September Shows In Chicago

It's really hard to find a good website that details all of the worthwhile shows going on in Chicago and I usually just scramble from one venue site to another. Well those days are over (at least for you). I've detailed below a lot of the shows that will be turning up in September. It's not as unbelievable as October is looking....nearly a good show every night with an encore of Art Brut and the Hold Steady at the Metro on Halloween (I'm thinking a Franz Nikolay costume could be pretty great). Still, September is looking good.....seems a lot of bands want to hit the city before the weather goes south. So here you go:

Sat 9/01
The Sapiens, Kid, You'll Move Mountains, OTYS, Rich Miller @ Abbey Pub 8pm

Helmet, Burning Brides, Dummy, Bible of the Devil @ Double Door 8pm

Sun 9/02
The Shins, Snoop Dogg, Brand New, Band of Horses, Wolf Parade, Minus The Bear Honeycut @ Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island 12:30am*

VHS or Beta, Walter Meego @ Subterranean 7:30pm*

Tues 9/04
VHS or Beta, Walter Meego @ Subterranean 9pm

Fri 9/07
The Flaming Lips, Black Moth Super Rainbow @ Aragon Ballroom 6pm^

David Bazan (Pedro The Lion), Casiotone for the Painfully Alone @ Beat Kitchen 9pm

Bloc Party, The 1900's, The Changes, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, The Cinematics @ The Hideout (Hideout Block Party) 4pm^

Akron/Family, Greg Davis, Megafun @ Logan Square Auditorium 8:30pm

Sat 9/08
Dan Deacon, O'Death, Lord of the Yum Yum, Thank You @ Av-aerie 8pm

Andrew Bird, The Frames, Art Brut, Mucca Pazza, Blue Ribbon Glee Club, Dan Deacon, O'Death, Cass McCombs, Golden Horse Square Dance @ The Hideout (Hideout Block Party) 4pm^

Singing Choir, Rock Plaza Central, Casey Dienel, LA Jesus @ Schubas 10pm^

Mon 9/10
Animal Collective @ Vic Theater 6:30pm^

Tues 9/11
Editors @ Park West 6:30pm*

Wed 9/12
Wilco @ Jay Pritzker Stage at Millenium Park 6pm#

Arctic Monkeys, The Coral @ Riviera Theatre 6pm

Thurs 9/13
Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, The Octopus Project, Blockhead @ Metro 6:30pm

Fri 9/14
Pit Er Pat, Mass Shivers, Sam Zurich's People Dick @ Subterranean 8:30pm

Sat 9/15
Rilo Kiley @ Riviera Theatre 6pm

Mon 9/17
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ Metro 7:30pm

Tues 9/18

Jamie T w/Guest @ Schubas 9pm

Mystery Jets, Via Audio @ Abbey Pub 8pm

Okkervil River, Damien Jurado @ Logan Square Auditorium 8:30pm*

Devendra Banhart, Matteah Baim-Death's Groove @ Portage Theater 8pm

iKillcars, Hot Lips Messiah, Forsynth Erotica @ The Mutiny 8pm

Wed 9/19
Maserati, Archaeology, iKillcars @ Empty Bottle 10pm

Fri 9/21
Rhett Miller @ Schubas 7:30pm

Sat 9/22
The National @ Vic Theater 6:30pm*

Rhett Miller @ Schubas 7:30pm

Sun 9/23
Iron and Wine @ Metro 6pm

Mon 9/24
Kaiser Chiefs, White Rabbits, Datarock @ Metro 6pm

The Chemical Brothers, Ladytron @ Riviera Theatre 6:30pm

Tues 9/25
Peter Bjorn and John, The Clientele @ Riviera Theatre 5:30pm*

Wed 9/26
Beastie Boys (exclusively instrumental show) @ Riviera Theatre 6:30pm#

The Brunettes, Ferraby Lionheart @ Schubas 9pm

Thurs 9/27

All Smiles @ Schubas 8pm

Beastie Boys @ Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island 7:30pm

Melvins @ Double Door 8pm

Pere Ubu, Ulrich Schnauss, Hair Police, Glen Jones & Jack Rose @ Empty Bottle 9pm

Fri 9/28
The Black Lips, The Selmanaires, Mannequin Men @ Logan Square Auditorium 8:30pm

