I must confess that I dismissed the Bang on a Can Marathon listing when I first perused the fall line-up at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Center. I instinctively associated the name Bang on a Can with the theatrical percussive hokeyness of Stomp or Blue Man Group. A little closer look into the Bang on a Can Marathon proved how wrong my assumptions were. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Bang on a Can Marathon performance this Saturday at Krannert’s Colwell Playhouse consists of a full 12 hours of modern composition, plus the Bang on a Can players will be joined by special guests Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth and Glenn Kotche of Wilco.

Bang on a Can is this Saturday, September 27 at the Krannert Center. The performance starts at noon and tickets are $16 for U of I students and $30 for the public.

Monotonix, the other band I’m really looking forward to seeing at Pygmalion Music Festival, are playing Thursday night. Monotonix are sharing the bill at the Canopy Club with Robots Counterfeiting Money, Dark Meat and Dan Deacon. If you’ve been hankering to get loose and rock out like I have, then this is the band for you. Hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel, Monotonix are some hairy, raunchy, rock’n’roll mugs. The band which consists of singer Ami Shalev, guitarist Yonatan Gat and drummer Ran Shimoni play riff-heavy rock with ‘70s FM radio hard rock leanings. Shalev’s vocals are not too dissimilar to Ted Nugent’s snotty snarl. Gat’s guitar sound is thick and heavy. It’s definitely not the cute, polite, Jersey State indie rock that’s quite popular around here.

On Wednesday night, Times New Viking, one of the two bands I’m most looking forward to at this year’s Pygmalion Festival, will bring their fuzzed out rock to the Canopy Club. Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Times New Viking are Beth Murphy on keyboards and vocals, Adam Elliot on drums and vocals and Jared Phillips on guitar. Their high energy sound is loud, raw and in the red with pop sensibilities bleeding through the fuzz. Aesthetically, Times New Viking’s songs hearken back to the lo-fidelity recording of the early 90s utilized in the early recordings of Guided by Voices, Pavement and a plethora of New Zealand bands. It’s no coincidence that the recently revitalized Siltbreeze label issued Times New Vikings’ first two releases. In the 90s, Siltbreeze put out records by lo-fi/no-fi noise rock artists such as Shadow Ring, Harry Pussy, The Dead C, The Yips (also from Columbus) and Tower Recordings.

Trot on down to Cowboy Monkey tonight to check out three local acts: Scurvine, The Chemicals, and Krukid rock the restaurant/club that’s getting its feet wet again with live bands. After closing its doors for a few months earlier this year to remake/remodel, the Cowboy Monkey re-emerged with a new menu and music in the evening provided by disc jockeys.

Andre Sider af Sonic Youth, which translates to English as “Other Sides of Sonic Youth”, captures an improvised live set at the Danish Roskilde Festival on July 1, 2005. Issued on Sonic Youth’s own SYR imprint, this recording features SY still as a quintet with Jim O’Rourke. They are joined by Mats Gustafsson on saxophone and Merzbow on laptop. Gustafsson (from Sweden) and Merzbow (from Japan) are two heavy hitters in their musical fields – free jazz and noise, respectively. Gustafsson regularly works with Peter Brotzman, Ken Vandermark from Chicago and drummer extraordinaire Paal Nilssen Love. Merzbow began his high volume sonic terrorism on guitar nearly 20 years ago and has switched to laptop in recent years. This is the eighth release in a SYR series.

Jay Reatard and King Khan have a lot in common. They each started out in the late 90's - a teenage Jay with the legendary, obnoxious and moronically brilliant The Reatards out of Memphis, and King Khan with the Montreal garage punkers The Spaceshits. Both come from the same DIY punk scene championed by such record labels like Goner, UFO Dictator, Hozac and Sympathy for the Record Industry. Since then, their various bands have shared record labels and stages numerous times. In fact, Jay Reatard and King Khan played together at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago this past Saturday. (Photo by Tracy Popp)

Flying Lotus ’ new album Los Angeles is quite similar to a piece of visual art in that the more time spent with it, the more you get out of it. While Los Angeles grabbed me immediately, I keep getting more out of it with repeated listens. Flying Lotus (aka Steven Ellison) successfully blends hip hop and electronic sensibilities to create heavily layered and textured songs without creating a sonic mess. This is Ellison’s second full-length, and his first for Warp Records.

The crate diggers at Soundway Records have put together another excellent record which paints a fuller picture of the rich 1970s West African music scene. The bands featured on Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk in 1970s Nigeria display a heavier rock and funk approach to the popular Afro-beat sound happening in West Africa at the time. Afro-beat blended the lock-groove precision of 1960s Western R&B acts such as James Brown’s backing band, the JBs, with indigenous timing and pop sensibilities to create a lively, undeniably danceable new form of music. Nigeria’s legendary Fela Kuti is the most well known Afro-beat musician. Fela and his backing bands, the Africa 80 and the Nigeria 70, mixed populist, power-to-the-people lyrics with the endless groove.

If you haven’t heard, records are making a strong comeback. Actually, vinyl never went away, but renewed interest in the LP format in recent years has breathed new life into this medium. A new generation of music fans are discovering records. More and more new releases are consistently issued on vinyl, often with a free digital download of the album included. Classic and obscure albums are being re-issued on LP. Happy days are here again for vinyl lovers, and there are plenty of local businesses that offer opportunities to seek out hidden treasures!