Given the treatment of Irish immigrants by Americans in the middle and late 19th century, it’s nice to know that those who were once scorned are now praised. Somehow those plucky Irish went from being the scourge of the earth to getting their very own holiday. As they say, time wounds all heels and heals […]
Music
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sound patrol 3-17-05
Besides being a character in a William S. Burroughs novel, Clem Snide is a band, a funny and touching alt-countrified/indie-rock band whose frontman and singer/songwriter, Eef Barzelay, is often accused of being too clever for his own good. For many music fans — especially those passionately invested in their own sense of uniqueness — cleverness […]
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sound patrol 3-10-05
The consensus on The Great Destroyer, Low’s seventh full-length and first for Sub Pop, is that it represents a Great Departure. Adjectives that have never before appeared in reviews of the Duluth, Minn.-based trio — “aggressive,” “loud,” “rocking” — have been edging out the usual descriptors (“hushed,” “narcoleptic,” “austere”). If anyone took rock critics halfway […]
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music notes 3-10-05
Everyone wish a happy birthday to the Illinois Central Blues Club as it commemorates two decades in the blues society business. The ICBC, one of the senior blues associations in the nation, is celebrating in grand style with the Larry Taylor Blues Band of Chicago, featuring slide guitarist Tom Holland. Taylor plays traditional postwar Chicago […]
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now playing 3-10-05
Guitar-slinging, rockabilly singer Rosie Flores has been making music since she was a child, recording her first song at the age of 7. A Texas native, Rosie is heading back to her home state next week for a show with Katy Moffatt at Austin’s world-famous South by Southwest music conference. She’s been on the road […]
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sound patrol 3-3-05
Sure, globalization has its drawbacks: McDonald’s in the ruins, Wal-Marts in the rainforest, Guatemalan peasants quoting Dr. Phil. Sometimes, though, it’s pretty great, and Maya Arulpragasam, a Sri Lanka–raised, London-based MC who goes by the tag M.I.A., is all the proof you need that a shrunken, mongrelized, borderless world doesn’t necessarily mean oppression and colonialism […]
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now playing 3-3-05
The classic-country period of popular music, which roughly lasted 1950-1965, was a time when hillbillies really came from the hills, Okies were a legitimate group of immigrants in California, and electricity was rearing its ugly head to influence the sound of musical instruments. It was a glorious time now emulated a generation (or two) later […]
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music notes 3-3-05
Don’t forget, here’s your chance to see some of the area’s finest hard rock bands plus a national touring group at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, at Club 217 (3075 Normandy Rd., 529-0196). Bobaflex, just off tour with Sevendust, headlines with we’re-not-worthy (yes, you are!) Funky Circuse Fleas of Beardstown, Honest Pod of Decatur, […]
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sound patrol 2-24-05
Super Furry AnimalsSongbook: The Singles, Vol. 1 (XL) Let’s give it up for Wales. As if Dylan Thomas, Bertrand Russell, and John Cale weren’t enough, the vowel-challenged British principality has seen fit to favor us with the Super Furry Animals, a maverick rock quintet that’s been making brilliantly silly, unexpectedly moving records since 1995. Although […]
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now playing 2-24-05
Imagine, if you will, a cozy coffeehouse atmosphere: wooden tables and chairs, New Age knickknacks all around. Breathe in the lingering fragrance of incense mixed with the aroma of pastries and coffee. On a corner stage, tucked between a window and a wall, a singer strums a guitar and passionately pours out the accumulated thoughts […]
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music notes 2-24-05
Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors are back in town at the Illinois Central Blues Club Blue Monday Jam at the Alamo (115 N. 5th St., 523-1455). The San Francisco area band is a knockout and Hummel is one of the best harmonica players you’ll ever hear live. Why not bite the bullet and pay […]
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sound patrol 2-17-05
Bettie ServeertAttagirl (Minty Fresh) Indie rock, like most cultural enterprises, is not a meritocracy. Consider Bettie Serveert, the Amsterdam-based outfit fronted by Canadian expat Carol van Dyk. Thirteen years ago, the group ruled the college-radio playlists enchanted critics with debut full-length Palomine, and toured with all the major dudes of the day. Thanks in large […]
