Vetiver at the Empty Bottle

Despite the fact that Vetiver's been together for six years, I somehow missed seeing the band until last night (March 10) at the Empty Bottle. The group's been called "freak folk," not one of my favorite genre labels, but Vetiver certainly has a folk-rock feeling. I'm particularly fond of Vetiver's second full-length record, the 2006 release To Find Me Gone, which has strong melodies as well as a somewhat spooky mood.

I was glad to hear some songs from that record Wednesday night. The songs from Vetiver's 2009's record Tight Knit sounded a bit more conventional, but still pretty enjoyable. I wonder if something rubbed off on Vetiver when the band played as ex-Jayhawks singer Gary Louris' backing group? www.vetiverse.com

The show started off with an opening act all the way from the Czech Republic, Please the Trees, who played a cool, rocking set. Looking up the band on myspace, I see that it describes its influences as "sound, noise, silence, wood, river, sea, sky, light, love," while the sound is described as "Something in between Abba and Helmet." www.myspace.com/pleasethetrees

The second band was Chicago's Robbie Hamilton & Soft Drugs, who played rock with an early '70s country-rock tinge, including a shout-out to Gram Parsons. Some good songs, though the set got a little sloppy at the end. www.myspace.com/robbiehamiltonmusic

It was a frustrating night for taking photos, especially during the headlining set by Vetiver. The band's singer and songwriter, Andy Cabic, was under dim red lighting for the entirety of the show, so if you don't see many pictures of Cabic in my gallery, that's why. Photos of Vetiver, Please the Trees and Robbie Hamilton & Soft Drugs.

New concert photos

I'm catching up today on a backlog of concert photos from the past week. Here you go...


A couple of extra photos of A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW March 3 at Schubas are on flickr here and here

My photos of ATOMIC March 5 at the Green Mill are on the Chicago Reader's Photo Pit page, both online and in print.

MUCCA PAZZA March 6 at St. Paul's Cultural Center. (Some of the photos are also posted on flickr.

Also on flickr: Close-up shots of the pipe organ at St. Paul's.


THE MAGNETIC FIELDS March 7 at the Harris Theater. (A couple of shots are on flickr, too.)

EFTERKLANG March 8 at Lincoln Hall. (Some photos are also posted on flickr.)

VETIVER with PLEASE THE TREES and ROBBIE HAMILTON & SOFT DRUGS March 10 at the Empty Bottle. (Some photos are posted on flickr, too.)

Efterklang at Lincoln Hall

The Danish band Efterklang makes music that's both alluring and somewhat elusive. I especially liked Efterklang's 2007 record Parades, the sort of album that grows on you after repeated listens, revealing more layers. Efterklang's new CD, Magic Chairs, sounds perhaps a little more straightforward, though it's a far cry from boilerplate pop music.

Efterklang played a warmly glowing set of its new and old songs Monday (March 8) at Chicago's Lincoln Hall (a venue that these touring Danes seemed to find a little strange, for some reason). Lead vocalists Casper Clausen spent most of the concert holding drumsticks, adding a second layer of percussion to the main drumming. The rest of the band was arrayed in a semi-circle behind Clausen and bassist Rasmus Stolberg, playing an ever-shifting mix of keyboards, flute, trumpet and guitar.

In addition to six songs from Magic Chairs, Efterklang played a few of the great tracks from Parades ("Mirador," "Blowing Lungs Like Bubbles" and "Cutting Ice to Snow") and two songs from Efterklang's first album, Tripper ("Step Aside" and "Chapter 6").

Photos of Efterklang.

Magnetic Fields etc.

A wonderful performance by the Magnetic Fields on Sunday evening (Feb.7) capped off my musical weekend. Two years ago, when Stephin Merritt and his ensemble played at the Old Town School of Folk Music, they were touring in support of a record called Distortion, which did in fact feature a lot of distortion and guitar feedback. There was no distortion or noise during the concert, however, as the Magnetic Fields played everything in a quiet, staid, chamber-like folk style. I remember thinking that as much as I enjoy some of the Magnetic Fields' more upbeat, pop sort of studio recordings, this unplugged format was really what I preferred to hear, at least in concert.

The Magnetic Fields are back in Chicago for two shows at the Harris Theater (booked in conjunction with the Old Town School), and this time, the group is touring in support of a record, Realism, which actually sounds like that live show from two years ago. Everything's acoustic and folkie. And so it was in concert again, too. Given Merritt's mercurial nature, I half-expected him to show up this time with electric guitars, but no, that didn't happen.

As usual, Merritt sat on a stool at one end of the stage, playing ukulele on some songs, singing lead vocals in his croaky baritone on maybe half of the songs, surveying the rest of the band with a deadpan expression, occasionally offering sarcastic observations. At least, you think they're sarcastic. He's so deadpan, it's hard to tell. Lined up across the stage in chairs, the rest of the band played acoustic guitar, cello (or was that A viola da gamba?), keyboard and autoharp. Claudia Gonson is his main foil, handling much of the song-intro duties and engaging Merritt in odd little dialogues that don't always go anywhere ... all of which is generally pretty amusing.

Merritt's voice is not the most subtle of instruments, so he wisely divvies up the lead vocals, letting Gonson and Shirley Simms sing the tunes that require more range. And they sounded lovely Sunday, signing in a understated style well-suited to Merritt's songs. Rather than play a lot of songs from the new record, the Magnetic Fields cherry-picked stuff from throughout their catalogue, going all the way back to early songs such as "100000 Firelies" and even playing a few songs from side project The 6ths. Of course, Merritt & Co. left out a lot of great songs, but that's always going to be the case with someone who has so many.

The opening act was Laura Barrett, a Canadian folkie who played tinkly tunes on a thumb piano with cute lyrics about subjects such as robot ponies. This is the sort of thing some people will find unbearably precious. I found her charming enough in small doses.

Photos of the Magnetic Fields.

Other shows I saw this past weekend: The Scandinavian jazz group Atomic sounded terrific Friday night at the Green Mill. My photos of Atomic are on the Chicago Reader's Photo Pit page.

And Mucca Pazza stormed Saturday night into St. Paul's Cultural Center (an old church converted into a sort of hipster art venue) for a typically festive, raucous performance. I'll post photos from these shows later in the week. Photos of Mucca Pazza.

