Bazan has now officially retired the Pedro the Lion moniker, and looks to continue to play under his own name, while still doodling around with keyboard-laden side project Headphones and touring with Will Johnson, Vic Chestnutt and Mark Eitzel in The Undertow Orchestra. Bazan’s new EP, “Fewer Moving Parts,” hit shelves on Tuesday—two different versions of five new songs, some stripped all the way down, other full-blown rock versions, recorded by Bazan himself. The style doesn’t change—Bazan’s strength has always been his intimate storytelling, and here he’s in top form. Depressing as it may have been, Pedro the Lion’s greatness came in its honesty—there was no melodramatic posturing, only regret, apology and redemption. Tonight Bazan’s solo, which could make it a more staggering affair all together, his lyrics and low, whispery voice clearer than ever before. (Tom Lynch)
David Bazan plays June 15 at Schubas, 3159 North Southport, (773)525-2508, at 9pm. $12.
For “Want” of a Change: A Preview of Rufus Wainwright at Ravinia Park Rufus Wainwright isn’t the first singer-songwriter to reinterpret earlier work through an orchestral lens. And much of Wainwright’s third and fourth albums, “Want One” and “Want Two”—whose twentieth anniversaries are the prompt for this new tour—is fully scored. But when Wainwright hits the Pavilion stage at Ravinia tonight, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will be behind him.
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
Cooling It: A Preview of Colleen Green at Cole’s Bar When Green strums power chords or chiming notes on top of her backing track, you might think you’re at Ramones karaoke night and Madonna is taking her turn.