Sat 9/29
The Cure, 65daysofstatic @ Allstate Arena 7pm

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals @ Chicago Theatre 8pm

The Donnas @ Double Door 8pm

Deerhunter, Daniel Carter with Michael Reed, No Age, Sin Ropas @ Empty Bottle 9pm*

Two Gallants, Songs for Moms @ Schubas 7:30pm

Two Gallants, Blitzen Trapper @ Schubas 10:30pm*

Sun 9/30
The Hives @ Metro 6pm

*Concert I am excited about
^Concert I would be excited about but will be out of town
#Not sure what to think

Pitchfork Disses Latest Album By The New Pornographers

During today’s read of Pitchfork I stumbled across a less-than-flattering review of The New Pornographers' new album Challengers. Written by Rob Mitchum, the review misses the mark on a couple crucial areas.

First, Mitchum spends the first paragraph and a half sort of dressing down the New Pornographers for their insistence on not being labeled a “supergroup”. (In prior interviews Carl Newman has tried to deflect the “supergroup” label). Mitchum accurately points out that “supergroup” is a much easier term to use than “band made up of people from other notable bands”. True, but why use either? This is the New Pornographers fourth album. They are a band well beyond some spontaneous collaboration stage. Mitchum disagrees, however, and says they will never be seen as a regular group, especially while the careers of Neko Case, Destroyer, and Carl Newman grow concurrent with the band. Concurrent? Really? I had never heard of a band being so plagued as victims of their own solo successes but I guess I’ll have to take Mitchum’s word for it. This review is particularly disappointing for the way it nefariously drones on about the dynamics of the group rather than the actual music on Challengers. The proper definition of “supergroup” is a side issue at best that would be more preferably seen near the bottom of the article—and certainly shouldn’t serve as the catalyst for the review. I think it's fair to say any music review that doesn’t touch upon the merits of an album’s actual music until well after the reader’s patience has been exhausted might inherently have some problems.

The review hits a low point when Mitchum stupidly writes that Challengers comes off more as a sequel to Newman’s solo album The Slow Wonder rather than a New Pornographers record. Given that Newman has typically always written a bulk of the material on all previous Pornographers’ records, I find it difficult to see what Mitchum is building at. I even listened to The Slow Wonder to perhaps try and understand this comment but no dice. If Challengers is any more of a Carl Newman solo album than Mass Romantic, Electric Version, or Twin Cinema apparently somewhere along the way I was fooled.

Finally, five paragraphs in, Mitchum begins to deconstruct the songs on the album. And although I guess he makes a point that Neko Case’s vocals could have been utilized more on the title track “Challengers”, I can’t find a single part of me that doesn’t love this song. I think the quietness of it all blends perfectly with the slowness of the music and Newman’s backing vocals. Don’t be surprised if this is one of the songs from the album that translates wonderfully in concert. And despite the range Case displays on her solo albums, I can’t imagine this sung any differently. Maybe Mitchum was actually hoping for was a Neko Case solo record rather than Carl Newman. He’s further off base when he calls “All the Old Showstoppers” teasingly flat. Simply wrong. And he’s only half-right when he calls Daniel Bejar’s contribution as “two forgettable c-sides”. “Entering White Cecilia” comes off rather dull both musically and lyrically but “The Spirit of Giving” is one of the gems of the record and appropriately sends off Challengers on a high note in classic New Pornographer fashion. What’s puzzling is that Mitchum seems to miss this since one of his main complaints is that none of the songs contain the originality and changing tempo of say Twin Cinema’s “The Bleeding Heart Show”. So you can add victims of their own unique style along with solo success and group dynamic that is preventing Mitchum from embracing this record. Not me though, “The Spirit of Giving” and “Mutiny, I Promise You", more than capture the bleeding heart style and carry the torch onward.

I don’t want this to come off as a predictable and mindless Pitchfork slam because for one, I don’t think there’s any room left for me on the bandwagon, and second, I am a big Pitchfork fan. But too often they incorporate innocuous subplots into their reviews for the sake of sounding well-crafted and schooled in the art of reviewing music. David Cross wrote a rather infamous and hilarious article for Pitchfork entitled "Albums to Listen to While Reading Overwrought Pitchfork Reviews". Part of the title probably stemmed from Cross’ bitterness at Pitchfork’s very critical reviews on his two previous comedy albums (reviews that were more than accurate btw, Cross’ albums are mysteriously and sadly not that funny) but he was also making a pretty good point. There is no need to over-think every aspect of an album when simply informing your readers on the merits of the music will more than suffice. Is it also too late to mention that Pitchfork gave the album a 6.0, which last I looked wasn't terrible, but spent 80% of the time trashing it? (Gotta love rather abstract number systems as a way to calculate music). But whatever, I personally think Challengers is very good, and in light of nothingquitelike’s album review system, I am ordering you to make a trip to your local record store tomorrow and pick it up.

