By Steve Rhodes
Emptying the notebook.
1. Oak Park’s Rob Mitchum sabermetricizes the year-end lists of the rock-critic hive-mind.
2. Personally, I say thumbs down on Protomartyr, thumbs way up on Preatures.
3. Junior Wells LP A Time Capsule Of Chicago Blues Scene.
4. Favorite band of the year: Oozing Wound.
5. Not to be cooler-than-thou, but I bought Bloodshot’s first sampler and was a fan from Day One.
6. Blame Chicago for Tempe’s Gin Blossoms.
“One thing I know it did was back in the ’80s and ’90s, there were so many kids from Illinois going to school at ASU that the first, like, 20 times we played Chicago, our shows were packed,” he says. “We were always really big in the midwest because all the ASU kids would move back home. We ended up selling a quarter million records in Chicago.”
7. I’m really not that hot on the Alabama Shakes.
8. Greg Kot’s Best of 2014.
9. Jim DeRogatis’s Best of 2014.
10. Robert Loerzel’s Best of 2014.
11. Underreported in Chicago: Riot Fest forced to relocate in Denver.
12. Story I’m grateful the Reader reported that I could have read another thousand words on: Why Did Animal Kingdom Have To Die?
13. Congratulations to: CHIRP Radio.
14. Quite possibly the best piece of music journalism in 2014: Jason Molina’s Long Dark Blues.
15. Underplayed in a weird way: Interscope drops Chief Keef.
See also: Save Chief Keef.
16. Chicago drum goddess Hannah Ford indeed joined Prince’s band.
17. Racine’s and Kenosha’s Best Bands Are Led By Women.
18. Run The Jewels Made The Most Punk Album of 2014.
19. Thank you, (the other) Dick Dale.
20. Catching up with a December 3rd show at the Empty Bottle thanks to my favorite local YouTube uploader, whose taste is impeccable.
College.
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Glass Lux.
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Replicant.
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And the Snow Angels at the Empty Bottle on December 20th.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on December 31, 2014