Jim DeRogatis

Billy Corgan has time to design a guitar for Fender...

2008-07-03T18:04:38Z

But still can't be bothered to set a Chicago date for a reunited Pumpkins show. What's up with that?

(Don't ask me; I haven't been able to get an answer out of anyone in the band's camp.)

In any event, the release from Fender follows the jump.

]]> FENDER® LAUNCHES NEW BILLY CORGAN STRATOCASTER® GUITAR DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM SOUND VERSATILITY

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (July 1, 2008) — Fender unveils a smashing new addition to the artist signature line of electric guitars this month with the release of the Billy Corgan Stratocaster guitar, an extraordinarily versatile tone-machine, produced to Corgan’s exacting specifications. The new Billy Corgan Stratocaster is an especially modern take on the iconic Fender Strat® model, built especially for a high-gain sound and designed to create Corgan’s signature mid-’90s buzz saw tone.

When the alternative rock exploded in the 1990s, one of the movement’s driving characteristics was a lack of real guitar solos. One of the first and most successful bands to break away from that trend, the Smashing Pumpkins, also boasted one of Gen X’s first bona fide guitar heroes, Billy Corgan.

More than 30 million albums later and fresh off the success of 2007’s critically-acclaimed and gold-certified Zeitgeist album and massive world tour, Corgan teamed with Fender to create the guitar he’s always dreamed of. The guitar features three DiMarzio pickups (two of which are custom-wound for the instrument), a string-through hard-tail bridge, jumbo frets, a satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish and a vintage tweed case. It is offered in an Olympic White finish, with a black pickguard or Black finish with a white pickguard, reflective of Corgan’s signature style.

“The versatility of this instrument is what impresses me and is why I’m really excited about this model,” Corgan said. “This guitar has both a Strat articulation and enough low-end heavy metal sound to get the ‘Sabbath’ out of the guitar I want. My greatest go-to guitar got stolen at a Pumpkins club date in 1991, and I’ve always struggled since then to find a guitar that was my guitar. I’m really pleased with this model’s versatility, which I need because I’m playing music from a 17-year period of the Pumpkins’ history—from spacey early stuff to grunge to all-out cyber metal, then back to ballads.”

“Billy owns a lot of vintage Strat guitars, but he was looking for a primary ‘go-to guitar,’ said Justin Norvell, Fender marketing director for electric guitars. “Billy was very hands-on. We were bringing prototypes into the studio and rehearsal space while they were tracking the record, and did the fine-tuning on the specs while they were out on tour. Playing live and in the studio are two completely different things, so Billy wanted to be sure it met his needs in both arenas, so we worked together to make sure it was perfect.”

# # #

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the United Center

2008-07-03T05:13:34Z

Tom Petty welcomes with open arms last night's sold-out crowd at Chicago's United Center. (Oscar Lopez/For the Sun-Times)

Two years ago, shortly after the release of the invigorating "Highway Companion," his third solid solo effort and the 18th album overall in a long and storied career, Tom Petty announced that he was swearing off large-scale arena tours for good.

But on Wednesday, there he was again at age 57, leading the Heartbreakers through a satisfying two-hour set at a sold-out United Center, and with his laconic charm and trademark nasal twang as oddly endearing as ever.

]]> Without exception, there isn't an artist in rock history who hasn't been better appreciated in the clubs or theaters than in the enormodomes. And of the dozen Petty shows I've witnessed through the years, I doubt I'll see a better one than those he did at the Vic during a now legendary residency in 2003.

But there's no denying that Petty and the Heartbreakers are one of the all-time great pairings of a timeless songwriter and his ideal accompanists--easily on a par with Bob Dylan and the Band or Neil Young and Crazy Horse, though these blue-collar heroes rarely benefit from such lofty comparisons--and wherever they choose to perform, the rock world is a better place for having them.

Scanning the set list, you'd never know that Petty has a new disc in the stores: the recently released, long-overdue self-titled debut by his first band, Mudcrutch, which also featured his essential Heartbreakers foils, keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell, in addition to Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh.