Tonight: Efterklang at Lincoln Hall.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow

There are a lot of bands recently with geographical names, but it seems like most of them are not actually from the places mentioned in their band names. Portugal the Man? They're from Alaska. I'm From Barcelona? They're from Sweden. Illinois? They're from Pennsylvania. Continuing in this vein, there's the band A Sunny Day in Glasgow. In all fairness, one of the band's former members actually used to live in Glasgow, Scotland, but the group is based in Philadelphia, and that guy isn't even in the band anymore (if wikipedia is to be believed). So the band name is more about the mood and style of the music than where the musicians are from.

I won't go on at length about this band, because they're new to me, even though they've been playing for a few years. They came to Schubas on Wednesday (March 3) and played a quite enjoyable set of indie pop music, with a big emphasis on tuneful vocals. The group's gone through some lineup changes, and I don't know how this version of Sunny Day compares with previous ones, but the pair of female singers, Jen Goma and Annie Fredrickson, were fun both to hear and watch. The group finished its show with a Fleetwood Mac cover, "Everywhere." Like the band's name, it all sounded pretty sunny.
asunnydayinglasgow.com
www.myspace.com/sunnydayinglasgow

Photos of A Sunny Day in Glasgow and opening act Acrylics.

Ike Reilly at Schubas

When you see the enthusiasm of Ike Reilly's fans — the way they recognize his catchiest songs, the way they sing along, the way they shout out, "I love you, Ike!" — it seems clear that this guy could be a star. The reality is, however, that he's more of a hidden treasure. Reilly, who still lives in his hometown of Libertyville up in Lake County, has a pretty good following here in Chicago and some other places, but like most indie-label artists, he doesn't get all the radio airplay that he deserves.

Reilly has a strong album out called Hard Luck Stories, and he wrapped up a string of four Monday-night concerts at Schubas this week. The room filled up pretty well for a Monday evening, and it was obvious that some of Reilly's true believers were in attendance. Although one of Reilly's musicians was absent for the night, his band (the Ike Reilly Assassination) delivered the songs in lean, tight performances. In his gruff voice, Reilly sang his story songs about characters that seem so real. And he hooked his audience with the catchy choruses of shoulda-been hits like "When Irish Eyes are Burning."

My only complaint: I was hoping to hear a song from Reilly's new record that's been caught in my mind lately, "The Ballad of Jack and Haley." Oh, well, I guess I should have requested it online beforehand, which is how some of the fans at Schubas got to hear their Reilly faves.

Photos of the Ike Reilly Assassination.

Tinariwen at Old Town School

A concert experience doesn't get much cooler than this: Taking a guitar workshop in the afternoon with a musician who's visiting from his homeland in the Sahara Desert. And then seeing a mesmerizing concert in the evening by the same musician's band. Now, where in Chicago can you get an experience like that? At the Old Town School of Folk Music, of course.

The band I'm talking about is Tinariwen, a group that has gained an international following in recent years despite coming from one of those unlikely places most people have never even heard of. They're Touareg or Tamashek, a nomadic people with no real country to call their own, living in the sands of Mali. They play amplified guitars. Robert Plant's a fan. They've released four great albums over the past decade, including one that made my top 10 list for 2009, Imidiwan: Companions. And they played three sold-out concerts this past weekend at the Old Town School.

On Sunday afternoon, members of the band took part in workshops with local students: one class for guitarists and one for percussionists. I signed up for the guitar class, which featured Tinariwen member Abdallah Ag Alhoussenyni, assisted by Old Town School instructor Nathaniel Braddock. Around 25 guitarists (all but a few of them male) sat in a big circle while Alhoussenyni demonstrated some of the basic musical elements that go into Tinariwen's music. We were lucky to have a student who was fluent in French, who interpreted what Alhoussenyni was saying.

If you know anything about the pentatonic scales on the guitar, it wouldn't be too hard to start playing along with Tinariwen. Alhoussenyni demonstrated a couple of ways he plays. One was a standard guitar tuning with an E minor pentatonic scale. The low E strong gets plucked by the thumb a lot as a drone note, while there's a lot of hammering and pulling off notes on the second frets on the A, D and G strings. Braddock pointed out that Alhoussenyni was also playing a note you wouldn't normally expect in this scale, a D sharp on the B string, a passing tone that added the feeling of a major seventh chord.

The other tuning Alhoussenyni demonstrated was similar to standard, except that the low E string was tuned up to a G. The same pentatonic scale was played on the other five strings, but now G was the bass drone, and we also played the two G strings in a tick-tock sort of octave rhythm. (Actually, I'm simplifying one thing about all of this. Alhoussenyni normally plays his guitar with all of the strings tuned a half-step lower than what I'm describing, but to make things easy for the students, he put a capo on the first fret.)

Although the full band arrangements of Tinariwen songs do include a guitar playing Barre chords, with occasional chord changes, when Alhoussenyni was playing by himself or leading the class, it became apparent that chords are not really the point of this music. The songs often stay on one "chord," if you can call it that, for a long time, basically vamping on top of the same bass notes. Of course, when the whole band's playing, there are also some really compelling bass lines that flesh out the sound and keep the music moving.

Alhoussenyni was serious and reserved as a teacher, but despite the language barrier he seemed to be intent on checking on each student's playing, trying to impart a little bit of musical wisdom. As he explained to us, it's less important to memorize a Tinariwen song than it is to learn the musical ideas behind the songs. At the end of the workshop, the percussion class joined together with the guitarists, and Alhoussenyni sang above the somewhat clamorus music.

Ninety minutes later, Alhoussenyni was on the stage at the Old Town School of Folk Music, his head now wrapped in desert garb. Unusual for a concert at the Old Town School, this Tinariwen concert had an open space on the floor for dancing, and a number of audience members took advantage of it. It was hard not to dance as Tinariwen played those infectious grooves.

Demonstrating that Tinariwen's pentatonic music isn't that far removed from American blues, local bluesman Billy Branch joined the band for one song, adding some soulful harmonica to the mix.

Tinariwen's front man, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, hasn't played with the band in Chicago during its shows of the last few years. Reportedly, he's been in fragile health, suffering from malaria and exhaustion. But he was with the band this time, coming onto the stage a few songs into Sunday night's concert. With a wild shock of hair and a weathered face, Alhabib looked more subdued than his bandmates, and his singing added a more bittersweet, world-weary edge to the music.

The members of Tinariwen spoke only a few words of English during the performance, including the apt exclamation: "Welcome to the desert!" Their music transcended the need for translation, although it does gain some depth of emotion if you read the English translations of their lyrics.

