With a hazy and powerful sound, Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome issues a pair of B-sides to its well-received sophomore LP.
A group of Wodaabe and Tuareg people from Niger, Etran Finatawa, explores tribal music as channeled through electric guitar and a blues sensibility, and an acoustic guitarist with a rich, diverse catalog (Ralph Towner) drops a disc of duets with an Italian/Sardinian trumpeter (Paolo Fresu). (more…)
On 12/31/00, dropped-D alt-rockers Hum played their final show in Chicago, appearing with the Flaming Lips at the Metro. Now, eight years to the date, the group reconvenes in the Windy City for a double dose of reunion performances.
ALARM intercepts transmissions from Hum singer Matt Talbott and bassist Jeff Dimpsey before these impending shows, the first of which is tonight at Chicago’s Double Door.
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NOMO, the alternative Afrobeat collective from Ann Arbor, Michigan, march es to its own beat, or more accurately, to the beat of four different percussionists.
Led by the lanky, baby-faced founder and composer Elliot Bergman, the nine-piece multi-ethnic/gender brigade is a mash-up of cultural and musical influences.
Defying classification to create an Afrobeat/funk/electronic hybrid (think Remain in Light-era Talking Heads with the sensibilities of Fela Kuti), the band has old-school jazz purists, hipsters, and indie rockers cocking an ear and taking notice. (more…)