Petty would no doubt justify this evening's absence of any Mudcrutch songs by saying that the Heartbreakers are really a different band, and of course they are. But he's never been unduly worried about peddling new product; he didn't even use his Super Bowl appearance to flog the then-current "Highway Companion."

As usual, Wednesday's set was more about celebrating the interplay of this extraordinary group through a good-time mix of fan favorites ("I Won't Back Down," "Even the Losers," "Free Fallin'," "Mary Jane's Last Dance") and just enough rarities and deep cuts to please the hardcore collectors ("Sweet William," a bluesy barn-burner from an old European-only EP, the Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line," the gonzo blues nugget "Honey Bee" and a deliriously jammed-out rendition of "Saving Grace," written for Cameron Crowe's film "Elizabethtown").

And all of it was as good as arena-rock can get.

Midway through the show, the group was joined by Steve Winwood, whose opening set in support of the new album "Nine Lives" was mostly lackluster faux-jazz easy-listening. The '60s vet was much stronger fronting the Heartbreakers for spirited versions of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" and the soul-garage staple "Gimme Some Lovin'."

Eddie's coming home

2008-07-02T22:30:48Z

Following up on the promise that he'd promote last year's solo album "Music for the Motion Picture Into the Wild" with a handful of shows, Evanston native and moonlighting Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder will wrap up the second leg of his first solo tour with two shows at the Auditorium Theatre on Aug. 21-22.

Tickets go on sale Friday, July 11, at 11 a.m. at the Auditorium box office and through Ticketmaster at $75 each, with a limited number of upper gallery seats at $60. There will also be a special limited ticket pre-sale for active members of Pearl Jam's Ten Club; details at www.pearljam.com.

Liam Finn will open both shows, which start at 7:30 p.m.

Beck, “Modern Guilt” (Interscope) [3.5 out of 4 stars]

2008-07-02T14:48:50Z

On his eighth studio album, set for release Tuesday on his 38th birthday, alternative survivor and postmodern poster boy Beck Hansen doesn’t give us anything radically new. “I’d always wanted to do a modern version of a psych-rock record, but I was also wary of rehashed nostalgia,” he recently told the British press. Of course, after various experiments with psychedelic folk on his earlier recordings, he pretty much perfected his take on the genre with the masterful “Sea Change” (2002), and then toured with the Flaming Lips as his backing band to underscore the point.

]]> Returning to this turf after more conventionally Beck-like hits with “Guero” (2005) and “The Information” (2006), the added element this time the collaboration with producer Brian Burton, a.k.a. Danger Mouse, who’s shown both an ear for memorable melodies and a sense for familiar yet fresh-sounding grooves while redefining psychedelic pop for a new generation with Gnarls Barkley and his mash-up of the Beatles and Jay-Z on “The Grey Album.” At times, as is common with Beck, the songwriting is so po-mo that it’s just an annoying mess; “Replica” is a failed experiment at digital-glitch jazz, and much of the album boasts nonsense lyrics improvised off the cuff at the mike.

When things gel, however, this is Beck at his best. Over Danger Mouse’s unlikely but effective mix of sawing cellos and skittering electronic beats in “Walls,” with a moaning theremin evoking a woman’s screams in the choruses, Beck paints as haunting a picture of the plight of the modern war victim as I’ve heard, simultaneously urging Gen Y Americans to wake up lest they suffer the same fate. “You got warheads stacked in the kitchen/You treat distraction like it’s a religion,” he sings. “Hey what are you gonna do/When these walls are falling down/Falling down on you?

“What makes the soul, the soul of a man?” Beck asks at another point in these 10 songs. He’s never claimed to have an answer, but by flailing around mixing and matching as many disparate elements as possible, he’s created as soulful a body of work as any songwriter in his generation, and “Modern Guilt” is a welcome addition to that legacy.