These Tamashek sing poetically about life in the desert and their struggle for freedom. Here is the translation of "Kel Tamashek," from Tinariwen's most recent album:

Tamashek people, open your eyes
Tamashek people, wake up
We're in a world that's moving fast
He who doesn't pay heed will be lost
He who isn't careful will be lost
Nothing will come back
Please, Tamashek people, rise up!
Please, listen to one another
Great ignorance
Is the sole cause of suffering and loss
An old woman who doesn't command a turban to be worn,
The young woman understands everything
Here's a hidden meaning that you must appreciate

Photos of Tinariwen.

Laura Veirs at Schubas

How many women would go on tour and perform concerts if they were eight months pregnant? Laura Veirs did, showing up Saturday night (Feb. 28) at Schubas in Chicago, looking very "with child," as they say. She didn't act the least bit uncomfortable, however, seeming completely at ease as she performed songs from her excellent new record, July Flame, as well as a good number of older tunes. And despite the fact that she's about to become a mother, Veirs vowed to be back soon, baby in tow.

It's been a mystery to me why Veirs hasn't gained more popularity over the years. She's made several albums of wonderful folk-rock songs, writing smart lyrics and singing insinuating melodies in an appealingly open, honest voice. She deserves a spot in the top tier of today's singer-songwriters, but she still doesn't have a lot of name recognition. She used to be on the prestigious Nonesuch label, but now (like a good number of other artists abandoned by the majors) she is releasing her records on her own label, Raven Marching Band. More power to her.

Veirs' songs rang out strong and clear Saturday night. And in case anyone wants to try playing those songs, she was selling a July Flame songbook with lyrics, chords and guitar tabs. That's something I'd like to see more often at merch tables. (I bought one and got Veirs' autograph. You can buy a copy at Veirs' Web site.

Photos of Laura Veirs.

Alec Ounsworth at Schubas

Five years ago, indie-rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were all the rage, getting lots of hype and seemingly coming out of nowhere. And then, as happens so often whenever there's hype, there was some backlash. In hindsight, the band's self-titled debut holds up well. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah hasn't lived up to expectations since then, however. With the group apparently on hiatus, lead singer Alec Ounsworth came to Chicago Thursday (Feb. 25) for a show at Schubas. It seemed as if a fair number of the fans in attendance showed up for opening act Ezra Furman and the Harpoons. By the end of the night, when Ounsworth finished his set, the attendance was less than you'd expect for a once-hyped indie star.

Ounsworth's voice has always been a little wobbly, with a tendency to veer off-key. That sort of singing — emotionally searing but potentially grating — has been in vogue for several years now in indie rock. (Furman does it, too.) There's a thin line between the good and bad when attempt this sort of barely controlled attack on the notes. On Thursday, Ounsworth landed on the good side of that line. With his hat, eyeglasses and mustache, he looked a bit like a character from sort sort of costume drama. And he had an unusual presence on the stage — barely moving around during the instrumental breaks other than tilting his head this way and that.

Ounsworth played songs from his recent solo debut, Mo Beauty, and another record, Skin and Bones, which he made under the moniker Flashy Python. He also played a bit of his repertoire from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, including "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood." His backing musicians were a lively bunch, bringing a quirky sense of energy to the tunes.

Photos of Alec Ounsworth and Ezra Furman.

Masters of Persian Music

Within the vast realms of so-called "world music," some foreign musical traditions get an additional label: "classical." It's often hard to define exactly which music is classical or folk or pop or something else altogether, but if a musical style has centuries of tradition, rigorous training and complex theoretical foundations, it probably deserves to be called "classical" just as much as the music of Bach or Mozart does. Such is the case with Persian classical music. Yet at the same time, Persian classical music involves elements of improvisation. So is it more like jazz? And when vocalists sing Persian poetry, it can sound not all that far-removed from folk music. And is easy to imagine this music channeled into something more like Western rock music. Ah, such is the futility of obsessing too much about labels.

In any case, Persian music received the sort of reverence and respect it deserves on Tuesday night (Feb. 23) with a concert at Chicago's Symphony Center by the aptly named ensemble Masters of Persian Music. One of the stars of this year's tour is Kayhan Kalhor, who plays a violin-like instrument called the kamancheh (and who recorded a terrific 2008 album called Silent City with the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, who performed a local concert last week.)

The first half of Tuesday's concert was a 45-minute improvised duet between Kalhor and Hossen Alizadeh, who was playing the shour angiz, an instrument similar to a lute or bouzouki. At times, Kalhor and Alizadeh were simultaneously playing distinct melodies, while staying in perfect harmony with one another. It seemed as if they were coming up with a sophisticated counterpoint right on the spot. At other times, their duet became a call and response, with the airy tone of the five-string kamancheh repeating the trilled notes of the shour angiz (or vice versa). The music rose and fell several times, moving from meditation to frenzy, from a feeling of stasis to a sensation of galloping.

After an intermission, Kalhor and Alizadeh were joined by singer Hamid Reza Nourbakhsh and four other musicians. Siamak Jahangiry played the ney, a kind of flute; Hamidreza Maleki played the santur, a percussive string instrument similar to the cimbalom or zither; Pezham Akhavass played the tombak drum; and Fariborz Azizi played the bass tar (a variation of guitar). Alizadeh switched to playing tar during this set.

The ensemble performed a series of songs based on old Persian Sufi poems. The songs ran together into one seamless set, about an hour long, sometimes delicate and tinkly, sometimes fierce and rhythmic. Some of the other musicians chanted in unison with Nourbakhsh at times. Nourbaksh's singing sometimes brought to mind the Pakistani Sufi singer Nusrah Fateh Ali Khan. In quieter moment, he sang with a placid, peaceful sense, but then he would let loose with some strong, piercing notes. The overall effect conjured up images in my mind of musicians and singers sitting in a royal court in ancient Persia, performing for a king.

The CSO program for this concert included English translations of the beautiful poems being sung. I was especially struck by a poem by Shaf'i Kadkani, which includes this couplet:

Alas for this hypocrite people who in this two-faced city
Are, all of them, by day sheriff and by night wine-sellers.

Retribution Gospel Choir

Alan Sparhawk is best known as the singer and guitarist for Low, a band that plays most of its songs at a slow tempo and hushed volume level, to strangely mesmerizing effect. Low turns up the sound once in a while, but Sparhawk plays just about everything loud with his other band, Retribution Gospel Choir. The "choir" has a new album out on the Sub Pop label, its second record, aptly if not so imaginatively titled 2. And Retribution Gospel Choir came to Chicago Friday night (Feb. 19) for a sold-out show at the Hideout.

