Greg Kot Likes Local Music

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 16, 2005 7:38PM

Last week saw the release of local pop critic Greg Kot's Top Ten List for the last year's entire recorded output and it was a tad -- okay, a lot -- on the safe and predictable side. At least he tried to mix it up a bit in today's Tribune with his Top Ten Local Releases from 2005.

Do we agree with all of his picks? Nope. Especially in the case of the Detholz! who continue to mystify us with their continued critical -- if not mass -- popularity, but at least he's making the effort by mentioning excellent groups like Pelican and The New Black. He also wisely includes several releases from local hip-hop acts. We don't know why people keep missing this simple fact but Chicago has a huge, healthy and thriving hip-hop scene going on that seems to get no respect outside late-night open mics or underground heads dedicated to digging this stuff out.