To Recap: Drink Up Buttercup was fan-fucking-tastic. If you missed them on Saturday, you’ll have to catch them when they come back our way post-CMJ, though they’ll most certainly be filling a much larger venue than their Ronny’s gig last weekend.
It was stellar. A loose, pop-inflected, bedraggled, harmonious cacophony of a show. If there was ever a band that exemplified the need for universal health care, it’s D.U.B.. They’re erratic, they’re thrashing, they self-affectedly fall all over each other, they dispose of their instruments by dropping them on the floor, and the quartet (who all quit their jobs to tour) will almost certainly injure each other eventually. Obama! We need a public option!
My pal Pegs took some swell photos. One of which is above, a few more below. You get the idea.
Energetic, shambling, playful, endearingly sloppy; these are things that immediately hit you when listening to Philly’s Drink Up Buttercup. Allegedly, their live show embodies these very same qualities, and you can see them (at eye level no-less) at the stageless Ronny’s this Saturday, October 3rd.
In a fuzzy fracas of keyboards, ghostly harmony, tempo-shifts, and Brit-invasion guitar they immediately call to mind your typical archetypes of these qualities — namely Clinic, Grizzly Bear, Fiery Furnaces, yada yada yada.
But unlike all the bands mentioned above, there are no self-serious tendencies to be found; they’re just too giddy to be so heavy (much less wear surgical masks). Even when they get their stompin’ march on it sounds closer to the clumsy grandeur of a K Records Modest Mouse than the doom & gloom of a Kurt Weill.
That said, listing possible influences is only fun for the one writing them, so it’s best to check them out live… ya know… tomorrow. And, maybe, in the meantime, enjoy these two tracks:
After the tragic passing of John Hughes last week, Araceli suggested we all choose our favorite moment in a Hughes film. Gee Whiz. That’s a nearly impossible task when you look at the movies he’s been a part of as a writer, director or producer:
The Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Weird Science
Sixteen Candles
Home Alone
Uncle Buck
The Great Outdoors
Mr. Mom
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
National Lampoon’s: Vacation, European Vacation, and Christmas Vacation
Wow. Arthouse films they are not… but they are all classics. I’m reminded that Hughes, although he’ll be remembered for his teen comedies, filmed the era’s best comedic actors in my most favorite roles: Chevy Chase’s epic Clark Griswald in the Vacation series, Steve Martin slowly going mad in Planes, Train & Automobiles, Dan Aykroyd’s fast-talking yuppie industrialist in The Great Outdoors, and OF COURSE… the late great John Candy in, well, the two mentioned above, but especially Uncle Buck.
The amazing thing is that most of his teen movies predate my adolescence, and were already idolized by the time I had reached those teen years. John Hughes had the pulse of growing up white, awkward, and middle-class in the Chicago Suburbs. In fact, Hughes’ teen comedies were all supposed to exist in the same Chicago suburb of Shermer, Illinois. A town that lots of people fell in love with, including director Kevin Smith and his characters.
Because I couldn’t choose which of the eleventy-million Judd Nelson quotes in The Breakfast Club were my favorite, I have to go with Ferris Buelhler’s “Twist and Shout” dance scene that takesplace during some sort of workday afternoon Germanfest(?) parade in front of Mies Van Der Rhoe’s Federal Building in Chicago.
As every highschool boy’s Id, Ferris cruises into the city ditching highschool in a stolen Ferrari leaving angry authority types and innumberable montages in the dust, showing Cameron (i.e. most of the angsty, fretful, teenage viewers) how to REALLY do a sick day.
