The glitchy, trippy music of Seattle-based duo Shabazz Palaces is hip-hop for sound and noise nerds, much more concerned with exploring different musical palettes and textures than creating beats to nod your head to. Ishmael Butler (formerly of Digable Planets) has a history of creating hip-hop with a solid foundation in jazz-influenced musicianship. With Shabazz Palaces, Butler goes even bolder and more experimental in his musical collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Tendai “Baba” Maraire. Together, they eschew sampling of existing songs and dare to create new patterns of melody and rhythm with drum machines, synth, samplers and various forms of percussive instruments. It’s hip-hop that tells a story through words and music and defies simple descriptions. One of the most exciting elements of Shabazz Palaces live performances that they are far from a note-by-note re-creation of their recorded sound. Seeing them live is a radically different experience than listening to them at home, so if you are familiar with their recorded work, you may be pleasantly surprised by their live interpretation. (Keidra Chaney)
September 13, Lincoln Hall, 2424 North Lincoln, $15, 10pm, 21+
Related Stories
Sort of About Death But Groovy: Blonde Redhead at Thalia Hall on Halloween What’s unique about Blonde Redhead is the way the simplicity of their compositions belies the rich instrumentation and disguises their deconstructionist impulses. Expect Blonde Redhead to deliver plenty of spooky music on Halloween night.
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.
