list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.02.2012

I feel like there are so many quality shows this week that the radius clause for Lollapalooza must go into effect any day now.

Pick of the week
Well, I'm going to see The Ting Tings (Tuesday at Metro) and Wild Flag (Thursday at Metro) for sure, and maybe make it a Metro clean sweep with White Rabbits on Sunday. But the one that just totally jumped out at me is The Fela Band on Saturday at Lincoln Hall, because live Afropop is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

list.in.to.COZ
Definitely the Globe on Wednesday, maybe Vaughan's tomorrow. Mark your calendars for 4/14 (Diver at Fado) and 5/4 (tenative for Andrew Fraker & Sons at Cubby Bear). More details as they become available.

Recap
My reaction to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was pretty much identical to my reaction to Oasis a few years ago. I really liked the songs I knew -- including a full-band take on "Talk Tonight" and a stripped-down "Semisonic" -- and still liked the songs I didn't know, mostly because they sound a lot like the other ones. This can be a good thing, although there were a few more clunkers here than with that Oasis set.

4.02   monday
Kasabian with Hacienda (The Vic)
In the battle between modern British bands whose names start with the letter K, I still gravitate towards Kaiser Chiefs, who I'm going to see when they're here in a couple of weeks.

Company of Thieves (Double Door)
This is a free show that's promoting a new beer from the folks at New Belgium. Dig around the Internet for the flyer you need to get in.

Nada Surf with An Horse (Metro)
So I think I saw this band play a Lollapalooza aftershow with The Frames back in 2006, which is when I started to realize that the aftershows aren't for the folks who spend all day at the festival. It's more for those who skip the afternoon bands or don't go at all, because it makes for a really, really long day.

4.03   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I may make a cameo appearance depending on when the Ting Tings show gets out. And last week we had a bit of an impromptu spoken word performance that I hope we encourage again.

The Ting Tings with MNDR (Metro)
The British duo were a ton of fun in the middle at the afternoon at Lollapalooza a couple years back. I'm curious to see if the vibe holds up over time and with new material. And, you know, walls. Also curious to see if Katie White still has all her guitar settings taped into place so she doesn't accidentally flail into a different configuration of pickups.

Swervedriver with Heaven (Bottom Lounge)
This was always the "other" big shoegazer band in the early 90s -- the one that wasn't My Bloody Valentine.

Tom McCarthy Group with Shana Gray, Dave Sills (Martyrs')
McCarthy has some serious prog credentials among local musicians, but since learning that many years ago, I haven't had the chance to check him out. I think some friends of mine are in one or more of the backing bands on this one.

Gotye with Kimbra (Aragon)   SOLD OUT!
I'm not sure if this band got huge on its own, or on the strength of that cover version of one of their songs by a band playing a single guitar that went viral on YouTube. And if the CTA clues are any indication, Kimbra will be back for Lollapalooza in August. Rather, if my memory of tweets about the CTA clues is any indication.

4.04   wednesday
Sing Along With Coz (The Globe Pub)   COZ SINGS!
While I did get an actual participant last week, I had to talk him off the ledge after he thought he didn't play very well. I won't tell anyone if he won't.

Keith Jarrett (Sympthony Center)
They keep booking great jazz at Symphony Center, and I keep not going. It's damn near criminal.

Metronomy with Hey Champ (Lincoln Hall)
I keep seeing this band's name without getting much of a sense of what they're about, but describing them as "an actual band rather than a front for DJ Joseph Mount" tells me most of what I need to know. The comparison goes on to invoke Phoenix, which swings thing back in their favor just a bit. Also, this is the first Hey Champ sighting in a while.

Tributosaurus (Martyrs')
This month, they reprise Billy Joel. Two sets, pretty sure the first is sold out.

4.05   thursday
Wild Flag with Hospitality (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
Carrie Brownstein has been busy lately, and both this new band and the IFC hipster-skewering series Portlandia have been critical favorites.

Thomas Dolby with Aaron Jonah Lewis and Ben Belcher (Park West)
I have no idea what to expect from Dolby anymore, because everything I read about him makes me think that what he's doing is really, really interesting (or weird, depending on your point of view) to the point where you can't sum it up briefly. This tour involves a steampunk-inspired three-person trailer outside the venue where you can upload messages to the future.

Kill The Alarm with Josh Holmes, Fivestar Deluxe (Abbey Pub)
Not sure if this is a proper band, or if Garen still hires local musicians to flesh out his songs like he did when the band was called Granian. You may recall that I played two such shows a bunch of years ago.

Guster (The Vic)
It seems like this band has managed to create it's own self-supporting ecosystem, not on the level of a jam band, but close. Fans of this band really, really love this band, and the rest of us tend to be oblivious to their existence.

Reptar with Quiet Hooves (Schubas)
Another band whose name I've seen on and off for at least the last year, and whose capsule preview pegs them as Talking Heads-influenced southern indie-pop. I'll let you try to decode that one.

Shabazz Palaces with Chandeliers (Lincoln Hall)
I missed this new Sub Pop hip-hop outfit featuring Butterfly from Digable Planets when they played Pitchfork last year, but I don't think I knew any of that stuff I just said about them at that point. Also, it was really hot and I had a soccer game.

4.06   friday
Cloud Nothings with A Classic Education (Schubas)
A couple of friends have mentioned this band lately, and with previews name-dropping Weezer and Sunny Day Real Estate, I'm glad there's some buzz about a band with guitars, and not another "indie electronic duo."

Neon Indian with Friends (Metro)
A Mexican songwriter and "synth wizard," according to Time Out Chicago, backed by a four-piece band. I've heard some chatter about this band, too, but haven't listened to them.

Eve 6 with Greek Fire, Namesake, Super Happy Fun Club (Cubby Bear)
Total coincidence that Gillian Anderson is on the TV again (in "Great Expectations" on PBS) and a band named after a plot device in an X-Files episode returns from the 90s.

The English Beat (SPACE, Evanston)
Seriously, it's like Dave Wakeling never leaves, isn't it?

4.07   saturday
Erykah Badu with Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick (Arie Crown Theatre)
Badu is reverent of traditional R&B, but also moves the genre forward. Unfortunately, one of the traditions she adheres to is letting her band play for twenty or thirty minutes before appearing on stage, which was problematic for her one-hour set at Lollapalooza two years ago. Still, when she got going, she really got going.

The Fela Band (Lincoln Hall)
This is most of the band from the original cast recording of the musical that's been running downtown stretching out on the music of Afropop legend Fela Kuti, the subject of said musical.

Foxy Shazam with Maniac, Cadaver Dogs, "Richardson" Richardson (Subterranean)
I want to say this was an early afternoon band also at Lolla back in 2010 with about as much buzz as you're going to get on, say, noon on a Friday.

Outer Minds with Mannequin Men, Radar Eyes, Summer Girlfriends (Empty Bottle)
The two bands in the middle are the ones that piqued my interest, as I've seen a fair amount written about both lately. Free if you RSVP to the venue.

The English Beat (SPACE, Evanston)
See Friday's listing.

4.08   sunday
White Rabbits with Gull, The Hudson Branch (Metro)
Listening to their new record, I get the sense that White Rabbits got really tired of all the Spoon comparisons after Britt Daniel produced their previous effort. Definitely a different vibe, and I'm still getting used to the course correction. They put on a good show when I saw them a couple of years ago.

Our Lady Peace with Pack A.D. (Subterranean)
Back when they released that really, really irritating single "Superman's Dead" in the 90s, this was one of those bands that Canadians defended passionately as one of their own when you said things like their hit single was really, really irritating.