Amelia Bailey

The Windy City used to be best known for three prominent residents: Al Capone, Oprah and Michael Jordan. Many Chicagoans were content with their reputation for gang violence and the occasional successful sports franchise, but in the early 2000s, Mayor Richard Daley decided the city needed a change of face. The Obama campaign and the  failed 2016 Olympic bid resulted in a massive overhaul of the city’s tourist destinations and transportation systems.  The city is most accessible by train, known as the “El,” and tourists can visit the best of the North, South, and West sides all in one day.

Start: Red Line, Belmont

See: North Halsted, a neighbourhood that never sleeps, is home to Boys’ Town. Sporty visitors should walk to Wrigley Field, where millions of Chicagoans get their hearts broken by the cursed Cubs every year.

Do: Browse the thrift stores on Belmont.

Eat: For over sixty years, Ann Sather’s on Belmont and Clark has been serving cinnamon rolls big enough to feed Jay Cutler. They’re even more delicious a la mode.

Red Line, Fullerton

See: L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Lincoln Park’s residential park, now known as Oz Park. Today the city honours the classic novel with Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy and Toto sculptures.

Do: Hop in a paddle boat at the Lincoln Park Zoo and catch a view of some flamingos and the John Hancock building.

Eat: R. J. Grunts has been serving burgers, shakes, and rock ‘n’ roll to the stars for decades. While definitely touristy, their cookie dough milkshakes can’t be beat. For takeout, head to the original Potbelly Sandwich Works on Lincoln Avenue for the meat lover’s “wreck” and an ice cream sandwich.

Brown Line (Loop), Sedgwick

See: John Belushi, Stephen Colbert, and Tina Fey started their comedy careers on the Second City stage. Chicago’s best comedy club is still serving cheap jokes and cheaper drinks seven nights a week.

Do: Walk over to North Avenue Beach for a game of beach volleyball and a view of the skyline.

Eat: The Green City Market just south of the zoo brings local organic produce and baked goods to the city twice a week, and attracts the best local chefs.

Purple Line, Randolph and Wabash

See: The Art Institute of Chicago has always attracted tourists. The newly completed Modern Wing is a work of art in itself, and is the perfect size for an afternoon visit.

Do: Snap a photo in front of the Cloud Gate, also known as the “Bean,” which reflects the city’s diverse architecture.

Eat: Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip cookies on Randolph are filled with butter, chocolate, and more butter and chocolate. It’s impossible to buy less than a dozen. Gourmands looking to splurge should head to the Loop’s Frontera Grill, Japonais, or Tru.

End: Green Line, 63rd and Cottage Grove:

See: University of Chicago students have named the institution “Where Fun Goes to Die,” but a pleasant place to grab some coffee, walk around, and learn about the Manhattan Project. Researchers conducted the first man-made nuclear reaction underneath what is now the Regenstein Library.

Do: See how close you can get to Barack Obama’s Hyde Park home on 50th and Greenwood. See how many Hyde Parkers you can talk to before hearing about the fact that Obama still owns a house in Hyde Park.

Eat: Grab a sandwich from the Medici bakery and walk to the Point on East 57th Street to watch the sunset.

Other Worthy Stops:

China Town (Red Line, 21st and Cermack), the Hispanic Pilsen neighborhood (Pink Line, 18th Street), and anywhere on the lakefront.

Things not to do:

– Swim in Lake Michigan. Newly elected mayor Rahm Emmanuel lost a finger after swimming in the lake with a wounded hand and contracting gangrene.

– Eat deep dish pizza at Giordano’s. The restaurant is filled to the brim with tourists. Edwardo’s or Pizza Capri offer deep dish as well as traditional thin crust.

– Eat in Viagra triangle, the triangular intersection with a slew of steakhouses, and creepy rich men looking to pick up women at 11 a.m. But then again, if you’re a woman under 25 looking to get some, this might be a good hangout spot.

