RECOMMENDED It’s tough to know just what the good folks at Meiotic have planned with their new monthly, the enigmatically named Jackson. Over the last five years the crew built itself a reputation for staying out front of the techno curve and throwing some of the best parties in Chicago. They’ve hosted techno artists big and small from around the globe and their Your Formula for Life throwdowns have definitely lived up to that name. So, now they bring us Jackson with the intriguing slogan “Go ahead… Wreck your health” and a bug-eyed, bird-flipping Johnny Cash on the flyer. Oh yeah, they’ve also got NY’s best DJ from Detroit and YFL resident Derek Plaslaiko coming through for the event’s kick off. With an exacting musical selection and engaging mixing skills, Plaslaiko is quite simply one of the best at his craft. On this night Meiotic’s always exemplary choices for opening sets are Bastard!!! and Matthew Martin. (Noah Levine) Friday, December 14 at Sonotheque
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.
Whisperin' for Some Reason: A Preview of Ian Sweet at Empty Bottle Angeleno Jilian Medford produces a lo-fi indie-rock sound that could acutely score a mid-2000s Michael Cera film but still feels postmodern. Melancholic but defiant, her lyricism coupled with simple and elegant guitar progressions provides for the addicting kind of pop to sway awkwardly to.