Demo2DeRo: Sleep Out

2008-07-02T14:48:50Z

As historic Chicago landmarks go, Graceland Cemetery is one of the least obtrusive: You’ve probably passed the entrance to this storied burial ground at Clark and Irving a thousand times without even realizing it’s there. Yet the resting place of some of the city’s most legendary politicians and industrialists serves as the inspiration for one of the strongest indie-pop discs to emerge from the underground music scene in the new millennium; as the press materials for Sleep Out’s second album put it, the 11 songs on “Not Even Dust” are “all inspired by Graceland Cemetery, some in more explicit ways than others. Some take the vantage point of a newly interred resident while others depict the thoughts of passersby.”

]]> Guitarist-vocalist Quinn Goodwillie and his bandmates Nate Bartley, Sam Grant, Ben Geier and Eddie Lo made their recorded debut with “I Am Your Shroud” in 2006, but the new disc is a leap forward in terms of the sophisticated songwriting and gorgeous soundscapes; recorded in Portland by Dylan Magierk and finished in Chicago at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio, it recalls some of the best likeminded efforts those gentlemen have given us in the past, in particular Magierk’s work with Red House Painters and Albini’s contributions to the sadly under-heralded Rachel’s.

Sleep Out will celebrate its new release with a live broadcast on KEXP.org at 11 a.m. on July 16, followed by a free show that evening at the Dark Room, 2210 W. Chicago Ave. Check the group’s Web sites for more details and samples of its exquisite new sounds: www.myspace.com/sleepout and http://sleepout.net/.

This Weekend: Dropkick Murphys and a worthy cause at the Hideout

2008-07-02T14:46:55Z

If you like your Irish music louder, faster and snottier—or you dig your punk laced with a touch of blarney—few bands deliver the goods better than the Dropkick Murphys, and they’re touring with one of the best ska-punk bands ever, the happily reunited Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The show starts at 6 p.m. Monday at the Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island, and tickets are $31 in advance or $31.50 the day of the show via www.livenation.com or (312) 559-1212.

The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, is hosting a talent-packed benefit show starting at 9 p.m. Saturday for the Chris Saathoff Foundation (www.chrissaathofffoundation.org), which assists groups that provide support for children in need throughout the world. The lineup includes Chin Up Chin Up, the Smith Westerns, Mt. St. Helens, White Mystery and the Victim of Time DJs, with hosts Miss Mia and Ratso from “Chica-Go-Go,” complimentary hot dogs and raffle prizes. The cover is $10; for more information, visit www.hideoutchicago.com or call (773) 227-4433.

Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes” (Sub Pop) [3.5 out 4 stars]

2008-07-02T14:46:55Z

Though their wardrobe, beards and burgeoning following are all in step with the leaders of the so-called “freak folk” movement, the Seattle quintet Fleet Foxes distinguishes itself from artists such as Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart because its members are much less emphatically stoner or self-consciously eclectic, and because its self-described “baroque harmonic pop jams” have much deeper and more convincing roots.

]]> Along with oddly appropriate cover art of a 1559 Bruegel painting of a peasant village, the Fleet Foxes display a deep and abiding love of traditional British Isles folk music under an enticing orchestral-pop filigree heavy on ’60s West Coast pop, especially the “Smile”-era Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. This belies their age—they’re all in their early 20s, and primary songwriters Robin Pecknold and Skye Skjelset claim to have done all of their musical archeology on the Internet—but the beautiful harmony vocals, the strength of the melodies and the entrancing vibe of songs such as “White Winter Hymnal,” “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” and “Your Protector” can’t be denied.

As a child of the city, I’m generally much more comfortable with songs that evoke the screech of the subway rather than the twitter of the hummingbird, and “Fleet Foxes” isn’t quite the unqualified masterpiece the English music press is hailing. (The tune “Meadowlarks,” for one, is just too twee to endure.) But when it comes to pastoral tales of romping through the forests, the creeks and, um, the pastures, I haven’t heard a disc this endearing since the Incredible String Band.

Fleet Foxes perform at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park on July 19.

Alejandro Escovedo gets animalistic

2008-07-02T14:44:51Z

At age 57, with a storied solo career and a long history including time with punk-rockers the Nuns and alternative-country pioneers Rank & File and the True Believers behind him, Alejandro Escovedo has never sounded like he’s had more fun recording than he did while making “Real Animal.”

