Chicago music luminaries Robbie Fulks, Califone, Sally Timms, the Waco Brothers and others are playing “A Big Brain Benefit” at 7 p.m. Sunday, November 9 at the School of the Art Institute Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan. The concert will benefit Diane Izzo, a singer-songwriter who recently had a $100,000 operation to remove a crippling brain tumor. Tickets are $20.
You can buy tickets through TicketWeb. If you want to donate, go to www.dianeizzo.com and use the PayPal link to donate funds directly to Diane and Marco. More info after the jump.
Chicago’s super-awesome Pit Er Pat are hitting the road this fall in support of High Time, their new album due out on 10/21. This effort finds the band traveling down a dusty and dark path with guitars, sequencers, drum machines, and a slew of foreign percussions.
The Decemberists have finished tracking their new full-length record, to be titled Hazards Of Love, and are about to begin mixing. The band is otherwise tight-lipped regarding its follow-up to 2006’s The Crane Wife, but we’ll keep you posted as details emerge.
San Diego’s annual Street Scene festival was truly a sight to behold. A large section of San Diego’s downtown and West Village was sectioned off and made home to four stages, forty bands, and thousands upon thousands of voracious music lovers. From bros rolling joints to cute hipster chicks with flasks taped to their thighs, the surroundings were cramped, but everyone was in such a good mood that no one seemed to mind the lack of breathing room.
Oakland rockers Man/Miracle have released a new 7-inch entitled “Pushing And Shoving/You’ve Got A Hold On Me”. The song “Pushing And Shoving” was previously included on the band’s supergood self-titled full-length album, and “You’ve Got A Hold On Me” is previously unreleased. You can listen to the A-Side at their MySpace, the B-Side here, and buy the record and other merch here.
After playing at San Diego’s Street Scene, Owl&Bear is ready for more, and Man Man are set to deliver, beginning in Austin on September 27th. Non-stop touring in support of their Anti- Records debut Rabbit Habits has sent Man Man across the US and Europe, and they’re set to do it again.
In October, they’ll be joined by labelmate Tim Fite and his brother, Dr. Leisure.
On 10/14, Ingrid Michaelson will release Be OK. The album will feature a mix of previously unreleased songs, covers, and live recordings. A portion of the proceeds will go to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). Video for the titular song:
The showtimes for next week’s massive Street Scene festival have been released. People with great taste will have the agonizing task of choosing between staying at The New Pornographers’ show or defecting to TV On The Radio halfway through, and dance fans will have to choose between MGMT and Hot Chip, but for the most part things are spread out pretty well. The festivities start one week from today, so be sure to snatch up some tickets if you haven’t done so already.
For the scant few who haven’t heard yet, San Diego’s annual Street Scene festival will once again be rearing its enormous head on September 19th and 20th.
The colossal all-ages event brings a whopping forty bands on four stages to downtown San Diego, including Beck, Spoon, TV On The Radio, MGMT, The New Pornographers, The National, Cold War Kids, Justice, X, and longtime Owl&Bear favorites/interviewees Man Man. And for anybody who feels overwhelmed by the sheer number of great bands performing and would like to introduce a little suckiness into their diet—and would like that suckiness to sound like Paul Simon vomiting—have no fear, because Vampire Weekend will also be performing.
Toronto rock throng Broken Social Scene will be bringing their amiable brand of baroque pop to the House of Blues this Friday. Those following the antics of the prolific Canucks over the past year know that there have been two “Broken Social Scene Presents” solo albums so far, Kevin Drew’s Spirit If… and Brendan Canning’s Something For All Of Us.
The folks behind the annual Southern Comfort Music Experience, to be held in the Ace Parking Lot at the corner of Imperial and Park this Saturday, have finally seen fit to declassify its set times. A five dollar “donation” grants you access to the event and its eleven musical acts.
San Diego’s The Powerchords are currently on tour in support of their new album, …Think I’m Gonna. They’re playing tonight in NJ, then heading down the East Coast, down through the South, and then back to San Diego for their record release.
It’s the first Thursday of the month, which means it’s time for TNT, the downtown Museum of Contemporary Art’s bi-fortnightly event that features everything from DJ lessons to poetry readings to artists talking about why they do all those artistic things that they do. This month’s TNT is called Optimal Illusion and it’s got photographic and video works from actual lady artists. Kelly and Maren from Wild Weekend will also be on hand to spin some 60’s girl group and 70’s girl punk. Guys, here’s your chance to impress the fairer sex by appearing to be sensitive and cultured, as well as to practice pronouncing the word weltanschauung.
For those of you who like your punk fast and dirty like grandma used to make, Jay Reatard is playing at the Casbah tonight. Helping blow the roof off the place will be fellow punkers Cheap Time, as well as San Diego’s very own The Sess, who are part of Single Screen Records’ batting-a-thousand roster of awesome local bands.
Those cut from a more sensitive cloth can go check out Jason Reeves at Soma tonight, who will happily help you relive the painful memory of every girl who, for one reason or another, just didn’t feel like dating you anymore. Jon McLauglin will be opening.
Last night, I went to the open mic night at the Downtown Tavern, an itty-bitty bar with a rad patio, and since it was warm (first time in what seems like months), they held the event outside.
I didn’t plan on becoming totally drunk; I was just going to have a few beers with McCaskill and see who else came around, but I got bored sitting at home by myself (total loserdom probably creates more alcoholics than anything else), so I went to Barley’s (another, larger bar with a $1 pint happy hour), drank four beers and ate a slice of pizza in an attempt to balance out the alcohol.
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