Let’s be honest. If you paid for a three-day ticket, by Sunday morning you will be fucking exhausted. You will be cranky. It will have probably rained twice in two days but yet it’s still 90+ degrees out and humid as all hell. We’re here to make your decisions for you:
Friendly Fires OR Yello Fever OR RaRaRiot
Araceli:I may leave it up to a coin toss. Let’s see, Friendly Fires or RaRaRiot…and it’s heads! RaRaRiot it is!!! (ok, I didn’t really flip a coin, but it’s hard choice, Friendly Fires would perhaps be more lively, but RaRaRiot has a great song I want to hear live. (ditto on the press tent, perfect viewing spots too, though Bonnaroo’s VIP camp site was pretty awesome)
Brian: I have to go with the amorphous anthemic poly-rhythmic Friendly Fires — they pump the kind of electro-funk that have made !!!, Cut Copy, and Hot Chip my favorite live experiences of the past few years. This may very well be the best show of the day.
Lille: Did you know that Lollapalooza has the best press tents? They have free granola bars, fresh fruit, FREE BOOZE. Guess where I’m going to be?
Consensus: If you have press credentials make sure to make it really obvious to everyone who paid: eat your free food and drink your free booze in plain sight for all the cultural groundlings to see. Also mention to everyone you’re only at Lolla because it’s free for you.
Kaiser Chiefs OR He Say, She Say OR The Airborne Toxic Event
Araceli:Once again, I’m tagging along with Brian (let’s see this white boy dance!)
Brian: I don’t care for the Kaiser Chiefs — I’m amazed they’re still around. I’m sticking to the dance-your-ass-off trail and checking out Chicago’s electro-partystarters He Say She Say.
Lille: When in doubt, I always choose the foreign band, just because I never know when they’re going to be in town. I haven’t heard anything new from Britpoprockers Kaiser Chiefs in YEARS, but I did like that one song…what was it called….
Consensus: I predict a riot… at the He Say She Say stage.
The Raveonettes OR The Hood Internet OR Gang Gang Dance OR Dan Deacon
Araceli:Dan Deacon can kiss my ass. I’m Gang Gang Dance. Laters.
Brian: As it was at Pitchfork, it is at Lolla. Girltalk killed at Pitchfork and played Lolla’s best set last year. Spazzy Dan Deacon drew nutso crowds at Pitchfork, he will be a most entertaining show here. I guarantee mash-up kings Hood Internet will be doing an aftershow somewhere during Lolla weekend — in a setting like this they won’t do much beyond play their singles on a computer.
Lille: I’ve seen Dan Deacon before, and I never know if his sets as performance art stand up with repeated views. However, I’n sure they’re better than the snoozefest from Denmark, surfrockers Raveonettes
Consensus: Dan Deacon: loved by some, baffling to others, blogged by all.
Neko Case OR Glitch Mob OR Vampire Weekend
Araceli:Neko Case? BORING! Vampire Weekend? DOUCHE BAGS…who the hell is Glitch Mob? Let’s find out. Damn, good thing no one reads this blog…I don’t mean to be this harsh-–bad week.
Brian: To witness Neko Case live in the flesh is beyond description. She has a powerful voice that soars mellifluously through even the worst P.A. systems. Vampire Weekend has yet to prove live chops despite having great songwriting abilities. (I just wanted to use the word meliflous.)
Lille: I love Neko Case! She saved my life at Northern California festival Earthdance last year; she was like a military general commanding a sea of dirty hippies. It was awesome.
Consensus: Neko Case pwns the granola crowd, Ezra Koenig’s feelings are hurt, Glitch Mob get a new fan.
Dan Auerbach OR Boys Noise Or Passion Pit OR Cold War Kids
Araceli:Brian killed himself because he couldn’t choose? Be a man!! I love Cold War Kids, but Passion Pit is pretty fun.
Brian: Honestly. You can’t make a bad choice here. You can make a BETTER choice, but not a bad one. Too many decisions —> brain aneurysm —> Brian involuntarily chooses death.
Lille: Fifty percent of the Black Keys is still 100 percent fun. Dan Auerbach FTW!
Consensus: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lou Reed OR Deerhunter Or Snoop Dogg
Araceli:I saw this incredible Andy Warhol exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco this Spring. I fell in love with Lou Reed there, so I shall see him.