Whether you blame a delayed midlife crisis or the catharsis necessitated by divorce and a near-fatal bout with Hepatitis C—a battle chronicled on his last disc, the downbeat but effective “The Boxing Mirror” (2006)—the Texas musician rocks with a vengeance on his latest, belying the nostalgia of a concept album about his involvement in the early punk era with sounds that are absolutely vital and of the moment.

]]> “The start of this record makes me think back to when I first became ill,” Escovdeo says. “I was talking to [underground producer and musician] Chris Stamey when we had just made ‘A Man Under the Influence’ (2001) and he said, ‘You know, this is the time for you to think about the record you have always wanted to make—your dream record—if it’s something like ‘Surf’s up’ by the Beach Boys or ‘Pet Sounds,’ whatever it would be, now is the time.

“I think making ‘The Boxing Mirror’ with [John] Cale was more of an exorcism or something; I had to get that out of my system. But with this record, I really had time to bring these characters to life—these people who had been in my life as a result of the music I have loved and the bands I was in—and I wanted to tell that story of my musical journey.”

Co-written with Chuck Prophet, a former member of Green on Red turned in-demand hired tunesmith, “Real Animal” was produced by Tony Visconti. The fact that his last two discs have been overseen by two of the most accomplished producers in rock history—Cale, the co-founder of the Velvet Underground who went on to work with Patti Smith, the Modern Lovers, the Stooges and many others, and Visconti, who helmed the glam-era classics from David Bowie and T. Rex—speaks volumes for the way Escovedo is respected by his peers. But the musician is typically self-effacing about these experiences.

“When I work with a producer, I kind of leave it up to them to guide us. If I wanted to make my own record, I would be the producer. But when I choose a guy to produce, I really trust them with the vision as to where we’re going to go with it—unless it has gone terribly wrong, but that has never been the case for me.

“Cale was everything I expected Cale to be. I think he took us musically where I felt he could take it. I felt that he would bring out more of the chamber aspect of the music that I’d been writing, and his idea at the time was to make the strings sound like they were coming out of some ancient radio that you had dug up from the past or something. Some players were a little taken aback by that, but I was very willing to experiment with any of the sounds that John wanted to create. So it was good for me, and as a songwriter, I felt fulfilled in that sense.

“Tony was completely different,” Escovedo adds. This was an excellent record to make—we had such a great time. We cut that record in 13 days, and it only took us that amount of time because we wanted to stretch it out because we were having such a great time! With Tony, he really wanted to go for more of an organic sound. He loved the band and he wanted the band to play everything that was on the record. Chuck Prophet came in and played guitar, and he also co-wrote the whole record with me. I didn’t play guitar; I just sang. It really freaked me out to kind of interpret the songs in a way I felt I hadn’t done on any of my previous records.”

With Prophet and other members of his regular band contributing—including Chicago-based violinist Susan Voelz—Escovedo channeled his “inner Iggy” and tore into songs such as “Nuns Song” and “Chip N’ Tony” about, respectively, the Nuns and Rank and File, and the characters he met while touring with those groups, including the late great rock critic Lester Bangs, who shows up with “Vicks Vapor eyes” glowing. (Bangs was infamous for swallowing the wicks from Vicks nasal inhalers for a cheap, speedy rush.)

“When I approached Chuck to write this album with me, I already had the idea that this would be a story to be told in the form of songs,” Escovedo says. “So we had the context of the story already, and now we just wanted to flesh out the characters. It took us a year to write the album, and he would come to out where I live, outside Austin, or I would fly to San Francisco to hang out with him there, and whenever we had the chance to meet up and write songs we would do it. We kind of approached it like writing a movie script—we had a story board almost, with the who, what, when and where.”

Appropriately enough, Escovedo’s next project will likely be a movie: Renowned director Jonathan Demme has been talking about collaborating on a project along the lines of the films he made with the Talking Heads, Robyn Hitchcock and Neil Young.

“Jonathan is super busy and I’m getting busier, but whenever that happens it will happen and it will be great because I love Jonathan,” Escovedo says. “Right now, the focus is on, ‘We’ve got this great record and now we have to go out and play behind it.’ And you can’t ask for a better gig than Taste of Chicago and Grant Park.”

