Friday 4
BUILT TO SPILL Turns out Built to Spill’s lackluster Ancient Melodies of the Future, the group’s sole studio effort from the past half decade, was indeed a fluke–it may have been a gasp, but it certainly wasn’t their last. On the new You in Reverse (Warner Brothers) Doug Martsch sounds reenergized, having sharpened his low-level, late-night paranoia into something more tense and clear-eyed while still leaving room for cosmic gags like “When I was a kid I saw a light / Floating high above the trees one night / God was an alien / Turned out to be just God.” If hooks come up short sometimes, that’s probably ’cause he saves some of his best melodies for his brambly solos. Built to Spill plays the second day of Lollapalooza; for a complete schedule see page 42. 2:30 PM, Bud Light Stage, Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Columbus & Congress, 866-915-6552, $65 for a one-day pass, $150 for a three-day pass. All ages. –Keith Harris
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SA-RA CREATIVE PARTNERS The members of this three-man hip-hop production team have impeccable credentials–they’ve recently worked with the likes of Dwight Trible, Jurassic 5, and Goapele–but have released only a handful of singles under the Sa-Ra name. Last year’s double 12-inch, The Second Time Around (Sound in Color), includes cameos from Pharoahe Monch and the late J Dilla as well as some strong instrumental cuts. They have an early slot at Lollapalooza, but with an album due on Kanye West’s GOOD Music label later this year, they won’t be obscure much longer. Sa-Ra Creative Partners perform on the second day of Lollapalooza; for a complete schedule see page 42. Noon, PlayStation Stage, Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Columbus and Congress, 866-915-6552, $65 for a one-day pass, $150 for a three-day pass. All ages. –Peter Margasak
WOLF PARADE With age comes the comforting knowledge that (a) not every worthwhile rock band rends the very fabric of existence and changes your life forever and (b) you wouldn’t really want them to. So while Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop) did not strike me down as a thunderbolt from on high, it did contribute two great songs to my mental jukebox. And if the Strokes-ishly pulsing “Shine a Light” was all Dan Boeckner had in him, if Spencer Krug never tops the demented stagger of “You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son,” it’ll be OK with me. Honest. Holy Fuck and Frog Eyes open; see also Tuesday. 7 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, 773-549-0203 or 312-559-1212, $18. All ages. –Keith Harris
SLAID CLEAVES The 13 tunes on Unsung (Rounder), the new album by Austin folk rocker Slaid Cleaves, were almost all written by relative unknowns–David Olney is the only one in the batch I’ve heard of. Cleaves either knows them from Austin or has performed with them on the road, and with any luck his show of support will earn them some attention. The album demonstrates Cleaves’s flexibility as an arranger and performer, and his wonderfully reedy voice brings some warmth and melodic grace to each number. Even though it’s not a collection of his own songs, in its own way Unsung cements his position as one of the most distinctive folkies around. 9 PM, Side Bar, Fitzgerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt, Berwyn, 708-788-2118 or 312-559-1212, $12. –Peter Margasak
