Montreal’s Amy Millan has been releasing a steady stream of records with indie-poppers Stars since 2001, but before that, Millan was a member of the roots-rock band 16 Tons. It was then she wrote the majority of the songs that appeared on her solo debut, the country-folk “Honey From the Tombs,” released in 2006. With Stars taking a break after touring relentlessly behind their 2007 full-length “In Our Bedroom After the War” and 2008 EP “Sad Robots,” Millan made her way to the Ontario woods in December to begin work on her sophomore album, the quaint “Masters of the Burial,” released last month. Four of the eleven tracks are covers—including a sleepy bluegrass take on Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”—but all are lovely. Millan says the record is “the sound of someone climbing into bed”—it may not be a high-energy affair, but it sure as hell will be a beautiful and intimate one. (Kelley Hecker)
October 16 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, (773)276-3600. 10pm. $12.
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.