This was quite different from a Low concert. Instead of that chilled-out meditative mood, the feeling was all-out rock show. Sparhawk grimaced and flung his hair around as he played one hard-rocking riff and guitar solo after another — and yet, that appealing voice of his still sounded familiar from those old Low records. Bassist Steve Garrington and drummer (plus backup singer) Eric Pollard kept the music moving forward all night.

Retribution Gospel Choir played a lot of the songs off its new album, which is a solid collection of catchy, dare we say, almost mainstream-sounding rock songs. There's a bit of classic rock in the choir's formula, but it's played with such conviction that it never feels like cliché.
www.retributiongospelchoir.com
www.myspace.com/retributiongospelchoir

Photos of Retribution Gospel Choir.

Brooklyn Rider at Dominican

Brooklyn Rider sounds more like the name of a rock band than a string quartet, and these four musicians also perform a bit like rock musicians. Sunday afternoon, they strode up the aisle in a chapel at Dominican University in River Forest and took up their positions in front of the attentive audience. Cellist Eric Jacobsen sat down, but the other three played standing up, sometimes swaying or exchanging smiles as they performed modern classical music with precision and power.

I first heard of Brooklyn Rider when the group backed up Persian kamancheh virtuso Kayhan Kalhor on the album called Silent City, a bracing and beautiful combination of Middle Eastern music with string quartet, which made my top 10 list for 2008. Brooklyn Rider has just released a CD titled Dominant Curve, and the quartet was in town this weekend to perform some of the compositions on that collection, as well as a few others.

The centerpiece of the CD is Claude Debussy's String Quartet in G minor (Opus 10), and it was the climax of the concert, too. Brooklyn Rider captured the full range of the piece, from delicate pizzicato passages and soft, lyrical melodies to a vibrant section that almost made you feel like getting up to dance. Two of the other pieces in the concert (also on the CD) drew inspiration from Debussy: Uzbek composer Dimitri Yanov-Yanovskly's "..al niente" and Brooklyn Rider violinist Colin Jacobsen's own composition, "Achille's Heel."

The first half of Jacobsen's suite was actually a trio, since the other violinist, Johnny Gandelsman, was just standing there watching as Jacobsen and violist Nicholas Cords played with bold, decisive strokes. But then Gandelsman joined in, helping the quartet to conclude "Achille's Heel" on a lovely note, with a touch of Persian influence.

The concert also included Giovanni Sollima's "Frederico II" from "Viaggio in Italia" and Philip Glass' String Quartet #4 ("Buczak"). According to the concert program, Brooklyn Rider is learning all of Glass' music for string quartets. The second movement of this piece was especially strong, with a swooning sense of motion -- romantic, delirious and slightly ominous.
www.brooklynrider.com

Oboe Overload

The oboe is one of those instruments rarely heard outside the context of orchestral music. But this expressive instrument got a moment in the spotlight Friday night (Feb. 12). The International Contemporary Ensemble held a concert called "Oboe Overload" at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Photography, featuring ICE's two oboists, Nick Masterson and James Austin Smith.

ICE specializes in performing new and avant-garde music, and Friday's concert was no exception. Masterson and Smith opened with Christian Wolff's 1964 composition "for 1, 2, or 3 people," which included foot stomping and scraping noises made with music stands in addition to frantic bursts of oboe melody. I was wondering what the sheet music looked like, and after the performance, Smith showed the audience a page — covered with a variety of graphic symbols, like some sort of coded puzzle.

The concert also included Luciano Berio's "Sequenza VIIa," Bradley Balliett's "Slow-Burning Sarabande" (a world premiere, with the composer in attendance), Jonathan Harvey's "Ricercare una melodia" and Michael Finnissy's "Yso." Named after a form of dance, Balliett's "Slow-Burning Sarabande" was too abstract to provoke any actual dancing, but it colorfully captured the sense of two voices flirting with and seducing each other. Harvey's composition, meanwhile, used electronic delay to play around with the idea of memory. The oboists seemed to be chasing after their own notes, trying to grasp melodies as they flitted away.

Throughout all of these challenging pieces, Masterson and Smith played with a sense of spontaneity and fierce intensity. www.iceorg.org

Robbie Fulks at the Hideout

Robbie Fulks, one of Chicago's most talented and most entertaining musicians, is playing at the Hideout every Monday night in February. After missing week one of Fulks' residency, I caught his performance last night, an evening of lovely duets with another terrific Chicago singer, Nora O'Connor. The two sat on chairs and played acoustic guitars, with Fulks' fingers plucking fast runs of bluegrass notes while O'Connor played rhythm chords. O'Connor's no slouch on guitar, as evidenced by her playing in the Blacks, but she was modest about her abilities Monday. At one point, when Fulks said, "Take it, Nora!" she responded with a sarcastic, "Please!"

Fulks and O'Connor played some old-timey bluegrass and gospel tunes, such as "The Lost Indian" and Flatt and Scrugg's "Take Me in Your Lifeboat." Of course, they played some of their own songs as well — a couple of recent Fulks songs and a couple of oldies, plus some of the best tracks off O'Connor's excellent (and thus far only) solo record, 2004's Til the Dawn. And some cool covers: Fulks taking the lead on George Jones' "The Flame In My Heart," and O'Connor singing M. Ward's "Helicopter," Fleetwood Mac's "That's Alright" and Ketty Lester's "Love Letters." In between songs, Fulks was as funny as ever with his stage banter.

As Fulks remarked, how can you go wrong with two people playing acoustic guitars and singing? Well, actually, that sort of thing can go wrong, but that's not likely to happen with these two. Each of them made the other's songs feel more complete.

Fulks continues his Hideout residency on Feb. 15 with a string trio. On Feb. 22, he'll have his full band playing with him. The shows start at 7 p.m., and the suggested donation for admission is $10. www.hideoutchicago.com www.robbiefulks.com

Photos of Robbie Fulks and Nora O'Connor.

Explode Into Colors

I was looking for something new and different to see Friday night, and I found it — an exciting all-female trio from Portland, Ore., called Explode Into Colors. This group doesn't even have a proper album out yet, just a cassette and some singles, but it's already making very lively, percussion-heavy rock. When I heard that they were an all-girl trio from the Pacific Northwest, I immediately thought of Sleater-Kinney. Explode Into Color's music is more out there, more experimental than S-K, though there's a similar sense of energy.

