“I’m sort of a perpetual motion machine,” says Robert Pollard, and if such a device can indeed be created, it would probably look a lot like the former Guided By Voices lead singer and guitarist. …
Olney, Ill., (pronounced ull-knee) is the undisputed home of albino squirrels. The chummy police officers sport chalky white rodent patches on their sleeves and wear clear jelly shoes. Without this hairy claim to fame, Olney …
SS500-thumb-200×200.jpg” width=”200” height=”200” alt=”51q1LlViXIL.SS500.jpg” class=”mt-image-right” style=”float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;” /> With the possibility that someone who believes dinosaurs and people lived together on Pangaea could vice-lead our nation as well as the …
Local indie rock outfit Santa has evolved into a staple band of the C-U music scene, playing two shows during this year’s Pygmalion Music Festival and busy with multiple dates well into November. A five …
Perhaps in name alone, New Weird America and Freak Folk may be my new favorite genres. When I came across the terms, I searched my iTunes and Rhapsody libraries to see if I had any …
Ashley Riley is a young, blonde lady whose instrument of choice is an acoustic guitar, so the comparisons to Jewel are ready-made and lazy, but she doesn’t reject them. Just getting her feet wet in …
Matt Friction and his band, the Pink Spiders, were on the fast track to success just a couple short years ago. They had a major-label deal, with Geffen, and an appearance on MTV’s Total Request …
With work, family and “Rock Band 2”, who has the time to find out about the best shows happening in Champaign-Urbana? No need to fear, because the editors here at Smile Politely have taken care …
San Francisco rock quartet LoveLikeFire have been building some momentum in recent months as they opened for bands like The Teenagers and Mates of State. Before heading out on a headlining tour a couple of …
The last time I was really taken with recorded music was in the fall of 2000. Kid A> changed everything. My headphones were awash daily with Grand Theft Autumn’s newest signing, The Lassie Foundation. And …
I must confess that I dismissed the Bang on a Can Marathon listing when I first perused the fall line-up at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Center. I instinctively associated the name Bang on a …
Adbusters, a cultural watchdog magazine, has described hipsters as being the ” dead end of Western Civilization. ” Hipsters describe themselves as “everyone exactly like me, excluding me.” Basically, this self-loathing group is not new …
I have been to a few Sunset Stallion shows in the past few months since they formed, and although the first and second may have had a few little kinks in the set, they quickly …
As I was going about the hustle and bustle of my day (surfing through music blogs) I came across an oldie: Leonard Cohen. I gave an affectionate sigh of, “aww” and pushed play. I can’t …
A pair of Smile Politely music critics were in attendance for the Dan Deacon, Dark Meat, Monotonix (pictured above) billing at the Canopy Club this past Thursday night. Here they share their thoughts on a …
In the wasteland that is 21st-century commercial radio, blandness and conformity rule the roost. “Everything’s the same now,” says “Lonesome” Larry Williams, station manager of WWHP, or the Whip, which is at 98.3 on your …
When I got to Exile on Main Street for the Pygmalion Music Festival showcase this past Saturday, there was pizza, pop and a few local music celebrities scattered across the store (wearing the same shirt …
Local musician Matt Wagemann is pretty busy at this point in his life: holding down a day job while preparing to release his debut album, Matter of Time. His CD release party is scheduled for …
The Pygmalion Music Festival has ended and we are all faced with the sad reality that it’ll be a whole year until it returns. For those of you who went, surely the memories will last …
With work, family and On-Demand television, who has the time to find out about the best shows happening in Champaign-Urbana? No need to fear, because the editors here at Smile Politely have taken care of …
William: The swirling crowds in the lobby of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts separate into grayer C-U Symphony-goers and the Pygmalion Music Festival crowd. In this austere venue, these younger patrons of the …
Cristy: Props to WPGU for getting me into the Vertebrats. Coming from a hick town with limited radio-station selection, I grew up fattened on three airwave formats: Gary Puckett-style oldies fluff, classic rock that played …
I made the mistake of labeling Oceans a “local” band. It’s a mistake you only make once. The charming boys of Oceans spent the afternoon explaining why the Champaign-Urbana scene is not what it seems, …
The 2008-2009 Krannert Center season opens tonight with an in-lobby party featuring the Austin-based latin-infusion band, Grupo Fantasma. As has become tradition with Krannert opening weekend parties, the center transforms their generally peaceful hardwood lobby …
