Music Search
Fuck Buttons, Growing
Sat., Nov. 21, 10 p.m.
773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401Experimental
Tarot Sport (ATP), the sophomore album from Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power—aka Bristol noise duo Fuck Buttons—would make a perfect soundtrack to a sci-fi horror movie, accompanying lavishly lit alien-abduction scenes complete with jarringly quick closeups of the soon-to-be-victim's doomed face. The opening (and best) track, "Surf Solar," sets the tone with a tranced-out pulse shoring up a swirl of metallic-sounding snippets; here Fuck Buttons flirt with a chunky electro feel, foregrounding their beats instead of submerging them beneath entrancing swells of distortion the way they did on their impressive debut, Street Horrrsing. That album often shook listeners back into consciousness with half-buried onslaughts of abrasive shrieking, but Tarot Sport relies on cleaner sounds—polished layers of synth and electronics that overlap to form an enmeshing matrix for the blips and beeps pinballing within each loop. Articulate and linear, the record climaxes with the outstanding "Flight of the Feathered Serpent," where an almost ominous tip-toeing melody, played on what might be a fuzz guitar, drags just behind a frenetic beat—it's as unsettling as it is alluring. —Kevin Warwick
$10, limited $5 tickets
Jason Stein, David Daniell, Joseph Mills, and Steven Hess; Tobias Delius & Jeb Bishop; Fred Lonberg-Holm, Nick Macri, and Charles Rumback
Sat., Nov. 21, 10 p.m. heavengallery.comJazz
Update: Delius has been denied entry to the U.S. due to visa problems and will not appear. It's been eight years since Berlin-based tenor saxophonist Tobias Delius has released a recording as a bandleader—six if you consider him coleader of the collective session Apa Ini (Data)—and that's a damn shame. (At present he has an album of his own in the can but no label lined up.) A longtime member of Amsterdam's ICP Orchestra, Delius has one of the most beautiful and elastic horn sounds in jazz: he shares the breathy, earthy warmth of swing-era tenor man Ben Webster, but transforms it with jagged contemporary phrasing. No matter what configuration of players he ends up part of, he seems to make it sound better. This past summer in Kongsberg, Norway, he floored me in a powerhouse improvising quartet with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, trombonist Jeb Bishop, and bassist Johan Berthling, teasing out lusty, sanguine melodies even as he kept pace with the screaming tumult of the set. He also sounds great on this summer's First Reason (Clean Feed), a superb album by German drummer Christian Lillinger—his meaty clarinet and tenor lines slalom forcefully through the rhythm section's dense, frantic matrix of notes without losing a bit of their emotional depth along the way. On this rare visit to Chicago, Delius plays four shows with four ad hoc lineups of top-shelf local talent. Tonight Delius plays second in a duo with trombonist Jeb Bishop. Delius also plays Thursday at Elastic, Sunday at Hungry Brain, and Monday at Skylark. —Peter Margasak
donation requested3 Inches of Blood, Saviours, Holy Grail
Sat., Nov. 21, 9:30 p.m. 773-281-4444 or 866-468-3401Rock, Pop, Etc
This California four-piece emerged from the stoner-rock scene, but at the level of id the band looks to be a horse of another color. Though Saviours indulge in the requisite sludgy down-tuning, they've got none of the genre's luxuriant dilated-pupil languor—the heart inside their metal beats fast. On the band's third full-length, Accelerated Living (Kemado), there's a bit of Black Flag and Nausea in their churn, and the structures of their songs forsake one of the chief advantages of relatively slow metal, namely the productive tension it can create by threatening to erupt at any moment—these guys erupt so frequently that they've hardly got time to threaten anything. It's a trade-off, of course, and Saviours' way has its own rewards. The playful cover artwork, which looks like something a satanist might paint on the side of his custom van, lets you know what you're in for: straight-up ripping metal that farts in the general direction of self-seriousness, overanalysis, and basically any thesis a music critic might care to trot out. "Acid Hand" and "Livin' in the Void" in particular pwn the thesaurus wielders of the world. —Monica Kendrick
$13, 17+
All the Fame of Lofty Deeds
Sat., Nov. 21, 8 p.m. 773-251-2195Miscellaneous
Wait, Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me host Peter Sagal moderates a preshow panel with the creative team behind House Theatre of Chicago’s production of All the Fame of Lofty Deeds. Based on the music and visual art of Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers) and scripted by former Daily Herald pop critic Mark Guarino, it’s described as a “portrait of the demise of country and western’s golden age and the exploitation of its greatest heroes.” The panel includes Langford, Guarino, and director Tommy Rapley. Performances run through 12/20; see Kerry Reid’s review. $50 panel and show, $100 with a VIP reception and hors d’oeuvres at 6 PM, $25-$29 show only.
Cafe Guitarist Edward Yeo
Sat., Nov. 21, 7 p.m.Classical
Alhambra Cafe & Coffee House serves gourmet coffees and dessert coffees, hot chocolates, hot apple cider, chai latte, artisan teas, sumptuous desserts, or cool beverages, refreshing smoothie and ice cream shake treats. Music is complimentary. BYO dessert wine, only. Free parking available. Check web site for more info.
Cave, Cacaw, Black Math, Mako Sica
Sat., Nov. 21, 9 p.m. 773-227-4433 or 866-468-3401Rock, Pop, Etc
Chicago Acoustic Underground Art & Music Showcase
Sat., Nov. 21, 8 p.m.Miscellaneous
The evening begins with a reception with free hor' dourves and a presentation of Emmy's art along with a magician doing close up magic for the guests.
This is followed by the music of Patrick Gemkow's Daysleeper, the Ellis Clark All-Stars with Jon Brant former bass player for Cheap Trick, Brad Elvis on drums from the Elvis Brothers and The Romantics, Donna Frost is coming in from Nashville for the evening to join Ellis with her unique vocals and a couple other surprise guests and headlining the event (probably no surprise) Goodbyehome with Donna joining them for the haunting "Why I Never Run". Chicago comic Joseph McAdams will provide his comedic monologs during set changes.
Classic Country and Folk
Sat., Nov. 21, 1 p.m.Folk & Country
Driftin' Luke plays and sings a terrific collection of classic county and other Americana. It's no joke folks, honky-tonk on over to the 'Grand Ol' Alhambra' for a fix of Americana and a shot of espresso the best this side of Italy! Alhambra Cafe & Coffee House serves gourmet coffees and dessert coffees, hot chocolates, hot apple cider, chai latte, artisan teas, sumptuous desserts, or cool beverages, refreshing smoothie and ice cream shake treats. Music is complimentary. Check website for more information.
Cross Canadian Ragweed, Seth James
Sat., Nov. 21, 8:30 p.m. 312-337-3486 or 312-559-1212Rock, Pop, Etc
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Sat., Nov. 21, 9:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
USA Today proclaims that “(Cross Canadian Ragweed) is one of the better-kept secrets around.” But not a secret for much longer, as their seventh studio album, Happiness and All The Other Things, amply proves. The 12-track opus opens with a one/two punch/kiss combo that sets the band’s wide parameters: The fiercely rocking road tale “51 Pieces” followed by a sweet taste of the Texas Hill Country springtime on “Bluebonnets,” whose sparse and lovely arrangement features harmonium by Joe Hardy (the star recording engineer who mixed the album) and dobro by noted musician and producer Lloyd Maines (also the father of Dixie Chick Natalie Maines).