The Explode ladies put on a really good show Friday (Feb. 5) at Subterranean. Although the songs sound like they're anchored by bass lines, that's actually lead singer Claudia Meza's baritone guitar. And no wonder the recordings sound like they have a lot of drums — Lisa Schonberg drums while Heather Treadway is a triple threat on drums, keyboards and vocals. The three of them were lined up across the front of the Subt stage. When a band doesn't hide the drum kit in back, that's always a sign that you're going to hear some music with interesting percussion, and that turned out to be the case Friday night. Explode Into Colors does not apparently have a lot of songs yet, and the trio played a fairly short set during this show, which was their first appearance in Chicago. Hope they're back soon.
www.myspace.com/explodeintocolors

Alas, the bracing set by Explode Into Colors was a sharp contrast with the cheesy opening sets by two Chicago groups. I hate to tear down any aspiring local musical act with harsh criticism, and I'll note that both of the opening bands did draw a decent number of fans. But it's a shame Subterranean didn't find more appropriate openers to go with Explode Into Colors.

Photos of Explode Into Colors.

Chicago Underground Duo

Technically speaking, the Chicago Underground Duo isn't exactly based in Chicago anymore. These two jazz musicians, Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor, spend most of their time now living elsewhere. But they've kept Chicago in their band name, and they still record for that fine Chicago label, Thrill Jockey. And they were back on their old home turf Wednesday night (Feb. 3) for a free show at the Chicago Cultural Center.

It was a superb set, filled with really nice moments from both players. Mazurek was a master at getting different tones out of his cornet, using various mutes and aiming his horn at various angles to the microphone. When Mazurek got quiet, it was like his cornet was whispering or crying out at a great distance away. Meanwhile, Taylor's drumming was far more than mere time keeping. He squeezed expressive sounds out of those drums, playing quirky patterns and making the rhythms seem almost melodic. He also played the vibraphone (sometimes simultaneously with the drums), including some hypnotically repeating series of notes that laid the groundwork for Mazurek's solos.

The fact that these guys call themselves "underground" might lead you to think they're experimental or, well, "difficult." And yes, there is an experimental spirit to their collaborations, including the excellent new record Boca Negra. But what was striking about Wednesday's performance was just how accessible this music is to anyone listening with open ears. You'll get another chance to see the Chicago Underground Duo soon, when they play a CD-release party Feb. 20 at the Hideout.

Photos of the Chicago Underground Duo.

Nouvelle Vague at Lincoln Hall

The idea behind the band Nouvelle Vague is to play songs from the new wave and early punk era like bossa nova or Brazilian lounge music, with sexy French ladies handling the vocals. Nouvelle Vague (the brainchild of French producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux) has recorded some lovely, quirky covers on its three albums, although the whole concept is pretty gimmicky. The shtick wears thin after a while, but it's enjoyable for a song or two or three.

The touring version of Nouvelle Vague came to Chicago Friday night for a show at Lincoln Hall. And how can you go wrong when you've got a couple of sexy French ladies singing cool old songs that we all like? (Well, a lot of like those songs, anyway.) It was fun hearing songs like XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel," the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" and Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love?" done up in this style.

The group records in the studio with a revolving cast of singers, but it had just two on tour. I don't believe they ever got introduced during the show, which seems like a weird oversight. Or maybe they were supposed to be sort of anonymous? I'm told these two were Helena Noguerra and Karina Zeviani. Whoever they were, they did a fine job singing these songs, shaking their hair and striking poses, while the band played light versions of these tunes that used to rock hard. It was quite entertaining for a while, although it was still, in the end, a bit of a gimmick.

Nouvelle Vague was nicely paired with an opening act that sings some songs in French, Clare and the Reasons. As in previous Chicago gigs, this delightful trio delivered cool, jazzy pop music with some funny stage banter and a lot of personality in between the songs. It was too bad to hear that their vehicle was broken into during this visit to Chicago. Hope they don't get scared off from visiting again soon.

Photos of Nouvelle Vauge and Clare and the Reasons.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: I'm informed that one of the two singers I referred to above as French ladies (Karina Zeviani) is actually Brazilian.

Tape and Mountains

Thursday (Jan. 28) was a night of instrumental and mostly mellow music at the Empty Bottle. All three acts on the bill played slow-moving, ambient music, the sort of stuff that makes you meditate more than it makes you dance. It was a fairly cool evening of chilling out (with frigid temperatures outside).

The headliners were Sweden's Tape — four musicians playing a laptop, guitar, drums and keyboards, with a bit of harmonica thrown in. Despite the electronic elements, the music sounded almost organic, with some bits that were almost like folk music mashed together with washes of electronic texture.

The show also featured the Brooklyn ambient duo Mountains. Playing without any pause during their set, Mountains played acoustic instruments like guitars, harmoniums and melodicas, processing them through a mound of electronic equipment until they were virtually unrecognizable, making waves of echoing, reverb-heavy chords.

Appropriately enough, the first act of the night was the Chicago duo David Daniell and Douglas McCombs, whom I've seen numerous times and written about here previously. This time, they played without any percussion, but they still created beautiful, glacial sounds with their two guitars.

Photos of Tape, Mountains and David Daniell & Douglas McCombs.

Hideout helps out Haiti

You can always count on the Hideout to get behind a good cause. Within days after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, the Hideout put together a benefit show to raise money. Two of Chicago's stalwart bands, Eleventh Dream Day and the Waco Brothers, played rousing sets Monday at the club, raising almost $8,000 for Partners in Health. Sally Timms of the Mekons was one of the key organizers of the event, which also featured a bake sale and a bake sale organized by My Vegetable Blog and a poster sale by Kathleen Judge of Judgeworks. If you didn't make it to the sold-out show, you can still help out by buying one of the posters shown here. (Poster sale proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders and Partners and Health.)

Eleventh Dream Day played first, delivering the sort of hard-charging rock we've come to expect — including three songs that have not yet been released, "Satellite," "More Than Luck" and a tune with the phrase "Fades Away" in the chorus. All sounded like they'll be great additions to the EDD catalogue — whenever the band gets around to recording them. It was also cool to hear EDD playing music from its classic album Beet.

The Waco Brothers did their thing, and they did it very well. They're easy to take for granted, since they play so often and since they make it all look so easy, but they're about as much fun to watch as any group in Chicago. Hideout owner Tim Tuten was absent (working at his day job in Washington, D.C.), but Jon Langford read a few text messages from Tim aloud to simulate a classic Tuten introduction. And then the Wacos kicked their way through several of their best-known tunes and favorite covers, including Neil Young's "Revolution Blues," the Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought the Law," T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" and the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks." Bassist Alan Doughty accidentally knocked out the venue's trademark Christmas lights, which adorn the ceiling, when the lights got tangled up in his bass. Near the end of the show, Langford asked the crowd, "How late do you want us to play? We've got to wake up early and overthrow the government."

