Category Archives: Music

Bands, albums and live reviews

Mavis Staples takes us there

Music, ,

I took a break from blogging due to the wedding, and was then busier than usual playing catch-up at work, and at home. Truth be told, I quite enjoyed all the relaxation, and grew rather used to not doing anything that didn’t have to be done.

I figured my next post would be discussing something quite monumental, for me, and that is the release of Mavis Staples’s Hope at the Hideout. The reason this is monumental for me is that a review I wrote on the TOC blog has been used as the liner notes printed in the CD insert. This marks the second of two liner notes-related goals I set for myself a long time ago: To be thanked in the liner notes of an album (which turned out to be May or May Not’s Bike EP) and to write the liner notes for one.

The story as to how this happened is uneventful: The publicist saw my review, she asked if they could include it as the liner notes for the album, I said yes, they did. Word for word.

I’m incredibly honored by this, and partly because of the timing. The CD comes out on Election Day. And the real story here is why it took me a while to post this. I intended to say more about tomorrow’s election; why I’ll be voting for Obama, how soul music factors into that; how I not only learned, but felt, U.S. history during the Mavis Staples show I wrote about; and why, despite the obvious ways in which Obama is not the Great Shining Hope so many people would like him to be, he is the candidate for those who wish to put “country first.”

But after a while, I realized I said it all in my review. It’s all there.

Do pick up the CD if you get the chance. It really was an amazing show. With the way digital delivery is rapidly usurping the physical product, I think I got my “liner notes” goal in just under the wire.

A Lollapalooza story you haven't heard

Music,

Lollapalooza is such a massive experience that it’s almost impossible to cover the full story of what happens there. Therefore, most people just end up covering the bands and/or any celebrity crap that goes along with it. When actual news happens – especially when it’s not related to the music – you end up dealing with organizers who aren’t prepared to deal with questions, not necessarily because they don’t want any bad press (although that’s part of it) but also because they don’t understand that real reporters have a job to do: Report the story that’s there. Just like asking questions about the actions of your government doesn’t make you an enemy of the state, asking questions about the story you’re being given by a promotional machine, doesn’t make you a hater of music and culture.

What happened during Rage Against the Machine’s set – inside the grounds of Lolla and out – has been mostly underreported or misreported (with the exceptions of the Sun-Times and Windy Citizen). But at least it’s been covered. There were likely many other stories that fell through the hole in coverage.

This was almost one of them.

I’ve got more thoughts on this, but I’m going to wait until there’s some follow-up first.

Update: As you can see, the post linked to above now includes a response from a Lolla spokeswoman who says “proper safety procedures” were followed. In addition, I’ve created a Flickr photo set of all the photos we have of the incident. You can view that here. I’ve asked some additional questions, which I’ve listed in the post at the TOC blog.

Lollapalooza (again) (and again…and again…)

Music,

I didn’t mention it at the end of the week, but hey: I’m at Lolla.

I’ve posted reviews of Witchcraft & Ting Tings, Sharon Jones, Raconteurs and documented some of general craziness, and the scary craziness like the fans outside rushing an open security gate during Rage Against The Machine.

You can read more reviews from TOC’s music staff on our blog, and follow along with the TOC Twitter stream as yours truly runs up his cell phone bill.

Our Man In Chicago recommends the following post to you

Music

Before we begin, did you check out TOC‘s Pitchfork coverage? It’s quite good.

Now then: I got this e-mail yesterday from Amazon UK:

“We’ve noticed that customers who have purchased or rated Spaced Out – The Very Best of William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy by William Shatner have also purchased The John Baker Tapes Vol.1 by John Baker. For this reason, you might like to know that The John Baker Tapes Vol.1 will be released on 28 July 2008.”

First: Yes, I did buy Spaced Out. Before you mock, listen to Spock sing “Both Sides Now,” and see if you don’t choke up a little.

Second: My first reaction to this was: “How idiotic. There’s absolutely no reason why someone who likes ironic renditions of hits and novelty songs of the ’60s would like this.”

Third: They’re totally right. As soon I read track titles like “Big Ben News Theme” and “Radio London (News Idents)”, I was looking up what the current exchange rate is, wondering if other Spaced Out purchasers also like Prime Minister’s Questions, and thinking about starting a Facebook group called “Marketers Know Me Better Than I Thought And That Scares Me.”

In conclusion: This is why I finally decided to read The Long Tail.

MP3 – “Both Sides Now” by Leonard Nimoy

Pitchforkin'

Music

This weekend I’ll be at Pitchfork Music Festival all weekend. We’ve got a really solid feature up, including a hipster fest checklist that’s pretty amusing.

We also rolled out a mobile version of our Pitchfork feature at timeoutchicago.com/p4kmobile. This is the first part of our plan to roll out more mobile-friendly TOC sites. Plus, reviews and photos all weekend at timeoutchicago.com/blog and updates to our Twitter stream, too.

And we’re not done yet! We’re asking readers to send us their own texts, photos, and overheards to p4ktoc at timeoutchicago.com. We’ll be posting them to timeoutchicago.tumblr.com.

So yeah, lots of online experiments stuff this weekend. We’ll see how it goes.

In other news, a banana was discovered in a tailpipe

Music

Am I the only person who read this story about a hijacked truck full of cigarettes and immediately thought of the scene from Beverly Hills Cop?

Really? Perhaps this song will refresh your memory.

Speaking of songs that will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day, have you heard the theme from Pineapple Express by Huey Lewis and the News? Horns and handclaps? Yes, please.

It’s weird to hear Huey Lewis talking about drugs. It’s kind of like hearing your Dad talk about having sex with someone other than your Mom. Or your Mom, come to think of it.

Today’s "I’m going to hell for laughing at this" moment

Music

REO Speedwagon to play at flood benefit
REO Speedwagon returns to the Midwest to headline the Ridin’ the Storm Out – Floods of 2008 Relief Concert to be held July 16 at Prairie Meadows in Polk County, IA, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to flood victims. – TicketNews.com (Emphasis mine)

I’m sorry, but if your benefit show sounds like an Onion headline, expect chuckles. (I’m not heartless though: I had our intern write this post on resources and places to donate. It’s no “Time for Me To Fly” but we all do what we can.)

Also on the unintentionally funny front, every part of the intro – and Kevin Cronin’s hair – in this version of “Keep Pushing.”

That song also unintentionally (unexpectedly?) kinda rocks, right?
Right?
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