Results tagged “rockinourturntable”

Free Energy take their cue from the sugar glam of the '70s and throw a little post-rock NYC circa '78 on the glitter spike all day suckers they toss out to your ears. The opening salvo on their debut Stuck On Nothing, conveniently titled "Free Energy," acts as a call to arms, mapping out the bands intent, driven by an opening cowbell ushering guitar chords meant to get heads nodding. By the time the chorus hits you're ready to grab the person next to you and start jumping around the dance floor as if it was a sunlit mattress in a teenage room surrounded by pop idol posters. more ›

With the superabundance of synthpop and indie electronic acts out there, music seems to be becoming more and more over-mechanized and detached from human emotion. So it's refreshing when an artist like Justin Cancelliere comes along. He's a solo musician new to Chicago who plays under the moniker Be Nice and manages to balance electronic patterns with shamelessly emotional lyrical balladry. more ›

Spoiler Alert: He gets the girl. more ›

When we heard Yeasayer launch into "Madder Red" at last summer's Pitchfork Music Festival we combed through their b-sides thinking we had somehow been wrong about the band since we were in the critical minority when it came to Yeasayer's last album. When we discovered "Madder Rose" wasn't an unnoticed gem but instead a taste of what the band was cooking up for the future we began to get excited. With the release of Odd Blood we find that earlier enthusiasm entirely justified by a disc filled with songs that are more closely aligned with '80s synth-pop than the band's bucolic sonic reveries of the past. There is a thrumming life behind the new batch of tunes that is giddy and catchy without being predictable. more ›

So many albums and so many music careers are marked by "the great buildup." Artists are expected with each new release to top their subsequent and if they should choose to explore new territory, fans expect a logical progression. Much effort goes into the layout of an album's tracklisting, ensuring just right placements to hold attention and provide a crescendo of enthusiasm that peaks at the album's close, enticing you to hit play from the beginning and recreate that rush again and again. It's a rare treat then when you find an artist who goes against this grain and realizes that more powerful than the buildup is the breakdown. more ›

Hayden Thorpe, vocalist for British quartet Wild Beasts shares like territory with Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) and Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons). Like Pallett and Hegarty, Thorpe possesses an immediately arresting vocal range that suggests classicism over pop/rock. The countertenor's dramatic baroque falsetto careens across ten tracks of gorgeous guitar-centric melodies on the Wild Beast's sophomore album, 2009's Two Dancers. more ›

OK Go initially won our hearts through their quirky art-pop when they were based in Chicago and gigged regularly at The Empty Bottle. They moved to California, released their debut and enjoyd moderate success. Their sophomore effort injected a whole lot more rock into the mix with extremely winning results, and we dug 'em even more. They seemed poised to hit the big time -- in no small part due to an extremely entertaining DIY approach to music videos -- and then ... settled into nearly four years of relative silence on the album front. more ›

This is the year where, in my opinion, a lot of good music was unleashed but very little great music was created. We've hit a stasis point it seems, where the music scene has become so varied and so wild that the end result is a homogeneity that makes it very difficult for anything truly astounding to surface. Sure, loads of critics laud the efforts of Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, and I found their albums this year to be pleasant enough too, but how many people are still listening to them over and over again, months after their release? I don't doubt there are some die-hard fans, but I'd be willing to wager that even most of those placing those discs on their year-end lists haven't fired them up since the summer. more ›

We first listened to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's new Bernard Haitink-led recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 the day after the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's mind-blowing performance at Symphony Center. Hearing the CSO's bursting-from-its-seams sound immediately following the BPO's seemingly-effortless control and brilliant warmth - would that we could bathe in it! - was a jarring experience. And we loved it. more ›

Count on a band like The Flaming Lips to top off a year in which they challenged their fans to find even the newbies were up for the challenge by suddenly releasing The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs With Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon. The title pretty much tells the whole story, but don't worry ... Rollins doesn't do any singing. more ›

