The Boredoms, Ghostface Killah, Lady Sovereign, The Streets
THE BOREDOMS
The Boredoms are God. While I understand it and I respect it, I just don’t get it. Their fusion of avant garde and thrash is expert, but not terribly original. Their fluctuations in tone and time signature will surprise you every time, but that’s not it. It’s not Yoshimi’s trumpet, or the terrible things she or Yamatsuka Eye have done to their vocal chords — in fact it’s nothing I can really pinpoint, but they’ve shaped an entire genre of music regardless (anybody remember the term “Japanoise”?) The Flaming Lips famously based the heroine of their concept album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, after drummer/yowler/trumpeteer Yoshimi P-We, and fellow rock weirdoes Ween kiss the ground they walk on. Perhaps it’s because I have never listened to music in a world untouched by the Boredoms that I will never get it, but at least I can enjoy it now. (Saturday, 6:55-7:50, Vice Stage) –text: Eric Lab Rat
GHOSTFACE KILLAH
It’s time for the Chicago Innerview Trivia Question of the Day: What do Ghost Deini, Ironman, Pretty Toney, Wally Champ, Starkey Love, Black Jesus, Clyde Smith, Tony Starks and GFK all have in common? No, that’s not a list of the latest baby names Hollywood is abusing their children with. Actually, all are aliases of grimy rap vet Ghostface Killah. (He even momentarily dropped the “Killah” portion in a truly Diddy-esque move, only not in nearly as comical fashion.) As one of the original members of the ever-influential rap supergroup Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah (like many of his counterparts) used the conglomerate’s early commercial success to spawn a solo career, then reunited with Wu-Tang whenever inspiration was at a standstill or cash was tight. His latest album Fishscale debuted at number four on the Billboard charts and measures up to be some of The Killah’s finest work throughout a career of up-tempo, emotionally-charged rapping spanning over a decade. (Saturday, 7:50-8:45, Virtue Stage) –text: Joe Ptak–photo: Scott Schafer
LADY SOVEREIGN
As the only notable female in the male-soaked grime scene, this 19-year-old London emcee is often self-deprecating and hilarious yet barbed in a familiar way, which sometimes leads to her being labeled “Feminem.” Yet Lady Sov’s shows are much less interested in barking political satire, as her vitriol runs far less deep on Vertically Challenged. Sov’s rapid fire over air horns, punchy bass and scattered backbeats encapsulated grime’s raw East London subculture. Shortly after being signed by Jay-Z, a U.S. release of Vertically Challenged surfaced in the U.S. censoring Sov’s sass and in some places presenting alternate lyrics. Some of the remixes on the album come off a little poppy on “Ch-Ching” and “A Little Bit of Shh” — but Lady Sov isn’t quite as overrated as some critics allege. Still, when the cocky headstrong teen argues “I got 50 things to say in a cheeky kind of way” on “Ch-Ching”, a lot of it does seem to sound the same after awhile. (Saturday, 8:45-9:20, Vice Stage) –text: Jyn Radakovits
THE STREETS
You can trace Mike Skinner’s rise from the underground U.K. garage scene to the rich and famous rapper known as The Streets by the album art adorning his records. Original Pirate Material’s cover shows the bleak view of a council estate housing project, while Skinner’s self-produced debut drunkenly punctuated a tight working-class flow over stutter-step Casio beats that were anthems to Britain’s “chemical generation.” On this year’s The Hardest Way To Make an Easy Living, he graces the cover next to a Rolls Royce, proud of his trajectory into England’s music elite but wondering if it’s all worth it. Less urgent and more refined than his first two Mercury-nominated albums, Skinner still employs his signature Cockney rhymes and deadpan humor on songs like “When You Wasn’t Famous”, but without a single like “Fit But You Know It” from 2004’s A Grand Don’t Come For Free, the producer is finding that it ain’t so easy at the top. (Saturday, 9:20-10, Vice Stage) –text: Sean Foran
