list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.27.2009

Thursday looks like another one of those bad nights for ticket-buying procrastinators, with four notable shows and no tickets available for any of them.

Pick of the week
You need to go to Martyrs' tonight for Booty Movement Coalition, particularly if you were into the Liquid Soul/Sumo/Swimmer scene back in the late 90s. After that, I'd consider Office on Saturday at Double Door, or try to hit up a friend who has an extra for any of those sold out Thursday night shows.

list.in.to.COZ
Just Vaughan's this week, and then it's Andrew Fraker & Sons at Cubby Bear next Friday (5/8).

Recap
I've been mostly dealing with the impending move into the new apartment on Thursday -- including finding said apartment -- so going to see shows has taken a bit of a back seat.

4.27   monday
Booty Movement Coalition (Martyrs')
As I learned last month, this is a collective that draws on the history -- and several members -- of Sumo's Sunday night residency at Elbo Room many, many years ago. And it delivers the same kind of adventurous, improvised acid jazz, funk and hip-hop. Definitely a good way to start the week.

4.28   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I know, I know. It's a toss-up between a bunch of guys playing acoustic cover tunes in a cozy little bar, and Britney Spears at the Allstate Arena.

Emerson Hart with Stolie and Gina Gonzales (Duffy's)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Seems like an odd venue for the former frontman of Tonic, but hey, a gig's a gig. The ubiquitous Stolie opens up with one of several duo configurations.

4.29   wednesday
The Thermals with The Shaky Hands, Point Juncture (Bottom Lounge)
I want to say I saw this band open for somebody once, and I thought they were just a bit to abrasive and weird, but I continue to confuse them with The Eternals. Maybe both of them were abrasive and weird, as I found an earlier listing where I seem to have listened to one of their records and not cared for it. Not a lot going on on this night, so you get random associations.

4.30   thursday
Mastodon with Kylesa, Intronaut (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
Arguably the best new metal band of the last decade, in large part because they don't seem to care about any of the metal-ish trends in the "active rock" radio space.

Tinted Windows with Old Fake (Double Door)   SOLD OUT!
By now, you may have heard about this "supergroup," comprised of Adam Schelsinger from Fountains of Wayne, James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins, Taylor Hanson from Hanson, and Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick. The debut record is decently glossy power-pop, but I couldn't shake the notion that it sounded like American Hi-Fi, which isn't quite as good as some of the reviews have made it out to be. That's only based on one listen, so I could be selling the record short.

Franz Ferdinand with Born Ruffians (Riviera Theatre)   SOLD OUT!
I've seen the U.K. quartet twice, and both times they've been engaging and entertaining. The new record is pretty good -- adding more elements of electronica to the angular Britpop guitars -- but not spectacular. There's this one tune with an cool extended synth breakdown that you really need to hear with headphones, particularly 'phones with good bass response.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland with Other Lives (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
Both of these acts have gotten critical praise lately, but they both seem too close to that Fleet Foxes/Okkervil River-esque rustic ork pop for my tastes.

5.01   friday
Larry McCray with Alex Wilson (Buddy Guy's Legends)
I would catch blues shows when they came to campus when I was in college, but I very rarely go out of my way to see them. McCray was one of those good blues shows I saw twenty years ago, and he probably remains as one of the better things coming out of Detroit these days, assuming he still hails from there.

Charlie Hunter Duo (SPACE, Evanston)
Not sure who the acclaimed jazz guitarist is playing with, but it will probably be good. Might just be him and a drummer, since Hunter's eight-string guitar covers the bass register much like a jazz organist.

Mustard Plug with The Pinstripes, Scissors (Beat Kitchen)
Get out your skinny ties and porkpie hats. Their Wikipedia entry helpfully offers that the 18-year old ska band's "songs usually include raspy vocals, fast singing, sing-along choruses, an upstroke guitar technique, distorted guitars, power chords, walking basslines, 4/4 drumming, and catchy horn parts."

5.02   saturday
Office with Loyal Divide, Kyle Andrews, The Seedy Seeds, Coltrane Motion (Double Door)
Doors are at 5:30pm for this benefit show, raising money for something called "The Inspiration Corporation."

Talib Kweli (House of Blues)
Two shows from the hip-hop artist, who has collaborated with the likes of Mos Def, notable gay fish Kanye West (see South Park from a few weeks ago for that one) and Madlib.

5.03   sunday
Fastball with Wyatt (Empty Bottle)
I don't know which is more surprising -- that Fastball (of "The Way" fame, some ten years ago) is still around, or that they're playing the Empty Bottle, of all places. Maybe they're a hipster guilty pleasure, or something.