Swedish brother-sister electronic duo The Knife dropped “Silent Shout” on unsuspecting audiences in 2006 and it remains a high point of musical boundary-pushing and exploration, a moody, strange record that just happens to be wholly brilliant. The Knife’s singer, Karin Dreijer Andersson, ventures on her own with Fever Ray, and though the sound is eerily similar to her work with her brother, it still manages to exist as its own bizarro masterpiece, as Andersson so effectively distorts her vocals to sound simultaneously dead and alive. The self-titled record, which came out much earlier this year, is a more mellow endeavor than “Silent Shout,” but works much in the same way, changing the world around you as soon as you press play. Encompassing headphone music, uneasy, not afraid of the casual hook, the choruses acting as beacons of light within the chilly air. The Knife’s live performances are reportedly unforgettable—there’s no reason to believe Fever Ray won’t match them. (Tom Lynch)
October 3 at Metro, 3730 N. Clark, (773)549-0203, at 9pm. $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.
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.
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.
