By Jon Stone | @jwstone

In 1995 Lollapolloza was still two years from its demise as a touring festival and I was between my junior and senior years of high school waiting for a chance — any chance — to see my favorite new band that year, Hum, from the exotic and distant sounding town of Champaign, Illinois. They were to appear on the Lolla second stage that year and I bought a ticket for that show — $55 dollars for a bill that really didn’t have many bands that I was all that interested in. Yes folks, in 1995 I paid the equivalent of 11 hours of hard-earned minimum-wage money to see one little band from the Midwest play a 45 minute set.

The first time I heard Hum was on the radio (remember when that used to be, like, a normal thing?). I was driving to my first job in a crummy dollar movie theater in Tucson, Arizona. And, wow the first time that heavy chord in “Stars” hit it left an impression. . . “she thinks she missed the train to Mars, she’s out back counting…” BOOM. I was 17. It was like magic.

Ironically I don’t remember much about that Lollapalooza show. I remember the Phoenix heat being nearly unbearable and I remember standing against the front row gate watching (and loving) The Roots who played right before Hum on the second stage. I remember it rocked. I met Matt Talbot briefly after the show and he signed the copy of the band’s first major release Electra 2000 that I bought at the merch table because it wasn’t available anywhere else. I also remember thinking it was funny that the band was wearing the exact same clothes as they had in their appearance on Conan the night before.

Hum filled a gap for me that summer. They were heavier than most the bands I was listening to at the time, but unlike other acts that were pushing the wall-of-distortion sound, Hum managed to be both approachable and melodic. This was a combination that other bands like Helmet (too frat-boy tough) or Tool (too scary) didn’t quite get right. Matt and his band were unassuming but unapologetic. They didn’t seem to be trying to fill a niche, yet filled one perfectly. They were skinny, nerdy looking, and played heavier than anything on Alternative radio.  The skinny and the nerdy everywhere (i.e. me) bought their record and then bought Boss distortion pedals.

Fifteen years later (i.e. last Saturday night), I was in the crowd of a free reunion show in that less-exotic far away land of Champaign that I now call home listening again to Hum. They played loud and hard and even though neither me or Matt is that scrawny anymore, the sound and songs rang out, the crowd collectively bonged their head (that’s half-way inbetween a head bob and a head bang), and we were all happy and 17 once more. Hum’s headlining, Champaign 150th anniversary show was a great time. They played several songs off of that seminal ’95 release You’d Prefer an Astronaut a smattering of tunes from 1998′s Downward is Heavenward and even one or two from that afore mentioned first release. The highlight of the show was “Suicide Machine” a slow-burning melody-heavy song — elements that epitomize what is/was best about Hum.

By the summer of 1995 the best of what the 90s had to offer was, arguably, over. Hum kept things alive and vibrant for a few moments longer by taking everything that was great about music that decade, turning it inside out, and pushing the distortion pedal as far as it would go. I was glad on Saturday night that my ears had a chance to ring again.

A special thanks to Will Boucher for the great front-row pictures and setlist.

By Jon Stone | @jwstone

Champaign-Urbana had a busy Record Store Day on Saturday, with all-day band and dj action at Champaign’s Exile on Main St and Urbana’s Parasol Records, as well as a variety of other performances and events around town (I took my kids to see one of my local favorites, Elsinore, who were playing a rare all-ages show — one of FOUR they played Saturday — at the Champaign Public Library). It was a great day for music.

I was looking forward to the Antlers visit to the Canopy Club to end off the day’s festivities, but unsure, really, of what to expect. The Antlers played our Pygmalion festival* last year on a packed bill that they shared with a conglomerate of disparate bill-mates and from at least one report (I wasn’t there) the show didn’t really take off. Also, even though their debut record Hospice was a huge favorite among critics last year (MofB’s own Ryan M. names it as his 9th favorite record of 2009), I didn’t fall in love with it. Don’t get me wrong, I like the record as a friend. We just haven’t settled down together or anything.

