Get your wallets ready. These shows are going on sale tomorrow. more ›

of Montreal's thecontrollersphere, an EP of songs that didn't quite fit on last year's excellent False Priest, is an interesting beast. While we praised False Priest for harnessing in Kevin Barnes' penchant for running through a million ideas in every song by focusing on each tune's development, here we find him allowing singular ideas to unspool at great length to a no less desirous effect. Opening with the deeply creepy "Black Lion Massacre," a song driven primarily by an intense drum throb that allows Barnes to add layer upon layer of sexy dissonance atop before grinding to a halt, one falls quickly under this spell of hypnotism in motion. "Holiday Call" follows a similar underlying structure, allowing the song to grow ever more mesmerizing as it unspools, the dressing is different; funky and shiny instead of dark and turbulent. more ›

The of Montreal we saw on the same stage last Saturday seemed reinvigorated by the material off the band’s excellent new album False Priest. It was possibly the first time we’ve ever seen frontman Kevin Barnes seem so genuinely happy onstage. He was impish, playful, lascivious, and at times even downright adorable. Instead of hiding behind elaborate sets, Barnes pushed his large band of instrument playing compatriots to the perimeter of the stage, and allowed thoughtful visual flourishes to join occasionally join him in the spotlight between more elaborately choreographed dancing and pantomime with outrageously costumed characters that actually fit a visual storyline. more ›

While we have long admired Kevin Barnes' ambition we’ve often found his execution to be flawed. The albums he’s released as of Montreal have often had thrilling moments, but unfortunately many of those are hidden by the thickly tangled music created my Barnes’ seeming inability to edit himself. Songs twist and turn too many times and come unglued as Barnes tries to stuff every musical idea that comes to him into every sonic crevice he creates. of Montreal often irons out these problems when the band collects as a live ensemble, even if we haven't always identified with their shows a s a whole, so we’ve long wondered what Barnes could create if he approached things differently. more ›

Sometimes making music can be much like making a great culinary dish. You have the ingredients, you decide on the quantities to use, the quality of products to place in the dish, and all of this results in the essential decision on how finished or high-end the result will be. Sometimes you want something on the higher end of the spectrum like fougeres and then there are times you are just happy eating something easy and no-frills but delicious like hamburger helper. Yeah, there is a lot in-between the two, but as much can be said for each end of the scale. more ›

Of Montreal are the sort of band that attracts a cult following of self-identified misfits, and by that I mean folks that feel like outcasts ... and by that I mean just about everybody. That would explain the broad cross section of attendees at last night's show at The Riv as the crowd ranged from face painted and costumed super fans; to the usual mix of hipsters, Trixies, and alt-Chads; to nattily dressed folks that looked as if they had just come from a high society dinner party. They all came for the indie rock version of a live staging of The Rocky Horror Picture Show led by the band's gender-bending frontman Kevin Barnes. more ›

The city's biggest music festival of the summer kicks off tomorrow, and you can feel the excitement building in the Chicagoist offices. However, we've had to put our cub reporters through some summer festival basic training, since this one blows all the others out of the water in sheer scope and size. The bands are the draw, and the primary source of fun, but there are a few other things you -- and our cub... more ›

It’s all fun and games until someone calls sell-out, but how is almost every artist not a sell-out when it comes to putting tunes behind a commercial these days? From the use of “Lust for Life” to get us aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise to Wilco shilling for Volkswagen, what are the best or worst songs used in commercials? Mark Caro wants your comments about that over at his blog, Pop Machine. Do we care... more ›

There is nothing more that we want to get done than this installment of Empty Out Your Wallet, so we can get outside and enjoy this day. Leave it to the Ticketmaster gods to curse us once again with numerous great shows making our job harder. The show that our readers were looking forward to last week, The Flaming Lips at the Aragon, goes on sale at 11 a.m. on Saturday. This should be a... more ›

Day three of the Pitchfork Music Festival got off to a slow start, with a smaller crowd, but we chalk that up to stronger headliners and more folks electing to arrive later in the day. Since one of our other writers was already covering the earlier bands, we elected to begin our coverage with Stephen Malkmus' main stage appearance. Malkmus' set was one of the ones with the most buzz, since it could be argued... more ›

Everybody and their brother are listing out their day-to-day, act-by-act rundowns of this weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival. The thing all these folks seem to be missing, as they get dragged into the "do-as-everyone-else-does" pool, is that the festival has been sold-out for weeks so it's safe to assume that the folks that are going know what they're in for. We realize you've got to fill posts / columns / traffic-quotas, but c'mon, enough with the... more ›

It’s been a while since we mentioned the alternative to Lollapalooza. So, we decided that we’d take this opportunity to mix that with some information about one of the performers slated to appear at the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer. Anxiously awaiting the latest news about Stephen Malkmus? The Good: It looks like everyone is so happy with the new songs that have been committed to tape that Matador wants to release it in early... more ›

When it rains, it pours. Greg Kot has some line-up information and ticket prices on his blog over at the Tribune for the Pitchfork Music Festival July 13-15, 2007. Tickets don't go on sale until Monday, so if you missed the cheap Lolla tickets like the rest of us, put that money towards this little festival. Cat Power, Clipse, Of Montreal, and Iron and Wine are a few of the bands that Greg lists as... more ›

As we near the end of November and look to the winter, the on-sale listings begin to look a bit spare; only the hardiest of souls venture into a Chicago winter. The California band Curtains records for the Sufjantastic label Asthmatic Kitty. And while its sound resembles the delicate folk of his records, that’s like saying Rivers Cuomo and Ira Glass resemble each other because they both favor heavy glasses and sweaters. Curtains favors spare... more ›

While we’re sure that Union Park will see its fair share of indie kids in ironic tees this summer, it’s starting to look like there’ll be plenty of folks in relaxed fit jeans as well. Pitchfork Music Fest has added Os Mutantes to their July 29-30 lineup. When one of Chicagoist’s indie rock friends told us this, we just sort of stared blankly at them, which only prompted her to yell “Os Mutantes! Os Mutantes!”... more ›