Category: Artists (Page 47 of 262)

Lollapalooza 2010 recap: Friday

August 7, 2010 /

The Lolla grounds grew again, stretching the grounds out wider so that there is no chance of one stage bleeding into another. Which is awesome, if you’re a band, but bank on walking an extra mile and a half over the course of the day.

Foxy Shazam, Sony Bloggie Stage
Got there late thanks to the relocation of the media area (Roosevelt, really?), but their final song was a beast. Lead singer Eric Sean Nally leapfrogged onto the guitarist’s shoulders, then kicked his guitar as he was trying to solo. The keyboardist stood on top of his keyboard, stomping on the keys. It was bedlam. It was awesome. Definitely see these guys if they come near you.

First cover song of the day: B.o.B., covering MGMT’s “Kids.”

Ancient Astronauts, Perry’s
These guys got stuck in a reggae groove and couldn’t get out, but there was a neat mash-up of “Blitzkrieg Bop” thrown in, which was cool.

Playstation edit

“That’s right, I paid $200 to spend the weekend inside on a Playstation. So?”

Raphael Saadiq, Parkways Soundstage
I’m still not sure how he wound up on the bill but I’m not complaining, as his album The Way I See It was one of my favorite albums of 2008. His set was refreshing, the band decked out in suits while Saadiq dished out his vintage Motown jams. Then right in the middle, he completely threw down this gargantuan guitar track. Very odd, but the kids loved it.

The Big Pink, adidas Stage
So…much…droning…must…play…this…one…note…forever…

On the plus side, they ended their set 15 minutes early. Whew.

Devo, Parkways Soundstage
Hats off to the boys from Akron, as their afternoon set killed. They mixed in a few songs from their (damn good) new album Something for Everybody, played “Whip It” surprisingly early in the set, then went on a fans-only trip from there that had this old-school Devo fan flipping out. “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA”? Hell, yes.

F**k Buttons, Sony Bloggie Stage
Went to catch up with my buddy Tim at this set, but he was already bored and moving on before I got there.

Second cover song of the day: Matt & Kim doing Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.”

Kim of Matt & Kim also had the quote of the day, when she talked of wanting the people working the Jumbotron to do a close-up of her tits.

Neon Trees, BMI stage
These guys sounded pretty good, and the singer said he saw some kids sneak over the fence. It was amazing to watch everyone bail on their set after they played “Animal,” though. Same thing happened during Devo’s set after “Whip It.”

Hot Chip, Parkways Soundstage
There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with Hoy Chip’s set, but I had been on my feet for six hours at that point, and I needed to rest. Went to lie down on the hillside, and fell asleep. Damn, that felt good.

Meanwhile, the crowd gathering for Lady Gaga is without question the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen, at Lolla or anywhere else. all of Grant Park is a sea of bodies. And there’s still one more band to go before she takes the stage.

Ass Pear edit

Lady Gaga wannabe ass pear.

Chromeo, adidas Stage
These band of funk poppers are about to jump to the next level. The new material was good, and they know how to entertain a crowd. They even fooled around with Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing,” with one of them singing in Auto-Tune, “I want my Chromeo.” Nice

Lady Gaga, Parkways Soundstage
Say this for the girl – she puts on an elaborate show. There was a car on the stage with a keyboard built into it, and one of her backing singers looked like Grace Jones. The problem is that there were a lot of young kids there to see her, and Ms. Gaga spent a bunch of the time swearing like a sailor. It grew tiresome. And at any rate, there was someone else we wanted to check out.

2ManyDJs, Perry’s
The brothers in Soulwax – speaking of which, any time you guys want to make another Soulwax album is all right with me – closed the DJ tent with a fun set that featured the Chemical Brothers, 808 State, Guns ‘n Roses, the KLF, Stardust (a.k.a. Daft Punk), the Clash, the Gossip and even Pink Floyd in a medley of songs about money. The graphics that they had synced up with the set were awesome too, taking the album covers of the songs they’re spinning and bringing them to life. Best of all was the shot of Nicolas Cage and what I’m pretty sure was Macaulay Culkin. Fun times.

Big, big opening day. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Saturday isn’t quite as hectic. Looking forward to seeing Green Day tear the place down. They’re booked for two hours and 15 minutes, which is the longest set we’ve seen at Lolla yet. I’m pretty sure they’ll make it count. For now, though, it’s time for bed.

Alternative, Artists, Concerts, Dance, Electronica, Lollapalooza, Metal, Pop, Reggae, Rock

Lollapalooza 2010 Pre-Day One: Choose your battles

August 4, 2010 /

One of the things about Lollapalooza’s marketing angle was that we’ve always found amusing is the idea that the consumer was getting well over 100 bands for about $200, so they’re paying about two bucks per band. The problem with that logic, of course, is that most of the time there are five bands playing at once, meaning that you couldn’t possibly see every band that you’re supposedly paying two bucks to see. And that’s all right – we get that they’re trying to provide as much entertainment for as many different musical cliques as possible, and that’s how it should be. Yes, it may create the occasional conflict – last year’s biggie for us was when they pitted the Kaiser Chiefs against the Airborne Toxic Event – but for the most part, the worst thing you’ll have to deal with is missing the beginning or end of a band’s set as you’re trekking from the northern stages to the southern stages, or vice versa.

This year, however, boasts some scheduling conflicts that frankly have us scratching our heads. Why, for example, book Mavis Staples and Raphael Saadiq, presumably here to add some color to a largely lily-white music festival, and then have them play at the same time? Odds are, anyone who’s interested in seeing one of those two would like to see the other; why make that impossible? If crowd control is the issue, it couldn’t have been too much trouble to have them play one after the other on opposite ends of Grant Park, would it? Or even better, have them play back to back on the north side or south side. We know that they all have other touring commitments that complicate things, but really, we see no reason why Saadiq and Staples couldn’t play against artists that, you know, they have nothing in common with.

