Smile Politely. Speak Directly. A Champaign-Urbana Culture Blog

Stepping up to the stage with a new collection of songs, Lupe Fiasco rolls through town Sunday before his new album, The Cool, drops on Dec. 18. The Chicago MC (né Wasalu Muhammad Jaco), who made his first mark on Kanye West’s single “Touch the Sky,” is revered for his assortment of idiosyncratic rhymes (name-checking giant robots and zombies), innovative beats (including soul samples and Latin sounds), and word-play skills (putting Jay-Z to shame when he contributed guest vocals to “Pressure.”)

Fiasco’s 2005 debut album Food and Liquor, garnered three Grammy award nominations, and if his debut single from The Cool, “Superstar” is any indication, Lupe isn’t going anywhere but up, except for – of course – when he travels downstate to Foellinger Auditorium this Sunday.

The show is at Foellinger Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tickets are $23 for students and $25 for the public.

The Canopy Club’s Void Room filled up relatively quick with a couple dozen friends of all three local bands. For a late show, this was a surprisingly big and encouraging turn out.

Collusion was the first band. They are an alternative and classic rock cover band, and played "Voodoo Chile," “Evenflow,” a Black Crowes song, and a couple of others. But, these guys did something more than just play the songs straight up. Throwing in huge solos and a couple breakdowns, they adapted the songs and made them unique, even if they didn’t write them. Hopefully they'll channel that into something they can really call their own.

Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. Krannert Art Museum will present the Sudden Sound Concert featuring bassist Yosef Ben Israel leading an all-star, Chicago-based, progressive jazz ensemble featuring keyboardist Robert 'Baabe' Irving III, saxophonist Ari Brown and drummer Avreeayl Ra.

It feels like it has been forever since the release of the last Tractor Kings album, Gone to Heaven. In the time that passed, frontman Jake Fleischli managed to assemble one of the strongest lineups in the history of his project. Despite the fact that they suffer from a Spinal Tap-like syndrome of new drummers the core members, bassist Aaron McCallister and lead guitarist Jonny Chemical (Davidson), leave most crowds mesmerized by their drone-based psych-country songs.

The town of Neoga, Ill sits just south of Lake Mattoon on I-57. Anyone who has been to the man made lake that dominates the culture around those parts has a good understanding of Neoga's importance when spending a weekend fishing, boating or just generally kicking around: they have the only grocery store for miles and miles.

Neoga Blacksmith, the newest band making waves in the downtown Champaign scene, will go through one of the most important rites of passage tonight when they hit the WEFT studios at 10:00pm for WEFT Sessions, one of the longest running music series in Champaign. We aren't totally sure if one of the members is actually a blacksmith from Neoga or knows a blacksmith living in Neoga or any combination of the two. We don't really care. We are falling in love with their Old West inspired country punk pop tunes.

A little known factoid, these performances are free and open to the public. Todd Hunter hosts, so grab a sixer of the High Life and head down to the WEFT Studios 113 N. Market St. N Market St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA, just next to Mike n' Molly's.

One might ask Sunset Rubdown's principle singer and songwriter, Spencer Krug, “How baroque is too baroque?” He might have difficulty providing a straight answer. Sure, most Sunset fans have managed the difficult transition from the “lo-fi/untrained/look and play like you’re homeless” school of indie rock to the contemporary “Hey, we all kinda liked Yes when we were kids and actually playing instruments is sorta fun, so let’s prog it up a little” zeitgeist.

Through pure chance, I recently acquired a box of free records. This happens from time to time, as I am known as a bit of a music fanatic and I dabble in the art of djing. This particular box was not filled with standard fare thrift store throwaways. No Ronnie Milsap or The Lettermen to be found. No Anne Murray or Jim Nabors in sight. Instead, it was filled with treasures from hip-hop’s golden era and beyond. As I dug through the box, gasping at nearly ever other sleeve, I started mentally categorizing each record into its respective wave of the movement. In the first wave, for example, I would put Kool Moe Dee’s “How Ya Like Me Now" or "Run D.M.C.’s “You Be Illin'.” Artists like 3rd Bass and Digital Underground occupied the second wave (filed nicely alongside the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul), while Outkast’s Stankonia album stood atop the third wave, representing modern hip-hop. What a find. Three waves of music spanning 25 years plus—a veritable crash course in the history of the genre, handed over in a single cardboard box.