Tomorrow Never Knows

The Tomorrow Never Knows festival got bigger this year. It used to be a series of mid-January concerts at Schubas. This year, it was five nights of shows simultaneously happening at both Schubas and its new sister venue, Lincoln Hall. January is generally not all that exciting of a month on the concert calendar, but the TNK fest brought a good selection of up-and-coming indie-rock bands to Chicago.

I attended two of the shows during the festival. Last Thursday (Jan. 14) at Schubas, the headliners were Surfer Blood, a young band from Florida that's been getting some buzz lately. I like what I've heard of Surfer Blood's studio recordings. It might be a little too polished and amped up, but the power-pop single "Swim" is pretty darn catchy. The band has inspired some wild comparisons to other groups. Time Out Chicago said they sound like a mix of Asia and Brian Eno. Friends I follow on Twitter mentioned the Fixx and Boston. I was thinking more along the lines of the Ponys and OK Go. As a live act, Surfer Blood needs some practice. The band wasn't bad, but songs that would have been appealing as three-minute pop singles got stretched out twice as long as that, until the repetitive chord progressions just got boring. Then again, "Swim" sounded really strong without all that heavy compression and reverb on the studio record. Surfer Blood abruptly ended its set with drum-set-smashing antics... ensuring that there would be no encore.

Also on the bill Thursday, Freelance Whales played buoyant songs from its forthcoming debut LP, Weathervanes. The record's not out until March 16, but this band is already building a solid following. Freelance Whales also opened recently for Fanfarlo at Schubas, and Thursday's appearance was another energetic performance of the catchy songs on Weathervanes.

Thursday's show started out with the annoyingly named Lasers and Fast and Shit. With dramatic back lighting and lots of fog, the group hammered its way through some hard-edged post-punk. A couple of the songs had good hooks, but others sounded like run-of-the-mill rock.

And sandwiched in between all those bands was Bear in Heaven. A couple of the musicians in this Brooklyn band played in avant-garde guitarist Rhys Chatham's metal band, but Bear in Heaven doesn't play that sort of drony music. Its songs were ominous and dramatic, however.

On Saturday night, I was at Lincoln Hall for the triple bill of Julie Doiron, the Rural Alberta Advantage and Bowerbirds. Although the show was sold out, the room did not feel quite as jam-packed as I would have expected. I get the feeling some fans were there just for one band or another — and maybe some folks with festival passes were shuttling back and forth between Lincoln Hall and Schubas.

I saw Doiron play twice last year, once with a band and once solo. Saturday's show was like a hybrid of those, since she had just one musician accompanying her, William Kidman on guitar. She didn't talk as much as she during her last solo show (it would be hard for anyone to talk that much again), delivering a tighter set of some great songs, including at least one new composition and one very nice cover, Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home to Me."

The Rural Alberta Advantage were the middle band on the bill Saturday, but judging from the energy of their performance and the fan turnout, they should have been the headliners. This Canadian trio put out an excellent record in 2008 (when I discovered it on emusic), which then got wider release in 2009. Their music reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel, probably because the band's singer-songwriter Nils Edenloff sings in a strong tone similar to NHM's Jeff Mangum. The songs sounded lively Saturday night, thanks to the powerful drumming of Paul Banwatt and the many touches provided by multi-instrumentalist Amy Cole. Edenloff was suffering from a cold, and his vocals were ragged on some of the songs, especially when he belted out notes. I winced a few times at hearing Edenloff's voice crack, but he deserves a gold star for giving the music his full effort despite his illness. The RAA played a couple of new songs (which sounded like promising additions to the band's repertoire), and two covers: Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" and the theme of the Canadian kids' TV show, "The Littlest Hobo."

Bowerbirds finished off the night with a pretty performance of the band's folk-rock ballads. This Raleigh, N.C., band's 2009 record, Upper Air, really grew on me over time, with a lot of compositions that stick in the mind. In concert, Phil Moore's vocals and guitar blended beautifully with Beth Tacular's accordion and harmonies (though I wish Tacular would sing even more). All that being said, it was a very mellow set for midnight, lulling the crowd rather than rousing it. Maybe the Bowerbirds' set would have worked better earlier in the evening.

Photos from Tomorrow Never Knows. (I'm still waiting to get my camera from the repair shop, but I managed to get a few photos at these shows, thanks to the kind friends who let me use their cameras.)

My Gold Mask at the Hideout

My Gold Mask makes a lot of sound without much gear. The Chicago duo is Gretta Rochelle (who sings while she plays the drums, standing up) and Jack Armondo (who plays a nylon-string guitar, cranking it up much louder than a classical guitarist ever would). The two of them headlined at the Hideout on Saturday night (Jan. 9), selling out the place and filling the room with some enthusiastic fans.

Rochelle and Armondo sounded vibrant as they played songs from a new EP, A Thousand Voices, as well as their self-titled debut from last year — and one cover, Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes." The two of them are clearly having fun as they perform, and the fun is pretty catchy. One highlight was the new song, "Violet Eyes," which features some cool effects on the guitar and call-and-response vocals.

At the end of the set, My Gold Mask returned to the stage for one more song, naïvely asking, "Can we play another?" (Of course you can, guys!) It was apparently the first time My Gold Mask has ever had the chance to do an encore. It won't be the last.
www.mygoldmask.com
www.myspace.com/mygoldmask

The first act of the night was also quite impressive. Violetness is a female singer-songwriter from Chicago. Doesn't even have a record out yet. She's working on an EP, and she has a couple of songs posted at www.myspace.com/violetnessmusic. (Of the two posted tracks, the one I like is "Perfect Love Flow.") In concert, she was accompanied by a drummer and a cellist, and she played keyboards on some of the songs. In enjoyed the minimal arrangements. Her first song was just singing and drumming, which reminded me a bit of what the Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums does. Violetness has a strong voice, and she sometimes sings with a throaty tone and a jazzy swagger, with maybe a touch of Nina Simone. I can't wait to hear what she does in the studio.