How Much Is Rilo Kiley Worth To You?

Rilo Kiley is playing at the Riviera on September 15. I find them to be kind of intriguing so I thought I might check it out. I get on the web and see that tickets are only $22.50. I click the “next” button and hold my breath knowing what’s about to come. And sure enough, by the time TicketMaster finishes wielding their concrete dildo a single ticket is $36. I don’t like it when people complain about TicketMaster. And I hate TicketMaster—and admittedly catch myself complaining about them often. But complaining about Ticketmaster has become so mundane and choir preachy you might as well just pontificate about how much it sucks when someone kicks you in the balls. That said, there’s something about a ticket markup of over 50% that calls for a reaction no matter the audience. One of the extra charges was the obligatory “Total Building Facility Charge”. What the hell is a Total Building Facility Charge?!? This same sort of madness is happening right now with the Download Festival on Waverly Island (the Shins, Band of Horses, Snoop Dogg, and a slew of others). Huge ticket markup and one of the extra charges is a “Parking Fee”. Parking fee! I'm going to ride my bike!!! As for Rilo Kiley, had the tickets only been $30 I probably would have been fine with it. Somewhere in that extra six dollars I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I’m not crazy, right? Rilo Kiley isn’t worth $36. Perhaps I just hang out in poorer circles. Or maybe had the original price been $30, the harmless six dollar markup would have made the final price justifiable. Or maybe envisioning some forty-seven year old dad driving his teenage daughter and all her friends to the show while he sits in the car and reads a book is actually the root cause of this hostility. (Is that the typical Rilo Kiley scene or did I just completely make that up?)

Btw, speaking of teenage girls and musical acts with R and K influenced initials, apparently R. Kelly is still making those “Trapped in the Closet” videos:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/44893-r-kelly-trapped-in-the-closet-chapter-15-ft-will-oldham

Bassist Dave Lerner Leaves Ted Leo/Rx

As reported on Pitchfork yesterday, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' bassist Dave Lerner is leaving the band. What wasn't reported is that in an effort to supplant Lerner's infectious energy, punk legend Dee Dee Ramone's corpse is expected to be announced as Lerner's replacement.

I'll keep you posted as I learn more.

Sonic Muse Festival Presented by Woxy.com, Madison Theater--Covington, KY

This past weekend I met some old college friends in Covington, Kentucky for the Sonic Muse Festival presented by Woxy.com. I’ve spent a lot of time in this part of the country so any chance to return to the Greater Cincinnati area is one I always look forward to. Scheduled to perform were Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Hold Steady, Matt and Kim and a slew of others. Tickets were an incredible $20. It was ridiculously hot and sticky outside with heat indexes approaching triple digits but it didn’t matter. This festival was indoors at the beautiful Madison Theater. I use the word “beautiful” in a very comparatively speaking nature. The theater was very nice, some of the surrounding area in Covington left a bit to be desired. Although as we zigzagged our way there with Mapquest directions we did see a kid who couldn’t have been any less than six years old running around in his front yard in nothing but a diaper so it wasn’t a total loss where comedic purposes were concerned. A little early, the five of us camped out for awhile in a dive bar attached to the Theater. Great place. It was the type of bar you’d imagine seeing the Hold Steady guys having some drinks before the show. After a few buckets of beer and a black angus burger that Schuhmann more aptly put should have been called a “grey angus burger” we were on our way.

Birds of Avalon. My most vivid memory of Raleigh’s Birds of Avalon was everyone in my group going to get earplugs shortly after they began. This is by no means a knock on the music. I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be loud. They had a bit of a psychedelic/1970s heavy metal sound with a lead singer (Craig Tilley) whose voice was kind of Robert Plant-ish. I wasn’t particularly impressed, I thought Tilley’s voice was rather indistinguishable and almost piercing. Most others seemed to disagree though and I think this can be credited to their fierce playing style. They played loud and they played hard, no doubt about that.

