Some might look at a ten-year gap as procrastination. Others might look at that a bit differently, adding that the more time it takes, the better the result. Such is the case with The Differents, officially releasing their album “Fate’s Going On” after initially recording it back in 1999.

The band, formed in 1992, has been carried by mainstay members Lou Hallwas, guitar and vocals, and Dan Garrity on drums. In 2004 they went on a hiatus due to personal issues. “Deciding to get back together,” explains Hallwas, “and having the enthusiasm for the band again, the first thing I decided was to put this record out. It’s an entity of its own, and if we are to continue together, we ourselves must respect this beautiful portrait from ten years ago, acknowledge its beauty and honesty.”

“Fate’s Going On” was recorded in only a few days at Gravity Studios in Chicago. “I think it’s aged well,” says Hallwas. When initially recorded, they sent out the album to labels in the chance of getting it officially released. “We wanted to see what reaction we would get, and we didn’t get much,” Hallwas says. “It was disheartening! To have people we knew rave about it, but get no reaction from folks who put out music was like ‘Wow!’ It helped insecurity creep in.” Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s a sparse musical landscape where the xx roam, with clean guitars, post-punk bass swagger and sparring vocal interplay between the cooing of guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sims, who also spends a fair amount of time mumble-harmonizing below Croft’s come-on verses, too. Anchored in space with machine beats making the most of the sparse arrangements, the xx are a revelation in minimalist grooves. Their self-titled debut album—produced by the xx’s own beatsmith/button-pusher Jamie Smith—was released earlier this year, and tonight’s show supporting headlining dance-rockers Friendly Fires is the group’s first trip to Chicago. (They will open for Hot Chip next spring.) Primed and ready to break big, this might be the last chance to see the xx in an intimate venue. (Duke Shin)

December 1 at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W. Lake, (312)666-6775, 9pm.

Nestled in the constantly emerging creative hotbed of Logan Square stands a house striving to keep music and community as one. “I feel like my life would be over if I didn’t have an outlet to bring people together,” says Sabrina, a founding member of the DIY performance space known as the Ottoman Empire. Today is the thirty-seventh-annual World Hello Day, promoting the mantra, “Greet ten people for peace.” The date fits quite well because at midnight tonight, Ottoman will celebrate the one-year anniversary of its formation with a multiple band show called the Micro Music Fest, featuring both local groups and touring bands. Old friends and new acquaintances huddle in the basement in search of the simple pleasure of genuine music made by people with a common goal—creating a niche in a city flooded with guarantees, licensing and competition.

Sitting around an unlit fire pit in the middle of the Northwest Side as the L rolls through, flickering electric blue sparks like lightning, Sabrina waxes on why the space is so necessary to her.

“I love doing it. I love meeting new people and seeing new bands.” Read the rest of this entry »

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During The Jesus Lizard’s initial run, David Yow’s persona balanced between communal firestarter and raving lunatic, and the effect, jarring and head-bashing, was monumental, as his furious vocals were propelled by full-on-attack guitars and drums seemingly beat to hell by the Terminator. Of course, the first four records—the Albini records on Touch & Go—were the best; once the band moved on to major-label Capitol it lost its steam. (Though that might not be the band’s fault, as it was 1995, and times were certainly changing.) Reunited, the four-piece stole the weekend at Pitchfork this summer, as it took less than sixty seconds for Yow to dive into the crowd—the pack of Lizard-lovers were overwhelmed with guitar bombs one on top of the other for an hour of gritty adrenaline and scathing musical piss. It was great. 1991′s “Goat” still holds as the pivotal work the band offered the salivating masses, “Mouth Breather” probably being the group’s most popular excretion. These two shows at Metro are sure to feature much physical contact. Watch out for Yow’s boot—don’t get kicked in the head. (Tom Lynch)

November 27-28 at Metro, 3730 N. Clark, (773)549-0203, at 9pm. $25.

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London’s shoegaze electronic-duo The Big Pink generated buzz long before the release of debut full-length “A Brief History of Love,” an ambitious title for a record by a band that’s accomplished so little so far. Pitchfork named single “Velvet” one of its top 500 songs of the decade—a fine choice, certainly, as it’s the most memorable track from the record. “A Brief History of Love,” released by 4AD, is a strong effort, a confident debut, with progressive beat-making, hazy guitars, hushed vocals and overflowing with Brit hipster-chic. Compared to other shoegazer revivalists, The Big Pink are only so-so, as they’ve to this point been inconsistent with their output. For every warmly constructed gem like “Velvet” there’s a cold-stone companion that’s electro, boring, Klaxons-lite. Unfair for me to ask for a homerun at every plate appearance, but the least they could do is swing the bat. (I prefer School of Seven Bells’ “Alpinisms” as the shoegaze record of the last year or so.) That said, “A Brief History of Love”‘s artwork is one of the more beautiful album covers I’ve ever seen. (Tom Lynch)

November 27 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, (773)276-3600, at 10pm. $10-$13.

