This week is chockfull of the blues. The cerulean goings-on start around 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 8 — yes, that’s tonight, if you picked up the paper when you’re supposed to — as local blues gurus Black Magic Johnson bring it all home through a mix of standards and originals at Thirsty’s Playground (1975 W. […]
Music
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No freaks – just folk
There’s a reason Vetiver gets lumped in with the freak-folk crowd, but it doesn’t have much to do with its music. Andy Cabic, the San Francisco-based collective’s only permanent member, plays guitar in Devendra Banhart’s touring band and even runs a label with him (Gnomonsong, home of Feathers and Jana Hunter). Vetiver’s 2004 debut found […]
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Vinyl Static
HIGH FIVES: Desk Vinyl Static is what the Dubya’s dad might call a “kinder, gentler music critic.” When the message floated in that Jurassic 5 was finally dropping the follow-up to Quality Control and Power in Numbers, this fan wanted to like “Work It Out,” the lead single, bad. The song kicks off in perfect […]
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Vinyl Static
JUNEBUG: Rip the month of May off your calendar quick — the painfully slow month for shows and new releases has finally been put to rest, and not fast enough. Can you say, “American Idol season 5 encores”? Glad that’s over. Sure, we had some memories, those tasty musical morsels such as Gnarls Barkley’s St. […]
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Red Dirt in central Illinois
Ever hear of the Red Dirt music movement? Popular in Texas and Oklahoma, it now seems to be sweeping the nation, especially in rural areas populated by folks who like country, rock, beer, and fishing. Its origins are hazy, but generally it’s agreed that the epicenter is Stillwater, Okla. Bands don’t necessarily come from or […]
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All in the family
What if the Manson Family had been less of a patriarchal death cult and more of a freeform collective? What if they’d shacked up in cool, reasonable Vermont instead of hotheaded California and collaborated on their own songs instead of parroting those of their rock-star-manqué leader? What if they’d spent more time ministering to their […]
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On our side again
Now that President George W. Bush’s approval ratings are stagnating around 30 percent, protest songs are fashionable again, with everyone from Pink to Pearl Jam clamoring to kick ol’ Dubya while he’s down. Sure, indie rockers such as Jay Farrar and Conor Oberst had already been there and done that, but big whoop: Most of […]
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Vinyl Static
O CANADA! Let me reintroduce you to a little country I like to call Canada, the place where draft dodgers used to go and where everybody gets to see a doctor. But there’s so much more to our neighbor to the north, which has become a hotbed of experimental rock. Music devotees know the sounds […]
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Memorial Day, up north
I love the internal party meter of Springfield’s North Enders, and nothing revs it up like the world-famous Springfield Mile motorcycle race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. During the Mile weekend, bars are full of biker-type people, bands squeeze in as many shows as possible, live music crops up in the unlikeliest of places, and, […]
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A big, big world
Susana Baca Traves’as (Luaka Bop) Travesías means “passages” in Spanish, and it’s an especially appropriate title for Susana Baca’s latest album, her fourth for Luaka Bop. Last August, after a trip to the Congo, the Afro-Peruvian singer and ethnomusicologist began a fellowship at Tulane University, in New Orleans, where she planned to study the music […]
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Vinyl Static
SHOWS A-GO-GO! Champaign-Urbana band Shipwreck ventures our way for a show at the Underground City Tavern on Saturday, May 20. If anyone can bring the rock, it’s Shipwreck. This year alone, the band has plans to release an ambitious four — count ’em, four — EPs, and if the 2005 release “Origin” is any indication, […]
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Late spring roundup
If haven’t heard already, the big news on the bar scene this week is the long-awaited arrival of a 3 a.m. liquor license for Marly’s Pub’s (9 W. Old State Capitol Plaza, 217-522-2280). The popular bar on the square features live music four or five nights a week, all performed through an excellent house P.A., […]