After Birds of Avalon finished we staked out a perfect spot along the railing on the right side of the theater in an elevated area probably 35 feet from the stage. And being that one of the girls in my party goes about 5’1 and swears she’s never actually seen a band on stage when at a concert, we were pretty pleased with our spot. Leaving two to hold it down, a few of us went to explore the rest of the theater. An old theater, it had that classic look of a place that was at one time a gem but was left to despair before a recent renovation. Upon going upstairs there was another stage where The Virgins were playing. I’m not even sure I can describe this accurately, but the way the theater was arranged was by screening off the top part of the balcony and having the lesser known bands perform in front of the screen. Not much room to stand, the seats were kind of those swingy seats you’d see at an outdoors McDonald’s playground or something. It was almost surreal sitting there watching a band play. Something about the setting didn’t seem real, like I was watching the entire thing on television. After hearing the Virgins play a couple songs (I liked them) I went back downstairs. The Bad Veins played after the Virgins which some of my friends took in and enjoyed while I held down our coveted spot.

Matt and Kim. Now here’s a good time. Matt and Kim from Brooklyn really brought the fun to the Madison Theater. I hadn’t heard much of them prior to this concert—a venture over to their Myspace page once in awhile and that was about it. But if you haven’t seen them and want to know what they’re like, picture The Fiery Furnaces (only a bit harder) mixed with that nerdy/lovable couple from your high school. They describe themselves as an “onstage pizza party” and I’m not going to argue. And those that know me are aware that I hold pizza in very high esteem. Thirty seconds into their first song they finally had the main stage at the Madison Theater crowded and a somewhat raucous crowd was forming around the stage. With goofy smiles on their faces, they played with a style that was both hilarious and intense. Permanent smile aside, Kim also had another distinctive anatomical feature that came to life during her drumming which Jim from Louisville found to be “hypnotizing” (his words). And they were enjoyable between songs. Before playing “Yea Yeah”, which I had never heard before but have come to realize is a great song, Matt told an absolute great story (one of many) about having their tour van pulled over by a police officer in Indiana. If I thought I could give the story any sort of justice in print I would attempt to detail the entire episode for you but just take my word for it that Matt and Kim came across as two people you would like to spend time with just for the comic relief alone. Another great moment happened when I noticed Craig Finn in the audience watching the show with a beer and a security guard inquiring as to where his wrist band was. In all, it was definitely one of the better pizza parties I have attended.

For any Chicagoans, I just saw they will be playing the Logan Square Auditorium on October 2. I recommend making the trip over there. I certainly will.


The Hold Steady. For disclosure purposes I should probably mention that The Hold Steady have been my favorite band this past year. I can’t get enough of them. I really can’t. I love the stripped down rock and roll they play and I love the story-telling aspect that dominates their songs. And since I had yet to see them in concert you can imagine my anticipation. Before Matt and Kim started to play, I had the following conversation with Hold Steady keyboardist Franz Nicolay who was hanging out right near where I was standing:

Me: Franz, I can’t wait to hear it.

Franz: Hey, Thanks!

(It seemed much more monumental at the time).

They emerged and immediately whipped into “Stuck Between Stations” which turned the now packed house into a frenzy. Someone near the front of the crowd began spraying beer everywhere, and the funny thing is everyone seemed fine with it. This is as good of time as any to mention that I think The Hold Steady are the modern era’s Van Halen….and I mean that in the most endearing way possible. They’re as creative and talented as anyone yet there is nothing exclusive about their music or their act. It just seems like one big party and everyone’s invited. There is such chemistry between everyone in the band, always giving each other props while each being a showman in some way. Some bands are good fakers at having a good time on stage (trust me, I once saw Zwan play and I was convinced they enjoyed each other’s company) but there never appears to be anything disingenuous going on with these guys. I’m pretty positive all five of them really like being in a rock and roll band, particularly this rock and roll band. Later in the evening during Ted Leo, it was Jim’s turn to chat up Franz who mentioned they were a bit concerned that their set was lacking due to being hungover (both literally and figuratively) from the prior day in Chicago at Lollapalooza. Trust me, no one could tell. They packed as much in as they could into their allotted one hour time slot. They hit most every song on Boys and Girls in America and a few off of both Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday. After a guitar solo by Tad Kubler, he and Craig Finn exchanged a high-five while I saw someone in the crowd passing around a twelve-pack of beer. I would say that pretty much summed up their set. When they finished with the great closer “Killer Parties” I almost felt like I was in high school again when seeing your favorite band seemed to be of the utmost importance compared to anything else. And sometimes that’s the best compliment you can give a band.

