Photo: Lauren Dukoff

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When Dengue Fever started out a decade ago, they researched a genre that had all but vanished: psychedelic, Beatles-inspired songs by Cambodian artists who were persecuted under the Khmer Rouge regime. They gradually began including their own songs, still sung in Khmer, and after their third disc, they started recording tunes in English while still keeping a firm footing in the style that made them known in US pop/alternative circles and abroad— including in the country that inspired them in the first place.

On their latest offering, “Cannibal Courtship” (Fantasy/Concord), they have more songs in English than ever before, and they’ve also started flirting with more jammy, Grateful Dead-influenced grooves. The band uses vocalist Chhom Nimol’s incredible range well, especially when it comes to more inventive tunes like the bluesy “Sister in the Radio” and the surf-rock-inflected “Kiss of the Bufo Alvarius,” where the guitar skills of co-leader Zac Holtzman also come to prominence.

Live, the band has great energy, charisma and chemistry. Nimol, who cut her teeth singing karaoke in Long Beach, California, commands your attention even if you can’t understand half of what’s going on in the first place. (Ernest Barteldes)

June 4 at The Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western, (773)276-3600, 10pm. $15.

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The majority of Leo Kottke’s recorded works include more than a few selections during which he sings, even though he once described his voice as sounding like “geese farts on a muggy day.” Coming up alongside the rest of the Takoma Records’ cohorts means Kottke arrived at folksy performances as much from an instrumental take on the music as anything else. Seeing him perform, though, there’s bound to be a misled baby boomer calling out for “Rings” or some other vocal number. Having injured his hand a few decades back, Kottke recuperated by devising a new approach to guitar, perhaps inviting all these works laden with lyrics. That new conception and forty years of performing has resulted in his dexterity declining a bit. But when Kottke’s unfettered by vocal concerns, there’re moments making listeners wonder why he’s not better known than John Fahey. Of course, the market for this sort of old tyme acoustic music isn’t skewing towards a younger crowd. And after all that early millennium freeq folk nonsense passing him over, Kottke’s continued on with a series of never-ending tour dates, performing for audiences who recall when he was actually releasing music. Despite hooking up with Phish bassist Mike Gordon, the guitarist hasn’t gone and tried to work many festivals directed at the granola set. Instead, Kottke persists in hitting up stately auditoriums, often skirting city-centers for out of the way, bucolic spaces better suited to his six-stringed style. (Dave Cantor)

June 4 at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 North Lincoln, (773)728-6000, 8pm. $40.

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Looking back just about twenty years, Del the Funky Homosapien’s albums have been pretty consistent. His first, “I Wish My Brother George Was Here” and its follow-up “No Need For Alarm” assimilate underground thoughtfulness with humor easily surpassing Will Smith’s Fresh Prince gig and gangsterisms as a result of familial ties to Ice Cube. Getting mixed up with Da Lench Mob didn’t blunt Del’s penchant for classic laughs as “Pissin’ On Your Steps” or any skit involving a discussion of public transit points out. With success, though, the MC got sucked up into the Gorillaz and was transformed into a big deal. He toured the world with some of the UK’s most-loved rock musicians and then headed back to Oakland. Oddly enough, with that turn-of-the-century acclaim, the MC abstained from solo concerns until his 2008 Def Jux released “Eleventh Hour.” The disc wasn’t an utter bummer, but listening to the veteran at that point only made folks pine for earlier releases. The humor isn’t gone—Del still calls any foe a dummy—but referring to himself as Sir Diesel ranks as one of the lesser pseudonyms in hip-hop. Read the rest of this entry »

Gustav Mahler

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In 1907, composer Gustav Mahler was diagnosed with an infection of the inner lining of the heart. He died four years later, 100 years ago last month, at the age of fifty. The Mahler death centennial is being commemorated throughout 2011 across the music world, including at this week’s season-finale concerts of the CSO.

Death was a constant companion to Mahler throughout his short life. The tavern owned by his father was adjacent to a funeral parlor and marches and dirges were his childhood aural wallpaper. In addition to the constant funeral processions in and out of the compound which Mahler’s music would often go on to emulate, Mahler lost eight of his fourteen siblings before reaching adulthood.

When Mahler set to work on the song cycle “Kindertotenlieder” (“Songs on the Death of Children”) set to haunting poems of Friedrich Rückert, his oldest daughter died in what his wife Alma took as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This capped a series of unrelenting tragedies for the composer that included the diagnosis of his fatal heart condition which actually drove Mahler to work harder rather than rest, in order to finish as much work as possible before his untimely demise.

Mahler composed the orchestral song cycle “Das Lied von der Erde” (“The Song of the Earth”) after his mammoth Eighth Symphony (“of a Thousand”) and subtitled the work a symphony. However, given that Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner had all died after writing a Ninth Symphony, he superstitiously refused to place that ominous number—or any number—on the work and felt that he could somehow cheat fate as a result. Ironically, Mahler would go on to write a Ninth, and even an un-orchestrated Tenth Symphony, which he would not live to complete. Read the rest of this entry »

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The jazz scene in Chicago is one of the most vital and unique aspects to the city. Even if Kenny G-styled nonsense is your cool desire, it shouldn’t be difficult to hunt down in a town sporting a population bigger than most other countries. Joe McPhee doesn’t have time for such considerations, though. Kicking around avant-jazz’ periphery since the late sixties, the saxophonist has run through Chicago at least five times in the last few years, drawing a healthy crowd during each trip. So far into his career, it might be surprising that McPhee remains able to continuously generate new ideas—either spontaneously during solo improv sets or as a player in mid-sized combos. But that’s what a lifetime of music has done for a guy who, admittedly, freaked out left-field jazz players in Coltrane and Coleman’s wake. What keeps McPhee returning to town, apart from appreciative crowds and a wealth of interesting venues to land gigs at, is the pool of talent functioning as Chicago’s jazz scene. Being able to pull Ken Vandermark, Jason Adasiewicz and Fred Lonberg-Holm as a pickup group can’t happen anywhere else. New York’s downtown scene from the sixties through the nineties can lay claim to having more players perform a wider variety of jazz styles, but the inventiveness spurting out of places like the Hungry Brain, the Hideout and all those upper-level joints on Milwaukee rank as a locus of culture—and ridiculously affordable ones. (Dave Cantor)

June 2 at Elastic Arts, 2830 North Milwaukee, Second Floor, (773)772-3616. 10pm. $10.

