Results tagged “showreviews”

Few performers are as animated as the Venezuelan-bred freak folk singer-songwriter, Devendra Banhart. In an intimate seated show last Monday night at the Vic Theatre, Banhart brought his nonsensical, neo-hippie compositions to life, writhing in time to his own vocal tics and painting himself every bit the true original that his albums suggest.

The year's end is quickly approaching and as we reflect on the past ten months in music in an attempt to define 2009, there are certain trends that, for better or worse, stick out. Across genres, music blogs have become powerful influencers, launching the careers of young bands, but often buzz can backfire. The newest amazing act often turns out to be little more than inexperienced amateurs live. Or, in the case of the recent two-day, sold out stint from San Francsico band Girls at the Empty Bottle, a solid performance falls on an audience of deaf ears all gathered to hear that one song.

The Raveonettes fourth full length album, the recently released In and Out of Control, finds the Danish duo losing their footing and succumbing to the allure of pop rock. It's easily their most hook-heavy and accessible release, but for those of us who've followed Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner for years, it's a release that has us reminiscing the good times of B-movie surf rock and grimy, loud distortion. Joined by The Black Angels at the Metro Sunday night, The Raveonettes proved that a new direction for their recorded material does not equal a disconnect with their earlier work.

To say we were unprepared for the scene that awaited us at Tuesday night's Mika show at the Riviera Theatre doesn't even begin to describe our misconceptions about the London-based pop crooner and his fans. We arrived expecting glitz wrapped in gloss and left surprised that theme-park theater had made it out of the shadows of roller-coasters and onto one of Chicago's most revered stages.

Somber electronic droning greeted our ears as we entered the low light of the Metro Saturday night for the sold out Chicago appearance of Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife's newest project, Fever Ray. Andersson channeled the occult, burying the audience beneath a dense fog of smoke penetrable only by the geometric beams of light slicing through the air. Mystery, intrigue and awe were the themes of the evening as we joined the rest of the audience with mouths agape, soaking in sensory overload.

Beginning his career in punk and postpunk bands in the 1980's, Moby has spent the past two decades blurring genre boundaries. In his first tour with a live band since 2005, Moby swept through the Vic last night, escorting the audience on a tour through not only his catalog of music, but through the history of music.

It often takes seeing a band live to better understand and fully appreciate their sound. We headed out Friday night to the Double Door to check out British pop's freshest new face, Esser, and conceptual electro-rock trio Datarock. Three hours and two acts later we left all smiles, appreciating the power a live show has to unite an audience and tie up the loose ends of an album.

We weren't sure what to expect from Ghostly International's 10 Year Anniversary party last Friday night at the Empty Bottle. The lineup was certainly ambitious and we hoped the niche label would find a warm welcome in the fickle terrain that is Chicago nightlife. A rainy trek to the venue found us pessimistic and prematurely doubting Chicago's enthusiasm for the evening ahead. The audience for electronic music in this city is a hard crowd to bridge. Good times and drunken debauchery increasingly feel favored over critical listening and passion for the talent. We arrived and stepped inside the Empty Bottle to find our fears vanish and a grin grace our lips alongside a packed house of Ghostly fans as eclectic as the lineup.

The recent, much publicized antics of stoner-garage act Wavves has everyone taking note of what just might become the defining musical trend of 2009. The recent popularity of experimental acts like Dan Deacon and Animal Collective convinced music fans to think outside the box of head-nodding choral loops and drum solos and embrace the new sound of improvisation. The second half of 2009 sees guitars take the place of samplers as bands both old and new wash off the smiles, don dark shades and take a walk on the wild side.