Local:Chicago :: Paste

Greg Kot pens basketball book, compares coaching and music writing

By Althea Legaspi on 2:20 PM on November 14, 2008

Chicago takes its music and sports pretty seriously, and for good reason: The city has much to be proud of in both arenas. But while our love for both is apparent, the two rarely intersect. So how did Chicago Tribune music critic, Sound Opinions co-host and Wilco biographer Greg Kot come to pen a book about coaching youth basketball?... read more

Local bands say welcome to Chicago Noise Machine this weekend

By Gavin Paul on 12:20 PM on November 13, 2008

The Internet may have leveled the playing field for bands looking to hit the big time, but it might have happened at the expense of local music scenes. “The iPod generation isn't going to see live shows of bands they don't know anymore,” Kevin Schneider, bassist for local indie rock band Reverie, tells Paste:Local. Under that assumption, Schneider and his Reverie bandmates have joined forces with eight other bands to form the Chicago Noise Machine, a musical collective that handles its own promotion, booking, compilation album releases in lieu of a record label.... read more

Live Review: Brighton, MA @ Reckless Records 11/9/2008

By Justine Reisinger, photo by Justine Reisinger on 11:10 AM on November 12, 2008

At Brighton, MA's in-store performance at Reckless Records on Sunday, singer Matthew Kerstein (ex-Scotland Yard Gospel Choir) crooned through stripped-down rock and folk jams played to pop perfection, with the band's harder folk sensibilities occasionally shining through. But during “Underground,” as the song broke down into distorted guitar and reverberating beats, Kerstein-- a Chicago resident born in the band's titular city-- turned his back to the crowd to face his bandmates, a stance he assumed during most of the performance's louder moments.... read more

Live Review: The Academy Is... @ House Of Blues 11/7/08

By Selena Fragassi on 12:05 PM on November 11, 2008

"I want to see your best ‘80s dance moves, just like The Breakfast Club!" demanded The Academy Is … frontman William Beckett before wrapping up night two of a sold-out doubleheader at the House Of Blues. Most of the audience looked to have been born in the ‘90s and may have missed the reference point, but Beckett pulled his best Bender and walked like an Egyptian across the stage before ripping into a caffeinated version of "We've Got A Great Big Mess On Our Hands."... read more

O'Death crushes out on R. Kelly, plays two Chicago shows this weekend

By Althea Legaspi on 4:40 PM on November 7, 2008

We were curious about what springs to mind when the New York City-based, Appalachian-tinged folk-punk rockers of O'Death think of Chicago. When we posed this query to the band, drummer David Rogers-Berry (who likes to beat his skins with chain links and other unusual noisemaking apparatuses) immediately took the baton and jotted down his five favorite R. Kelly-affiliated songs. Apparently, there's no irony here: He and the band claim mad, earnest love for the Chicago-based R&B superstar.... read more

Oh, What A Night: Chicago celebrates with President-elect Obama in Grant Park

By Althea Legaspi, with Kent Green; photos by Althea Legaspi on 6:27 PM on November 5, 2008

Last night, the United States elected Barack Obama as its 44th President, making him the first-ever African American to hold that position. Your Paste:Local Chicago editor, Althea Legaspi-- along with a quarter million other supporters-- witnessed history as Obama delivered his first speech as President-elect at Grant Park in his hometown.... read more

Win tickets to see O'Death at Empty Bottle this Saturday

By Althea Legaspi, photo courtesy of Sneak Attack Media on 3:20 PM on November 4, 2008

Paste:Local Chicago has one pair of free tickets to give away for O’Death’s show at Empty Bottle this Saturday, November 8th. The winner will also receive a copy of the band's new CD, Broken Hymns, Limbs And Skin. O'Death is a whole lot of fun live: At last year’s Hideout Block Party they boasted an Appalachian-flavored hoe-down vibe with their Civil War-era-inspired take on punk rock. Singer Greg Jamie growled over acoustic guitar while bandmates riffed on banjo, ukulele and fiddle, and the drummer kept beat with link chains.... read more

Live Review: David Crosby & Graham Nash @ Governors State University's Center For Performing Arts 10/31/08

By Andy Argyrakis, photo courtesy of Carol Fox & Associates on 3:15 PM on November 4, 2008

With the current Presidential campaign hitting a fever pitch, it’s no surprise to see David Crosby & Graham Nash hitting the touring trails together. Though the two oft-political troubadours are best known as part of a collaborative trio alongside Stephen Stills and, with Stills, as a foursome with Neil Young, they've also occasionally recorded as a duo since 1972. And on Halloween night, all of the various eras of their musical history were on display throughout a nearly two-and-a-half-hour show at the intimate and acoustically inviting Center For Performing Arts on the campus of Governors State University.... read more

Studs Terkel: 1912-2008

By Althea Legaspi on 6:30 PM on November 3, 2008

Legendary author and radio host Studs Terkel, 96, passed away Friday at his Northside home in Chicago. Although he was a transplant to the area, his name and legacy will forever be associated with the city he so loved and adopted as his own.... read more

Judson Claiborne residency at Hideout commences tonight

By Justine Reisinger, photo by Nolan Wells on 3:45 AM on November 3, 2008

[Above: Chris Salveter of Low Skies and, more recently, Judson Claiborne]Fans of local alt-country group Low Skies and folk music in general, rejoice: This November, Mondays are made for you. Beginning tonight, you can catch former Low Skies singer-songwriter Chris Salveter's newest act, Judson Claiborne, at the band's month-long Hideout residency. Judson Claiborne's thoughtful, sweet folk emotes a simple nostalgic melancholy that builds upon Low Skies' gothic Americana blues, keeping in the same spirit of simple melodies from front porch jam sessions.... read more

Neighborhood Spotlight: Who does River North think it is?!