Brian: I tend to get all the deer and wolf bands confused. Does Lou Reed do Velvets covers? I’m would think so. Lolla is a big, generally uniformed, audience… most big names do “greatest hits” type sets so count me in. If it’s just his solo stuff, I’ll pass. Yes, I have just lost cred points.
Lille: How can you go wrong with Lou Reed? Even if you’re not a fan of his solo work (a lot of which is awesome), the Velvet Underground is the backbone of most art rock these days, and you have to pay your respects.
Consensus: Witness the progenitor of modern rock take a walk on the slightly wild side.
Band of Horses OR MSTRKRFT Or Silversun Pickups
Araceli:I hate when bands play more than one date. Nap time.
Brian: Meh. Band of Horses. Could be a nice, sit on the lawn, recovery type set.
Lille: Gah. Back to the press tent and free booze!
Consensus: Naps and Food
Jane’s Addiction OR The Killers
Araceli:Jane’s all the way. (Brian, you’re saying that out of spite. I suppose it’s because you’re not from the West Coast).
Brian: Perry Ferrell once again over-estimates how much people like him. He booked his lackluster Satellite Party last year for a late-afternoon set, now he books his own comeback as the 2009 closer. Sorry. I choose Killers.
Lille: I hate the Killers as much as I love Jane’s Addiction. I disagree with Brian; I think Perry Farrell can still bring it. Go if only to say, “I saw a Jane’s Addiction reunion show, not a lowly band derivative.”
Consensus: Don’t choose shows based on spite; there’s a reason why “Jane Says (live)”, is available on every jukebox in the country.
As usual, Lolla chunks up bands in weird ways, forcing us to make excruciating decisions for one hour and then have a futile choice, like anything involving Coheed and Cambria. Saturday’s a LOT tougher than Friday’s choices…
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons OR The Low Anthem
Araceli:I suppose I’d tag along with Brian on this one, just to see what I’m missing out in Chicago
Brian: I have to go local on this one. To Ezra Furman and his unfortunate name!
Lille: At this point it doesn’t matter what I say, cause Ezra Furman already won. Damn majority!
Delta Spirit OR Moneypenny OR Dirty Sweet/Constantines
Araceli:Jesus. Lead singer of Delta has one huge ego, but they are pretty alright. Perfect background music, like say during a picnic (or bedtime like at Bonnaroo).
Brian: I’ll stay local. Moneypenny (DJ’s Mother Hubbard and A-Cup) is a sweet DJ duo who also happen to be devastatingly attractive. Then catch the end of Vancouver’s Constantines.
Lille: Without Moneypenny, this time slot would just be the battle of generic white boy music. Chicks rule!
Los Campesinos! OR Animal Collective DJ Set OR Atmosphere
Araceli:I’d opt for the AC DJ set just to see if the “spins” would be as bad as the band.
Brian: Los Campesinos! Any earlier than 2:30 and I wouldn’t be able to take all this Welsh Twee Sarcasm, lucky me.
Lille: Who wants to watch a DJ set when you can watch the whole band perform live six hours later? Los Campesinos! plays fun, happy music that makes you glad to be alive. Besides, if they weren’t fun live, they’d have a question mark punctuating their name instead.
Band of Horses @ Kidapalooza OR Chairlift OR Gomez
Araceli:Gomez is so hippie folk, and Band of Horses are crazy hot, but Chairlift is even greater.
Brian: Tempting as it is to see Band of Horses do kids songs, Chairlift is the show to see. Gomez remains a footnote.
Lille: Chairlift! If I wanted to watch middle-aged hipsters playing songs for 5-year-olds I’d put on They Might Be Giants on Youtube, not see Band of Horses in a festival.
Consensus: Chairlift (Lille personally thinks they need their own exclamation mark, they’re that good.)
Arctic Monkeys OR Coheed and Cambria
Araceli:Arctic Monkeys all the way.
