The ConorTV Playlist Vol. 3 There was Pitchfork. There was Lollapalooza. Now, Chicago strikes again. Yet another unique festival. Riot Fest leans punk with bands like NOFX, The Descendents and Rise Against among the highlights. Legendary acts like Iggy & The Stooges, Elvis Costello and The Jesus And Mary Chain also perform, along with indie rock…
Lyrics that Foreshadow 9/11 Chicago alt-rockers Wilco composed the poetic and triumphant “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” in 2000. The album had been originally slated to be released on 9/11/01. The songs below were written before then. Tall buildings shake voices escape singing sad sad songs I would like to salute the…
The ConorTV Playlist Vol. 2 In the late ‘90s, bands like Milwaukee’s The Promise Ring, Kansas City’s The Get Up Kids and D.C.’s Dismemberment Plan churned out albums filled with confessional lyrics that resonated with the college radio crowd. I was a DJ at KURE at Iowa State University from 1997 – 2001, the golden…
London-based indie rockers Bloc Party have accumulated quite the arsenal of cool and captivating music videos. From the cinematic to the colorful to the animated to the optically poetic, each one has a unique treatment. Bloc Party released their not-so-cleverly titled fourth album “Four” a couple weeks ago. The first single and video “Octopus” is a…
There’s a rich tradition of Glaswegian rock bands. Scotland has produced Frightened Rabbit, Yatsura, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand and Primal Scream among others. Add to that list PAWS, a trio of lo-fi rockers whose new single “Jellyfish” bursts with unflinching energy. Vancouver rockers Japandroids announced today that PAWS will open for them on select…
T-minus two months until the solo debut from Death Cab For Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard comes out. Today he gave us a first taste of the upcoming “Former Lives” album. If it’s anything like Death Cab guitarist Chris Walla’s solo effort, we’re in for a treat. The album releases 10/26. Teardrop Windows by Gibbstack
In this first installment of Netflix Instant Queue Theater, I watched all or part of 18 movies. Horror movies are a dime a dozen and chock-full of clichés. They take place in cabins. At summer camps. In creepy old mansions. High schools. And tiny towns. They are rife with hot coeds getting naked. It’s no secret…
The ConorTV Playlist Vol. 1 I used to make punk rock mixtapes and trade them with my friends in high school. We listened to all the bands in the image above. Plus local Chicago stuff like Apocalypse Hoboken, Oblivion and No Empathy. We would drive around the city with the windows rolled down…
…And Justice For All Justice Reigns Supreme Over a Sold-Out Lolla Crowd – The Wise Choice Over Jack White The French really know how to make electronic music. Daft Punk. Air. M83. Les Rythmes Digitales. And then of course Justice – one of two headliners Sunday night at Lollapalooza in Chicago. The Paris-based duo brought…
New Doc Highlights LCD Soundsytem’s Gangbusters Grand Finale LCD Soundsystem is tied with Bright Eyes as hands-down my favorite band of the past decade. The Brooklyn-based electro rockers – led by mastermind James Murphy – almost single-handedly revived and reinvented a genre known as dance punk. Loud. Fast. Fun. It’s rock music with a disco…