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Industrial electronic act Nitzer Ebb takes the stage at the Double Door, headlining a raucous showcase sure to keep your feet moving and your fists in the air. Having gone through several roster changes since the group’s inception in the early 1980s, the current Nitzer Ebb lineup finds itself in the middle of a grueling, month-long, twenty-four-city North American tour. The Mute/NovaMute artists have recorded some new material in 2009, which we will hopefully get to hear this night, along with some Nitzer Ebb classics. “Joining the chant” as Nitzer Ebb’s opener is Chicago’s own Kill Memory Crash. The Ghostly band’s blend of rock, electro, techno and industrial sounds should add plenty of fuel to the party fire. Also featured is local rock-tronica group, The Glide, and a live set from Polyfuse (aka Justin McGrath). Last, and certainly not least, you’ll be treated to a DJ set of IDM, ghetto tech, glitch and breakcore from DJ Tacopunch. (Elly Rifkin)

November 28 at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, (773)489-3160, 9pm. $25.

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What genre could you fit these serial-festival-participants into? Simply calling them an instrumental jam band wouldn’t do, as they do keep a tight structure to their music while allowing a lot of improvisation to happen during their packed live sets (which, by the way, fans are free to record, trade and post online as long as no money changes hands). Are they an electronic band? Maybe, unless you notice their strong jazz-funk tendencies. Regardless if you can place them in a niche or not, the fact is that they are highly eclectic artists—their music could easily be played in a dance club (an example of this is “Bellwether,” a tune played around a vocoder and plenty of guitar), a trendy lounge or even a more upscale jazz club. But the real thrill is to catch them live—especially if you are lucky enough to catch one of their “thematic gigs,” like the time they dressed up to resemble rock stars who died at 27 (Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain) for a show called “The 27 Conspiracy,” which featured reworked covers of Nirvana, The Doors and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. (Ernest Barteldes)

November 27 at The Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield, (773)472-0366. $21-$24

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On her fourth disc, entitled “All in One” (the first on her new label, Verve), New York-born singer-songwriter Bebel Gilberto seems to have abandoned the New York pop experimentalism of her previous efforts and instead concentrates more closely on her Brazilian roots, which were the basis of her U.S. debut almost a decade ago. Instead of being mostly backed and produced by musicians from Manhattan’s Forro in The Dark, she co-produces with Daniel Jobim, Carlinhos Brown, Mark Ronson and longtime collaborator Didi Gutman with welcome results. For the first time, she covers a tune written by her father, Joao Gilberto (“Bim Bom,” in duet with Daniel Jobim). There is also a Bahia-tinged take on Stevie Wonder’s “The Real Thing” and an update on Carmen Miranda’s classic “Chica Chica Boom Chic,” the lead single from the disc. There are many originals penned in partnership with Brown and others, which are played with less emphasis on electronics—a characteristic that was ever-present in her previous discs. (Ernest Barteldes)

December 2, Park West, 32 W. Armitage, (773)929-1322, at 7:30pm. $25.

UPDATE:  This show has been cancelled. 

Anticipation runs high with Swiss/Chilean techno star Luciano dropping a rare Chicago DJ set at Spy Bar. The producer and Cadenza label-head saw the release of his second full-length album “Tribute to the Sun” earlier this year—a full five years since the release of his debut album “Blind Behaviour” (as Lucien-n-Luciano). While Luciano has always excelled at infusing melody into his minimal-leaning productions, “Tribute to the Sun” caught some fans by surprise, with a focus on world-music influences and otherworldly vocals that enchant in its many tender moments. But beneath all the beauty bubbles audible potential energy stored in muscular rhythms, like in the opener “Los Niños de Fuera” and twelve-minute opus, “Celestial.” Consider those varied textures of audio as Luciano’s palette; tonight should be a treat to experience how much of the light, and how much of the dark he chooses to paint your earholes with. Do. Not. Sleep. On. This. One. (Duke Shin)

November 27 at Spy Bar, 646 N. Franklin, 9pm.

There are plenty of things about Weezer I can’t believe. I can’t believe Weezer’s resurgence, and “The Green Album,” is almost a decade old. I can’t believe “The Red Album” was that bad. I can’t believe some rock writers fell for the heaping bullshit that was “Make Believe.” I can’t believe some old-school =W= fans still cling to the hope that Rivers Cuomo will churn out a record as insightful, stunning and emo-tional as the band’s debut or “Pinkerton.” Forget it, fellas, it’s over. What I can believe, however, is that its possible to get to a place to enjoy Weezer on a purely surface level, the way one processes Foo Fighters or Snow Patrol or something. Slick, quick and forgettable. I can believe that Weezer’s new album is something called “Raditude” and features a flying dog on the cover. I listened to it once and it has no songs that I remember distinctly. I think I heard Lil Wayne on there. I have no real desire to listen to it again. I’m finished with my disappointment with Weezer and I’ve reached a peaceful place in which I’m quietly pleased Rivers Cuomo is still making records. I will no longer allow Weezer’s unambitious immature musical mediocrity harm my memory of how much this band meant to me in that long forever ago. And I’ll even admit that the flying dog is cute. But, and this must be said, I’m terrified that there is a person out there as obsessed with this record as I was with “Pinkerton,” because I don’t want to meet this person. This person is very dangerous. (Tom Lynch)

December 1 at Aragon, 1106 W. Lawrence, (773)561-9500, at 7pm.