By Oliver Pangborn, photos by Oliver Pangborn on 2:25 PM on October 31, 2008

[Above: Inside Motel Bar]Chicago's neighborhood scenes can often be easily and accurately summed up in one word—just look at Lincoln Park (“Trixies”), Wicker Park (“hipsters”), and the Gold Coast (“douchebags”). But playing the nightlife-word-association game with River North is a bit more difficult. You’ve got your artists, tourists, yuppies, clubbers and bottle-service millionaires all playing within mere blocks of each other—it’s hard to come up with a single, truly defining stereotype.... read more

Pit Er Pat: High Time

By Gavin Paul on 5:15 PM on October 30, 2008

Spacious new dispatches from far-out Chicago trioPit Er Pat's early melodies were quirky and erratic, kerplunking about like jazz without a backbone, despite Fay Davis-Jeffers' charming popstress vocals. But around 2005 the band finally nailed it, hitting a subsequent series of Thrill Jockey releases to the moon, almost literally, having reached a spacious new indie-rock frontier where musical eccentricities became boundless punctuations.... read more

Albany Park's Hourglass a corner bar, Korean style

By Althea Legaspi, photos by Laura Gray on 3:25 PM on October 29, 2008

Those who live in Albany Park and around the Northwest side know that the neighborhood is the prime spot for Korean food. Lawrence Avenue hasn't garnered the honorary street name “Seoul Drive” for nothing. And while there are myriad places to partake in delicious grill-it-yourself Korean BBQ (Chicago Kalbi for a more upscale feel or San Soo Gab San for late-night noshing spring to mind), only the true locals are familiar with Hourglass on W. Lawrence. While it doesn't offer Korean BBQ, it's worth the trip to Albany Park for it's off-the-beaten-path, unique corner bar vibe.... read more

Top five stadium show lessons learned from Madonna @ United Center 10/28/08

By Oliver Pangborn, photo courtesy of Warner Bros. on 3:20 PM on October 28, 2008

Maybe your boyfriend wants to get his Rock Band on and see AC/DC at Allstate. Or maybe your girlfriend really, really, really wants to see Madonna at the United Center. Whatever the reason, you’ll eventually have to abandon the cozy confines of Schubas or the Empty Bottle for the dreaded venue of the indie rock faithful: a stadium show. But with the right mindset, you can make your arena experience survivable-- and maybe even enjoyable.... read more

Neighborhood Spotlight: Evanston not just for students anymore

By Justine Reisinger, photo courtesy of SPACE on 3:50 PM on October 24, 2008

For many Chicagoans, Evanston remains unexplored territory. Occupying prime residential space along the North Shore of Lake Michigan, the area is best known as the home of Northwestern's ambitious co-eds, and Downtown Evanston contains enough national chain stores and restaurants in one small area (Barnes & Noble, North Face, and Bravo!, Wolfgang Puck's new replacement) to send any Chicagoan looking for independent boutiques in the closer, safe waters of Rogers Park or Belmont. But wait, there is hope!... read more

Kill Hannah narrowly escape tour bus fire

By Althea Legaspi, photos courtesy of Kill Hannah on 5:20 PM on October 23, 2008

Scary moments for a local act on tour in Europe: While driving through the Swiss Alps, en route to Paris from Bologna, Italy, on Oct. 21st, rock band Kill Hannah’s tour bus caught fire. No one was injured, and all gear and merchandise survived untouched in a separate trailer, but the band canceled its upcoming dates in Paris and Hasselt, Belgium.... read more

Label founder Bob Koester talks 55 years of Delmark Records

By Gavin Paul, photo courtesy of Delmark Records on 6:50 PM on October 21, 2008

[Above: Bob Koester with Buddy Guy at Delmark's 55th anniversary celebration in March 2008.] “I think some of the writers really want to believe that it’s all over for blues in Chicago,” confides Bob Koester, owner of Delmark, the nation’s oldest independent record label. “If they’ll come to the [city], I’d be happy to show ‘em around some clubs on the North, South and West side, take ‘em to hear people like Byther Smith, Lurrie Bell, Jimmy Burns, Michael Coleman… it’s a long list.”... read more

Stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing not quite the time of your life

By Andy Aryrakis, photo by David Scheinmenn on 2:45 PM on October 20, 2008

With every passing year, Dirty Dancing grows beyond a mere nostalgic footnote of the 1980s as it continues to capture the heart of younger and younger generations with constant reruns on television, a special anniversary DVD releases and soundtrack songs still on the radio. And as the famous flick makes its American stage debut at the Cadillac Palace Theatre during Broadway In Chicago’s fall series, it very well could be 1987 all over again.... read more

Catching Up With... Rachael Yamagata

By Jeremy Medina on 10:00 AM on October 20, 2008

From the outside, it might seem like Rachael Yamagata has developed a split personality since the release of her debut record. The smoky-voiced, raven-haired singer/songwriter's much-delayed sophomore release, Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart, is a 14 track... read more