RECOMMENDED The Hearts Revolution will not be televised, but rather…served up from an ice-cream truck? It seems the critical blog-loving public have been caught with their scarves down, exposing slack-jawed awe over the Hearts Revolution’s penchant for dance-floor fun and creatively arty promotions. Last August saw its single “CYOA!” released to much fanfare on limited-edition heart-shaped vinyl, and co-revolutionaries Lo (Leyla Safai) and Ben (Pollock) are just as famous for their unicorned Heartschallenger ice-cream truck, hawking promos, stickers, music, novelty toys—and yes—ice cream. Well, the music ain’t bad either, with Ben’s sweet treats of cut-up beats meeting Lo’s unique sonic emissions. Case in point: “Wolves and Libertines” (from its latest “Switchblade” EP) where the pitched-up spirit of Jim Carroll seems to garage/punk/bounce through raw guitar riffs, buoyant bass lines and tough grrrl vox. But no one-trick unicorn, Lo is also an adept emitter of tender electro-chanteuse whispers and surprisingly melodic singing that could find a home even outside agit-electronic punk. Hearts Revolution’s thirty-one musical flavors easily puts the group head and shoulders above the (g)littered also-rans of the electro-thrashed rocker set. The band performs live tonight in its Chicago debut for the OutDanced! two-year anniversary, natch. Also appearing are DJs Pier Novikov vs DJ LA*Jesus, Capcom vs Willy Joy, Rand Sevilla vs Rotten Milk and Heather Doble. (Duke Shin) Tuesday, May 6 at Funky Buddha Lounge
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.