But alas, there are a lot of bands that we’d love to see this year but can’t, due to some conflict or other. In order to see Devo, Green Day, 2Many DJs and Wolfmother, we’ll have to miss the New Pornographers, Cut Copy, Phoenix, the Strokes, and MGMT. On a heavily front-loaded lineup (Friday is easily the most star-studded lineup this year), missing out on five bands is big. We suspect that we’ll be killing much time at the DJ tent this year, and that’s all right: we had a great time there last year (thanks to our friend Leyla at Sunday Morning Soliloquy for showing us the light), and with the inclusion of Ancient Astronauts and 2ManyDJs, a.k.a. Soulwax (they’re huge in Belgium, because they were born and raised there), Perry Farrell clearly understands the importance of taking the DJ tent seriously. We still haven’t forgiven Beastie Boys DJ Mixmaster Mike, though, for making us late for the Go! Team in 2006 when he blew off his appearance at a Hard Rock function. No one’s late at Lolla, period. Well, except Amy Winehouse, and you all saw what happened after that. (much drinking and drugs…)

Still, scheduling conflicts aside, we’re looking forward to a fun – and if the current forecast is to be believed, not terribly hot – weekend of music, and though we’re missing the New Pornographers, we’re interviewing one of them next week. Wonder how she’ll react when we tell her we decided to see Devo instead…

Along with a giant, comprehensive recap of the festival highlights, there will be nightly recaps of each day’s events, so make sure to check back here each day to find out what went down.

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Concerts, Dance, Electronica, Hipster, Lollapalooza, Melodramatic, Pop, Rock

Squeeze: Spot the Difference

August 3, 2010 /


RIYL: The Beatles, Elvis Costello, Split Enz

Cynics will surely scoff at the idea of new wave legends Squeeze re-recording their best known songs, but not us, not after we learned that they made more money from their self-released 1999 album Domino than any of the albums they released for A&M, Reprise and IRS during their heyday. Think of Spot the Difference, so named because the band tried to make these new versions sound as close to the originals as possible, less as an album for consumers – because really, there is no need for fans of the band to buy this, unless they’re feeling generous and want to send the band some money – than it is for soundtrack supervisors and people in the biz. It stands to reason that the band made these so they could market these versions to anyone looking to use a Squeeze song in this movie or that TV show, asking for far less than Universal, who owns the originals, would ask, while still turning a nifty profit in the process. The consumer of said TV show or movie, meanwhile, will likely be none the wiser, since the band did an impressive job covering their own tunes. The only key difference is the placement of the vocals in the mix, as the lyrics are much easier to discern, though true Squeeze fans will notice tweaks in production here and there. As a commercial product, Spot the Difference is as nonessential as they come. As a business move, it’s remarkably shrewd. (XOXO 2010)

Squeeze MySpace page
Click to buy Spot the Difference from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Me, Myself, and iPod 7/28/10: Bayside High stole my record collection

July 28, 2010 /

esd ipod

Have a ton of stuff to do before heading off to Lolla next week, so this will be a short one.

Pete Yorn – Precious Stone
New track from Pete’s upcoming, Frank Black-produced album Self Titled. Sounds like Pete, but rawer, which is just what I was expecting.

Ex Norwegian – Jet Lag
Having reached out to me on MySpace a while back, these guys are quickly becoming a favorite around these parts. At the risk of tagging them as a throwback band – to the ’90s, no less – their sound is definitely not of this time. Big, ringing choruses, slightly dirty bass lines, horn-kissed verses…this would have been a #1 modern rock hit in 1995.

White Car – No Better
Holy Wax Trax, Batman. This Chicago industrial outfit has just made a track that will have fans of “Everyday Is Halloween” running for their Doc Martens.

Team Bayside High – No Sleeves Attached DJ Mix
In truth, this is not the most mind-blowing DJ mix you’ve ever heard. In fact, it’s pretty raw and basic, and when the drums kick in at the end of “Song 2,” I couldn’t help but wince a little. But I like their choice of songs, since they spend most of the time mixing rock songs, and I like the melding of rock and dance. Putting “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in here was a stretch (they had to speed it up to the point where it sounds unnatural), but we’ll still check out their DJ set at Lolla, schedule permitting.

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Dance, Downloads, Electronica, Industrial, Me Myself and iPod, Rock

Ex Norwegian: Sketch

July 22, 2010 /


RIYL: Matthew Sweet, Sloan, The Pursuit of Happiness

Proof positive in the existence of parallel universes. Sketch, the sophomore effort from Miami trio Ex Norwegian, is an otherworldly slab of catchy pop rock song after catchy pop rock song, conceived in some fantastic place where the ’90s power pop bubble never burst. (Lucky bastards never had to suffer through nu metal and emo. We want to go there, now.) Some of the songs bear the markings of a grunge influence – opening track “Jet Lag” opens with a D-tuned bass and chord sequence that would not have been out of place on Alice in Chains’ Dirt – and then when the chorus hits, it morphs into the best song Sloan never wrote, all sunny harmonies and ringing guitars. “Sky Diving” is a gorgeous slice of melancholic pop (likewise “Upper Hand”), and “Acting on an Island” deftly shifts time signatures around an unforgettable climbing melody. As comfortable with upbeat sing-a-longs as they are with darker, more introspective material – with the added bonus of having three musicians who can sing lead – Sketch is the sound of a band with limitless potential. Here’s hoping that bubble in which they’re living remains intact. (Ex Norwegian 2010)

Ex Norwegian MySpace page
Click to buy Sketch

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Power Pop, Rock

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