Aja Bleu Cafe10708 N. Western607-0553 Not free, but pretty frugal, Aja Bleu Cafe offers takeaway and catering. Owner Demetria Dawson said the best bargain on her menu is the lunch cheeseburger, a good deal that comes with french fries and a lemonade for $7.50. And the wings, she says, are outstanding.$$ Soul food Pelican’s291 N. […]
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Wye Oak — Civilian
Their previous releases have been full of concrete songs, made up of very definable riffs and melodies. They were the equivalent of a period, and even sometimes an exclamation point (especially live). “Civilian,” their new album out March 8 on Merge, is much more of an ellipsis. Songs are fluid and less defined, with the […]
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U.S. Royalty — Mirrors
The harmony-heavy vocals and full-band arrangements of these folky tunes scream Fleet Foxes, America and Crosby, Stills & Nash. But I like U.S. Royalty more than all of those, because their harmonies retain a vitality and directness that cut through kitsch and get to the heart of the feeling. It also helps that they have […]
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The Radio Dept. – Passive Agressive: Singles 2002-2010
Hailing from Sweden, this trio has been around in varying ways since 1995, although things took off for them in 2001. They have the distinction of being predecessors of both sides of the psych-pop resurgence, having released albums both with distorted guitars and fuzzed-out synths. Both sides of the sound are shown in “Passive Aggressive: […]
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The Morning After Girls — Alone
Instead of using it for chillwave or dream-pop, The Morning After Girls go back to 1991 and stomp their pedals to make shoegaze. They do a good job of modernizing the sound; it’s not the genre that’s off-putting about “Alone.” The band cleans up several of the trademark moves of shoegaze for a modern […]
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Jonny Burke — Distance and Fortune
From Austin, Texas, where they know a thing or two about both genres, Jonny Burke excels at folk tunes, but is off on his rock tunes, on “Distance and Fortune.” It’s not the instrumental execution that’s off; Burke blasts out of the gate with “Broke Again,” which sounds somewhere between Springsteen and The Hold […]
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Jon Hardy and the Public — A Hard Year
I acquired their recent EP, “A Hard Year,” on the strength of this first impression, and it does not disappoint. The four tunes sound like Wilco, The Jayhawks and Bruce Springsteen got thrown in a blender, then went and jammed with the Old 97’s. It’s loud, twang-less country or it’s pensive, evocative rock, depending on […]
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Foxes in Fiction — Alberto
And when the songs are as evocative as the tunes on Foxes in Fiction’s “Alberto” EP, the phenomenon makes perfect sense. Foxes in Fiction’s take on the genre is a vocals-heavy one, as it sounds like Warren Hildebrand can actually sing. He still runs his voice through the requisite reverb, but it seems unnecessary. The […]
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Exit Calm — Exit Calm
The reverb-laden guitar cacophony, buried vocals and mood emphasis of the former were swapped out for focused distortion, pop melodies and distinct song structures of the latter in listeners’ minds. Shoegaze never recovered. If Exit Calm had appeared in 1993, shoegaze might still be going strong. Armed with ear-splitting waves of reverb-heavy guitars that came […]
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Colin Stetson — New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, among others) is of the last category, as his upcoming album, “New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges,” is a cerebral experience unlike any other I’ve heard. It drops Feb. 22. Stetson plays saxophones primarily; there’s one 76-second French horn suite, but the bulk of the […]