Brian: I’ll gladly take death.
Lille: Post-15 minutes of fame, Arctic Monkeys is a snooze-fest. So maybe I’ll scare the comic book geeks by being the only source of estrogen at a Coheed and Cambria set.
Consensus: Arctic Monkeys vs. Coheed and Cambria vs. Death (viewer’s choice)
Hercules and Love Affair DJ Set OR No Age
Araceli:Gag me with a spoon
Brian: H&LA did a DJ set last summer at the Hideout Block Party and it was AWESOME. I recommend it, but since I saw it already I’ll be at No Age.
Lille: Err…
Consensus: No Age wins by ONE vote (Brian’s).
Santigold OR Glasvegas
Araceli:Just cause I missed a so-called good Glasvegas gig in Williamsburg, I’ll do myself a favor and check them out.
Brian:Meh. Santigold? I don’t care. But with Diplo playing later in the day there’s a good chance he’ll be the DJ for her show. If not, I’ll just take death again here. I’ve had a change of heart. Diplo will be with Major Lazer on Sunday. I’ll check out Glasvegas NME has a huge boner for them.
Lille: Santigold, because of my inherent distrust of rock music played first in Williamsburg.
Consensus: Santigold Glasvegas
TV on the Radio OR Lykke Li OR Rise Against
Araceli:A lot of my (last) summer (amazing) memories are because of Lykke Li, so I shall go and say thanks.
Brian: TVotR. Never seen ‘em live. I like Lykee Li alot (*alliteration!*), but her live performance looks to be a little awkward judging by videos I’ve seen. That said — the adorable Scandinavian-pop lovers will be at that stage.
Lille: I’ve seen both post-rock soundscapers TV on the Radio (awesome) and hardcore Florida natives Rise Against (equally awesome) live, but I’ve only seen Lykke Li deejay. Definitely Lykke Li.
Consensus: Lykke Li, misgivings and all
Ben Harper and Relentless7 OR Diplo OR Animal Collective
Araceli:I really want to say Ben Harper, just cause he’s the only legit musical craftsman but he bores me, AT TIMES, so I choose muerte.
Brian: I will probably catch some Diplo by leaving TV on the Radio early. Then, Animal Collective can’t be missed.
Lille: I’d LOVE to see psy-rockers Animal Collective live. My friend said they were mindblowing, but he was probably on acid, so who knows, really?
Consensus: Animal Collective
Yeah Yeah Yeahs OR Tool
Araceli:YYY’s again?! Yeah, again.
Brian: I’ll do the Beastie Boys. Tool. Yes, it will be filled with Tools, but YYY’s can’t compete with prog-doom rock… no matter how many microphones Karen O. fellates.
Lille: I’ve seen the YYYs more than eight times. Seven out of those eight times, I was in the mosh pit. Because I’ve never broken a bone in a (mostly female) moshpit, I’ll watch Karen O. fellate a mic anytime.
Araceli, Brian, and Lille tell you what performances to see on Friday night at Lollapalooza, or at what times you’re better off just dying than watching a crap lineup.
White Lies OR Builders and the Butchers OR The Gaslight Anthem
Araceli:Perfect time for brunch
Brian: If I went out the night before, I may as well (might) be dead at this point.
Lille: I like White Lies! Their lead singer is like a hobbit. Oh, wait, I’m thinking of White Rabbits.
Consensus: Sleep if you have to; if not, let your hangover lead the way.
Bon Iver OR Heartless Bastards
Araceli:Bon Iver, no doubt! (er, not thee no doubt, but bearded guitar man)
Brian: Heartless Bastards. I’ve heard, like, “buzz”, about them. Bon Iver is beautiful but sleeepy… sleeeeeeeeeepy
Lille: Bastards! I love both bands and have seen them both TWICE, but I’ve seen Bon Iver deliver more complete and nurturing sets. The drummer of the Heartless Bastards looks like Uncle Fester.
