Music Search
773-281-4444Chance the Rapper, Sir Michael Rocks
Sat., May 25, 7 p.m. and Sun., May 26, 7 p.m.Hip-Hop
When the last book in the Harry Potter series came out in summer 2007, a friend started habitually pointing out people reading it in public, and it seemed like we couldn’t get on a train without seeing one or two. Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing the same thing for Acid Rap, the new second mixtape from 20-year-old Chatham MC Chancelor Bennett, aka Chance the Rapper—I’ve heard it leaking out of strangers’ headphones on the streets and on the el so often that I’m beginning to believe that Chance is as ubiquitous as Harry. It’s easy to get sucked into Acid Rap and hard to stop playing it once you’re hooked—it’s a well-polished mixtape that feels like a proper album, and it appeals to hip-hop heads and rap philistines alike with its mix of mature introspection and drug-fueled party anthems. There are a lot of great tracks on Acid Rap, but “Chain Smoker” may best demonstrate Chance’s crossover potential. Its smooth, poppy instrumental track combines a wistfully soulful synth melody, processed and edited vocal samples, and a rattling dance beat, which together have a loose, open-ended feel that allows him to switch smoothly between nasal rapping and sweet singing; it’s so life-affirming that even his lyrics, which address fears about his mortality, sound irrepressible. Sometimes when these songs get stuck in my head, I catch myself mimicking Chance’s high-energy dancing—and I don’t care who sees me. —Leor Galil Sir Michael Rocks opens.
Stirrup
Sun., May 26, 10 p.m.Jazz
This scrappy instrumental trio was born in 2009 as the rhythm section of the Horse’s Ha, the elegant folk-rock group fronted by Janet Bean and Jim Elkington. As Stirrup, though, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, bassist Nick Macri, and drummer Charles Rumback have a sound of their own. On their debut album, Sewn (482 Music), hypnotic, unfussily pretty melodies unfold, roil, and mutate over churning ostinatos and shuffling, shape-shifting beats; everyone contributes at least one tune, though Lonberg-Holm wrote the majority. He plays tenor guitar as well as effects-smeared cello, and unsurprisingly he’s the focal point; his extended, lyrical solos hit with the power of psych-rock guitar and tickle the ear with microtonal glissandos a la Arabic or Indian music. Macri generally holds down the songs’ structures, taking only the occasional motific solo, and Rumback toys with the rhythms, teasing out swing patterns, explosive rolls, and skittery flourishes. Stirrup’s easygoing melodic development and loose interactivity obviously matter more to these guys than questions of technique or genre—though there’s a lot to swallow in this music, it all goes down like honey. —Peter Margasak
$7 suggested donation
Anti-Flag, Make Do & Mend, Hostage Calm, World's Scariest Police Chases
Sun., May 26, 7:30 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
Slow, Pioneers!; Sputnik Kaputnik & the Technical Manuals; Power Haunts
Sun., May 26, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
