RECOMMENDED Last summer, Dan Deacon and Girl Talk worked legions of newly won fans into a writhing frenzy—the impact of their experimental mash-up sound was substantial enough to scare the humor out of unsuspecting festival planners. Such was the effect that when the two booked double performances at the Metro this week, both shows sold out at lightening speed. Don’t worry if you didn’t score a ticket—Deacon’s got you covered. He booked a show with fellow Charm City dweller Jimmy Joe Roche at the Lakeshore Theater. During the “Ultimate Reality” experience, things will get violent. Very violent—the idea is that two drummers drive the experimental piece with militaristic marching music. For his part, Roche has compiled a cinematic whirlwind of Arnold Schwarzenegger clips, which unfurl with schizophrenic grace to the soundscape of Dan Deacon’s inner nutjob. (K Tighe) Friday, January 25 at Lakeshore Theater
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.
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.
