list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.22.2008

Think of this as my way of helping you take your mind off of what's left of your 401(k).

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Pick of the week
Lots and lots to choose from this week, but you could do a lot worse than a weekend consisting of Mogwai (Congress Theater) on Friday, Common with Talib Kweli, The Roots and Bilal (House of Blues) on Saturday and Santogold (House of Blues) on Sunday.

list.in.to.COZ
I should be keeping my regular office hours at Vaughan's this week, and the dance card may be expanding by another two bands in the not-so-distant future. More news as it becomes available.

Recap
First off, Paul Weller was amazing. Just a crazy good, energetic performance, and I swear I've never seen anyone go through so many guitar picks over the course of two hours. The same can't quite be said for openers The Rifles, who just seemed to be borrowing ideas from every other new British band of the last couple of years with poorer execution. To prove this point, I started singing Bloc Party lyrics over every one of their songs, and it totally worked.

On Friday, my friends in Frisbie were once again plagued by problems, which now seems to happen every other time I see them. This time it was some sort of gremlin in Liam's guitar rig, and maybe something in the backing tracks for "S.F.B." Still, I'm starting to think they deserve that "favorite local band" tag right now, either despite or because of Steve Frisbie's vocals sometimes reminding me of Tommy Shaw from Styx.

And while I don't like calling out bands by name, David Singer and the Sweet Science leave me no choice. I get the feeling that they don't quite understand which scales work over which chords. Too many vocal melodies and guitar leads produced too many absolutely cringe-worthy dissonant notes, to the point where it became downright painful. I hope they were just having an off night, because the obviously Ben Folds-esque pop certainly showed some promise, but it seemed like a more systemic problem.

9.22   monday
Le Concorde with Dressy Bessy, The Coast, Tiny Speakers (Bottom Lounge)
One of my neighbors at my rehearsal building plays just around the corner from said rehearsal building.

9.23   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Should be my first appearance in three weeks, although I may be a little bit late.

The Cells with CAW! CAW!, Sam Knudson and the Shame Train, Sugarfoot (Abbey Pub)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
So some of you may recall that these guys were friends of URT back in the day, mostly because their singer actually worked for one of our band members during the day as a temp. Turns out I'm now a colleague of that same singer after my company was recently sold. Small world.

9.24   wednesday
Sigur Ros (Chicago Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
Normally, if you go to a show and can't understand what the hell they're singing, you're either drunk or the mix is bad. With this atmospheric Icelandic band, it's because they're singing in an entirely made-up language.

Stars with Bell X1 (The Vic)
Moved from the Riviera, which seemed like an awfully big venue for the tuneful indie outfit, seeing as how I don't think they've got a new recording out.

Darius Rucker (Joe's Bar)
"When asked to comment, Rucker's attorney said her client could not have attacked the victim because the attack happened on the sidewalk, and everything Hootie and the Blowfish does is middle of the road." -- Craig Kilborn (paraphrased), The Daily Show

9.25   thursday
James with Unkle Bob (The Vic)
This has the makings of a very frustrating show. The band has a pretty engaging new record out, but you know that nearly every single person in the audience is just going to be waiting for them to play "Laid."

Phantom Planet with The Rocket Summer, Secret Handshake, Morning Light (Metro)
This band has been back on my radar ever since I heard singer Alex Greenwald with Mark Ronson on his version of Radiohead's "Just", but I haven't gone back and listened to any of their original material yet, mostly because I'm afraid that they're mostly generic emo.

Bang Camaro with Sound and Fury, Leslie (Double Door)
One of the earliest sets at this year's Lollapalooza, which means I missed it, but the reports were that it was a pretty rockin' good time.

9.26   friday
Mogwai with Fuck Buttons (Congress Theater)
Speaking of Lollapalooza, those of you who were all about Explosions in the Sky might want to check out a band that almost has to be one of their biggest influences. That, or they do the same sort of reverb-drenched atmospheric instrumental rock totally by chance.

Patricia Barber Quartet (Green Mill)
I think she just released a record, which would explain the rare weekend sighting of the local jazz singer/pianist.

The Coctails with Antietam, KatJonBand, The Bitter Tears (Hideout)
I'm not entirely sure this band has played a show since the final week of the Lounge Ax. Maybe the final night of the Lounge Ax, if I'm not mistaken. Wow, talk about a blast from the past.

Noah and the Whale with The Death Ships, Lindi Ortega (Empty Bottle)
Even before I found out they were named after an indie movie and its director, and had Wes Anderson produce their record, I was going to guess they're the kind of indie band that invariably ends up on the soundtrack of some sort of eccentric, rough-around-the-edges indie movie.

9.27   saturday
My Bloody Valentine (Aragon Ballroom)   SOLD OUT!
Bring earplugs. Back in their heyday, I saw MBV and Dinosaur Jr. at Metro, and that still ranks as the loudest concert I've ever seen in my life. They were never a big enough part of my aesthetic for me to be overly excited about the reunion, but I do likes me some huge, distorted guitars.

Buckethead with That 1 Guy (The Vic)
The problem with cutting-edge shredder guitarists is that they buy into their cutting edginess and then sorta stop progressing. The cutting edge then moves on, and they're stuck in a weird little universe of their own making. I haven't seen Buckethead lately, so I don't know if he's evolved past the brilliance of his early work with Praxis and Jonas Hellborg.

Common with Talib Kweli, The Roots, Bilal (House of Blues)
Sometimes I think Common gets unfairly overlooked with all the subsequent hype over Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco, but it may just be that I have a personal preference for his more organic, jazzy approach. Roots drummer ?uestlove has produced some of his stuff, too, so I don't know if they'll end up backing him for his set.

The New Duncan Imperials with Debaucher (Beat Kitchen)
Another band that existed back when there was a Lounge Ax, although I don't know if they played there much. They may have, but I remember seeing them elsewhere.

Patricia Barber Quartet (Green Mill)
See Friday's listing.

9.28   sunday
Santogold with Mates of States, Plastic Little, Low vs. Diamond (House of Blues)
Sort of a happy medium between M.I.A. and the Ting Tings, in that there's a bit more of a world/dance vibe coming from the former, along with a healthy dose of new wave from the latter. I think that makes it nominally electroclash or something like that. I've been meaning to check out Low vs. Diamond as well, but it hasn't made it into the massive Rhapsody playlist just yet.

Hot Chip with Growing (Metro)
If you want electropop but don't want to head all the way down to HOB, you're in luck! I think I have a random track from them that I downloaded somewhere, and to the best of my knowledge, I've never skipped it when it's come up in the shuffle.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with Black Diamond Heavies (Riviera Theatre)
Nick Cave is one of those guys that I've just heard mentioned by so many people with so much respect that I respect him by osmosis. I do still occasionally get him confused with the late Nick Drake, though, but he was also highly regarded.