FACTS

Alejandro Escovedo, the Old 97’s, Gomez

Petrillo Band Shell, Grant Park

3 p.m. Friday

Free

Crazy Rhythms Redux: The return of the Feelies

2008-07-01T17:02:52Z

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Back in the early ’80s, in the interim between the first and second acts of the Feelies’ career and at a time when the venerated art-punk band from Haledon, N.J., only performed on holiday weekends once or twice a year, the group’s veteran percussionist, Dave Weckerman, told Jersey Beat fanzine that playing in the band was sort of like living in a mystical pyramid: no one ever got older, and nothing ever changed.

Formed in a leafy suburban of Paterson in the mid-’70s, drawing inspiration from the Velvet Underground, the Modern Lovers and the Stooges and adding their own unique rhythmic undertow and two-guitar interplay every bit as intense as Television, the Feelies first disbanded (or took a long hiatus, as they prefer) a year or two after the release of their brilliant debut album, “Crazy Rhythms” (1980).

]]> Act two of this most unmercenary of careers began when founding guitarists, vocalists and songwriters Glenn Mercer and Bill Million and their high school chum Weckerman linked up with bassist Brenda Sauter and drummer Stanley Demeski, began to tour the U.S. for the first time at the height of the indie-rock ’80s (including numerous visits to a devoted fanbase in Chicago) then released a more lush and gorgeous second album, “The Good Earth” (1986), co-produced by Peter Buck of R.E.M.

Eventually, the band signed to a major label, A&M, and issued two more strong discs, “Only Life” (1988) and “Time for a Witness” (1991). But, just months before the alternative explosion they predicted and helped inspire, they drifted apart in the wake of commercial indifference, and while the others continued to make music in various combinations or with other groups (Demeski was the longtime drummer in Luna), Million moved to Florida and worked in security at Disney World, going for years without touching his guitar.

Mercer released an excellent solo album last year on Chicago’s Pravda Records label, "Wheels in Motion," featuring contributions from many of his earlier bandmates. But it would never be the Feelies until it was Mercer and Million together once more.

On Monday, Mercer, Million and the rest of the Feelies Mach II took the stage for the first time in 17 years, performing for an invited crowd of friends and family (and, full disclosure, select ticket-winners from “Sound Opinions,” the radio show I co-host with Greg Kot on Chicago Public Radio) at the start of a week that will include two more sold-out shows at Maxwell’s and a triumphant appearance with Sonic Youth at Battery Park on, appropriately enough, the Fourth of July.

Warming up for this long-awaited burst of activity, the band played for more than two hours Monday night, starting gently with jangly material such as “When Company Comes” and “Up on the Roof”; surprising everyone with several strong new tunes; reaching a gleeful climax with “Raised Eyebrows” and the title track of “Crazy Rhythms,” and ending in a joyous explosion that improbably built the intensity even higher with covers by fellow travelers and heroic inspirations Wire (“Outdoor Miner”) and the Velvets (“What Goes On”).

And though Mercer and Million are now 53 and 54 years old, respectively, and Weckerman is 58, the frenetic energy and amphetamized melodicism of the band were as great as they had ever been and it did, indeed, seem as if no one had gotten older and nothing had changed.

With talk of a new recording in the works and more gigs to come (including a promised trip to Chicago; a plan to perform one of the Pitchfork-sponsored Monday lunchtime concerts this summer sadly fell apart), it seems as if the Feelies have ushered in the long-anticipated third act of their consistently fascinating and rewarding story. And the rock world is a better place for it.

Portions of the Feelies' historic first reunion performance will air on "Sound Opinions" along with an interview of the group some time in the next few weeks; watch soundopinions.org for details.

(Photo illustration of the Feelies circa 2008 from the New York Times accompanying an excellent article on the return of the band by Jon Pareles which, for some reason I cannot understand, I am unable to link to. But that's what Google is for, right?)

F--- and run... and run again

2008-06-25T03:26:12Z

When it comes to noteworthy milestones, the numbers are usually 10, 25, 50 and so on. The 15th anniversary seems like something only a polyester bride would celebrate.