The Brooklyn trio, Oxford Collapse, has made their way to Champaign-Urbana in conjunction with the Pygmalion Music Festival. Playing a free show tonight at the Krannert Art Museum, the group will be joined by Catfish …
I would like to first admit that I didn’t hate the tracks I heard from Scarlett Johansson’s all-Tom Waits cover album, Anywhere I Lay My Head. Maybe it was the pure novelty of it, or …
Dan Deacon is to electronic music what Spencer Tunick is to nude portraits, which is to say a point of view that varies so drastically from the norm as to cause a stir. Thanks to …
If the live music at Pygmalion is trending too young and indie-rock for your tastes on Thursday night, there’s a perfect antidote available at the Historic Rose Bowl Tavern: Bill Kirchen, the “King of Dieselbilly,” …
Monotonix, the other band I’m really looking forward to seeing at Pygmalion Music Festival, are playing Thursday night. Monotonix are sharing the bill at the Canopy Club with Robots Counterfeiting Money, Dark Meat and Dan …
On Wednesday night, Times New Viking, one of the two bands I’m most looking forward to at this year’s Pygmalion Festival, will bring their fuzzed out rock to the Canopy Club. Based out of Columbus, …
I’ve never quite considered myself a Led Zeppelin fan. When I speak to people about my record collection the immediate question that follows is “Oh, what do you have?” I tell them mostly old, some …
If you love classic heavy metal served up with a dash of irony, tune into WEFT-90.1 FM tonight at 10 p.m. and check out local trio For Great Justice, who will be playing a live …
With work, family and Google image searches, who has the time to find out about the best shows happening in Champaign-Urbana? No need to fear, because the editors here at Smile Politely have taken care …
Most of the time, “bastard” is a word that’s meant to convey shame and embarrassment, but Mark Stuart, lead singer and guitarist for Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, wears his bastard status on his sleeve. …
This new column is dedicated to a collection of songs that I simply can’t get over, no matter how many times I have heard them. Some of them might be recognizable to those that listen …
If your Saturday night is lacking some low-end punch, head on down to the Highdive and check out the two-bass, one-drummer assault of veteran Chicago rockers Dianogah. Doors open at 7 p.m., opening act Pinebender …
I first fell in love with the Cowboy Monkey two years ago when I went with a friend to see a random band that turned out to be quite an enticing act called Colourmusic. I …
This past Sunday I went to see The Avett Brothers perform at the Canopy Club. Walking up to the stage I felt a little out of my element. I had heard a smattering of songs …
Punch, brothers! Punch with care! Punch in the presence of the passenjare! These words comprise the chorus of a song noted in the opening lines of Mark Twain’s short story “Punch Brothers, Punch.” Twain, within …
Tonight on WEFT Sessions (10 p.m. on WEFT, 90.1 FM), some of the fresher faces on the Champaign-Urbana music scene will be featured. Sunset Stallion, made up of University of Illinois students Chad Warner (piano, …
This modern world we live in sure is stressful. Be it work, school, family or global climate change we all have too much on our plates to deal with. With all these daily duties to …
It takes a lot of effort to be cool all the time, or so I’m told. Keeping up with trends, making sure you name-check the right bands, looking scruffy but not too scruffy, it’s almost …
When we think of political songs, we think folk music. And when we think of folk music, we think of hippies. You know, cascading locks of hair, peace, love, Phish, flowers; usually a mental image …
For anyone that pulled up to or walked past the Canopy Club this past Saturday, the mild summer weather was most likely broken by the abnormally long line that stretched from the Canopy to the …
When I was first introduced to Lykke Li’s EP, Little Bit, I was entranced in the sheer uniqueness of her voice and music. Lately, it seems as though too many artists follow a certain guideline …
Tuesday nights will have familiar face in downtown Champaign. Douglas Layne, AKA DJ Delayney — the local promoter that founded PowerNSoul Productions, helps bring in Dance 2XS and hosts the now annual LightWorks Fashion Show …
Welcome back to work. Look for Justine Bursoni’s photo review in Aww Snap! tomorrow on Smile Politely.
Two New York’s infamous five boroughs (Queens and The Bronx), well-known for producing some of hip-hop’s hall of fame artists, are getting ready to let loose two of their finest into the wild of their …
If wading through an endless sea of faceless indie-rockers has you thirsting for something altogether different, then tune in Monday night at 10 p.m. on WEFT, 90.1 FM, to hear Jared Bartman perform on WEFT …
