RM Joint all took a turn at the tables. An impressive light show set off the party atmosphere, and a big projection screen onstage allowed the audience an up-close look at the DJs’ technical abilities. Photographer Jon Shaft went backstage to capture these images.
Fresh off a residency at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, a new graphic novel (Space Cadet), and a new album with The Slew, Québec-based turntable king and visual artist Kid Koala is on tour in the USA and Canada. Though this show in Chicago was relatively standard (if you consider a koala suit, projections, shooting bubbles with water guns, and impeccable technique standard), Koala has something truly special planned for future audiences: The Space Cadet Headphone Tour. Attendees will sit in “space pods,” listening via headphones to a performance featuring seven turntables and a piano. Visuals from his graphic novel will accompany the music. Consider yourself warned, and check out these photos from Lauren Herrmann.
The most recent album from The Kills, a bluesy rock duo composed of vocalist Allison Mossheart and guitarist Jamie Hince, is subject of a glowing Pop Addict review and received a coveted This Week’s Best Albums selection. That album, Blood Pressures, spans from straight-up rock ‘n’ roll riffing to more down-tempo balladry with ease. And now, the duo is on the road, playing its lauded tunes to audiences all across the country. Contributing photographer Lauren Herrmann captured these shots at a recent show at The Vic in Chicago.
Oxford, England-based indie-rock quintet Foals, which described the sound on its most recent album, Total Life Forever, as “tropical prog,” just wrapped up a worldwide tour that spanned the better part of three months. The band made a stop at Metro in Chicago during the tour’s last leg. Contributing photographer Drew Reynolds was there to capture these moody shots, whose dichotomous qualities of grain and softness reflect the band’s ability to straddle gritty synth pop and more melodic, down-tempo folk.
With its first release since former loop maestro / singer Tyondai Braxton left the band last year, experimental-rock band Battles is pounding the pavement, touring its new material from Gloss Drop, out June 7 via Warp. Guest vocalists on the record include Yamantaka Eye (Boredoms), Matias Aguayo, Gary Numan, and Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead), and for this tour, the group found an interesting way to bring them along (see below). These shots, from photographer Wallo Villacorta, are from the band’s recent stop in Chicago at Lincoln Hall.
It has been more than 15 years since Glaswegian post-rock quintet Mogwai formed, and since that time, its lineup and its sound have remained largely unaltered. Gradual, measured sonic evolution has been the key to longevity — not abrupt reinvention. On its most recent album, Hardcore Will Never Die, the band reprises its signature, crushing reverb, glimmering keyboard lines, and steady beats. Joining Mogwai in a recent performance in Chicago was Errors, a Scottish instrumental-rock band that’s signed to Mogwai’s own Rock Action Records. ALARM contributing photographer Drew Reynolds snapped these shots.
UK-based dubstep producer Rusko (real name: Chris Mercer) released his latest album, OMG, on Mad Decent one year ago Wednesday. Since then, he’s been working with some of the biggest names in the music business, including Rihanna and T.I.
Collaboration is turning out to be one of his calling cards; he’s worked with Switch, Diplo, Yo Majesty, and Wiley, and has remixed artists like Adele and A-Trak. In addition, Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors is featured on “Hold On,” a single from OMG. Despite his myriad connections, Rusko needed only his equipment (and some snazzy stage decoration) to wow the crowd in a recent jam-packed show at the Congress Theater in Chicago. ALARM staff member Kyle Gilkeson snapped these shots of the thousands-strong dance party.