While we're sure there will plenty of eyes directed at another female singer's long-delayed album dropping today, we feel that it'd be a pity if that caused Annie's excellent sophomore effort to get overlooked. Anne Strand, better known as simply Annie, was all set to release Don't Stop a year ago before abruptly cutting ties from her record label and pulling the album from the release schedule. Word filtered through that she was reworking tracks and recording new material. We'd heard the unreleased version of Don't Stop and while it wasn't perfect we weren't sure if this album revamp was really necessary. more ›

We were not sure why Them Crooked Vultures wasn't calling themselves Queens Of the Stone Age, since singer Josh Homme leads that group, Dave Grohl has spent a fair amount of time drumming for them in the past, and the addition of a new bassist -- in this case Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones -- is really nothing all that unusual. After listening to their self-titled debut though, we can see why a name change was in order. Them Crooked Vultures shares many similarities with Queens Of the Stone Age, but the former is a group effort while the latter is driven by a single man ... and it shows. more ›

Our first clue that Kid Sister -- Melisa Young-- was on the road to fame is when she apologized to a friend of ours while telling him she wouldn't be able to babysit his kids any longer due to her hectic travel schedule. This also offers some insight into what it is that sets her apart from so many other hip-hop-popsters; even while shooting videos with Kanye West she was picking up work on the side babysitting for friends. It's that combination of a solid work ethic and her lack of pretension that makes her debut, Ultraviolet, such a satisfying listen. more ›

Where Did All My People Go is an apt title for the full length debut from The Prairie Cartel. The band -- Scott Lucas, Blake Smith, and Mike Willison -- is stocked with some of the survivors from the mid-'90s Chicago music scene that never stopped producing new music. The trio comes from a guitar heavy past but their mutual love of electronic music brought them together to synthesize their own take on motivating the denizens of the dance floor. more ›

We've decided to cease apologizing for Weezer. The band is what it is. If you're looking for Rivers Cuomo to ever attain the heights of Pinkerton or The Blue Album you're always going to be sorely disappointed. And Jesus if the man doesn't make it hard to even enjoy his music when he throws garbage like Weezer Snuggies and duets with Kennny G into the mix. more ›

Hockey insidiously worms it's way into your heart. We've heard enough dance rock bands in recent years to grow suspicious of any group that could be counted among that ilk. We don't wish James Murphy or The Rapture ill for influencing so many kids starting bands, but goddamn if have to suffer through another group of college kids caterwauling over a disco beat we're gonna start smashing 12 inch singles over somebody's carefully mussed head! more ›

We've always been confused by the folks that view The Flaming Lips as some shiny, happy, modern version of up with people. Yes, the strains of "Do You Realize?" are joyous but have the fans that think the band is all about being one big party ever actually listened to the group's lyrics. While the darkness has never left the group's basic aesthetic we believe it's been misconstrued by many and mistaken as a vehicle meant for confetti filled cannons, half-naked dancing aliens, and a white-suited guy wearing a Hulk fist while rolling over the crowd in a giant bubble. more ›

It's hard to overstate the importance of The Jesus Lizard both to Chicago and to their contribution to the music scene in general. Their brutal songs delivered with strangled and smothered screams hitched atop rhythms with human swing and impossibly tricky tempo changes were truly from another world. The band's possibilities were hinted at in singer David Yow and bassist David Wm. Sims' earlier band Scratch Acid, and that work seems like a sketch of things to come. But once you added guitarist Duane Denison and drummer Mac McNeilly into the mix the resulting controlled pandemonium was impossible to resist. more ›

We have yet to actually dislike a Pearl Jam album but admit it's been a long time since we were thrilled by one. Something seemed to have infected Eddie Vedder after the band's loose Mirror Ball / Merkin Ball collaborations with Neil Young. It was almost as if he was afraid to let any joy enter the music any more for fear his icon would disapprove. Vedder's vocals ceased to jump, and most songs fall into one of two categories; they were either raging screams of anger and despair or they were quiet ballads that barely moved beyond a handful of notes. There were deviations form these formulas, but the majority of the band's middle work fits those categories. more ›