Another Chicago act, the Bitter Tears, played in between Violetness and My Gold Mask. The Bitter Tears are rather hard to categorize, a bit alt-country and a bit ... glam? Well, maybe I just think glam rock when I see how they dress. The Tears like to put on makeup and outrageous outfits. The main singer was in drag Saturday night, with white makeup smeared all over his face, horror-movie-style. Tasteless jokes and provocative remarks were part of the Bitter Tears' stage shtick. This is a band that likes to push people's buttons. The music wasn't bad, but it was overwhelmed by the spectacle.
www.myspace.com/thebittertears

Exploding Star Orchestra

Exploding Star Orchestra's concerts aren't quite as rare as a comet's appearances, but they don't happen all that often. Band leader and cornet player Rob Mazurek (who splits his time between Chicago and Brazil) was in town this weekend, though, conducting a nine-piece version of the orchestra Friday and Saturday (Jan. 8 and 9) at the Green Mill.

This is one jazz group that doesn't rely too much on solos. Yes, it's true that many of the fine musicians on the Green Mill stage did get a few minutes in the spotlight with a solo on Friday night, but more often than not, the whole ensemble was playing Mazurek's compositions at full throttle. Drummer John Herndon (who also plays with instrumental rock band Tortoise) and bassist Matt Lux propelled the music forward, keeping up their rhythmic attack almost all night long.

Exploding Star occasionally used electronic effects, giving the music a tinge of space rock. And the combination of Nicole Mitchell's amazing flute runs with Jason Adasiewicz's chiming vibes was a beautiful thing to behold. The group sounded especially powerful when all of the horns and woodwinds joined together — Mazurek, Mitchell, Matt Bauder on reeds and Jeb Bishop on trombone. Damon Locks added Beatnik-style vocals, and last-minute lineup addition David Daniell sat in on guitar — adding some "spice," as he told me.

I'm looking forward to hearing another album by Exploding Star Orchestra. The group's debut, We Are All From Somewhere Else, was a sci-fi concept album, but without lyrics. You just have to listen to the music to imagine the story that the band is supposedly telling. According to a press release, it's "a story involving an exploding star, cosmic transformation, a sting ray, the travels of the sting ray, intelligent conversations with electric eels, the destructive power of humans, the death and ascension of sting ray, the transformation of sting ray ghost to flying bird, and the transformation of bird to phoenix to rocket to flying burning matter to a new-born star."

I'm not sure that's exactly what I pictured on Friday night as I heard the orchestra playing pieces from that album and a few new compositions, but there was something transformative about the music.

www.myspace.com/explodingstarorchestra
www.thrilljockey.com/artists/?id=10140

Starting off a new year of concerts

December and January tend to be fairly quiet months for concert-going in Chicago — but there's always something good going on out there if you look hard enough. For the most part, I've been lying low lately, but I did see a few cool shows.

One of my final concerts of 2009 was the Dec. 28 performance at Schubas by Rock Falls, with opening acts Royal Osprey and Roommate. It was nice to hear Roommate paying tribute to the late Vic Chesnutt with a cover of his song "Sponge," not to mention another fine cover, Guided By Voices' "Smothered in Hugs." Rock Falls delivered another fine performance of her folk rock, concluding the show with a lovely a cappella version of "On the Street Where You Live" from "My Fair Lady." This was the last of four Monday night showcases in December for the local label Cardboard Sangria.
www.myspace.com/rockfalls
Photos of Rock Falls, Royal Osprey and Roommate.

And then I closed the year out on Dec. 30 with the Fiery Furnaces at Schubas. The band's Matt Friedberger is playing guitar these days in concert rather than organ or electric piano, which is an improvement in my book. The band sounded as tight and as strange as ever, with Eleanor Friedberger reciting her usual river of surreal poetry. As much as I prefer hearing the band use guitar over keyboards, it would be even better if the Fiery Furnaces varied their sound within a show. The music is rich and multifaceted, but it can get monotonous when the Furnaces lock into one sound for the whole show. Opening act Cryptacize is known to drive some folks crazy, but I've liked their dadaist, disconnected songs. This time, they sounded a little less discombobulated than before (recombobulated?) Primary Cryptacize singer Nedelle Torrisi sounded strong and alluring. (Sorry, no photos — I gave my camera the night off.)
www.thefieryfurnaces.com
www.myspace.com/cryptacize

I did not see any live music on New Year's Eve, but I did start off 2010 with a free afternoon gig by Philadelphia singer-songwriter Kurt Vile at Permanent Records. The shop was crammed full of people as Vile sang and played acoustic guitar behind the counter with his music enveloped in very heavy reverb. Vile has been writing some cool songs, and he's also part of the excellent band the War on Drugs. The guy barely showed his face during the performance, letting his long hair hang down in front. Hence, the scarcity of photos. But I did post a couple of photos of Kurt Vile, including one shot of him talking after the performance.
www.myspace.com/kurtvileofphilly

Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman played three sold-out shows in a row at the Empty Bottle, starting on New Year's Eve. I did not see any of those concerts, but I picked up a ticket when he announced a fourth gig — performing solo at the Viaduct Theater Sunday evening (Jan. 3). Lekman has a fairly enchanting stage presence, weaving humorous stories into his songs. The set started out with just vocals and guitar, but then Lekman began using backing tracks from a laptop. Eventually, he played a song or two karaoke-style, dancing around as he sang to the music on the laptop. A minute later, he apologized. "I'm sorry this show degenerated into some sort of vaudeville there for a second. I just feel it really deep." At another point, Lekman got the audience to play the "feather game" — keeping a feather aloft by blowing at it — while Lekman played "A Handful of Feathers." There was a strong feeling of connection and friendship between the audience and the artist.
www.jenslekman.com
www.myspace.com/jenslekmanmusic
Photos of Jens Lekman.

Alas, my camera stopped working halfway through the Lekman concert. Hoping to get it fixed soon.

R.I.P. Lhasa De Sela

The music world has lost another one of its great artists, singer Lhasa De Sela. I felt like she never received the attention she deserved, perhaps because her music was hard to categorize. She released only three albums over the past 12 years, but all three of them were gems, and I highly recommend them all.

I had one chance to see her in concert, on Oct. 3, 2005, at the HotHouse in Chicago. Here's what I wrote at the time: "Lhasa did not disappoint in concert, commanding the attention of a crowded room of quiet listeners as she sang with just two musicians backing her up, mostly on guitar and cello. She told a few lengthy stories as introductions to her songs ... such a heartfelt and compelling speaker. I love the way she looks when she sings, raising her left hand next to her head, sometimes making a fist and scrunching up her eyes as if she were squeezing the notes out of her head. Simply amazing music." One of my photos from the concert is above.

Lhasa released her most recent album, titled simply Lhasa, in 2009, and I ranked it at No. 4 on my list of the year's best records. I was alarmed when I heard that she'd canceled most of her tour dates, citing a serious health issue.