Consensus: 50/50 — go to the stage nearest you.
Ben Folds OR The Virgins OR Sound Tribe Sector 9
Arceli:Kill me now…
Brian: French Ennui purveyors The Virgins beat out death… but barely. (Ed. Note: They’re not French. I don”t know who I was thinking of. My bad.)
Lille: Anything BUT effin Sound Tribe Sector 9, aka the most disgusting band with the most disgusting fans on earth.
AraceliI’ve already seen the YYY’s mini-me version perform live, and I’ve heard the name: Asher Roth too many times at work to know this white boy better move out the way. I’m heading for a tranquil evening with Fleet Foxes
Brian: This is the defining show-split for Friday – You will be able to look at EACH PERSON AT LOLLAPALOOZA and know which of these three stages they will be at. I choose Crystal Castles, because I like girls that (have) bang(s).
Lille: I love Fleet Foxes but I might catch something from their dreadlocked audience…so I choose Asher Roth just to be contrarian. Even though I think his music is shite.
Consensus: Fleet Foxes (Please note, each one of us chose a different stage — unplanned! Swear to God. -BHB)
The Decemberists OR A-Trak OR Thievery Corporation
AraceliI want a nice peaceful death, so catch me at The Decemberists
Brian: ‘Cemberists. A-Trak is just doing a DJ set, and Thievery Corp.’s been at Lolla every year and I still don’t care.
Lille: I’ve been bored at too many Decemberists shows to ever want to see their pseudo-literary songs and their bowties again. I choose SLEEP.
Araceli:Of Montreal, sitting waaaayyyyyyy back from the theatrics
Brian: Of Montreal. Crazy. Ass. Stageshow. I love me some Chicag0-based Bird, but I’ve seen him a bunch of times — the smaller setting the better.
Lille: You guys are insane. Of Montreal is faker than Flaming Lips. Andrew Bird can have my babies any day.
Consensus: Of Montreal, by some fluke of bad taste
Kings of Leon OR Depeche Mode
AraceliThis is a tough one. I’ve seen them both live many times, KOL probably more cause all they ever do is tour, but damn those boys are CALIENTE, no joke. If you want to talk about stageshow, those dudes got it. Just the thought of what their latest hair-do’s has me breaking a sweat. Don’t even get me started on the chest hair. But I know by now, all the bro’s will be at KOL, so I’ll be at Depeche Mode, and catch my Los Angeles godfathers in full-force.
Brian: ‘peche-mo
Lille: DM! Of course! And this time I don’t want anyone getting an allergy attack and going to the paramedic tent during “Personal Jesus.” Hear that, Araceli?
Digitally-projected faces gleam through their cyborg-like helmets — uniforms, aglow in LED, look half-nostalgic and half-futuristic. They exist in a space that at times feels carnal, brutish, but thoroughly modern.
I am, of course, talking both about Daft Punk and the movie Tron.
And… purely by coincidence, Daft Punk is doing the score for the Disney sequel Tron: Legacy.
If you like the trailer or not, you HAVE to enjoy that stereo sound, and the slithering imposing symphonic techno that comes into the mix at about the 2-minute mark:
So… now I ask. What other music/movie pairings were so brilliant you’re mad you didn’t think about them first. Here’s a few other ones I like:
Blow-Up and The Yardbirds (Herbie Hancock did the score but who better to navigate through swinging 60’s hipsters than the ‘Birds?)
The Graduate and Simon & Garfunkel (duh)
Punk Drunk Love and Jon Brion (could easily have been Magnolia - Aimee Man, but this P.T. Anderson absurdist romantic comedy deserved an equally loopy score.)
Carrie Brownstien (Sleater-Kinney) commented in her NPR music blog, Monitor Mix, that Weezer is a novelty band. Though I’m hard-pressed to really argue with her on this point, there’s a particular line that irked me:
I don’t know if Weezer hates its fans or just the (apparently) stifling concept of sincerity, but you should listen to these two new songs if you weren’t already convinced of Weezer’s contempt for music.
