Jens Lekman, Prefuse 73, Tight Phantomz, Z-Trip

JENS LEKMAN
Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman has been around for several years but garnered international fame with his 2007 masterpiece, Night Falls Over Kortedala, that’s full of personal ballads, samples, Jonathan Richman-influenced vocals, and sweeping melodies. He first appeared on people’s radar when his song “Black Cab” became an instant hit. A couple of years ago, he burned out and decided to take a break from music. He even got a day job working in a bingo hall, but quit after a couple of days when he thankfully realized that music was his true calling. Since then, he’s moved to Australia and even contracted swine flu while on tour in South America over the summer. Lekman’s live shows are as unpredictable as his own life. Sometimes he performs with an all-female backing group, other times it’s a capella. His New Year’s Eve show in Chicago this month will certainly be special, especially since he’s not touring anywhere else. (Appearing at Empty Bottle on December 31) –text: Garin Pirnia

PREFUSE 73
For lovers of hip-hop who also like their vocals set to groovy, experimental music, Prefuse 73 is quite a familiar name. As one of the many names that Guillermo Scott Herren records under (in addition to Savath & Savalas, Diamond Watch Wrists, Delarosa and Asora, and Piano Overlord), Prefuse 73’s latest LP, Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian, was released this past April. Not one for long attention spans, over a third of the songs on the record are less than a minute long and most tracks are instrumental. The majority of touring that Prefuse has done this past year was abroad, so fans won’t want to miss this rare chance to see Herren & Co. opening for Umphrey’s McGee on New Year’s Eve. If Prefuse gets enough love this time, perhaps we’ll get a chance to see Herren in the new year without the accompanying 3-plus hour-long jam fest. (Appearing with Umphrey’s McGee at the Aragon on December 31) –text: Justine Reisinger

TIGHT PHANTOMZ
Call it what you will — a rejuvenation, a renaissance, a refocusing — but Chicago’s Tight Phantomz has undergone a stylistic awakening since the release of 2005’s Crazy When Wet. Back then, frontman Mike Lust barreled through his ’70s-style glam-rock tunes with a full-on cucumber-in-the-pants swagger. But the departure of his bandmates in 2006 provided just the opportunity that Lust needed to redirect his fledgling outfit and draw upon a wider array of influences. The result was 2008’s Silk Prison, a record that challenges listeners to pinpoint its genre while encapsulating Lust’s love of the long-player. It’s an album vast in its scope, with rich Midwestern soundscapes that parallel his home city’s blue collar grit and white collar extravagance. It’s an LP produced at his personal studio and passed out at shows with an unabashed understanding of the gravity of its era. At the very least, it’s a record that sounds refreshed — from a man not at all trying to be refreshing. (Appearing at Quenchers on December 31) –text: Derek Wright–photo: Jeremy Bolen

Z-TRIP
For those searching for some mash-up dance fun but can’t wait until Girl Talk’s New Year’s Eve show at the Congress Theater, invest in the Umphrey’s McGee show on December 30 with opener Z-Trip. Known by some as the “godfather of mash-ups,” Z-Trip came on the national scene in 2001 with Uneasy Listening and gathered more attention with 2005’s Shifting Gears. Zach Sciacca consistently sells out shows around the globe and will undoubtedly get the Umphrey’s crowd in the mood to dance all night long (with less annoying high school-aged fans in dayglow clothing than will be found at his more famous counterpart’s show at the Congress the following night). No stranger to politics, Obama’s campaign and election inspired Z-Trip to release Party for Change in 2008 followed up by Victory Lap in 2009. Simply put, Z-Trip is better than Girl Talk…with less annoying fans. (Appearing with Umphrey’s McGee at the Aragon on December 30) –text: Justine Reisinger

Z-Trip

There’s the term DJ, it covers a big field, but to me it’s about, ‘are you a button pusher or are you up there furthering the art?’

story by Noah Levine

With battle-tested turntablist abilities, a prodigious record collection and an unmatched vision for blending motley musical selections into on-the-spot mash-ups and party-rocking sets, Z-Trip is one of the most successful hip hop DJs around. Despite a resume that includes headlining tours around the world, playing festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza and even opening for the likes of Ben Harper, De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan and The Rolling Stones, he’s still regularly asked to play at people’s weddings.

Z-Trip laughs this off, but admits the requests are proof that many people don’t understand or appreciate the artistry involved in composing and mixing an outstanding DJ set.

“It’s just funny. I don’t knock people for asking. It”s flattering,” he said while recently talking with Chicago Innerview. “At some point you’d think people would see a DJ as more of an artist, but I don’t think they ever will fully grasp it.” Still, he says he’s happy as long as a few people do appreciate what he does with turntables and vinyl.

Z-Trip gained notoriety at the time Internet mash-ups were the latest thing, and his style of layering music of any style from any era fit right in. While many into the mash-ups do their work on a computer, Z-Trip does his live with vinyl as a natural part of a lengthy set. But he’s not sure the general public thinks what he does is any different than a wedding DJ with mp3s and a laptop.

“There’s the term DJ, it covers a big field, but to me it’s about, ‘are you a button pusher or are you up there furthering the art?’” he said.

Z-Trip is certainly about the latter, and his style is rooted in the old school hip hop notion that a party is there to be rocked. However, he finds surprising ways to do this, using his endless imagination to find the perfect way to blend incongruous pairings like Mobb Deep and The Steve Miller Band, or Afrika Bambaata, Cyndi Lauper and Ratt. To Z-Trip, these combinations make easy sense as he surrounds himself with music and instinctively detects how to connect songs.

“I’d heard people noodling around with things, but I always felt that no one really did it the way I want to hear it,” he said. “In my head it was always going on. It’s sort of like you have that sampling ear and those ears are always on first. The whole point is to do what I want to do.”

He did just that when he released the underground mixtape classic Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 in 2001 alongside longtime partner DJ P. The set’s mash-up style and use of off-the-wall selections got him noticed and signed to Hollywood Records. For several years he had the label’s lawyers working overtime searching for a way to commercially release a similar mix, but they never got all the clearances to use the tracks he wanted.

Tired of waiting, Z-Trip decided to show off other talents and headed into the studio to record an artist album. Working with an impressive cast of guest MCs including Chuck D, Murs, Mystic and Lyrics Born, he dropped Shifting Gears to critical acclaim earlier this year. Adhering to a classic hip hop aesthetic, the album succeeds where many DJs have failed.

Z-Trip said he’s always kept quietly busy in the studio and is behind a number of acclaimed remixes. Licensing issues force his commercial releases to forsake the mixtape, but Z-Trip makes sure people can hear where he came from. He posts numerous mixes on his Web site, including the notable Anti-War Mix that finds Z-Trip constructing a set just to make a political statement from the DJ booth.

He’d like to see a lot more DJs dig deeper into the art’s possibilities instead of just trying to sound cool by playing “Back in Black” like every other DJ these days. “I’d love to see people pushing the boundaries a little bit more,” he said. “It’s the best when someone does it. It comes across like gangbusters.”

Z-Trip :: as part of the Nike “Run Hit Wonder” race with The Donnas, Fountains of Wayne and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts :: Grant Park :: Sept. 13.