• Milwaukee's Best 2010

    Posted 12/15/2010 by cal

    After a 2009 lull, the Brew City stormed back this year with an astounding array of incredible records.  I decided I couldn’t extricate myself from my hometown bias, because I would put Milwaukee’s top ten records up against the rest of the world’s top ten without hesitation this year.  Credit local überproducer Shane Hochstetler in large part: he produced or co-produced six of the albums on this list and many more at his Howl Street Recordings, the new Midwestern music Mecca.  And wouldn't you know it?  His next door neighbor at Mystery Room Mastering and Recording, Justin Carl Perkins, had a hand in at least four of 'em as well.  And with the onslaught of online free/pay-what-you-want downloads (thanks, Radiohead!!), y’all have no excuse for not checking out at least half of this music (note: if the album title contains a link, it should take you to a download page).

    As the consumer paradigm continues to shift away from albums, the line between LP and EP is beginning to blur, so I’m lumping them all together here.  A cohesive and moving collection of five tunes can be just as powerful a statement as an hour-long treatise, and it’s kind of the year of the EP in Milwaukee anyway.  And with the rest of the world going all 80s retro this year, MKE seems to be taking its cues from much further back in time (warning: three different Buddy Holly mentions.  Unavoidable), but making sounds uniquely modern.  This is one of those lists where I feel bad for all the records that aren’t number one, ‘cause they’re all so damn good.  Enjoy.

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  • The You-Phoria Guide to Summerfest 2010

    Posted 6/21/2010 by cal

    Despite the general lameness of Summerfest’s big headliners (with one or two exceptions per year), the smaller stages in 2010 are looking hotter than any year in recent memory, especially considering the wealth of local talent spread all over the grounds.  When in doubt, sit at the Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage (CIMGS) and marvel at all the amazing Milwaukee music you never realized was here.  There’s something worth fifteen bucks every single day this year, and usually multiple quality acts (and don’t forget, you can get in for eight bucks on weekdays between noon and four!).


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  • Brew City infiltrates SPIN

    Posted 5/26/2010 by cal
    There's no SPIN jinx, right?  No less than four mentions of Milwaukee appear in the latest issue.  There's the dubious notoriety of Weiland's latest crash-and-burn during STP's March show at the Rave ("...Weiland was out of it in Milwaukee, forgetting lyrics and looking confused...").  Summerfest gets a brief capsule in the festival feature story ("DON'T MISS: Thievery Corporation's politically fiery Bollywood-dub chutney"--no argument here).  Naturally, the review of the widely-acclaimed new disc from local heroes Kings Go Forth receives eight pink dots (that's four stars to the rest of the publishing world).

    But perhaps the most satisfying blurb is a shout-out to our very own Radio Milwaukee from Elijah Jones of The Constellations: "'We sent songs to everyone,' explains the singer.  'And 88.9 in Milwaukee was the first to catch on.  They invited us to play a show, and the day I got there, I heard three of our songs on the radio.'"  Between the Mighty 91 (still in need of ten grand in community support by the end of the month--show 'em some support at wmse.org!!) and 88Nine, we have the best radio airwaves pound for pound in the country.  Believe it, people: MKE is bustin' out.

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