After an extensive tour following the release of last year'sLazaretto, Jack White has announced a "break from performing live for a long period of time" via his website.In typical fashion, White will go into hiatus in a unique way, performing five entirely acoustic sets in the five states he has yet to perform. While...

Dr. Dog played a trio of shows at two separate venues in Chicago over the weekend.The run kicked off with an all ages affair at our venue-crush Thalia Hall, before adjourning to House Of Blues for the Saturday and the cozy confines of Lincoln Hall for the Sunday gig.So glad to have stumbled...

Sufjan Stevens recently kicked off his first tour in over a year in support of Carrie & Lowell, his new, stark full-length album.Fan videos have surfaced of the new songs live debuts, generally featuring Stevens on guitar with a backing band joining when necessary, adding background vocals or lush arrangements throughout.From the bleak,...

I'm always honored to feature news of this annual benefit here on the blog. April is Autism Awareness Month, and the organizers have worked hard the last several years to do their part with a fundraiser built around great tunes and good works.Good news for folks who live near me (or really, anybody not...

The lineup for the 32nd Annual Chicago Blues Festival has been announced and aims to commemorate some of the most iconic figures in the history of the Chicago blues.Taking place June 12-14 in Grant Park, the festival will close with two special collaborative sets highlighting the music of Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, respectively,...

Last year, Andrew Bird covered The Fake Headlines from the New Pornographers Mass Romantic. The song is featured on Good People Rock, a compilation of cover songs from various artists recorded for charity organization Yellow Bird Project.A video was recently completed for the track, which features an elaborately-designed marionette plot, making for an extremely...

By: Alex WoodAfter reinventing himself as Father John Misty, songwriter Joshua Tillman has become a larger-than-life enigma in the music scene. From his legendary, drug-heavy back-story to his outrageously confident on-stage demeanor, the artist practically turned himself into a legend overnight.Father John Mistys sold-out performance at The Vic may have been a last chance...

Belle & Sebastian returned this year with Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance, debuting a new sound featuring longer songs and the influence of electronic dance music.Yet for their show at The Riviera, the band largely stuck to their back-catalogue, performing only a handful of tracks from the new album.Sandwiching Im A Cuckoo...

By: Alex WoodOf Montreal- Aureate Gloom [3/3]Of Montreals 13th studio album is perhaps amongst Kevin Barnes most sincere songwriting. His extensive vocabulary expresses the emotional strains of divorcing his wife, Nina, an overarching subject of the album. Musically, the album finds Barnes and his band straying from the electronic, Prince-esque style of past releases and...

Led Zeppelin recently released an expanded and remastered version of 1975s Physical Graffiti, including an alternative version of Trampled Under Foot re-titled Brandy & Coke.To promote the single, the band released an elaborate interactive video featuring a play on the original albums infamous cover. While the original record featured interchangeable sleeves to change the...