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Ignoring the Detroit Cobras building its legacy on the backs of other’s songwriting is impossible, but the band’s delivery helps mitigate the transgression. At least there haven’t been any licensing squabbles to note. Hugely successful acts working in well-selected covers have been indispensable in shaping rock ‘n’ roll. How good is the Stones’ “12×5” and what would it be without Chuck Berry’s work opening the entire affair? More telling, though, might be Creedence Clearwater Revival beginning its entire recording career with a then-unknown track by some weirdo in a cape, hollering about being possessed by some bad juju. “I Put a Spell On You,” Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ classic, turned a passable rock act from the sixties into psychedelic swamp evacuees over a four-minute runtime. Tossing in a tune penned by Steve Cropper didn’t hurt CCR’s first album, either. And the eventual reworking of the Temptation’s “Grapevine” might outdo the original. Read the rest of this entry »

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California bandleader Gordon Goodwin is known for his work on Disney soundtracks like “The Incredibles” (for which he nabbed one of his many Grammy awards) and his extensive work in keeping big bands alive. On his band’s sixth release, he continues that tradition, and features several guests to enhance the feel. Saxophonists Dave Koz and Gerald Albright join in and give extra spice to “Rippin’ N Runnin’” alongside regular member Eric Marienthal. A capella group Take 6 lend their pipes to the funky “Never Enough” with incredible results—one wonders why they don’t collaborate with bands more often. It also helps that bassist Marcus Miller lends a hand with his electric bass, which gives the tune even more punch.

Goodwin writes big-band music for the contemporary listener—if in doubt, listen to the treatment given to Gershwin’s timeless “Rhapsody in Blue.” The tune opens with an uptempo crescendo that leads to the familiar clarinet-centered intro. The band then goes into a more traditional bluesy groove, which lasts about a minute until they pick up the tempo and play at breakneck speed. This is clearly not your grandfather’s big band album. (Ernest Barteldes)

Gordon Goodwin
“That’s How We Roll”
(Concord Music)

By Dave Cantor

Sonically speaking, Puffy Areolas aren’t at all removed from the recordings which comprise the Toledo/Cleveland ensemble’s first long-playing album, Siltbreeze’s 2010 “In the Army 1981.” It’s odd given Damon Sturdivant, the band’s guitarist and songwriter, is its only remaining player. But that only speaks to the guy’s singular vision for dirtbag psych stuffs. Since he shuttles back and forth between Midwestern safehouses, bassist Drew Hart becomes the group’s mouthpiece ahead of the quartet’s appearance at HoZac’s Blackout Fest this coming Saturday.

“I don’t care if I ever make a dollar playing music,” Hart begins over the phone as the sound of his 5-year-old springs up occasionally in the background. There’s a heated chess match in progress as he answers questions. “I don’t need the money, I’m self-sufficient. People just need to hear my bass since there’s no one else playing music that sounds like this.” A pause follows, one which might be misconstrued as pregnant with pomposity. “Birds of Maya are close—all those one-note jams.” Read the rest of this entry »

Ari Shine strips roots rock to the bare bones: a man and his guitar. The songs on his new album “Ghost Town Directory” transition to the stage with ease as Shine performs solo. “I always tend to write on an acoustic but this time I knew that I would be doing more shows in that format,” Shine says. “It was in my head that I would be performing them stripped down.” Shine has been relentless bringing his one-man show anywhere he can. “Truthfully, touring and recording are my favorite parts of being a musician.” There are advantages, he says, that come from touring without a backing band.  “I love the without-a-net experience of playing solo. It is really cool to have that type of intimacy with an audience. I like getting things down to a really quiet point and then bringing it back up. ” Read the rest of this entry »

Chixdiggit

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With Chicago the spawning ground of the likes of the Smoking Popes and Screeching Weasel, annual pop-punk festival Windy City Sound Clash feels right at home.  “Chicago offers a nice central location, dedicated scene and plenty of other activities to do to keep everyone occupied,” founder and curator Jeff Wegner says.

The festival showcases local bands like Vacation Bible School, alongside well-established touring acts such as Kepi Ghoulie from California and Canada’s Chixdiggit. “I think it’s important to have a showcase in Chicago,” Wegner says. “Some of these bands may only play to a crowd of twenty people if they came through on their own, but this way they can play to a couple hundred people.”

Planning a festival is no easy task. “Every year has been self-funded. It’s all a learning experience,” Wegner says. “It really does make me feel good when someone comes up and says that they can’t wait until next year.”

The festival is only in its third year. “I do Windy City Sound Clash so that everyone can have a good time,” says Wegner. “Seeing people smiling, drinking, partying and screaming is really the only motivation I need to keep going.” (John Wawrzaszek)

May 28, 4:30pm, $12, all ages; May 29, 3:30pm, $10, 17+ at Subterranean, 2011 West North.