Somewhere in the midst of the presidential election, Mercury Rev must have caught a little Obama fever, which manifested itself in singer Jonathan Donahue and company’s new album, “Snowflake Midnight.” There’s no ode to universal health care, no Joe Biden references, but there is that buzzword for 2008: change, not just thematically evident in the lyrics, but clearly evident in the band’s sonic ambitions. Oft compared to The Flaming Lips (partially because bassist Dave Fridmann is the Lips’ perennial producer), the Buffalo quintet truly sound on “Snowflake Midnight” like they’re about to celebrate Christmas on Mars, with sunshiny ambiance warming up the soundscape, contrasting nicely with the distorted electronic loops that drive the melody and bring the band firmly into the twenty-first century. Gone are the “Deserter’s Songs” days, when the band managed modest Top 40 success (in the UK) at the cost of reigning in their insanity. Now the band looks prime to adapt to a music scene constantly looking for a sonically charged fix. Further proof the band has embraced the ever-changing world and, in this case, the shifting of power in the music industry—Mercury Rev has offered a companion album, “Strange Attractor,” as a free MP3 download on its Web site. (Andy Seifert)
December 11 at Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln, (773)404-9494, at 8pm. $25.
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.
Can’t-Miss Music Events (Fall Arts Preview 2023) This fall we get new albums and tours from iconic acts like Wilco and Kurt Elling, plus a Corrine Bailey Rae project inspired by Theaster Gates' Stony Island Arts Bank.
