list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.21.2003

Normally, this is where I say something incredibly witty. Just imagine I did, and I'll get on to the part where I tell you to forward this to all your friends, and to feel free to add comments on the website.

Oh, and the Blue Man Group CD comes out this week. I've heard it, it's good, and has a bit more of the humor of the stage show than the last one.

Pick of the week
Oddly enough, the band I know the least about in this week's installment, Maserati tonight at Double Door, sounds the most intriguing. Aside from that, you should come out and see Nitrous Foxide and Strain Busy Sky on Friday at Martyr's, because you miss me.

Recap
Saw Mike and Soulfix on Thursday, and the band rocked out. The easy comparison is that they sorta sound like Live at times. But what was weird that night was a sudden influx of attractive women at Beat Kitchen. At 11pm on a Thursday night. The club is a bit off the beaten track, and even then, tends toward a musical crowd and/or nearby neighbors, so we were a bit perplexed. I didn't stick around to see if there was a reason for it, as it didn't look like they were there to see a band. Plus, I didn't want them swooning over me, which inevitably happens in those situations. No, really! Why are you laughing? You'd know if you ever, you know, actually came out to a show.

4.21   monday
Maserati with Absinthe Blind, La Makita Soma (Double Door)
Okay, I've got nothing on these guys, except that I want to see them tour with Trans Am and Chevelle. Allmusic.com puts them in the same category as Tortoise, a band I really, really dig, and Macha, a band I just discovered last week, so it could be interesting.

4.22   tuesday
Open Mike (Vaughan's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
I've added a bunch of new tunes recently, both from the 80s and others that were actually recorded in this century! We'll see if I think they're ready for the discerning and highly critical (read: drunk) Vaughan's audience. Unless, of course, I wind up sequestered with a jury from the day's efforts serving my community.

Ministry with Nothingface, Lollipop Lustkill, Motograter (Vic Theatre)
The elder statesmen of industrial music are supporting a new record with an impossible-to-pronounce-or-spell name. If you're driving around Belmont and Sheffield on Tuesday night, and it sounds like there's road construction going on or something, it's probably just that.

4.23   wednesday
The Countdown with The Postal Service, CEX (Abbey Pub)
I have no idea what "electrotrash" is, but that's what this duo, comprised of Tamar Berk from Starball, who I've seen many times, and Steven Denakas from Entertainment, who I've never heard of, apparently plays. Tamar was nice enough to correct a three-month old misstatement on my part that she was a principle member of Bicycle Tricycle, so I figure I'll return the favor. And show up in even more of her Google searches, I would imagine. The Reader gives a better view of headliners The Postal Service than I ever could.

4.24   thursday
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, America Is Waiting, Murder by Death (Metro)
This triple bill featuring the Austin emo quartet would have just been morbid before W's little war happened. Now it's either brazen or seditious, I'm not sure which. I've heard very little of this band, but they seem to come through town a lot. Which means folks in this city dig them, or this is the only logical stopping point between colleges in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Matt Geraghty Project (U.S. Beer Company)
This venue has recently jumped back into the scene with vigor, determination, and apparently schizophrenia. It looked like they were going more towards punk and metal at first, but now jazz bassist Geraghty has a gig there on a Thursday, as opposed to the token Monday or Tuesday most jazz acts get around town. Then again, it's listed on Metromix under "rock/pop," so who knows? On a related note, the club has occasionally promoted a "post-war drink special -- $1.50 domestics" on their LED ticker above the door, which is pretty funny. To me, anyway, and it's my list.

4.25   friday
Nitrous Foxide with Strain Busy Sky, Tristen (Martyr's)   SEE COZ LIVE!
To continue the theme we established on Saturday, we're going to ask Strain Busy Sky and Tristen if they can play "War Pigs," too! If that's not incentive to come out and RAWK, I don't know what is.

Down the Line, Anne Harris (Nevin's Live)
Well-crafted but largely inoffensive rootsy pop up near the accomplished but largely inoffensive Northwestern University. With apologies to any NU alums on the list. Or not.

4.26   saturday
McGill/Manring/Stevens (Elbo Room)
This is some sort of prog-rock supergroup, although bassist Michael Manring is the only guy I've actually heard of. Maybe I'm finally getting past my proggish upbringing in that I don't know the other two guys. If you don't get out to see lots of music, these guys will probably play more notes in one night than you'd see in a month of "normal" rock shows.

Phix, The Pudder Project (Martyr's)
These guys are billed as "celebrating the music of Phish." So you've got a band imitating a band imitating the Grateful Dead. Why do I suddenly have the urge to go rent Multiplicity?

4.27   sunday
Mike Doughty (Schuba's)
For someone I've never ever seen live, I sure do mention the former Soul Coughing frontman a lot when he comes through town. To be fair, I did actually buy tickets to a show of his once, but had a schedule conflict and couldn't go.

Nicholas Barron and the Free Associates (The Long Room)
Haven't given these guys a shout in a while. Go see 'em. You won't be disappointed, and it's free anyway.