Alice Walker

For some reason, the high-five has lost a lot of the popularity it once held. I don’t know why this is, since high-fiving is totally awesome. It’s like saying hi to someone and them saying it back to you and you’re so excited to see each other that you embrace a bit (but just with your hands because you don’t really want to hug because they might have bed bugs) and make a noise to signify your excitement. Also, by high-fiving instead of shaking hands, you’re showing society that you’re still young and cool, unlike those suit-wearing fat cats who are always shaking hands and trading oil futures. On top of this, there are many ace variations of the high-five. You can high-five, low-five, etc. But because the high-five has lost some of its cachet, you may not exactly remember how to do it­—so here are some instructions:

First, you need to decide whether the situation or the partner is worthy of a high-five. I think one reason the high-five went out of style was that it was overused and people became tired of it. Although you should feel comfortable high-fiving often, you need to realize there are certain situations that merit the high-five and others that do not.

There are four basic situations where a high-five might be applicable: saying hello, saying goodbye, congratulating someone on something awesome that they did, and when something awesome happens that directly affects both parties. Greeting someone with a high-five is a pretty ace move. You immediately show them that you’re still hip, and it starts off your time together with a bang, literally. (Note: that was a joke and if I had said it in person, we would have high-fived. I’ll return to this in a minute). However, high-fives are tricky greetings because if you throw your arms back to ready yourself, someone might think you’re going in for a hug. This can be either good or bad, depending on the person. The last thing you want is for your potential high-five partner to think you’re overestimating the friendship and conclude that you’re a weirdo.

Saying goodbye with a high-five is a lot like saying hello with one, but you do it when you’re parting ways. It’s an especially good move if you’ve just had a sweet hangout sesh and want to commemorate your time together with some hand-to-hand action. But you should probably avoid going for a high-five if you’ve just had any type of emotional hangout sesh, like breaking up with someone or talking about your feelings. A high-five will just come off as ironic—a move reserved for hipsters.

Third, you can high-five to congratulate someone on something awesome they did. Some examples include passing a test, telling a good joke, or making a great stew. High-fiving when a third-party does something great is not cool. For example, if you were to see a dude at a bar get to first base with a girl, you wouldn’t turn to your friend and say: “That guy is doing great, let’s high-five now.” But if your friend was the one with the girl, you could go up to him and say, “Great job man, let’s high-five now,” and then you would high-five because your friend is the one doing something great. Similarly, if you were the one getting some action, you should be prepared to get a high-five from your friend. You need to be ready because you don’t want to ever leave anybody hanging. This brings up to a common problem: leaving someone hanging. Don’t do it, man. Don’t do it.

Last, there’s the high-five situation when something awesome happens that directly affects both parties. An example of this would be getting a free pizza. Because both parties are directly affected, you could share a high-five to show your excitement. If the awesome thing only affects one party a high-five might be a possibility, but it will often be uncalled for. A slap on the back or a pat on the ass may very well be more appropriate.

At this point, you should have a better understanding of when to high-five. Now let’s turn to a discussion of how to do it. 1. Find a friend. 2. Assess the situation and make sure a high-five is appropriate. 3. Raise your hand and cock it back with your elbow pointing towards your partner and your hand ready near your head. 4. In a swift motion, smack your hand into your partner’s hand. 5. Smile at your partner and nod in agreement that you just did something awesome.

Radiohead announced the relese of their eighth studio album on February 18, only four days after announcing it on their website and jolting its fanbase with excitement.

In contrast to the slick and easy boldness of 2007’s In Rainbows, The King of Limbs brings a raw sound to the listener. Just as the album artist Stanley Donwood describes the images on the cover as the “strange, multi-limbed creatures … of the forest,” the record’s eight tracks meld into a complex, mysterious beast that doesn’t reveal itself easily.  

The opening track, “Bloom,” could put you in a drugged trance, with an eerie piano loop and a distorted syncopated drum under Thom Yorke’s cryptic moaning. The compulsive beat-driving “Lotus Flower” has been the album’s most popular song, with a pre-released music video featuring Yorke dancing hysterically. A guidebook to his supposedly symbolic dance moves on Radiohead’s official website also shows the continuation of Radiohead’s cult following. In “Codex,” Yorke’s tragic lyrics on the innocence of nature sit on top of beautifully muffled piano.  The final track, “Separator,” likely gets its name from the enigmatic splitting and overlapping tracks of Yorke’s vocals surrounded by thick reverb.  

