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Review / Setlist / Stream / Download: The Mountain Goats @ Old Town School Of Folk Music 4/19/14

Words / Photos: Alex WoodJohn Darnielle has released music as The Mountain Goats since 1991, developing his unique brand of songwriting, and with it, a devout fan base. Mountain Goats fans see Darnielle as more than simply the author of the songs they love, the songwriters amiable stage persona and endlessly prolific output sets him up as...

Review / Setlist / Stream / Download: Neil Young @ Chicago Theater 4/21/14

When I last checked in with Neil Young, he was fronting Crazy Horse in a hockey stadium, collectively stumbling upon glory through a thick layer of noise and electric guitar. The shambling was more literal last night for his solo show at Chicago Theater, the first of two nights at the venue. Shuttling around the...

Jazz Underground Comes Alive

This installment of Notes From The Jazz Underground features the playlist based on the February 7th, 2014 show.This week's show is (mostly) devoted to live performance. There are lengthy, heady and intense jams from Dave Douglas, Fred Anderson (a Chicago legend, especially in the avant garde scene), Phish, Grant Green and Frank Zappa.The show...

Setlists / Video: The National @ Chicago Theater 4/15, 4/16, 4/17, 4/18/14

Definitely check out Alex's review of night one for more insight on this set of shows at Chicago Theater. But I'll also update this post with all set lists and some choice video throughout the run.Tuesday, April 15th, 2014Wednesday, April 16th, 2014I Should Live In SaltDon't Swallow the CapSea Of LoveA drunk joined the...

Review: The National @ Chicago Theater 4/15/14

Words: Alex WoodIts easy to recall the days when The National werent so overwhelmingly popular. Even 2010s High Violet tour, a mere four years back, wouldnt have sold out four nights at The Chicago Theatre.So what changed, exactly?One could argue that The Nationals music has been a constant progression leading to last years...

The Power Of Love: A Very Huey Lewis SWOT Analysis

Office drones, students, business people have you ever had to do a SWOT Analysis? For those blissfully unaware, a SWOT structured breakdown of t as a business project or idea's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and is often used to boil down rigorous research into in a four quadrant graph.Now that we're all up...

Video: Southern Soul Assembly "I Got A Woman" @ SPACE 3/18/14

The intriguing Southern Soul Assembly made it's debut at Evanston's SPACE. Featuring SPACE veterans Marc Broussard, JJ Grey, and Anders Osborne as well as newcomer to the Evanston club, Luther Dickinson, this considerable star power led to a pretty quick sell out for the two shows on March 18th. Luckily, there's at least some document...

Review / Setlist / Video: Sharon Jones @ The Vic 4/11/14

Words: @312mrgPhotos: PhilamonjaroSharon Jones: A Soulful SacrificeWe all have a friend that we look up to for the way they handle tough situations and adversity. They have the uncanny ability to see through the haze and fog and not only lift themselves up, but also those around them. They are infectious and draw the attention...

Google Street View / Album Cover Mashups

I've looked at some of my favorite album cover art so many times, I tend to think of it as divorced from greater context, that the images aren't actual photos of real places.But indeed they are! In fact, many of them have been cataloged by Google's cameras using it's Street View feature. So, of...

List: Fiddling Around With Widespread Panic, 6 Great Guest Fiddlers

It seems unlikely, but the sound of the fiddle just seems to fit right with Widespread Panic's improv-heavy southern rock sound.Inspired by a few recent sit-ins, I put together this list of notable jams featuring the violin throughout their history.1. There is no other fiddler that this list could possibly have started with than...