For an electronic music duo named Modeselektor, it's fitting that their music has long navigated countless electronic (and sometimes non-electronic) genres. Members Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary borrow from everything from techno to drum 'n bass to dubstep to IDM and more, marking an attuned sense of the world of electronic music as a whole. Over the course of their 16-year career, Bronsert and Szary have built a name as one of the world's premiere live acts, as evidenced by their performance at Coachella just last weekend. In between their encore performance at Coachella this Sunday, Modeselektor have decided to embark upon Chicago for a gig at Metro on Saturday.
Modeselektor Return To Chicago This Saturday
LAST MINUTE PLANS: The Ting Tings At Metro
The Ting Tings rocked, okay, danced our faces off four years ago with their break out debut album, We Started Nothing. “Great DJ,” “That’s Not My Name” and “Shut Up and Let Me Go” were just a few of the singles from the album that soundtracked our summer, heard everywhere from television commercials to movies to, of course, parties.
LAST MINUTE PLANS: Nada Surf At Metro
Almost every article about the band talks about Nada Surf's mid-'90s hit single "Popular" and the unlikelihood that what appeared to be a one-hit-wonder band would transform into such a dependably vibrant musical entity. So let's start there. The band kept a relatively low profile after that single so when they released the stunning, and deeply emotional, Let Go in 2002 it came as a shock to many. No one doubted the group's musical talents before but this was a stirring collection of songs showing the band working well outside of its regular comfort zones.
Drink A One Of A Kind Beer For A Good Cause
Best Buddies Illinois has teamed up with Small Bar to serve up a special brew from Metropolitan Brewing.
Red Bull Kicks Off Chicago Sessions Series Tomorrow Night
Red Bull Music Academy - Chicago Sessions kicks off tomorrow, at Metro/Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark St., 10 p.m.,, $5, 18+ (21+ for Smart Bar)
Italians Do It Better Records Takes Over Tomorrow Never Knows Festival at Lincoln Hall
Italians Do It Better Records played Lincoln Hall this week during the Tomorrow Never Knows Festival.
Last Minute Plans: Tiger Bones’ Final Show
Tiger Bones is calling it quits, and they’re saying farewell with one last show tonight at the Metro.
'Tis The Season For Music & Merry Making: This Holiday's Live Music Calendar
Home is where the heart is so they say, and being that many of us grew up here in the big city, or have transplanted and now consider it home, we stay on our own turf when the holiday season rolls around. Luckily for us there are a merry myriad of magnificent musical events taking place over the holiday weekend. Take a gander at some of our favorites and spread the holiday cheer accordingly:
Fitz And The Tantrums Stun With Soul, Funk And Rock Raucousness
Somewhere around the mid-point of Fitz and the Tantrums exhilarating, sold-out show Sunday night at the Metro, the band's emotionally-charged performance hit the audience with the intensity of a blast furnace.
Get Weird With Theophilus London (And Friendly Fires)
We've already outlined why we think Friendly Fires are nifty, so that should be reason enough to get your butt to The Metro this Saturday, but the additional twist of Theophilus London on the bill makes this a must-see show.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Portugal. The Man
Last week we shared a video Portugal. The Man shot backstage at Double Door during their last trip to Chicago. Today the band moves down the street to perform "You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun)" in a furniture store that will be familiar to any who walk along a certain stretch of Wicker Park's segment of Milwaukee Avenue.
Empty Out Your Wallet: Waco Brothers, Russian Circles and More
Get your credit cards ready. Here are the best upcoming concerts to go on sale this week.
Black and Mild: St. Vincent @ Metro
St. Vincent's Annie Clark didn't quite thrill. And she showed that the darkest part of her nearly 90-minute set was
the stage lighting.
Get Caught Up In The Rapture
A brief history of The Rapture: the band was at the forefront of the dance-punk movement in the early aughts and was DFA records' -- you know them as the label that the dude from LCD Soundsystem helps run -- first signing, then they released an awesome if somewhat bristling first album, then they signed to a Major and released a somewhat pedestrian and overly-glossy second album, then they almost called it quits, then one of them found God, the band got (mostly) back together to record a thrilling third album that they decided to put out on , yes, DFA records.
