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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Monday, November 11, 2002
Who Needs Sleep?
Neumu's Steve Gozdecki writes: Depending on where you live, where you are in life, whether the bands you're into tour, and a host of other factors, you may catch live music weekly, monthly, or just a few times per year. Myself, I probably make it out to catch a band once a month. Which made last week special, and a bit draining — with both Radio 4 and The Pattern headlining weeknight shows at Chicago's Empty Bottle.
Monday night featured a triple bill of Hot Hot Heat, VHS or Beta, and Radio 4. I was there to see Radio 4, but went in with an open mind since I was unable to coax any of my friends into attending and wouldn't have anything to do except listen to the bands. So I gulped down an energy drink (these late shows are tough on us 9-to-5ers), found rock-star-caliber parking right near the Bottle and staked out a good spot inside, near a ledge (which made note-taking easier).
Hot Hot Heat singer Steve Bays began his band's set by apologizing in advance for their low energy level, explaining that they'd done some mammoth drives the past few days and gotten little sleep. It certainly didn't show, with the Canadian band pushing out their funky, new wave-tinged music with youthful exuberance. While Bays' voice is often compared to The Cure's Robert Smith, live he's more like an unlikely combination of Rage Against the Machine's Zach de la Rocha and The Strokes' Julian Casablancas — physically and vocally. Hot Hot Heat were definitely entertaining, and while I'm not yet a fan I think they could evolve into a very good band. But then they've just signed with a major label, so who knows what they'll sound like a year from now after the A&R and marketing folks get done with them. (For more on Hot Hot Heat, see the recent Neumu news story "Manic 'New Wave' From Hot Hot Heat.")
Where the evening started promisingly, things took a sudden swan dive when VHS or Beta took the stage. A few of the notes I made during their set: "Vocoders really suck." "New Order's 'Blue Monday' with disco bass and Robert Fripp and Al Di Meola on guitar — not a good thing." "These loud synth drums are making my 'nads hurt." Some people in the very young crowd danced throughout the band's set, but I suspect I'm not alone in thinking that VHS or Beta do what they do well, while questioning why anyone would want to do it.
After enduring 40 minutes of VHS or Beta, the music of Brooklyn-based Radio 4 was a godsend. Opening their set with the retro new wave of "Our Town" (love that icy keyboard riff!), Radio 4 proceeded to play most of their excellent Gotham! album, flawlessly executing everything from the Talking Heads-esque funk of "Speaking in Codes" to the Mick-Jones-fronting-Joy-Division sound of "Save Your City." Even when reduced to sloganeering, as on "Calling All Enthusiasts," Radio 4 bring such a sense of fun to their earnest, politicized rock that they transcend their influences to create something great. A dozen or so songs and the band was off, reminding us all to get the vote out the next day, leaving me with an energized buzz.
While I was driving home afterwards, the one palatable local commercial rock station was giving away copies of the new Sigur Rós album to callers number 6 through 10 on a late-night alternative radio show. I punched the number into my cell phone, then paused before sending in hopes of not calling in too early. No such luck; I was caller number three. Continuous redialing resulted in my getting through again as caller number 11 just as I was pulling up to my garage. I shrugged, still tingly from Radio 4's performance, parked, entered my chilly flat and went to sleep, ears ringing, warmed by the music.
Then came a full workday and a rainy Election Tuesday night, on which I finished writing an album review for Neumu and then helplessly and hopelessly watched the Republicans take over Congress and set the stage for...well, things I'm probably not going to be all that happy about. Which made me eager for some temporary escape through the sounds of The Pattern the next night.
We arrived early for Wednesday night's show, allowing time for a few cheap beers and plenty of chitchat and watching of the crowd, which averaged much closer to my own 32 years than the Radio 4 gig did. My friends and I talked a bit about the elections, about other shows we'd seen over the years at the Empty Bottle, how hard it is to keep up with new music while juggling families, relationships and careers, and even about how we hoped the show didn't go too late since we all had to work in the morning.
Har Mar Superstar began the two-act bill in semi-entertaining fashion. The alter ego of Sean Na Na's Sean Tillmann, the Superstar crooned humorous R&B songs to computerized accompaniment, keeping the focus strongly on the man/product himself. Resembling a shorter, pudgier version of '60s icon Tiny Tim, Tillmann disrobed throughout his set, ultimately getting a few brave audience members to slip dollar bills into the waistband of his jockey shorts, which mercifully stayed on. The shtick wore thin rather quickly, though a set-ending cover of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" proved to be pretty good.
The upside of having Har Mar Superstar as an opening act is that your band's setup time is pretty swift, which brought The Pattern onstage rather quickly. Mixing songs from last year's Immediately EP with their recent full length Real Feelness, The Pattern's timeless garage-punk sound moves me in a way that few of their contemporaries do. Nasal-voiced singer Christopher Appelgren was less twitchy than usual. Jason Rosenberg's crunchy rhythm work on his Les Paul reinforced my belief that nothing sounds as good as a loud Gibson, while guitarist Andy Asp added some tasty guitar riffs and topnotch backing vocals. Looming high over his low-slung kit, drummer Scott Batiste established the tempo and added some quick fills while bassist Carson Bell kept a steady pulse on his Rickenbacker. While they're not the kind of band likely to change your life, songs like "Selling Submarines," "She's a Libra" and "Last Night Called" make you feel especially glad to be alive. (Check out this recent news profile on The Pattern, "That Punk/Garage/Rock/R&B Band Known as The Pattern.")
The ride home featured a flashback to my youth when my bud Jeff and I, with barely 10 bucks between us, stopped at one of Bucktown's 24-hour Mexican restaurants for burritos. I got home at 1:30 a.m., slept like a rock, and left for work barely six hours later, not tired in the least, energized by two nights of great music.
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears on occasion.
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