My reservations about the record are few. I think it does an amazing job building and maintaining a dialectical aesthetic of desolation and beauty — as I was explaining to my friend, it’s not a record about losing your girlfriend, its a record about LOSING your girlfriend. It does so in a lush, wall-of-sound way that makes that despair beautiful and crisp even as it breaks your heart. But, for me, the record doesn’t have enough dynamic oomph–it’s there in the music, it’s just not there in the mix (if that makes sense). It doesn’t up-shift.  Even when, in Kettering — the albums flagship song — when the drums and wall kick in, the volume doesn’t explode. It maintains it’s whisper. I suppose this may be the very reason people love it so much.  Also, there is a circular nature to the melodies on Hospice that while perhaps intentional sometimes wear out their welcome for me.

I hoped that the live show would break out of at least that first reservation and I wasn’t disappointed. The Antlers start out hushed, as you might expect, but when they kick it up — usually due to drummer Michael Learner’s tight and concise-if-devastating hammering — it really gets kicked up. As I’ve indicated I’m a sucker for big dynamic shifts, so live, when Kettering moves into that late-song crescendo, it really does blast. That made me happy.

The Antlers are a tough band to categorize. They don’t really fit comfortably in any contemporary guitar-rock niche, but as I listened Saturday night it occurred to me that the band is more akin to electronic acts like M83 or what you might call “hybird” semi-electronic bands like The Sea and Cake or Sigur Ros. I got a similar vibe from openers Phantogram — whom I pegged as strange tourmates at first. It turns out, though, that they complement each other well. In other words, this was more than just your standard guitar band fare. The Antlers build that sound carefully as a close-to-the-stage view revealed what must have been 20 separate pedals and sound boxes both at foot and on hand between lead man Peter Silberman and keyboardist Darbi Cicci. There is some sonic craftsmanship happening on stage at an Antlers show.

Something too should be said Silberman’s voice. It is the centerpiece of the band and it has a kind of classic sound to it. I may be the only person to have ever thought this, but there were parts of the show last night that sounded downright English New Wave to me — like I could have been at a late 80s Cure or Depeche Mode show (and, believe me, that’s a compliment). Silberman’s voice soars and is reminiscent, to me, of Martin Gore’s (who sang the best DM tracks). Something about Silberman’s voice isn’t quite there yet, though. On the way out my friend nailed it when he said, “Man, he’s got pipes — but its like he hasn’t quite learned how to use the gas pedal yet.”

My one big hope for the night was that the band would be able to maintain the emotional tenor of the record which, given its nature as a record about cancer and death, seemed nearly too much to ask. It seems as though such heavy subject matter would get to be too much to bear and recreate night after night and the band would resort to irony or to phoned-in performance. Incredibly, the Antlers didn’t disappoint here. The show was intense and maintained an emotional honesty that can’t be easy to pull off. In addition, they played a new song — “never before heard by anyone” they announced. That made for some happy fans.

Check out this free EP from the band titled New York Hospitals and tell us what you thought if you caught the band here or elsewhere (at last night’s Madison show, for example).

Buy: The Antlers – Hospice

*Pygmalion organizers announced last week that the legendary Roky Erickson will headline this year’s fest backed by album collaborators Okkervil River. A good portion of the always-amazing full line-up will be announced in about a week. We’ll keep you posted.

By Jon Stone | @jwstone

Retribution Gospel Choir. What are we to make of this name? A gospel choir. Ok, got that — sounds kinda holy. Let’s keep this going. So, retribution? Apparently this is the gospel choir — the one that you sing in as a reward for, uh, a life well sung; or, wait… was that punishment. I’m confused. I kind of love it. And I don’t usually get excited about band names. Sometimes they seem more like a necessary evil than working to productively represent (as an abstraction) a band. There is something about the name Retribution Gospel Choir that just totally works for me.

Alan Sparhawk from Low fronts the band. And RGC doesn’t feel like a side-project. Their second record (titled, aptly, 2) came out last month, and it both builds on Low’s foundation and moves that jarring, heavy Sparhawk sound to a new place. It’s an excellent record.

They came through Champaign-Urbana to the Canopy Club a few nights ago and played a 16 song set that included most of that record, and several from their eponymous debut (2008). It was a small show — only fifty people at a too-late-for-such-a-good-band time (they didn’t go on until 11:30 pm). But I digress (and show my age).

