Just like last week, I want to open today by giving all of you Chicagoans out there something to do this weekend. In fact, given the sheer quantity of festivals throughout the city this summer and the surprising quality of music at many of them, this may become a regular feature on Fridays for the next few months. This weekend actually boasts two outdoor attractions around town, though in terms of music the winner between the two is clear. While you probably already know about the Wells Street Art Festival in Old Town, which is one of the better drinking festivals of the summer, the place to go for great bands this weekend is a bit farther north in Lincoln Square. At the three way intersection of Lincoln, Irving Park, and Damen, Ribfest Chicago sets up shop on Friday evening at 5pm and runs all weekend until Sunday at 10pm. If the allure of eating BBQ isn’t enough to sell you on this one, check out some of the highlights from the weekend’s lineup:
Friday
8pm – Harlem Shakes
9pm – Office
Saturday
9pm – Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s
Sunday
7pm – Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
9pm – Annuals
If you ask me, Harlem Shakes and Annuals in particular should not be missed, especially for a mere $5 and on such a small stage. My tentative plan as of now is to catch Harlem Shakes on Friday night, spend the day Saturday drinking at the Wells Street event, and head back to Ribfest on Sunday for SSLYBY and Annuals. Check out the rest of the details and the full lineup HERE at the official site. And if you have a stash of moist towelettes lying around, it might be a good idea to bring them along.
First up today is a band that struck a major chord with me several years ago but sort of fell off my radar as of late. After what I thought to be a masterful self-titled debut album in 2005, Kasabian failed to live up to their original glory on heir sophomore effort, Empire, at least in my humble opinion. Already kind of a big deal in their homeland of the UK, they burst onto the scene during the heyday of the new wave fad with swagger rivaling that of Oasis and really set themselves apart from their softer contemporaries like The Killers and The Bravery. To be honest I hate to even compare them to those acts, but given the timing it’s hard to deny some sort of connection there, despite the fact that Kasabian was and is worlds better and far more interesting musically. That debut record was packed with anhtemic rockers, showing off the hard-edged synthesizer and guitar work that the band is known for on nearly every track. On a personal note, I remember these guys rocking my face off at Double Door back in the spring of 2005, and then doing it again several months later at Lollapalooza.
Nostalgia aside, Kasabian is back at it with a brand new album that dropped this past Tuesday on RCA Records entitled West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum. It’s a strange name for an album, but not entirely shocking coming from a band that is named after a famed Charles Manson getaway driver. While I haven’t listened to the album in full just yet, I did check out the first single “Fire” earlier this week and found it to be somewhat more in line with the Kasabian I once knew. It lacks some of the gritty edge from their earlier days, but it’s a fine track nonetheless.
I know that I kind of beat the remix thing into the ground with last week’s Radio Dick entry, but as fate would have it I came across the coolest mashup/remix that I have heard in a very long time earlier this week and I am compelled to post it here today. In keeping with the semi nostalgic theme, both of the artists featured here were staples in my iPod circa 2005. Though it seems like an odd combination, the mashup mastermind of Radioace somehow figured out a way to make Sufjan Stevens and Yeah Yeah Yeahs go together like peas and carrots (I chose to accompany this entry with a photo of YYYs singer Karen O instead of one of Sufjan, for obvious reasons). One of the things I mentioned last Sunday about tracks like this is that they are just for fun, but “Maps to Chicago” (a combination of Sufjan’s “Chicago” and YYY’s “Maps”) defies convention by sounding incredibly cohesive. Not to say that anyone is going to confuse it for a studio release from either artist, but it is certainly far more relevant that simply mix tape fodder. After you give the track a listen, be sure to head over to Radioface’s own site HERE and check out more of his mashups and some of his originals as well.
Sufjan Stevens + Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Maps to Chicago” (Radioface Mashup)
Buy Sufjan and YYY’s @ Insound!
If you’re one of our regular readers, this week’s vault selection probably won’t come as a huge surprise to you. I mentioned in my review of the new Horse’s Ha record on Wednesday that I was inspired to spin The National’s stellar 2005 release Alligator recently, so it only seems appropriate that I give them some press here today. While I love that record today, it was originally one that took me a bit of time to warm up to. I’m not quite sure why, but I suspect it may have had something to do with the impossible hype that surrounded the release and the unrealistic expectations associated with it. In any event, it has endured the test of time thanks primarily to the strong songwriting and soothing, lazy baritone of frontman Matt Berninger. Obviously, Alligator is a record that I still spin today, and while Boxer was a fine album, if you could only have one record from the group Alligator is the clear choice. And getting even more specific, if you could only listen to one song by The National, the epic “Karen” is the one you should go with. Luckily we don’t have to make those kinds of choices here in the land of the free, but since I have to choose a track to post today it’s still a worthy hypothetical to consider.