But then Liz Phair has some indie cred to reclaim, a recording career to resuscitate and a new deluxe-edition reissue to sell—on Dave Matthews’ label, no less—and these were all the reasons she needed to return to her old sounds and former stomping grounds for a sold-out show at the Vic Theatre on Tuesday.

]]> Now 41 and more MILF than coquette, this controversial daughter of privilege from Winnetka is, depending on your point of view, a trailblazing post-feminist icon who spoke with unusual power for a generation of young women during the alternative rock explosion, or a pandering, exploitative wannabe cheerfully using every means at her disposal to achieve celebrity—the thinking rocker’s Paris Hilton.

I have always thought there’s some truth in both positions. But wherever you stand, Phair’s absurdly ambitious double-album debut “Exile in Guyville” (1993) remains one of the most enduring discs released in the ’90s. And since the guitarist and vocalist was always a stilted performer at best through most of that decade, a veteran Liz watcher had to be curious to hear if she could improve upon the past by revisiting it in concert now.

Taking the stage in a skimpy vest, skimpier hot pants and towering heels, Phair started with “6’1”” and—sure enough—played her way right through the concluding “Strange Loop” 18 songs and 69 minutes later, with every potty-mouthed confession (“Mesmerizing”), coy come-on (“Flower”) and jarring burst of righteous feminine anger (“Help Me Mary”) intact from the aural diary of her rough and tumble days and raunchier nights in Wicker Park’s underground rock scene back in the day.

“Anybody ever live in Wicker Park?” Phair asked before pushing her way through “F--- and Run.” (People applauded.) “Anybody ever live on the North Shore?” (More people applauded.) “Anybody ever feel like a schizophrenic like me? Good girl, bad girl, good girl, bad girl!”

That was as much insight as we got into the making of the album or its resonance for so many fans. None of her Chicago collaborators or muses were invited, and none showed. (No Brad Wood, no Casey Rice, no Nate Kato.) And Phair still never bothered to explain how exactly the album was an “answer record” to the Rolling Stones’ masterpiece.

In fact, as Phair made her way through the disc with her still off-key voice, distinct lack of onstage charisma and forced stage banter about the Cubs and Barack Obama, backed by various combinations of the three faceless L.A. pros who’ve supported her on recent tours as the Gen X Sheryl Crow, it was hard not to think that while “Exile in Guyville” stands tall on record, it has gained nothing and maybe even shrunk in live performance.

Come to think of it, it would have been much more entertaining to hear La Liz play that other “Exile” in its entirety. At least she might have felt some connection to that one.

Then, before my two-hour meter on Belmont could even expire, after a few more forced songs as an encore—including “Polyester Bride” and and a truly awful new number with a (no kidding) lyric about “ding dong, the witch is dead”—it was over, just another car wreck/hit and run in a live career that has never offered anything else.

Addendum: I found out this morning (thanks, Spiegs!) that several of Liz's "faceless L.A. pros" are in fact Chicago pros. This makes it even sadder that Phair never thanked them, much less introduced them, and if there's a mention of the lineup on her Web site or MySpace page, well, I can't find it. Then again, this "no one to thank but ME" attitude has been in place since "Exile in Guyville" was recorded, so it comes as no surprise.

Field Testing "The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones"

2008-06-24T21:36:41Z

Gratuitous (as in slightly self-serving) plug: Field-Tested Books is a cool annual Web project wherein a group of writers are asked to relate how a particular book especially resonated with them at a very specific time and, most importantly, place.

As the opening page of the recently posted 2008 edition puts it, "We had this notion that somehow through experimentation we could identify how our perception of a book is affected by the place where we read it. Or maybe the other way around. Maybe it’s possible to determine how a book colors the way we feel about the place where we experience it."

In any event, I'm honored to have been asked to contribute this year, along with writerly peers such as Eric Spitznagel, Will Leitch, Liz Danico and my big fan Jessa Crispin of Bookslut. I wrote about Stanley Booth's masterful biography of the Stones (with some passing mention of Jack Kerouac to boot) in an entry posted here.