This introspective album pulsates with visceral energy rooted in an environmentally conscious message, blending the unearthly beauty of songs like “Sail to the Moon” with the edge of others like “15 Step” into a self-contained masterpiece that may be Radiohead’s most mature work yet.

It’s hard to listen to a Bright Eyes album without comparing it to what many reviewers and fans call their best, I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning—the folk half of a 2004-2005 double release. The band has continued to embrace a folk sound in the six years since the release of I’m Wide Awake, but The People’s Key combines frontman Conor Oberst’s warbling vocals and guitar with more digitized and pop elements that take the album in a very different direction than the band’s recent releases.

Those unfamiliar with Oberst, either in Bright Eyes or as a solo performer, may be turned off by his singing style, which, along with his introspective and political lyrics, has often been compared to Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, Oberst’s voice works best when accompanied by acoustic guitar and twangy strings, and on The People’s Key, Oberst’s foray back into more rock and electronic music becomes tedious.

On the album, Oberst continues to express his opinions about contemporary social and political issues (“Haile Selassie”) alongside more personal tracks like “Approximate Sunlight,” but the album’s overall feeling is one of detachment and emptiness. Considering that Oberst rarely holds back, the impersonal quality of The People’s Key leaves something to be desired. Especially for those who know Oberst’s work, The People’s Key marks a shift in Bright Eyes’s sound away from the Americana that made Oberst a mainstay of indie rock, and the results are far from satisfying.

shannonheather.com

When talking about the best and brightest of Canadian indie music, Saskatoon rock outfit the Sheepdogs may not be at the top of your list. The band, who has been touring and recording for over five years, has quietly risen in popularity and recently caught the attention of Rolling Stone magazine’s “Do You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star?” contest, in which 16 artists were chosen from a pool of over 1,500 contestants for a March Madness-style competition.  

“They literally phoned me one day and said we’ve chosen you for this contest,” says bassist Ryan Gullen. “A lot of people don’t realize that we didn’t apply for this.”  

The Rolling Stone contest winner will be the first unsigned band to appear on the cover of the magazine, as well as the first cover artist chosen by the public. Following four rounds of Internet voting, the winners will be signed to Atlantic Records, and make their television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Online voting for the first round of nominations ends March 2.  

“If we do move on [in this competition], the opportunity for us is great,” Gullen says. “It will definitely raise our profile in the U.S., and it’s daunting to try and break into the U.S. market.”  

In the wake of the huge success of Canadian bands in the U.S., particularly the recent awarding of the Album of the Year Grammy to Montreal’s Arcade Fire, the Sheepdogs are optimistic about their chances of winning over more fans to Canadian music. “There are so many successful bands [in Canada] that have no opportunity to go the States,” Gullen says. “It can be hard for Canadian music to break out of Canada.”  

Despite hopes of bringing their explosive live shows and 70s-style rock south of the border, the Sheepdogs have also faced their share of negative press. “Online, someone from Pittsburgh said, ‘How can a band from Saskatoon be any good?'” Gullen says. “And people commented back defending us and defending Canadian music, even people who weren’t Canadian themselves.”  

Despite commentary from some skeptics, the band has received positive publicity and approval from the public. “There’s a great music scene in Saskatoon,” Gullen says. “The scene there has helped us develop our live shows, and we’ve gotten a lot of support from people,” at festivals like South by Southwest, Canadian Music Week, and POP Montreal. The band has also received positive attention for their third independent release, 2010’s Learn and Burn, which reached number 21 on the national Earshot Top 200 list.

Touring with Canadian heavyweights the Sadies has also inspired the Sheepdogs to keep things interesting on the road. “[The Sadies] are definitely a band we model ourselves after,” Gullen says. “They’re a hardworking Canadian band that plays good live shows and doesn’t really play mainstream music.” The Sadies were forced to leave the road after guitarist Dallas Good broke his leg, but Gullen is confident that the tour will be successful when it resumes in June.

While the band waits for voters to decide whether they will move on to the next round of competition, they are continuing to tour, bringing their energetic live show on the road. “We want to be a really engaging band,” Gullen says. “We don’t want to put out good records but play mediocre shows.”  