Highlights:

• Huge sound, three dudes. This is the Sparhawk signature thing, I realize, but here it is again. It comes across strongest on long, heavy tunes like “Electric Guitar,” “Your Bird” and the amazing single (and the track that opens the LP) “Hide It Away.”
• Pop sensibilities: Like a friend of mine said on the way out of the show, “Fun — like Low but upbeat.” And it’s true. There is still a darkness here, but we get some pop in there on tunes like “Workin’ Hard” and “White Wolf” — both which clock in at under 3 minutes. This tunes had punch on stage — really fun to watch.
• Great drums and bass playing. Mimi Parker’s drumming does a lot to create the Low sound, so drummer Eric Pollard offers the element that does the most to separate RGC from Low (fast, very technical playing) and he kills as a back-up vocalist with really high and strong harmonies. Steve Garrington (also of Low) is aggressive and powerful. His move into the bass position on this record (replacing Matt Livingston) solidifies my feeling that RGC is Sparhawk’s new main musical vehicle.

It was a fun night. I look forward to seeing this band start to move. I bet we see them all over the summer festival circuit — and with much larger audiences to boot.

Setlist: Breaker / For Her Blood / Workin’ Hard / Destroyer / Hide It Away / Poor Man’s Daughter / ’68 Comeback / White Wolf / They Knew You Well / Your Bird / What She Turned Into / Electric Guitar / Take Your Time / Encore: cover song I can’t place (ends with “it takes a friend to stop a friend”) / Kids Lyrics

Buy: Retribution Gospel Choir – 2

By Jon Stone | @jwstone

Andrew Bird was last in town two-and-a-half years ago headlining our annual Pygmalion festival. I was new in town and I was still trying to get a feel for Champaign-Urbana’s musical potential. I had listened to Bird’s The Mysterious Production of Eggs and enjoyed it enough to check out his then new album Armchair Apocrypha. But, to be honest, I didn’t have high expectations. I was sitting way in the back on the balcony and I heard it was only going to be Bird without a backing band. How good could it be?

It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to.

You can imagine, then, what it was like sitting on the third row last night at Foellinger auditorium.

Bird is a juggler; an acrobat. His records, while wonderful, conceal this. Until you have seen him build his intricate loops — plucked pizzicato melody under several layers of bowed violin, under guitar, under whistles, under voice — you just can’t get a sense for his musicianship and mastery as an artist.  It took me by complete surprise that first time a few years ago. Last night, I knew what I was in for and was not disappointed.

Part of what makes seeing Bird play live so special is that his complex looping process mixed with his quirky, spontaneous style generates the feeling that the audience is experiencing something completely new and unique. Last night, Bird, dressed in festive red and green flannel and corduroy, played great songs from his catalog, but none really sounded like they do on the records. Part of this, of course, is due to the fact that he is playing the songs solo, without percussion or bass as a back-drop; but it’s more than that. After opening with “You Woke Me Up!” from Useless Creatures, he said that his long year of touring had got him thinking about the songs as they existed before they were recorded.  “Back when the songs were magma,” he said. I can’t think of a better way to describe the music or the night: magma. Lovely, molten magma.

From there he played “Sweetbreads,” an early version of “Darkmatter” (which you can find, if you’re lucky, on the first of the three self-released, live Fingerlings records). In its early conception, the song was less about darkmatter and more about eating cow brains, with all, he said, the attending philosophical ramifications and complications: “the sound of neurons blinking.”  Next and also from Fingerlings came the live favorite, “Why?” which is as much acting as it is music making. Bird said it was about an old needy roommate who complained to him that “we weren’t spending enough time together.”  The chorus, “damn you for being so easy going,”  became a frustrating theme, he said — a pattern — of several future relationships as well.

The rest of the night played out in a similar manner. Bird would introduce a song with a story and then play a phenomenal rendition of the tune. I loved the stories. He wasn’t so talkative last time he came through — it was fun. Other standout moments for me included versions of my favorite songs from this year’s Noble Beast, “Anonanimal” and “Natural Disaster.” Lyrically, “Anonanimal” might be his best work to date, and “Natural Disaster” is its lovely foil on the album, but took on new life as a live tune.