Lhasa's Web site confirmed her Jan. 1 death with a press release today: "The singer Lhasa de Sela passed away in her Montreal home on the night of January 1st 2010, just before midnight. She succumbed to breast cancer after a twenty-one month long struggle, which she faced with courage and determination. Throughout this difficult period, she continued to touch the lives of those around her with her characteristic grace, beauty and humor." The press release ends with a poetic note that Lhasa herself probably would have appreciated: "It has snowed more than 40 hours in Montreal since Lhasa's departure."

My favorite record by Lhasa is 2004's The Living Road, and with the news of her death, the haunting song that runs through my mind is the final track on that album, "Soon This Space Will Be Too Small." Here are the lyrics.

SOON THIS SPACE WILL BE TOO SMALL

Soon this space will be too small
And I'll go outside
To the huge hillside
Where the wild winds blow
And the cold stars shine

I'll put my foot
On the living road
And be carried from here
To the heart of the world

I'll be strong as a ship
And wise as a whale
And I'll say the three words
That will save us all
And I'll say the three words
That will save us all

Soon this space will be too small
And I'll laugh so hard
That the walls cave in

Then I'll die three times
And be born again
In a little box
With a golden key
And a flying fish
Will set me free

Soon this space will be too small
All my veins and bones
Will be burned to dust
You can throw me into
A black iron pot
And my dust will tell
What my flesh would not

Soon this space will be too small
And I'll go outside
And I'll go outside
And I'll go outside

(You can hear the song here.)

Favorite albums of the decade

I'll keep this simple. Here are a dozen records from the past decade I've listened to and enjoyed more than anything else. I considered posting a longer list, but I found myself agonizing over which albums deserved to be in, say, a top 50 or top 100. There's so much listening still to do, so much more to discover. I had much less trouble deciding on my top 12. Quite simply put, these are collections of great songs that have stood the test of time for me.

Favorite concerts of 2009

1. BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY, March 14 at the Vic. ... Beginning in a hush, one song built to a dramatic crescendo, and Oldham looked as if he was being transported by the magic. ... it become clear that this was one show where the performer was pouring everything he had into his songs. He did not let up, either. A little while later, as he let the band play an instrumental break in "Even If Love," Oldham raised his eyes toward the ceiling. He seemed to be shaking all over. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

2. THE FEELIES, June 29 at the Pritzker Pavilion. ... a young man danced his way into the empty area between the front row and the stage, twitching with the sort of spastic moves that looked perfect for the jerky sounds of songs from the first Feelies album, Crazy Rhythms. A park security guard led this fellow away, but he came back a minute later and continued dancing. That seemed to open the flood gates, as people jumped to the front area of the pavilion and started twitching along. Feelies lead singer and guitarist Glenn Mercer seemed to revel in the moment, coming out to the edge of the stage for guitar solos inches away from the upraised hands of fans. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

3. VIC CHESNUTT, Nov. 5 at Lincoln Hall. ... At moments, Chesnutt was singing and playing all by himself as the audience quietly listened to each and every creak of the guitar strings and bend in his voice, almost like sitting in Chesnutt's living room and attending an unplugged performance. And then the songs would erupt as the guitars, keyboards and bowed bass came in, making mountainous, majestic chords. And Chesnutt would rear back his head from the microphone and shout his words up to the mountaintop. (And now alas, Chesnutt is no longer with us. The emotional impact of his Dec. 25 death makes the two concerts I saw by Chesnutt in 2009 feel all the more special.) READ THE FULL REVIEW.

4. PJ HARVEY & JOHN PARISH, June 12 at the Riviera. ... Even in minimal moments, she seemed like a lively presence on the stage. And then, the contemplative music gave way to outbursts of ferocity — as on the new record's lacerating title track. Harvey dropped her voice to dramatic depths or let it soar to lovely highs, as the characters from her lyrics seemed to possess her.READ THE FULL REVIEW.

5. ECCENTRIC SOUL REVUE, Nov. 7 at Lincoln Hall. ... The evening was a real blast. A younger soul group, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, served as the house band, keeping the music going almost nonstop for more than two hours as various singers stepped up to the mike. There was barely a pause as the horns kept blowing and the funky guitar chords kept twitching. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

6. ANDREW BIRD, Dec. 14 at Fourth Presbyterian Church. ... The most extraordinary moments of this show were the very quiet ones — Bird making a little clicking noise with his music to build a rhythm track, or plucking at his violin strings. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

7. FANFARLO, Nov. 9 at Schubas. ... They play with a sense of communal spirit, switching instruments frequently, adding extra drum beats, raising all their voices high in chorus. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

8. FAIZ ALI FAIZ, June 18 at Pritzker Pavilion. ... More often than not, Faiz Ali Faiz sang with such full-on force that his face contorted and turned red with exertion. As he sang, his hands were in constant motion, making gestures that seemed almost like a game of pantomime. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

9. MÚM with Sin Fang Bous and Hildur Gudnadottir, Oct. 28 at Logan Square Auditorium. ... Múm's records have sublime hymn-like harmonies, when it sounds like this is a bunch of Icelanders getting together in a little room somewhere and singing to their heart's content... And so it was at the concert. There was a lot of joyous singing. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

10. DEAD MAN'S BONES, Oct. 21 at Schubas. ... The celebratory show had some of the zany sense of humor and the "let's try something weird" attitude that animated the Flaming Lips at their best. It was certainly a very memorable night. READ THE FULL REVIEW.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Jesus Lizard, July 17 at the Pitchfork Music Festival
Sonic Youth, June 27 at the Riviera
The Vaselines and the 1900s, May 16 at Metro
The Flat Five, Dec. 11 at the Hideout
The Poster Children, Lonely Trailer, the Outnumbered and Cowboy X, May 24 at the Highdive, Champaign
St. Vincent, April 9 at the Hideout and June 8 at Pritzker Pavilion
Jeff Tweedy, Feb. 14 at the Vic
The Dirty Projectors, June 22 at Pritzker Pavilion
Os Mutantes, Sept. 27 at Subterranean
The Sadies, Nov. 28 at the Hideout
Mount Eerie, Nov. 8 at Lakeshore Theater
The Vertebrats, Oct. 3 at the Highdive, Champaign
Choir of Young Believers, Oct. 26 at Schubas
Rural Alberta Advantage and The Love Language, Sept. 26 at Schubas
The Fiery Furnaces, July 11 at Millennium Park
Oumou Sangaré, July 2 at the Pritzker Pavilion
Jonathan Richman and Vic Chesnutt, June 11 at the Empty Bottle