Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
I suppose there are plenty of ways to describe my current attitude toward rock music. Readers may consider me jaded, negative, and plain hostile toward the stuff, but in reality I still like it. It’s not so much that I’ve grown harder to impress as I age—a common enough plight for someone who’s spent many years writing about music—but I think I’ve just realized how much other stuff exists in the world. Most of us pretty much stick to what we grew up on—which certainly makes the whole endeavor more manageable—but there’s something in me that’s enthralled by discovery. Still, familiar sounds can still knock me out.
Etran Finatawa, Introducing (Introducing)Soweto Kinch, A Life in the Day of B19: Tales of the Tower Block (Dune)Helena de Lima, Vale a Pena Ouvir Helena (Warner Music Brasil)Boots Brown, Boots Brown (Slottet)
