As the Tenth Annual World Music Festival rolls into Chicago, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs has an incredible seventy events spread out over twenty-one different venues. While this fact might conjure up images of sensitive-guy ponytails and residual patchouli flashbacks, Sonotheque hosts a week-long schedule of the festival’s more electronic-leaning artists, trading in djembes, sitars and lutes for drumbeats, Serato and loops. The long-running Bombay Beatbox crew gets in on the act with BBC 1 DJ Bobby Friction dropping in with a bag full of choice cuts like those featured on his popular ”Bobby Friction & Nihal Presents…” radio show. Besides showcasing the latest in Asian Massive and Eastern Breaks, West Londoner Bobby Friction has also produced documentaries for BBC television and written columns for Rolling Stone India. Resident ethnomusical prankmonkey Radiohiro and special guest DJ DhakFu will also be on hand to display their mastery of music from the revolving world on their revolving turntables. (Duke Shin)
Bombay Beatbox with DJ Bobby Friction, Radiohiro, DJ Dakfu at Sonotheque, 1444 West Chicago, (312)226-7600, on September 19, 9pm-2am. $12.
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.
