Turn It Up - chicagotribune.com

Album review: Regina Spektor, 'What We Saw From the Cheap Seats'

Greg Kot — Wed, 30 May 2012 02:12:00 GMT

2 stars (out of 4)

moe. again kicks off summer concert season

Greg Kot — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:41:00 GMT

Since 2001, the unofficial kickoff of the summer concert season in the Chicago area has been the Summer Camp Music Festival at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Ill. In each of those 11 years, including this weekend, the headliner has been moe., a quintet from upstate New York that doesn’t discriminate against any musical genre.

Beach Boys mix nostalgia, surf, melancholy at Chicago Theatre

Greg Kot — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:38:00 GMT

Brian Wilson all the rage, as 44 songs survey 50 years of music Brian Wilson broke character Monday at the Chicago Theatre in the first of two 50th anniversary concerts by his longtime band.

Album review: Garbage, 'Not Your Kind of People'

Greg Kot — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:31:00 GMT

2.5 stars (out of 4)

Album review: El-P, 'Cancer 4 Cure'

Greg Kot — Mon, 21 May 2012 01:44:00 GMT

3.5 stars (out of 4)

Concert review: Bonnie Raitt at Chicago Theatre

Greg Kot — Sun, 20 May 2012 06:10:00 GMT

Bonnie Raitt claimed she was “intimidated” by the Chicago Theatre, but that hardly seemed the case Saturday in the first of two sold-out concerts at the Loop landmark.

Album review: Killer Mike, 'R.A.P. Music'

Greg Kot — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:33:00 GMT

4 stars (our of 4)

Kelly Hogan gets to show them what she's made of

Greg Kot — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:13:00 GMT

Neko Case's backing singer, confidante now takes her turn The song was written in 1999, after Hogan had spoken to her friend, a then virtually unknown singer named Neko Case, who was calling from a pay phone from some forgotten roadside between meagerly attended shows. Case was newly signed to Chicago-based Bloodshot Records, and Hogan was working part time as the label publicist in between singing gigs.

Hogan's 'Pain' is our pleasure

Greg Kot — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:12:00 GMT

4 stars (out of 4)

Top weekend shows: HoZac Blackout Festival, Bonnie Raitt, This Land is Our Land

Greg Kot — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:13:00 GMT

HoZac Blackout Festival: Three days, 23 bands straight out of the garage, or a similarly dank and unforgiving place, with guitars dialed to the “face melt” setting, presented by Chicago’s esteemed HoZac label. Headliners include Davila 666, the reunited Red Kross and Texas psychedelic legend Roky Erickson, 5 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Av., $20 and $25; emptybottle.com.

Donna Summer dead at 63; more than just a disco diva

Greg Kot — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:44:00 GMT

Donna Summer was typecast as the disco-era “bad girl,” the diva who was too salty and sexual for some radio stations to play in the ‘70s. But she was also a musical revolutionary, a versatile singer who created a radical new template for dance and pop music with such songs as “Love to Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love.”

Emeli Sande a neuroscientist with pop-star talent

Greg Kot — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:02:00 GMT

Before emerging in recent years as one of the most acclaimed young songwriters and artists in theU.K., Emeli Sande took a little medical detour.

Riot Fest moves to Humboldt Park with Iggy and the Stooges, Elvis Costello, Rise Against

Greg Kot — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:49:00 GMT

Riot Fest, the annual punk festival, is moving outdoors for the first time this year, promoters say: Sept. 15-16 at Humboldt Park. The festival’s Sept. 14 opening will be held at the Congress Theater.

Spring Awakening festival expands inside Soldier Field

Greg Kot — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:31:00 GMT

The Spring Awakening Music Festival scheduled for June 16-17 is expanding inside Soldier Field to meet ticket demand, promoters will announce Tuesday.

Album review: Best Coast, 'The Only Place'

Greg Kot — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:04:00 GMT

3 stars (out of 4)

Donald 'Duck' Dunn dead at 70: A soul rhythm-section great

Greg Kot — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:38:00 GMT

Donald “Duck” Dunn, who died Sunday at age 70 in Tokyo only hours after playing his final show with longtime friend Steve Cropper, was part of one of soul music’s greatest rhythm sections.

Album review: Beach House, 'Bloom'

Greg Kot — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:53:00 GMT

2.5 stars (out of 4)

Top weekend shows: St. Vincent, Andrew Bird

Greg Kot — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:37:00 GMT

St. Vincent: Annie Clark’s 2011 date in Chicago following the release of her “Strange Mercy” album was marred by some technical issues that muted her world-class guitar playing. Here’s hoping this time her shredding talents come through loud and clear, 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave., (sold out); jamusa.com.

Tonight's top show: Justin Townes Earle at Park West

Greg Kot — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:37:00 GMT

Justin Townes Earle: The singer-songwriter has long since come out from under the long shadow cast by his father and forged a powerful identity of his own with five increasingly distinctive albums. The latest, “Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now” (Bloodshot), may do just that, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Park West, 322 W. Armitage, $20; jamusa.com.

Tom Morello keeps punk-rock spirit of Woody Guthrie alive

Greg Kot — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:39:00 GMT

Tom Morello says he rarely gets nervous anymore before he performs, in part because he’s done just about everything from rocking stadiums with Rage Against the Machine to participating in protest rallies around the world as a guitar-thrashing activist. But he does admit to feeling a little jumpy whenever he plays with Bruce Springsteen, as he did a few weeks ago at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas.

Album review: Off!, 'Off!'

Greg Kot — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:48:00 GMT

3 stars (out of 4)

Album review: Damon Albarn, 'Dr. Dee'

Greg Kot — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:28:00 GMT

1 star (out of 4)

Despite 'Voice' challenge, 'American Idol' is still music show to beat

Greg Kot — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:48:00 GMT

Despite mounting evidence that it had been eclipsed by “The Voice” in the network television sing-off sweepstakes earlier this year, “American Idol” remains the music show to beat.

Beastie Boys' Adam 'MCA' Yauch dead at 47

Greg Kot — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:35:00 GMT

Adam “MCA” Yauch was co-leader of the Beastie Boys, a New York City trio that transformed hip-hop. But just as significantly, the group and especially Yauch transformed themselves, providing a model for how artists can mature and grow as people without losing their credibility or relevance.

Concert review: The Weeknd at Lincoln Hall

Greg Kot — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:41:00 GMT

“This ain’t no … sing-along/So girl what you singing for?” crooned Abel Tesfaye, better known as the Weeknd.