If you haven't read it, you absolutely should -- The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, that is, not necessarily my essay -- because as I've said before, it ranks among the top two or three best books about rock 'n' roll ever written.

She wants to be your Joey Ramone

2008-06-24T13:58:19Z

Forest Park resident and first time novelist Stephanie Kuehnert will read from her new book I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone Thursday at 7 p.m. at The Old School Records, 7446 W. Madison in her hometown.

Kuehnert describes the novel, officially published by MTV Books on July 8 but already available on Amazon, as "a book about punk rock, about mothers and daughters, about the Midwest, about fighting for your dreams, and about what happens when you run from your nightmares... A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell."

While you're there, be sure to check out Old School's superior stock of dusties, too.

Hideout Block Party tickets onsale

2008-06-23T18:32:11Z

Always the perfect note to end Chicago's long hot summer of outdoor festivals, the 12th Annual Hideout Block Party takes place this year in the charmingly gritty industrial setting outside the club at 1354 W. Wabansia starting at noon on Sept. 20 &21.

The lineup includes Chicago expatriate singer, songwriter and siren Neko Case; Canadian power-pop supergroup the New Pornographers; Plastic People of the Universe, the legendary drone masters and revolutionaries from the Czech Republic; Vieux Farka Toure from Mali; Sac vs. Scroobius Pip from the U.K.; Monotonix from Israel; Black Mountain; Ratatat; Robbie Fulks; Wee Hairy Beasties; venerated blues man Honey Boy Edwards with Devil in a Woodpile; the Jon Rauhouse Sestet; art-rock hellions Dark Meat; the Uglysuit; hip-hop outsider Tim Fite; Little Cow from Hungary and the promised "more T.B.A."

Tickets are on sale as of today at www.hideoutchicago.com at $45 for a two-day pass. As always, a portion of the proceeds go to local charities. (To date, the festival has raised over $200,000 for worthy local groups.)

Taste of Chicago is a little bit tastier this year

2008-06-23T18:28:45Z

While it has yet to recapture the glory days of the early ’90s—when the memorable performers ranged from the Replacements to Barry White—or match the generally superior lineups offered by Milwaukee’s Summerfest, the musical bookings at Chicago’s venerable Taste of Chicago have incrementally been improving in recent years, and 2008 is inarguably the best in quite some time.

And, as always, the setting—the Petrillo Music Shell with the lake to the east and the skyline to the west in Grant Park—and the price—free—cannot be beat.

What are your favorite Taste moments? I'd be curious to hear. Meanwhile, here is my breakdown on the schedule for 2008.

]]> Friday, June 27

The musical component of Taste kicks off this evening at 5:30 p.m. with an inspired pairing of two stellar soul divas from two different generations. Angie Stone is still touring in support of last year’s “The Art of Love & War”; while it fell short of her career high with “Mahogany Soul” (2001), she can be firebrand onstage, and it’s hard to imagine she won’t be inspired opening for one of her heroines, Chaka Khan. Raised on the South Side as Yvette Marie Stevens, Khan first made her mark in the mid-’70s as part of funk greats Rufus; went on to a successful solo career in the ’80s, and remains a vibrant force at age 55, with last year’s “Funk This” and a long string of recent hip-hop cameos to her credit.

Saturday, June 28

After avoiding live performance for more than a decade, the genre-blurring Motown legend Stevie Wonder followed a 2006 appearance on “American Idol” by hitting the road for a short tour last summer, including a stop at the Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island. In fine voice, Wonder surveyed his career, joyfully romping through his many hits (“Higher Ground,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours,” “Isn’t She Lovely”) as well as digging deep into classic albums such as “Innervisions.” Fans at the Charter One show in 2007 thought the best seats were worth every penny of the $125 ticket price. And did I mention that Taste is free? (Wonder is set to take the stage at 5:30 p.m.)