Foo Fighters Return To Metro A Memorable One
At sixty bucks a pop, you really had to be a fan to buy tickets, but at two and a half hours in a mid-size venue, this was a concert that was really worth it for a hardcore fan.
Holy Hell, Foo Fighters To Play Metro
The last time we saw the Foo Fighters was their first show at Metro (playing with Mike Watt and Eddie Vedder's (then) wife's band. It was awesome. And now we hear they're playing there again on Saturday. Tickets are on sale in fifteen minutes. Good luck.
Odd Future Plans Tour, Nation's Music Writers Plan Indignation
Controversial rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All have announced their first North American tour, which includes a stop at Chicago's Metro. Music writers, start your think pieces!
Rockin' Our Turntable: The Antlers
The first time we heard about Peter Silberman's project The Antlers was when they released the lineup for the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival. That year alone, we were inundated with releases from an army of fellow Brooklyn indie-hipster bands like Dirty Projectors, Real Estate and Bear In Heaven, and, really, we just had it up to our eyelids with that particular scene. When we had the opportunity to catch them at the Fest on that cold, rainy Saturday afternoon underneath that canopy of of tall, slender birch trees that dot the landscape of the C-Stage, we were taken a-back by the unadorned, yet complex beauty of their performance. The combination of Silberman's willowy falsetto and warm, glowing electric guitar and the rain falling ever-so-gently upon us seemed to transcend the hipster the electro-afro-beats that dominated that year's sound aesthetic.
QUICK SPINS: Lykke Li, Eisley
In which we take a quick look at a few recent or upcoming musical releases.
Alien Queen Gestates Into A Concert
Scott Bradley and Jonny Stax of the Scooty & JoJo Show have been crafting musical parodies for years now. They’re the guys behind Carpenters Halloween, the yearly Halloween show that parodies the classic horror flick Halloween set to the musical stylings of the Carpenters. Last winter, they premiered another mash-up - Alien Queen: A Sci-fi Rock ParOdyssey, a musical that combines the movies Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) with the epic rock hits of Queen. And now that its first run is over, they’re transforming the musical it into a concert.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Triumphant Return
Whether this tour means something for the future of Godspeed! You Black Emperor remains to be seen. We're willing to bet that they'll recede again, go about their business, all while their music and performances live on with their devoted fan base. Their third and final Chicago show tonight at The Vic will surely be a treat.
Nearly A Year After Brutal Assault, Madina Lake's Matthew Leone Returns To Stage
Wonderful news from the Madina Lake camp: Matthew Leone is set to rejoin Madina Lake on stage for the first time since suffering a horrendous beating coming to the aid of a battered woman.
LAST MINUTE REMINDER: Justin Townes Earle
If the frigid temperatures have you bundling up and hibernating next to your furnace on these biter, arctic nights, it is really tough to find a viable reason to leave the comfort of your abode. Though the promise of spring is just around the corner we here at Chicagoist have even dusted off our old Jimmy Buffet records just to try and remember the sun-drenched days, sandy shores of Lake Michigan and of course, what life is like without four-layers to guard our ever-so-vulnerable pasty skin. One such artist that has kept the hope of spring alive and conjures memories of long days with a Corona in one hand and a Frisbee in the other is the music of Justin Townes Earle.
CONTEST: The Final Massive Tomorrow Never Knows Giveaway
Chicagoist is a sponsor of the Tomorrow Never Know 2011 music festival held at both Lincoln Hall and Schubas. What does this mean for you, of loyal reader? Over the last couple of days we've been giving away a pair of tickets to each of the festival's shows at Lincoln Hall to one lucky winner! Today we're switching things up. Enter below for your chance to win a pair of tickets to one of the following shows.
- Freddie Gibbs, Rita J, and Shad at The Metro on January 14
- Handsome Furs, Jaill, Oberhofer, and Cloud Nothings at Lincoln Hall on January 15
- Tanlines, Reptar, Young Empires, Yawn, and Kid Color at The Metro on January 15
- Little Dragon, Alex Winston, Billygoat, and Mister Joshua at Lincoln Hall on January 16