Also, he mentioned his upcoming church residency gigs in Chicago and Minneapolis and had acquired two more of those rad horn speakers for the shows. He said he runs his violin through them and that they would essentially be the P.A. at those mostly-instrumental shows in the near future. He then played “Carrion Suite” (also from Useless Creatures) to get warm for them. Also great was a little story about the original chorus of “Imitosis,” a line from a Sesame Street song (see below), and an impromptu visit from Dr. Stringz.  Oh! and we got “Headsoak” — a great old bluesy tune from “back in the Bowl of Fire days.”

His encore was a sweet version of the old standard “Some of These Days” and “Weather Systems.”

What a night.

[A shout-out, also, to Urbana's You and Yourn who opened the show. The auditorium could have been a bit big for their britches, but they filled it out nicely (though, work on that between-song banter, guys.)  Check out their new Parasol Records release "It Would Make Things Worse".]

Andrew Bird set list: Sweetbreads / Why? / Tenuousness / Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left / Natural Disaster / Oh No / Carrion Suite / The Happy Birthday Song / Headsoak / We All Live in a Capital I (Sesame Street cover) / Imitosis / Anonanimal / Dr. Stringz (request from the audience) /Scythian Empire / Encore: Some of These Days / Weather Systems

Buy: Andrew Bird – Noble Beast (Deluxe Edition)

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For those of you who, like me, are interested in musical genealogy, concurrent with the Bowl of Fire days, Andrew Bird played violin on several of the early Squirrel Nut Zippers records. Remember them? They were better, I think, than the swing-dance fad that contained them. Writing this post reminded me of one of their best songs and videos, “Ghost of Stephen Foster” (from their 1998 record, Perennial Favorites). Check it out; Andrew Bird is all over it (if not actually in it): “Ghost of Stephen Foster”

Here are the Wisconsin and Illinois shows we recommend you take in this week. Check them out below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list. This week’s recommended new releases are highlighted by reissues from Neutral Milk Hotel and Nirvana and a brand new collaborative from Jason Molina & Will Johnson.

Upcoming Wisconsin Shows:

11/2 – Throw Me the Statue + Bishop Allen – High Noon Saloon, Madison
11/3 – Ghostface Killah – Barrymore, Madison
11/5 – White Denim + Brazos – High Noon Saloon, Madison
11/6 – William Elliott Whitmore + Hoots & Hellmouth – Stonefly, Milwaukee
11/6 – Mountain Goats + Final Fantasy – High Noon Saloon, Madison
11/7 – J. Tillman – Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee
11/7 – The Black Crowes – Riverside Theater, Milwaukee
11/7 – Mount Eerie + No Kids + Tara Jane O’Neil – High Noon Saloon, Madison
11/8 – Old Crow Medicine Show – Barrymore Theatre, Madison

Upcoming Chicago Shows:

11/3 – Pinback – Bottom Lounge
11/4 – Simian Mobile Disco + Phenomenal Handclap Band – Metro
11/5 – The Mountain Goats + Final Fantasy – Metro
11/6 – White Denim + Brazos – Lincoln Hall
11/6 – Mstrkrft – Congress Theatre
11/6 – The Whigs – Bottom Lounge
11/7 – William Elliott Whitmore – Double Door
11/7 – The Sounds – Vic Theatre
11/8 – J. Tillman – Lincoln Hall

Upcoming Champaign-Urbana Shows

11/5 – Generationals, Spinto Band, Pepi Ginsberg – Courtyard Café
11/6 – Neko Case – Canopy Club

Just Announced:

11/12 – Surgeons In Heat + Quinn Scharber – Club Garibaldi, Milwaukee
11/14 – The Woes – Stonefly, Milwaukee
11/19 – Surgeons In Heat + Jason Mohr (Juniper Tar – Sugar Maple, Milwaukee
11/19 – Modern Skirts + Skybox – Mad Planet, Milwaukee
11/25 – Sam Roberts Band – Club Garibaldi, Milwaukee
12/12 – Charlemagne + Vid Libert + The Hemlines – The Frequency, Madison
1/30 – Cold War Kids – Vic Theatre, Chicago

New Releases:

Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (180g Vinyl Reissue), Molina & Johnson – Molina & Johnson, Nirvana – Bleach (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), Ola Podrida – Belly of the Lion, On Filmore – Extended Vacation, King Khan & BBQ Show – Invisible Girl, David Bowie – Space Oddity (40th Anniversary Edition)

+Bookmark our Wisconsin and Chicago shows pages for all your concert announcements+