Ouch. I would rephrase that line to read as such:
Weezer hates sincerity, but you should listen to these two new songs to hear Weezer’s contempt for their fans.
There. That looks better. First-off, I am not a diehard Weezer fan but I think they get a bad rap. I would certainly slam a TON of other musicians before criticizing Weezer about being a novelty act — like, perhaps any adult/contemporary “rocker” and nearly all modern country? How about U2 for christsake?! Oh, and aren’t Elton John & Billy Joel touring the country this summer?! Sure, the last few incarnations of Weezer have sounded like a Weezer cover band, but at least they took a STAB at sincerity at one point.
It seems obvious to me that in between Weezer’s second and third albums — Pinkerton and The Green Album, a lot changed. And the change was not just the the loss of Matt Sharp.
Blue Album era Cuomo (L) & Sharp (R)
In 1996 Weezer released Pinkerton — a painfully funny, slightly abrasive, endearing and self-reflective album. It was certainly a “difficult” album by pop standards, especially being their followup to a delightfully sugarcoated Ric Ocasek-produced initial album.
Cuomo poured his heart out, his vocals were raw and the content was much more personal than anything on the Blue debut. The album was slow out of the gate due to some legal problems and never gained footing. It peaked at #19 on the Billboard charts and was initially met with both critical and public indifference. Weezer had dropped a smart, self-effacing, confessional album and the U.S. didn’t care. It was like we pushed Rivers to open up to us and then we were all “Uhhhh, T.M.I., dude.”
It seems from that point on Cuomo pledged never to write anything sincere again.
Even though, in the past 18+ years, Pinkerton has gained considerable adoration the damage had been done. Rivers/Weezer had gone into hiatus, emerging four years later as a shell of itself — vying to ride high on pop hooks and metal riffs and refusing to ever, EVER write anything serious ever again. The guitar licks were spic-and-span, production gleaming, lyrics memorable but completely meaningless. ‘Safer that way.
So is Weezer a novetly band? Maybe. But, my answer would be “So?”. Aren’t most bands? Why criticize a band that tried to be sincere only to be told, quite clearly, by the fans and press, “play like you’re empty inside or risk not having an audience.”
As is the pervading theme of these little festival reports…
I can confirm: 2009’s Pitchfork Music Festival occurred.
If you do not believe my accounts, I have also embedded photos which not only prove that the festival took place but also that I was in attendance.
Good. *dusts self off*. So. What is the point of this post then? To inform you of bands you’ve never heard of? Possibly, but not likely as most Pitchfork bands get considerable coverage from the curator and the surrounding “blogosphere”. Most other blogs are probably better resources than BemBang, less typos too.
So what’s left is the telling of my personal, limited experience of this year’s fest replete with ogling hulahoop girls, Port-a-Potty waits, obstructed sight lines, and the momentary feeling I had about how festivals, live music, and everyone around me actually sucks. This occurred about two hours into my time at the fest but quickly subsided. Nevertheless, I was determined to have a great time on Sunday, and hey guess what, I did.
Hello There! (photo stolen from Midwasteland)
On a highly superficial note, I was very disappointed by the style this year. I, myself, am NOT fashion-forward but I LOVE to see what people are sporting every year. Pitchfork in the past has been a Mecca for trend-spotting as much as it’s been a music festival. Maybe because it was rainy, I don’t know, but people were not dressed to impress — the spirit just wasn’t there this year, and I’m relieved I wasn’t the only one to feel this way. I saw muted colors, I saw an abundance of flannel and just a smattering of the nu-grunge trend we all know is coming way too fast. I saw very little florescent hi-tops and other assorted b-boy nostalgia (thank god). I saw plenty of diving v-necks like last year, high waisted jeans (no surprise there), tights-as-pants (psst, still not cool), and Wayfarers. But what’s NEW!? C’mon! I could’ve guessed all that stuff and not even gone!
