Ladyhawke, a.k.a. Pip Brown, made her Chicago debut last Saturday, and the petite New Zealander injected her glossy dance rock with some gritty brawn that got the whole room moving. On album Brown juggles a number of the instrumental duties but live she augmented herself with a faceless but tight backing band. Brown is a bit on the shy side onstage, but her songs were powerful enough to do most of the talking for her. Kids danced in the balconies and dance pits opened on the main floor as her set progressed from a rawk beginning into edgier grooves as the night wore on, moving the crowd until it was glossed in a sheen of joyous sweat. more ›

Look, I think we can all agree that Perez Hilton is a talentless twit, but his name as sponsor on the marquee should NOT keep you from seeing Ladyhawke at The Metro tomorrow night! Her self-titled debut garnered a well deserved spot on our music best-of list last year, and it still hasn't worn out it's welcome on ye olde tankPOD. Watch the magic in action. more ›

Yup, here it is, the inevitable "Best of 2008" music list (a later post centering on the top local offerings is forthcoming). In order to spare our readers the pain of reading through yet another list that tries too hard to impress with obscure releases or toe the party line on Stereogum / Pitchfork approved artists, we continue our personal decade-plus tradition of merely listing what we actually liked in 2008. That means that the albums below are the one we kept finding ourselves turning to when we wanted to kick back and enjoy some tunes. Sure, there was more artistically challenging stuff released this year than some of the selections below -- and we certainly do appreciate that sort of thing -- but our year end list reflects which music ultimately did for us what we think rock and/or roll is ultimately meant to do to any listener: it grabbed us by the heart and/or crotch and wouldn't let go. more ›

Blogger darling and spunky electropper Ladyhawke has announced a handful of Stateside tour dates to promote her "Paris Is Burning" single, and Chicago is lucky enough to be one of her stops. She's set to land at av-erie on October 15, and you can bet we'll be in amongst the dancers hoping she lives up to the hype. more ›