(When I first caught wind of Sonic Muse a few months back two things went through my mind:

1. Wow, what a great lineup for such a cheap price. And;
2. Can anyone realistically follow The Hold Steady?

Well, let us find out…..)

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. While still being high from The Hold Steady, alternative/punk band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (another one of my favorite bands), arrived to close out the evening. I’ve always found them to be a great live act and Leo a great performer. They immediately laid into “The Sons of Cain” which is probably the strongest song on the excellent Living With the Living album. They hit it just right too, including Leo’s screams at the end of the song. He’s fun to watch. Not so with bassist Dave Lerner. This is the fourth time I’ve seen Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and every time Lerner exudes about as much excitement as Bud Selig did during Barry Bonds' homerun chase. I don’t think even Tim Tuten could give him an enthusiastic introduction. It’s almost as if he’s given an imaginary one foot square area that he’s ordered not to venture from. Let’s just call him the anti-Craig Finn. Everything else about him, including his unkempt hair and wardrobe is pretty awesome, though. But back to the music, besides “The Sons of Cain”, probably the highlight of the set was Leo’s hilarious diatribe about Paul Stanley of Kiss during shows asking the crowd what alcohol they were drinking and each drink being represented by a different drum beat. Don’t worry, the improv was much funnier and easier to understand if you were there. And this appropriately served as the intro to “Bottle of Buckie” which charged up the crowd as much as anything during their set. I think it was also during this song that out of nowhere Jim handed me a near-raw hotdog (no bun) that he swears Hold Steady bassist, Galen Polivka, was handing out back by the food vendor. Yeah, I ate it. I had just spent an entire weekend with my friends eating rather horribly so there was really no reason to stop now. Having seen Ted Leo and the Pharmacists a few times, this was probably the most lackluster performance they've deliver. By the time they finished, probably a third of the crowd had already left which could have been a factor. So was having the nearly impossible task of following The Hold Steady—although they are one of the few bands that could probably do it. But most likely, I think they were just exhausted. He mentioned a ridiculous and not-so-enjoyable Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago. Also, as some people know, that they had to cancel a show in Cleveland just a few days prior because of a health concern in Leo’s family—which we certainly hope isn't too serious. They played “Little Dawn” from Shake the Sheets where Leo finds himself repeating the line “It’s alright...” over and over until the song concludes. Once it did, Leo said “It isn’t really, but oh well.” into the mic. I’m not positive what he was referring to but I guess it could have been a lot of things. Nevertheless, even a somewhat weak Ted Leo performance would have been worth the cheap price of admission to this event.

So there you have it, a great day of music is over and it’s not even midnight. After some banter outside the Madison Theater, I said goodbye to my friends and we all called it a night. I really hope Covington (Greater Cincinnati) does this Festival again next year. An indoor summer music festival in the middle of all the outdoor summer giants is actually pretty refreshing. Numerous acts—but in a small, intimate setting. I could have gone to Lollapalooza which was going on at the same time in my hometown but this was a welcomed change of pace. Very affordable, interesting venue, The Hold Steady……definitely a massive night.

Paste Magazine Pre-Lollapalooza Show, Subterranean--Chicago, IL

I posted an opportunity on this site last week to win free tickets to Paste Magazine’s August 2 party at Subterranean…..well, I actually ended up winning two tickets. Hooray! I was pretty excited/intrigued about this show. Paste did the whole secret lineup thing and only promoted it as bands from the pages of Paste and from the stages of Lollapalooza. And invitation only just heightened the suspense. This could be completely awesome….or terrible (the Hold Steady, My Morning Jacket, amongst many others were scheduled to play Lollapalooza……but so were Ben Harper and Pete Yorn). Since desperate times call for desperate measures I sent in my spy who has a friend at Paste Magazine to try and get the inside scoop on the “secret” lineup. He was quickly rebuffed but assured the show would be worthwhile. Pretty satisfied, I headed out to Wicker Park last Thursday with my friend Val in tow to see what all the hoopla was about. Here’s what went down:

Upon arrival I was sold a Busch beer for $2. A two dollar beer in Chicago? This must be some sort of personal special perk for being the grand winner of these tickets. It wasn’t. I quickly realized that most people in attendance were also ticket winners. The first secret act was Two Guys in Their 40s With Acoustic Guitars (this is what I chose to call them, it wasn’t their actual name). They were very forgettable. They fumbled through a Replacements song and then closed out their set by asking the crowd if we would mind if they played a really sad, slow song. Well, since you asked……

Besides Paste Magazine, the other sponsor of this super-secret night was Guitar Hero. Between sets we watched Richard and Doug battle each other to the tune of Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box”. I think Richard won but I’m not positive because I was too busy standing in line for a $2 beer and thinking “I don’t ever recall seeing Two Guys in Their 40s With Acoustic Guitars in the pages of Paste Magazine.” The Guitar Hero competition served to be more of a nuisance than entertainment mostly because people were picking the wrong songs. I’m pretty positive there are only five bands you need to worry with when picking a Guitar Hero song: Van Halen, Cheap Trick, AC/DC, Guns n’ Roses, and Led Zeppelin. And no Kip, or whatever your name was, M. Ward is not on that list.

Back to the music, the next guest performer was Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Ounsworth informed us the rest of his band mates were stuck in Philadelphia and not scheduled to arrive until the following day. Not a huge deal, he was pretty enjoyable. And halfway through his set, he brought out current touring mate (and personal favorite) Elvis Perkins. They played an interesting rendition of “Details of the War” from Clap Your Hands first album. Great song. Switching seats, they then played Perkins’ “How’s Forever Been, Baby”. Great, great song. Perkins then went back upstairs leaving Ounsworth to finish up. And he did a good job too, leaving the stage after playing a sped up “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth.” I never thought the music of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah would translate that well in an Ounsworth solo performance but I really enjoyed it and I don’t think I was alone.

After a few more Guitar Hero performances (done rather poorly, I might add), the most awkward moment of the night occurred. An editor from Paste who had been serving as emcee came out with a gentlemen wielding a guitar and said, “I don’t think I need to introduce this next act, you all know who he is, right!?” Ummm, apparently not….unless mass silence is now widely used to indicate recognition. It was G. Love (sans Sauce). Interesting. I’ve been over G. Love for nearly five years now but still thought this had some potential. And say what you will, he seemed to be rather talented. I don’t care for his singing style but was caught off guard by how smoothly he played the guitar and harmonica. After playing “Friday Night (Hundred Dollar Bill)” from Philadelphonic, he asked if any of us noticed how he mixed in some of Cream’s “White Room” in the middle of the song. I gave out a shout to indicate I had caught on to the little medley (I hadn’t), which was acknowledged by Mr. Love. Slide guitar in hand, he closed out his set playing some bluesy songs that I didn’t recognize but were pretty strong. Once G. Love was done, we were told the show was over unless we wanted to stick around for some more Guitar Hero. For whatever reason, Philip going to town on some Kiss song wasn’t the encore I had in mind so we decided to call it a night.

All in all, it was a pretty good night. I kept telling everyone beforehand that anything that’s billed as a “secret lineup” will leave everyone either completely mesmerized or severely disappointed but nowhere in between. I was wrong. This show was good…..nothing more, nothing less. The extremely underwhelming first act and the Guitar Hero notwithstanding, I can’t for the life of me bring myself to complain about a free, albeit short, concert on the same night Pearl Jam was playing at the Vic for $150 a pair and on the heels of the extremely expensive Lollapalooza weekend. If I were Paste, I would be reluctant to use the “secret lineup” tag for shows in the future with a lineup consistent with the likes of Ounsworth and G. Love but the effort seemed to be there and that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Album Review Rating System

It has yet to be decided whether here at nothingquitelike we'll be reviewing albums. That notwithstanding, a rating system, courtesy of Matt Farra, has been established if and when we choose to go down that route. It is as follows:

-Very Very Good (top ten status) = Buy the album on vinyl. Even if you don't have a record player. Your time to be pretentious is getting shorter by the minute.
-Very Good = Purchase the album at an independent record store.
-Good = Purchase the album from a Russian website.
-Average = Download (steal) the album from a very illegal online file-sharing website.
-Below Average/Sucks = Purchase the album at a Virgin Records MegaStore.
-Absolutely terrible = Cokemachineglow must have said good things about it.

Now that we have the system in place, please feel free to use it and send in any album review you have written or would like to write. I've been listening to Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga very frequently as of late and would recommend making a trip to your local independent record store and picking up a copy if you haven't already.