I digress.
First up. The Thermals were awesome. They rocked through a great set. The mix, which can sometime be muddled and echo-y on Stage A was crisp with bassist (and part-time Summer Fun Girl) Kathy Foster bobbing and weaving along to the rhythm section while Hutch Harris’ powerchords pierced the overcast day. Not sure how much of it was irony (and at this fest there’s plenty) but their covers of Nirvana and Dookie-era Green Day were right-the-fuck-on, and very fun.
Next up –The Walkmen. People love the Walkmen. I want to love the Walkmen. It didn’t take. Something about their show just made me very impatient. Maybe cuz my back was sore. The Walkmen came in waves. Hamilton Leithauser’s voice swellled and strained in an emotional crescendo during standout “Canadian Girl”, and the band dotted the show with a well-received brass section and wood block percussion, but they put on a more or less languid performance between highlights.
During one such lull I briefly wondered why I wasn’t enjoying myself. I then began to doubt my own abilities to appreciate live music. I feared I had reached that stage of jaded sagacity which professional music appreciators always feign to have. The one where everything sounds like a derivative of something else, and every band sounded better when no one else had heard of them yet. It was scary. It was a brief crisis of conscious that I quickly recovered from because I needed to get a Goose Island before M83 started…
As a little intro, we thought it’d be cool for the three of us to talk about what song we feel best fits our little towns. Araceli, for NY, has chosen the illustrious rat packer himself, Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” as a befitting jewel of a song for the Big Apple. (Does anyone call it that anymore?)
So, yeah. Araceli chose a song BY a New Yorker ABOUT a New Yorker, so now I’ll do the same for Chicago. There’s a few tempting choices:
I could easily go the Wilco route and say “Via Chicago,” but if you’re listening to that song you’ll quickly figure out it has very little to do with Chicago.
I’m a big fan of “Slow Down Chicago” by Canasta but that really doesn’t SAY that much about the city that it doesn’t say about every metropolis — it’s busy.
Gil Scott-Heron’s “Home is Where the Hatred Is,” is tough not to choose. Scott-Heron not only is a soul icon, hip-hop progenator, poet, author, and freedom fighter, but was also born in Chicago proper (though raised in Tennesse). The same song was sampled more recently by another icon raised by accomplished southside civic leaders — Kanye West’s “My Way Home” from the Late Registration LP samples it exclusively.
Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died” is a hilarious song. And quite a re-telling of a riot during Al Capone’s bootlegging days… unfortunately it was written by four guys from Nottingham UK that have no idea what they’re talking about. E.G., starting the song, “Daddy was a cop / on the east side of Chicago” (Psst, the east side wold be a lake). Also adding to its Chicago lore – in the movie High Fidelity, Barry (Jack Black) adds it to his Top 5 Songs About Death: A Laura’s Dad Tribute List. He ad libs some new lyrics though… “The night Laura’s daddy died. Sha na na na na na na na na! Brother what a night it really was. Mother what a night it really… angina’s tough! Glory be!”
Though Scott-Heron would be, like, the “well-informed” one to pick, I have to go with one I’ve always loved forever and ever. That’s Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah’s “Lake Shore Drive”
It’s a beautiful piece of music with a wonderful shambling piano part, a road-tripping feel and some great lyrics. They lyrics not only recall some vibrant nostalgic drives, but also drops some references that show the artist was certainly familiar and fond of Chicago, even if the band was from West Allis, WI.
It was not until recently, when I heard this song again, that I realized it was also a road tripping song. AH&D may have just been using my favorite road in Cook County as a thinly-veiled drug reference… “Just slippin’ on by on LSD, Friday night trouble-bound…” is just one of the many acid references in the song , most of which are equally unclever. Regardless, it’s still a really pretty song. Enjoy! (Along with some shoddy photography):
