OVER THE RHINE
Blood Oranges In The Snow
FOO FIGHTERS
Sonic Highways
(RCA)
Long story short: For their eighth studio album, Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters
took an unconventional approach on the
road to a new recording. The band visited
eight "music cities" (cities they felt had
rich, lasting musical legacies) and recorded a song in each location. They were also
trailed by a film crew for an HBO series.
The resulting recordings and film footage
share the Sonic Highways moniker. As
chief songwriter, Grohl does an excellent
job assimilating his lyrics to his experiences in each respective locale. "Came
From Nothing," recorded in Chicago, brilliantly marries the line "washed them in
the muddy water" to a classic Buddy Guy
quote "looking for a dime and found a
quarter," succinctly referencing two giants
from The Birthplace of the Blues. Grohl is
equally proficient with his hometown
scene of Washington D.C., which gets
some veiled shout outs in "Feast And
Famine." The songs subject matter seamlessly segues from the 1968 MLK riots to
his personal experience with 1985's so
called "Summer of Revolution," a movement that proved to be a political awakening for many East Coast punk rockers at
that time. Musical osmosis, however,
never takes place. The aforementioned
cities get their due if, for no other reason,
that style (aggressive Punk Rock) of music
is what birthed Grohl's musical interests
in the first place (Chicago's Naked
Raygun and D.C.'s Bad Brains being a few
of the main offenders). But they play it
safe in other cities, rendering any differentiation between, say, New Orleans and
Austin a moot point. With so much effort
put forth, the resulting music is disappointingly business as usual.
– Curt Baran
Appearing 8/29/15 at
5
Wrigley Field, Chicago
(Great Speckled Dog)
The husband-wife duo Over The
Rhine has achieved something rare: original Christmas-themed songs that also
work as stand-alone singer-songwriter
introspection. As Christians, Linford
Detweiler and Karin Bergquist aren't content merely to take their emotional pulses.
Both "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" show up
as codas. But they don't deny their emotions either – or how mixed those emotions can become over decades of adulthood. They do not, in other words, disentangle what they believe happened in
Bethlehem from what they've learned of
human frailty, especially their own,
whether visiting a parent in a cemetery,
hoping that they can still believe that the
Christ child holds a gift for them, or making Merle Haggard's "If We Make It
Through December" their own.
–Arsenio Orteza
Appearing 12/15 at The Old Town
7
School Of Folk Music, Chicago
Erasure finds itself in step with the times
while simultaneously retaining its sugary
synth pop roots on The Violet Flame.
Considering how lively and youthful the
bulk of the project sounds, it's hard to
believe this is studio album sixteen for
front man Andy Bell and behind the
boards wizard Vince Clarke (formerly of
Depeche Mode and Yaz fame). But then
again, one of the most successful dance
duos in history has always led the charge
when it comes to percolating club cuts and
current bangers, "Dead Of Night,"
"Elevation" and "Promises" are right up
there with older favorites like "Chains Of
Love" and "Chorus." In fact, there's barely
a lull in the lot (sans the gentler generics of
"Smoke And Mirrors"), while general
themes of optimism and second chances
only add to the sweetness of a beloved ‘80s
act in the midst of a contagious creative
renaissance.
– Andy Argyrakis
8
complaints are that a lot of the tracks have
the same mid-paced tempo with little variation to differentiate from each other, while
other tracks carry on a bit too long.
Otherwise, it's a fairly decent debut from
one of the most recognizable and unique
voices in the doom metal genre.
– Kelley Simms
Appearing 12/18 at Brauerhouse,
Lombard and
7
12/19 at Reggies, Chicago
EARTH, WIND & FIRE
Holiday
(Legacy)
On 2013's Now, Then & Forever, Philip
Bailey, Ralph Johnson, and Verdine White
strove mighty mightily to recapture EWF's
peak-period glory but failed. With Holiday
they succeed. (Well, Bailey and White anyway. Johnson is absent from the credits.)
Granted, given the subject, they didn't
need new material—the "September"
rewrite "December" aside, "Happy
Seasons" is the only original. But, lest the
project feel perfunctory, they did need
EWF-worthy arrangements. And to that
challenge they've risen. It's not so much
that they imbue "Joy To The World," "O
Come, All Ye Faithful," and "The Drummer
Boy," et. al. with funky pizzazz as that they
make doing so sound as natural as trimming a tree. And the shining star at the
top? An irresistible rendition of the
Japanese favorite "Snow."
– Arsenio Orteza
7
THE SAFES
Record Heat
(Wee Rock)
The Safes have gone into the recording
studio several times since forming in 2003,
alternating between EPs and full-length
efforts. Their latest release, the 10-song
Record Heat, finds these Chicago-based
guys at the top of their game. Most of the
tracks are just a bit over the two-minute
mark and exude a brazen punk/garage
rock sensibility.
"The Wide Open Sky" and "Know It
All" in particular recall The Undertones
with their revved-up melodies and lines
like, "You claim to know so much but I
haven't learned a thing." "Hopes Up,
Guard Down" and "Erased From History"
are also simultaneously brash and irresistible. Inviting guest vocalist Kathleen
Wilson on board for the twangy "K.O."
shows a healthy interest in furthering the
band's sound, and The Safes also succeed
with the power pop of "Ace For A Face"
and the slower, more elaborate "Hot
Pursuit."
– Terrence Flamm
8
ERASURE
The Violet Flame
(Mute)
With EDM culture still in full swing,
YUSUF
Tell 'Em I'm Gone
(Legacy)
No matter what you think of the religion
of Mohammed or the decision of Yusuf/Cat