Sign up for the ALARM email list and enter to win a pair of tickets to see the Melvins and Big Business at the Double Door in Chicago on Monday, August 4. Winners will be chosen at random and will be announced 7/31. Good luck!!! (more…)
There are several velvet-rope bars on Christie Street in Manhattan, in a section of the city formerly reserved for lower-income working class immigrants, especially Ukrainians, Italians, and Germans. The Europeans gathering on the outside of the ropes are hardly working class, however; everything they’re wearing is either designer or ironic, and the price they’ll have to pay a for bottle of champagne or vodka in the club is about what it would cost to have that bottle flown in singly in its own airplane seat. (more…)
Chicago-based rockers EXO will be playing an acoustic show on August 10 at Schubas Tavern. The show will be a benefit for their longtime friend and former drummer, Doug Meis, who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2005 with his two friends, John Glick and Michael Dahlquist. (more…)
While Pitchfork was in full swing in the midwest a few weekends ago, another music festival was drawing record crowds at Coney Island. This year’s Siren Music Festival, presented by Village Voice, showcased some of indie music’s top performers, including Stephen Malkum and the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, Islands, Ra Ra Riot, The Helio Sequence, Beach House, Times New Viking, and many more. (more…)
The music industry has changed drastically ever since Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Girl Talk and others experimented in releasing their new albums unconventionally. Now, The Dandy Warhols are raising the bar, trying something even more out-there. The band is partnering with Amazon.com for the release of their upcoming album, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols…. (more…)
Even though drummer Maya Miller claimed that the show was The Pack A.D.’s first in Chicago, you would never be able to tell. The British Columbia duo played with such ferociousness and intensity that they seemed like seasoned veterans use to the daily touring grind. On Thursday July 17, The Pack A.D. played for a paltry, but interested PBR swigging crowd at the appropriately named The Hideout. Becky Black’s fiery guitar playing set the mood for the night while Maya Miller’s powerful drum machine backbeat held the songs together. (more…)
If in the last ten years you’ve traveled under the auspices of attending a lefty rally, protest, or conference, or you’ve spent time in a community center, a crusty punk group house, a union hall or a progressive bookstore, then you’ve probably seen some of the graphic arts distributed by justseeds.org. One particularly popular set of posters is the Celebrate People’s History series, organized by Justseeds founder Josh MacPhee. These posters, highlighting hidden and obscured histories of social movements, from the abolition of slavery to ACT-UP, show up in the most surprising and diverse contexts. In public school classrooms, they serve as the graphic curriculum equivalent to Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States, whereas in the social centers and bookstores of today’s leftist and sub-cultural movements, they serve as a constant reminder of the roots of struggle and of significant battles for emancipation and justice. (more…)
A highly charged crowd at the Connector stage did their best to wait patiently while Dirty Projectors completed their angelic folk-pop set on the Aluminum stage across the field. All of a sudden a gong rang out, and Japanese psych-rockers Boris proceeded to prove that despite any evidence to the contrary, rock’n’roll still reigns supreme. Their guitar driven set gave listeners a taste of music off of their latest album Smile (Southern Lord). (more…)
If you have you have ever wondered, “Who is friendlier: Gene Simmons or Neil Peart?” you are in luck! The Melvins have the answers to this and many more questions regarding who is the nicest band. From their twenty-plus years of touring, Buzz Osborne and company have compiled what they believe to be the nicest bands to tour with. (more…)
Takka Takka are a band with a myriad of influences. While listening to Migration, the band’s sophomore effort, it becomes apparent that although indie rock is at the core of the band’s aesthetic, the group is not afraid to experiment in terms of texture and song structure to create a warm, melodic, and rich record of folk rock more befitting of the fall than its summer release. That’s not to say that everything works. In fact, the music often blends so seemingly from one song to the next that you find the need to skip over one track and go to the next in the hopes of finding something better, only to be disappointed.
