list.in.to.chicago this week: 02.08.2010

Okay, just in case I don't get around to the top ten list for last year, it's Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Steven Wilson, Joshua Redman, St. Vincent, Metric, Morrissey,...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Ben Harper and Relentless7, White Rabbits and a seven-way tie for tenth between Pelican, Them Crooked Vultures, The Mars Volta, Cheap Trick, Arctic Monkeys, The Decemberists and Gomez.

Pick of the week
I'm down with either Soulfix (Elbo Room) or The Maybenauts (Abbey Pub) on Thursday, and then I'll most likely be at the Abbey on Friday for HEMI and Cealed Kasket. If you're feeling more funky that night, you've also got George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic at Cubby Bear.

list.in.to.COZ
You've got your two open mic nights, as per usual, and then an acoustic duo show with Tony on the far northwest side on Saturday night, assuming that's still on. Diver is back next Saturday at Fado.

Recap
Nothing to report. I have a notion of just going to Elbo Room or Schubas or Lincoln Hall on weekend nights when I have no plans, to try to discover some newer bands. If that sounds at all interesting, let me know, because mocking the less interesting of those bands just looks like a crazy guy talking to himself if I'm there alone.

2.08   monday
Robbie Fulks with Nora O'Connor (Hideout)
I've always gotten the sense that Fulks is a witty songwriter, which should be appealing enough to go see him maybe once by now, but I haven't quite gotten to his spot on the big list of bands I haven't seen.

2.09   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
It's getting to be that time of year where I dust off all my favorite anti-love songs. There was a moment where I almost bought into the holiday, but it passed. Plus, Niki told Facebook that Free Winona will be in the house once again. So that'll be fun.

Paul Wertico's Mid-East/Mid-West Alliance (Jazz Showcase)
All I really need is to see former Pat Metheny drummer Paul Wertico's name, and I'm on board. It looks like they've got a rotating cast for this week instead of the six-night stand that is the normal operating procedure for the jazz institution.

2.10   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
Open mic nights aren't just for Tuesdays anymore. Not that they ever were, but whatever. So far the best turnouts have coincided with the most technical difficulties. Hopefully this is not a pattern, because I like the good turnouts. Still no return of the accordion player.

Chris Greene Quintet (Katerina's)
I've been reintroduced to Greene's saxophone via Booty Movement Coalition, and haven't gotten around to asking if he remembers playing a double bill with Oncle Julien at Cubby Bear way back when I think he was still in college.

Evil Beaver with Polysics, Earth Program (Double Door)
I have to say, they were doing the raw, visceral guitar and drums duo way before bands with colors in their names appropriated the genre.

2.11   thursday
Soulfix with Mercury Crossing, Alpha Clef Project, Bodies Bright (Elbo Room)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Marlon, Mitch and Dario have been playing a boatload of gigs with their cover band over the last couple of months, so I suspect they're going to be champing at the bit to flex their original rock muscles. If you're forgotten, the best reference point for their sound is King's X, and maybe a bit of Live thrown in.

The Maybenauts with Gidgets Ga Ga, The Queue, Fitzpatrick (Abbey Pub)
See, this is what happens when I actually get out to see new bands. They immediately show up somewhere else, and I have something to write about! I gotta do this more often. Also, Gidgets Ga Ga have been around forever...I think Oncle Julien may have played a show with them, and that band only lasted until 1995 or 1996. And no, I wasn't really expecting two Oncle Julien references this week, either.

2.12   friday
Cealed Kasket with Beatallica, HEMI (Abbey Pub)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
It's "former employees of The Globe Pub" night at The Abbey, with Kat the former bartender playing guitar in HEMI and Jimmy the former bar back in Cealed Kasket, who are a bit out there if I remember the description properly. And I will assume that Beatallica somehow mixes the Beatles and Metallica, to hilarious effect.

Keith Jarrett (Symphony Center)
Now that most of the "first wave" of bebop musicians have passed away, guys like Keith Jarrett are the elder statesmen of that era of jazz, and are also getting to the age where you need to make a point to see them in case you don't get another chance. This is a solo piano show.

George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic (Cubby Bear Wrigleyville)
If this seems like an odd match of artist and venue, I would point out that I saw the godfather of funk in this very room all the way back in 1993. Still have the ticket stub. And I wasn't even able to last all the way through a P-Funk show back when I was 23. I don't stand a chance at nearly 40.

Vortis with The Cathy Santonies, Hot and Heavy Burlesque (Hideout)
If you're a Who fan seething with anger over Jim DeRogatis' assessment of their Super Bowl halftime performance, go see his punk band and then write derogatory (DeRogatis-atory?) things about it afterwards to get even.

Empires with This Is Me Smiling, The Fireship (Lincoln Hall)
This local band seems to have grown out of The Academy Is..., and I'm pretty sure I've read good things about them. Unfortunately, my computer has decided it won't play music, so I can't corroborate any of that. And I've apparently been at least in the same venue as This Is Me Smiling once when I saw Madina Lake at Metro, all of which makes me think the night may be kinda emo.

2.13   saturday
Half of DIVER (Curragh Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Tony and I have an acoustic gig out in Edison Park, which I believe is just a far northwest neighborhood and not a northwest suburb. On Northwest Highway. Anyway, I don't know that I expect you to make that particular trek, but thought you'd want to know.

DOOM featuring Mos Def (Congress Theater)
I had this one a couple of weeks ago, but it got postponed. With Mike Relm, Qwel and Maker, BBU, The Comeups, Rude 1, Trew, Demchuk, RTC. And I still haven't given The Ecstatic from Mos Def enough of a listen to decide how I feel about it. It's no New Danger, I know that, but that's a tough yardstick.

The Steak House Mints with Backyard Tire Fire (Double Door)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
The band -- which typically features local heavyweights Steve Gillis, Vijay Tellis-Nayak and Shawn Sommar -- is top-notch, but I'm still not totally sold on the tunes, which want to be Steely Dan but have maybe a bit too much musical theater mixed in for that to work right.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Old Town School of Folk Music)
I love the eclectic mix of music at the Lincoln Square venue, and if you need reminding, this South African vocal ensemble was featured heavily on Paul Simon's Graceland album.

This Must Be The Band (SPACE, Evanston)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
Playing Talking Heads music gives Jim DiNou a good platform for making all sorts of weird synthesizer noises. I still need to see these guys.

The Musical Box (The Vic)
The Genesis tribute band will be taking on A Trick of the Tail, which is probably the last really progressive album from the band, and the first after Peter Gabriel left. The show may have been originally scheduled for Sunday, and you'd think that a prog rock show on Valentine's Day would create no scheduling conflicts whatsoever, so I don't know why it changed.

Empire with Kazy, Awake in Reno (Cubby Bear Wrigleyville)
I'm guessing there's lots of potential for confusion between this show and Empires the previous night. As far as I can tell, this is a different band and not a misspelling, but I can't find out anything else online, except that there's also a fashion show.

2.14   sunday
Jon Langford with The Dirty Rooks, The Delta Routine (Lincoln Hall)
Not unlike Robbie Fulks at the top of this week's list, the Mekon and Waco Brother also strikes me as a witty guy, which might make for some interesting observations about the human condition during a Valentine's Day show.

Madina Lake with The Blisters, Big Science, Brendan Kelly, DePaul Prelude Choir (Metro)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I'm not sure, but this band may be starting to outlast the Leone twins' previous effort, The Blank Theory. And I've written about Big Science a couple of times.