Dave Chamberlain

For years, I've been a supporter of Andrew Bird.

He's an interesting character, Bird, an aspiring popular musician with a music degree from Northwestern. And from the moment he released his first record, last century's "Thrills," I thought he had something going: his combination of hot jazz, gypsy music and calypso sounded very right when it was released. Then came his switch to more traditional rock `n' roll. The music was never bad, it just didn't fit Bird's quirky, violin-playing, staid ways. So here we are in 2005, and Bird's released his sixth record, "Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs," and I can't help but wonder: does anybody care?

For "Mysterious," Bird sticks more or less with rock `n' roll, though the presence of violin lends each song the flavor of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby"--for better or for worse. The record is predictably low-key and slower in tempo, and despite the fact that he plays with a full band, a singer-songwriter stigma attaches itself from beginning to end. Bird's own bizarre, highly informed sense of storytelling and songwriting style remains intact--though the wandering whistler that breaks into "Masterfade" could've been lost with no mourning--but at this point, some seven years after he began, Bird simply is what he is. He won't surprise anybody with "Mysterious," nor will he disappoint.

Bird opens for Ani DiFranco, February 26 at the Auditorium Theatre.

No sophomore slump:
Though the record came too late to give anyone advance warning in regards to the record-release show on Valentine's Day, local loud-rock band The Phenoms' second record gets a high recommendation. "Home Brain Surgery Kit" doesn't really strive to reinvent rock `n' roll, but it's a high-octane, bloody take on the three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-dust theory. The combination of blustery guitar fuzz, dime-turning riffs and sing-scream vocals recalls most directly Texas' punk-rock band Sugarshack, but injected with a very 2005 punch in the stomach. The band's choice of covers has improved from its first record (last time around, The Sonics; this time around, ZZ Top's "Heard it on the X"), and the eleven songs track in at just a little under a half-hour. The record's second-to-last song, "Erik's New Blues," gurgles and rumbles like a something the New Bomb Turks might have spat out, but there's a great rhythm and chorus release that comes off like a nuclear bomb. Quality rock `n' roll.

Night and day:
A pair of shows in the last two weeks presented extremes, when compared, to the eddies that make up Chicago's music waters.

Last Saturday at the Hideout, opening band The Stranger couldn't have impressed me more. Composed of pieces and parts of other various local bands (The Peelers, Deals Gone Bad), and still without an official recording, The Stranger plays an unusual collision between rockabilly and straight-jabbing rock `n' roll, with much more emphasis on the latter. Guitar riffs are angular but played with a rocker's carefree zeal, vocal hooks from the freestanding lead singer are catchy with every ascent into chorus, and there's even a stand-up bass. It's hard rock, but with enough gentle bells and whistles so as not to scare off the normals. Catch them March 2 at the Bottom Lounge, opening for the Demolition Dollrods.

On the other hand, a week later the Baldwin Brothers played at the Double Door, begging the question: what the hell happened? Three years ago these guys were poised for takeoff: major-label deal on TVT Records for "Cooking With Lasers, unique musical style that crossed jazz with turntablism and soul, celebrities playing on their record (Miho Hatori from Cibo Matto). With a slightly new lineup, this isn't the same Baldwin Brothers, but a band with some of the same members playing the accursed noise that is--deep breath--acid jazz. Wallpaper. Background music. Too bad.

Chicago hop:
The collective hip-hop show at the Metro, February 25, features a collection of the usual suspects--All Natural and Earatic Statik have been around the Chicago underground for years, as have the various Molemen collaborators.

The wild card here is Qualo, a quartet that released an under-reported, under-heard record last year, "Believe." Texturally deeper than some of the acts they're playing with in terms of production, Qualo's angle is much rougher and more vocally outspoken than the Chicago norm. Though it's hardly gangsta rap, the rappers aren't afraid to let the expletives fly (from "Do What I Say Track": Fuck democrats, fuck republicans/I got a ballot and bullet for shadow governments"). That's a bit of a misrepresentation, as Qualo aims its vitriol at the hip-hop's worlds various transparencies. On "Come Outside," they declare gangsta rappers as snitches; on "This Little Light," Qualo points out that "Shorty got a Playstation/but no daddy." It's a little disturbing from beginning to end, but on a different--more aware, smarter--than the average 50 Cent track.

Qualo plays early Friday night, so you should get there early.

(2005-02-22)

Also by Dave Chamberlain

Punk Principles
No other band from Chicago has come as far, as fast, as Rise Against has in the last six months
(2005-02-15)

These are the Good Times
Some of the world's foremost DJs boast of starting at a very young age, a trait most common amongst African and Jamaican sound-system DJs
(2005-02-08)

Tip of the Week
The gritty grumble that pervades The Moaners' debut record, "Dark Snack" (Yep Roc), can be directly attributed to the presence of former Trailer Bride lead singer Melissa Swingle
(2005-02-01)

Tip of the Week
Tonight represents your last chance to see one of the city's longest-running bands play--after ten years, the lads in Woolworthy have decided to finish it all up
(2005-01-25)

Heating up
(2005-01-25)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-18)

Raw Material
(2005-01-18)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-11)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-04)

Tip of the Week
(2005-01-03)

Tip of the Week
(2004-12-21)

Tip of the Week
(2004-12-14)

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