list.in.to.chicago this week: 11.07.2011

Okay, it's another one of those "there might not be a newsletter next week because I'm several time zones away" deals, but I have jetlagged downtime when I land in Madrid on Sunday that might be conducive to cranking out some listings. This was the point last year where my car got stolen, so hopefully things go better this time.

Pick of the week
This weekend looks like one of those times where you have to love living in Chicago. Almost too much to mention, although you'll find me at the Riv for Mastodon and then maybe at Sylvie's afterwards to see my friends in Everelle. If I wasn't skipping town, I would totally head down to the Horseshoe on Saturday for Judas Priest while feeling bad about missing Mike Doughty at House of Blues.

list.in.to.COZ
Regular office hours this week. Diver will be playing next Saturday at Fado, and we might have a pretty big Andrew Fraker & Sons announcement coming shortly.

Recap
The sound at Subterranean sucked, but the intensity of Le Butcherettes still came across, as did the suprising musicality of what looks on the surface like it might be an artsy project to the point of being atonal. It's not. The band also seemed to be sporting a new drummer, with no word as to whether or not projectile vomit had gotten the best of the previous one.

11.07   monday
CAVE with Bird Names, Running (Empty Bottle)
This local band has gotten on my radar just recently, sounding eclectic enough in blog posts and reviews to make me think I might dig them.

11.08   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Come out and wish Sips a happy birthday. Buy him a birthday shot, and you'll learn why we call him "Sips."

Rachael Yamagata with Mike Viola (Logan Square Auditorium)
Her bio describes her as being from Arlington, Virginia, but I still claim the former Bumpus singer as a Chicagoan. She's got a new record out, has had songs in a ton of TV shows, and has a track on the Muppets cover album that came out a few months ago.

Indigo Girls with Mount Moriah (The Vic)
Not to keep harping on it, but if you want evidence that Metromix's listing have gone to shit, they missed this one.

11.09   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
I still need to figure out what website says this thing starts at 8pm. Heck, it almost doesn't start when it's actually supposed to start. The new wrinkle for the slow nights might be me giving regular bar patrons guitar lessons, which reminds of me of some saying about the blind and the naked.

The Airborne Toxic Event with Mona, The Drowning Men (Riviera Theatre)
While this band seemed poised to become a big deal in the much-overlooked area of regular rock music, it seems like the basis of that support was the sort of music fan easily distracted by the next new shiny thing, which in this particular case, seems to be Cage The Elephant.

Antigone Rising with Daphne Willis (Marytrs')
I know who this all-female band is solely because they partnered with Starbucks instead of (or maybe in addition to) a record label. So, mission accomplished.

Ace Frehley (House of Blues)
It's high time for a Frehley's Comet reunion, isn't it? Anton Fig would have to take time off from the Letterman band, though.

tUnE-yArDs with Pat Jordache (Lincoln Hall)   SOLD OUT!
Between the non-traditional capitalization and the Wikipedia description as "Lo-fi, R&B, experimental," this looks entirely like one of those artists that articulates the difference between my aesthetic sensibilities and, say, those of the Pitchfork folks. Not buying it.

Indigo Girls with Mount Moriah (The Vic)
See Tuesday's listing.

11.10   thursday
Morrissey with Kristeen Young (Congress Theater)
I feel like I saw someone on Facebook or Twitter saying they saw Moz a little while ago, which makes me wonder if the Chicago elements of his backing band (including drummer Matt Walker) managed to convince him to record here.

tUnE-yArDs with Pat Jordache (Lincoln Hall)   SOLD OUT!
See Wednesday's listing

11.11   friday
Mastodon with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Fang (Riviera Theatre)
The standard-bearers of modern heavy metal have a new record out that has mostly kicked my ass, although I still feel like I've only scratched the surface. I'd love to see them at a different venue, but maybe the Riv won't suck for once.

Everelle (Sylvie's Lounge)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
So, if you're a friend of mine, and want to get listed, add another friend to the band. More of a straight-up alt-rock band for a while, drummer Gary Shust and company are updating and modernizing their sound with electronics and the powerhouse vocals of former Bounce singer Sarah Buino. Presumably with other bands, but if you know Silvie's, you won't be surprised that it's tough to find a website or listing anywhere for the venue.

Meat Puppets with Black Box Revelations (Double Door)
Nirvana helped put them on the mainstream map with a couple of covers from their Unplugged session, but then Krist Novoselic tried to take them back off with that really terrible Eyes Adrift band he and Curt Kirkwood were in together.

John Scofield Quartet with the Ravi Coltrane Quartet (Symphony Center)
Heck of a jazz double bill, with guitarist Scofield and John Coltrane's son, who has become a formidable saxophonist in his own right.

Skrillex with Two Fresh, Nadastrom (Congress Theater)
I normally don't do DJ-oriented electronica, but I heard something from the artist also known as Sonny Moore the other day that intrigued me enough not to dismiss him outright. Baby steps.

Ray Davies with The 88 (Chicago Theatre)
The former Kinks frontman with his solo band.

Todd Snider with Elizabeth Cook (Park West)
The country-folk artist seems to hit town at least once a year, and has been for well over a decade now.

11.12   saturday
Judas Priest with Black Label Society, Thin Lizzy (The Venue, Hammond, IN)
The metal legends had one of their guitarists retire in advance of this final tour, but it's still your last chance to see most of the band, including singer Rob Halford. I was going to attempt rolling off an international flight directly into a meeting so I could see this, but ultimately decided to be responsible.

Mike Doughty (House of Blues)
The former Soul Coughing frontman has a new record that has him out touring with a full band again.

Scratch Acid (Metro)
You may recall this band as being a precursor to Jesus Lizard, who you may in turn have fairly awful mental images of if you went and saw that Ministry documentary a few weeks ago.

Skrillex with Dada Life (Congress Theater)
See Friday's listing.

11.13   sunday
Suzanne Vega (SPACE, Evanston)
Her song "In Liverpool" lodged itself in my head a few weeks ago, which led to me wanting to put together an acoustic version of "Blood Makes Noise," from the same record.

Frank Russell (Martyrs')
I believe it's a record release party for the local bass heavyweight.

Paul Simon (Rosemont Theatre)
After seeing him at The Vic, larger venues just seem like they're not worth it.