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12/31/02:

A plate of nights for the coming months -

I found a few interesting coming events that hopefully won't pry your tight wallet too hard. Apologies to non-residents for the Chicago-centric specifics, but you might still wanna check the links to find any of the following coming to a stage or screen near you.

Silver Rockets/ Kool Things - a bi-decade documentary on Sonic Youth is playing twice at the Film Center in January. A synopsis from the Sundance channel makes the filmmaking itself to seem a whole lot less radical than its subject matter, but I'm excited to see iffin' it can hit me with some newfound Sonic love. If you asked me "Who of all is the most important music to you?" Sonic Youth would be my immediate answer. Unfortunately, my distaste for most SY moments from Murray Street back to Washing Machine + the theft of all my high School-aged SY cassettes has kept them quite rare in my personal rotation these past few years. Hopefully this film makes a fresh listen for those frazzled old favourites.

A brief aside - though I'm still not really with the latest Sonic Youth records, I'm really starting to warm up to the Dim Stars collaboration 'tween Thurston Moore and Richard Hell. It's the only time I can remember honestly hearing these guys having a good time on some sloppy, sweaty rock. If this disc shows up in your used record bin, snap it up for its more than a few good mixtape sparkles.

Also at the Film Center next month - Remember Marvin Gaye. A short-ish document from the sexual healer's two-year tax exile to Belgium.

The Tortoise show at Metro hasn't sold out. Okay so Standards was a touch sub par, but hearing some of the daring numbers they roll out (like an instrumental quote of Joyce's "Aldeia de Ogum") makes for good jams always.

Damo Suzuki, of Can fame, will be at the Fireside Bowl in February with Defender. So far there's no mention of Cul de Sac, the band that quite confidently backed Damo up at the Empty Bottle last summer, but Defender are more clever than most of the post-rock pile and I most certainly would have regretted missing Mr Suzuki's firey bit of brilliance at his last show. If nothing else, a piece of out-rock history for six bucks is nothing to pass up.

And in March, nostalgic old cowpunks might want to check out the ever-witty John Doe (of X and the Knitters) or Tropical-philes like myself can dig up on Brazilian electronicist Moreno Veloso (son of Caetano Veloso) on seperate nights at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

If you recognise me at any of the above events, please wave as I look at you incredulously.

'til next year, stinky drunks!

posted by jeremy @ 6:51 PM