Stockholm's The Legends create the kind of genre-defying music where you never know what to expect with the next release. For his fourth release under The Legends moniker, Johan Angergård again surprises fans and taps a wide range of collaborators. Over And Over is a testament to Angergård's taste and musical prowess, combining piercing instrumentation with bright indie pop melody. more ›

That opener, "Crystal Visions," sets a strong template for the rest of the album including gauzy guitars, steady drums, dreamy vocals, and hints and wisps of melody. It's all pretty simple really. So why does the album feel like a strong contender in that inevitable listing of the best albums of 2009? Why would something that sounds so unsurprising keep popping up on our playlists when far more unique tunes get a couple listens before getting filed away in our mental vault. more ›

Classes are back in session, which gives us the perfect reason to tell you about Lamar Holley's newest album. Confessions of a College Student is an "autobiographical one-man pop-musical" according to its album cover. If Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman had ever reteamed for a followup to their 1970 masterpiece, and made a concept album about higher education, it might have sounded something like Holley's record. It has Newman's love of ragtime and bittersweet melody, and intertwined vocal arrangements like Nilsson. more ›

Soulsavers is essentially a studio construction built by the duo of Rich Machin and Ian Glover. They create deft instrumental tracks that range from industrial scrawl to gospel wail. Their previous album was one of our favorites from 2007 primarily because amidst their meticulously crafted electro-soul rock jams, they employed an incredibly potent secret weapon in guest singer Mark Lanegan's vocals. Lanegan's presence took what would have been an interesting production project and elevated it into something viscerally appealing. more ›

Brendan Benson still isn't exactly a household name, though if most folks saw him they'd recognize him as the skinny blonde dude who sings in The Raconteurs with Jack White. Benson's history actually stretches much further back to the days before his 1996 debut, One Mississippi. A listen to any of his solo work quickly uncovers just what his major contribution to The Raconteurs is: Benson is the pop foil to White's rock menace. more ›

Julian Plenti is actually Interpol's Paul Banks and, unsurprisingly his debut Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper sounds a lot like, well, Interpol. There is a difference though. Interpol, as their career has progressed, has continued to paint themselves into a corner, creating work that was ever more mannered and ever more lacking in any breathing space or spontaneity. Banks doesn't exactly break the mold on his solo debut, but he has recaptured some of the swing that made Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights such a pleasure to listen to. more ›

Twenty-three year old Londonite Ben Esser might just have the voice and face to rekindle Americans love affair with British pop. Impossibly young, stylish enough to have already been recruited as a muse of Hedi Slimane, and a gifted wordsmith and producer, Esser boldly debuts Braveface with a prowess for success. more ›

Jarvis Cocker's Further Complications was recorded right here in Chicago with favorite son and studio egghead Steve Albini engineering. It's a sexy beast of an album, one that trades in the gentler strokes of his solo debut for a rougher, raspy, well-fucked feel. Cocker brings together Mick Jagger's swagger with David Bowie's breadth and range and makes it all his own to create a white boy blues with swagger and stomp. more ›

We think it's safe to say that The Sounds have no interest in really engaging you on an intellectual level. You can probably also bet that The Sounds don't care if you call 'em a retro act. All this Swedish quintet seem focused on is throwing a hell of a dance rock party colored by bright neon. We suspect they wouldn't mind at all if you were to pin them as New Romantics. more ›

When the lead single off your debut is called "Fuck The Pain Away" you tend to a) quickly pigeonhole your philosophical approach to your music and b) provide a pretty high bar to leap over if you want to top yourself in terms of sexual brashness. When you're Peaches, you accomplish both by providing ever more elaborate stage shows with varying degrees of clothing involved while simultaneously producing throbbing albums teeming with confident sexuality that makes something like Mick Jagger's preening look positively neutered. more ›

Black Moth Super Rainbow follows the proud tradition of bands that sound as if they've grown up with nothing but latter period Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev records living on the tape deck of their tour van. Their latest album, Eating Us, is produced by loooongtime Lips / Rev producer Dave Fridmann so we feel it's safe to assume the band has zero problem with anyone drawing a sonic comparison between them and their obvious predecessors. more ›