Chicago - A message from the station manager

Local Music Notebook: Persons Of Interest

Tom Morello, Robbie Fulks, Jon Langford, Common, Kanye West, R. Kelly, Vic Mensa, James Iha, Chief Keef & David Draiman

1. Tom Morello.


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2. Robbie Fulks.
“Wicker Park, 1993 or Wicker Park, 2013? Oh. Come on! 1993 all the way! It was different then. It’s wrong to glamorize danger, and I like success as much as the next guy, but . . . every time I go down there and I see one of those people in tight black jeans crossing the street with his chin in the air, I just want to fucking run him over. Those people drive me crazy.”
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3. Jon Langford.
“It’s not hate so much, but that song ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ – I don’t know why I don’t like it. I was looking at the lyrics and was like, ‘Oh, that’s that sort of clever, trying to be witty American college rock.’ Maybe I’m just jealous of [Wayne Coyne] because he gets to float around in that balloon at all of these glamorous rock festivals that I don’t get invited to. But something in the sound of the record and in the way he sings it and in his voice, I’ll fly across the room, or if I’m in the car, I’ll poke randomly at the radio just so I can make it stop. There are other ones as well: Jack Johnson, Mumford & Sons, or Edward Sharpe. It’s just a sort of blanket artist that I can’t stand. ‘Jeremy’ by Pearl Jam will come on and I’ll switch that off.”
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4. Common.
“Common, an elder statesman in hip-hop, has reached out to the new breed of talent coming up in the game. The Chicago native has recorded a song with Vince Staples. When asked about the Long Beach native, Common said, ‘I like him. He’s cold on the mic. When I heard him rapping, I was like, This dude can really rhyme.’ It made me want to write.”
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5. R. Kelly.
“R. Kelly will release his 12th studio album Black Panties on Nov. 11. The ‘Bump n’ Grind’ singer revealed the release date at a recent listening session.”
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6. Vic Mensa.
“It’s been quite a run for Chicago hip-hop the last few years. Hard-edged drill music from the South Side led by Chief Keef, King Louie, Lil Durk and producer Young Chop hit nationwide first. Then came the soul-dipped textures of Chance the Rapper, Prob Cause and Tree.
“Now it’s Vic Mensa’s turn, with one of the most anticipated releases of the year, the Innanetape. Though packaged as a mix tape – a free, independently released project that is usually not taken as ‘seriously’ as an official album – Innanetape has steadily grown in ambition and scope since the South Side rapper began putting it together earlier this year. It puts Mensa’s agile, high-energy delivery at the center of a kaleidoscopic array of multi-part arrangements that blend programmed beats and live instrumentation.”
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7. James Iha.
“Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist and co-founder James Iha has sold his four-bedroom, American Foursquare-style house in Edgewater for $545,000.”
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8. Kanye West.
On Jimmy Fallon Monday night:

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9. Chief Keef.
“By early in the evening, Earl Sweatshirt and Chief Keef played to polarized yet hefty crowds, even though both acclaimed teen rhymeslayers got started substantially later than usual.
“Last year Keef, the troubled Chicago teen known for crime-soaked raps and a rap sheet to match, was a no-show for his Rock the Bells debut. It was a disastrous moment that resulted in boos and festival-goers throwing items onstage as a DJ struggled to contain the jeering crowd.
“Backed by an attention-craving entourage, the 18-year-old got lost Saturday in his own hype as he and his dozen-deep team struggled with sharing the mic. The posse rap approach can be pulled off at the fest, as evidenced by Black Hippy and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, who would hit the stage later in the night, but it requires the hype men to know when to fall back and let their voices be heard.”
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10. David Draiman.
“Disturbed frontman David Draiman has canceled a series of shows by his other band Device after his wife suffered complications with her pregnancy.”
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Comments welcome.

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Posted on September 10, 2013