Sunday, June 29

Day Three offers the first of two shows for the kids. The headliners are Chicago’s own Plain White T’s, a perfectly fine pop-punk band who will forever be known, at least in certain teenybopper circles, for the atypical acoustic ditty and Radio Disney favorite, “Hey There Delilah.” Opening at 5 p.m.: rootsy, Georgia-bred singer and songwriter Josh Kelley.

Monday, June 30

Yes, once again, it’s “Broadway in Chicago,” with the casts of “Jersey Boys” and “Wicked” and stars from “Legally Blonde,” “A Chorus Line” and other shows belting out… um, show tunes. It starts at 6 p.m.; ’nuff said.

Tuesday, July 1

We’re back to a slightly hipper brand of pop at 5:30 p.m. with the surprisingly credible young British soul singer Joss Stone, who delivered the goods when opening for hometown hip-hop hero Common last summer, and opener Ryan Shaw, the young Georgia soul man who mixes original material with slightly revamped covers by the likes of Wilson Pickett and Bobby Womack.

Wednesday, July 2

Taste continues with a glossier brand of soul at 5:30 p.m. with Estelle, London-based singer, rapper and producer Fanta Estelle Swaray whose recent second album “Shine” includes collaborations with John Legend and Kanye West, and Fantasia, a.k.a. Fantasia Monique Barrino, who emerged from “American Idol” to revel in slick but successful mainstream R&B.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

In keeping with tradition, the Grant Park Orchestra, led by conductor Christopher Bell, will offer the usual Independence Eve concert of patriotic standards starting at 8 p.m., followed by the fireworks at 9:30.

Friday, July 4

This year’s edition of the big holiday concert starts at 3 p.m. with a bit of a yawn thanks to English indie-rockers Gomez and second-tier alternative-country mainstays the Old 97’s, but things are guaranteed to pick up with headliner Alejandro Escovedo, the Austin legend and Chicago favorite who has just released the hardest-rocking solo album of his career with the aptly named “Real Animal.” Think of Iggy Pop fronting the Velvets at a Texas roadhouse. And yes, it promises to be that good.

Saturday, July 5

Rolling through week two of Taste, we have one for the soon-to-be seniors, with comedic Mississippi roots-rocker Dave Barnes opening at 5:30 p.m. for that long-running coffeehouse blues godmother Bonnie Raitt. And then…

Sunday, July 6

At 2 p.m., Taste’s second offering for the progeny of all those soccer moms, a Radio Disney spectacular with Keke Palmer (a Harvey, IL-born starlet who’s been trying, in typical Disney fashion, to parlay film roles in “Jump In!” and “Akeelah and the Bee” into success on the pop charts), L.A. rockers A Cursive Memory (emo for the juice box crowd) and screech-inducing favorites Alyson Renae and Amanda Joy Michalka—that’s Aly & AJ to the faithful—the squeaky-clean, mildly Christian California sister act behind the hit “Potential Breakup Song” and the platinum debut “Into the Rush” (2005).

The Best Albums of 2008... so far

2008-06-19T17:54:27Z

Hard to believe it’s almost July—the mid point for 2008—but that can only mean one thing: IT’S TIME FOR A LIST!

Here are my choices for the Best Albums of 2008… so far.

1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" (Anti-)

2. Weezer, “Weezer” (Geffen)

3. Local H, “12 Angry Months” (Shout! Factory)

4. Gnarls Barkley, “The Odd Couple” (Atlantic)

5. Lupe Fiasco, “The Cool” (Atlantic)**

6. Tim Fite, “Fair Ain’t Fair” (Anti-)

7. Saul Williams, “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust” (Fader) ++

8. The Black Angels, “Directions to See a Ghost” (Light in the Attic)

9. Portishead, “Third” (Mercury)

10. Flight of the Conchords, “Flight of the Conchords” (Sub Pop)

** Yes, I know Lupe’s second disc is arguably a 2007 release. But in its infinite wisdom (or lack thereof), Atlantic officially issued it on Dec. 18 last year, where it was thoroughly lost and quickly forgotten. It’s an outstanding effort nonetheless, and I’d argue that it’s only really started to make an impact in 2008 as Lupe has toured with Kanye West.

++ Originally issued as a pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth download last November; now getting its official CD release on July 8.