While home for Thanksgiving break, I didn't expect to see one of the best indie-rock shows to come to town in a long time booked at a bar downtown, closer to the smaller private Illinois Wesleyan than ISU.

Bloomington-Normal doesn't get that many shows, so to see the lineup of Chin Up Chin Up and The Ponys, two great Chicago touring bands, I had to get in despite the 21+ age restriction.

September 1994 : Sordyl's House of Music (Springfield, IL)

At age 16, I took my first electric bass guitar to Ralph Sordyl's House of Music in Springfield for an electrical check-up. I explained my issue to the not-so-attentive employee. Despite my best efforts, he was disinterested, to say the least. I heard the jingle of the door chimes and naturally, I turned curiously to see who was coming in behind me.

Headed towards the counter and staring right at me was a man who was, putting it nicely, a total disaster.

Champaign, IL – The subject of international offshore outsourcing has been widely debated by marketing experts. The idea of sending local work to cheap labor in developing countries such as Mexico, India and Malaysia is being argued as a fast way to save time, money and resources to further advance corporate companies. A new idea that has taken popularity is importing local music from these developing countries.

Popular local bands such as elsinore, Shipwreck and Darling Disarm have admitted to using such tactics of outsourcing to help them write more music for their live performances and recordings.

Elsinore frontman Ryan Groff stated, "Outsourcing is not a religion. […] It is a clue if everyone else does it that it should be something which you should consider." Groff's solo album recorded this year received much criticism due to having seven of the eight tracks written by an Indian sweatshop.

Other local musicians have remained silent on the issue.

Although often grouped with the Devendra Banhart gypsy-folk circus, Bowerbirds' Hymns For A Dark Horse is nowhere near as bloated or tangentially indulgent as all of Banhart’s records. Instead, Bowerbirds sound like they are coming straight from an Appalachian back porch, utilizing violin, acoustic guitar, upright bass, banjo, accordion, percussion, and piano, into a mix that comes out sounding like gloomy nature-based freak-folk. Sometimes the lead singer’s great male singing voice is backed with instrumentation that will recall even early Decemberists.

The 1900s’ debut album Cold & Kind follows up last year’s EP Plume Delivery and delivers the same 60s-inspired boy-girl pop which borderlines on twee, but never crosses over into the sickeningly sweet. Their music is really lighthearted, fun, and catchy too.

Arthur & Yu’s debut album In Camera has the same production feeling Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” has, as if Arthur & Yu holed up in bed to record. Maybe that’s what gives this album its hazed out, relaxed, and rolling feeling. There’s a clear influence from the last two studio albums of The Velvet Underground.

Local rockers Shipwreck continue their pillaging of the West Coast, shilling their new album, Rabbit in the Kitchen with a New Dress On.

Healthy Times Fun Club – Seattle, WA
10/31/2007

Jake and Rebecca have the coolest quasi-legal club around. It’s so cool that they don’t even advertise their address. You have to have an internal hipness radar to find the place. It’s fun standing outside their unmarked door watching hipsters use their hipness echo location. Some hipsters, like some bats, aren’t as good at it, and end up running into walls looking for the entrance.

Arthur & Yu play 60s-inspired fried folk with tradeoff boy-girl lead vocals. Tonight, Arthur’s voice was in top shape, and even though Yu’s vocals sounded unconfident alone, they still sounded good together. “Afterglow,” “Lion’s Mouth,” and “The Ghost Of Old Bull Lee” are all highlights off their debut album In Camera, and all sounded great live.