The band is hoping to gain support from Canadians as they move up in the competition, and bring Canadian music to a new market. “We’re always fleshing things out, making it more interesting for us and the audience,” Gullen says. “We’re hoping that [for this contest], Canada will get behind us and support Canadian music.”

The Sheepdogs play   L’Escogriffe on March 6 at 9 p.m.

Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences puts on the ultimate Hollywood production. Everyone is on their best behaviour, wearing their silkiest tuxedoes and fluffiest dresses to attend the world’s most recognized film awards show. Every joke and every move is staged to put on the most memorable show … at least until the next one.  

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards featured well-deserved praise for Natalie Portman and Colin Firth, a questionable host duo of Anne Hathaway and James Franco, the unforgivable omission of Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in Inception, a standing ovation for Billy Crystal, an awkward performance from Celine Dion, an even more awkward performance from Gwyneth Paltrow, a touching tribute to Lena Horne by Halle Berry, and the recognized technical perfection of both Inception and The Social Network.

Steven Spielberg crowned The King’s Speech with the Oscar for Best Picture, topping off the already well-awarded movie with the ultimate prize, giving it the little logo that will make your regular DVD into an all-time classic.  

Natalie Portman’s acceptance speech for Actress in a leading role made me want to give her another award just for being so humble and sweet, especially when she reminisced about her first movie role as a teen in Luc Besson’s Léon. Her haunting and moving performance in Black Swan was deserving of the award. British actor Colin Firth also won Best acting honours for The King’s Speech.  

But the Oscars aren’t just a red carpet and the award for Best Picture; they also deconstruct the filmmaking process. From pre-production to the screenplay, from costumes and makeup to special effects, and from cinematography to editing, the Oscars praise every working hand in the film industry and honour the lesser-known professions in cinema.  

The Social Network and Inception were two major highlights of this year’s must-see movies. Both were innovative, bright, deep, and fantastically well-portrayed by their respective actors, and most importantly were rewarded for their technical achievements. The Social Network won for Editing and Best Oirignal Score, and Inception took home the prize for visual effects and sound editing and mixing.

That said, these mostly technical recognitions might not be enough to tame Inception fans’ incomprehension and anger. Viewers were disappointed by the exclusion of DiCaprio from the category of Actor in a Leading Role, and, most importantly, the scandalous leaving out of Christopher Nolan from the nominees for Best Directing.  

The Hathaway-Franco hosting duo was another questionable decision by the Academy this year. Both are young and sexy, but their lack of chemistry with each other and the audience made it clear that they are definitely not up to par with hosting legend Billy Crystal, who made a cameo at the ceremony and was thanked with a standing ovation from a nostalgic and grateful crowd.  

The attempt to rejuvenate the Oscars ceremony by injecting Hathaway and Franco was more obvious than the actual Botox in Billy Crystal’s cheeks, though. This is understandable considering the need to increase ratings for the telecast, but Hathaway tried too hard to compensate for Franco’s nonchalance, to the point that it looked like he wished he wasn’t there anymore.  

From a Canadian, and Quebecois persepctive, in particular, it is a shame that Incendies, an outstanding film, did not win the award for Foreign Language Film. With any luck, next year’s show won’t get caught up in trying to appeal to a certain demographic and will stick to giving out well-deserved awards to interesting filmmakers.

beyondrobson.com

The CBC called them “one of the 10 Canadian bands destined to break in 2010.” Chart called them “the best of the 2010 Canadian Music Week festival.” Now, Yukon Blonde is gracing stages all over Canada on a cross-country tour, and if the Vancouver band’s infectious pop-rock melodies haven’t caught up to you yet, they’re bound to soon enough.  

Although the band started out in 2005 as a quintet called Alphababy, it wasn’t until they changed their name to Yukon Blonde and downsized to a trio in 2008 that they began to garner recognition in the Canadian music scene.  

“How we got the new name is actually the worst story ever,” jokes Jeff Innes, vocalist and guitarist. “Our old bass player used to work at a coffee shop, and one time he found a grey hair on the counter and told his boss, who said, ‘I’m not grey, I’m Yukon Blonde.'”   

Last year, the trio—Innes, Brendan Scott (guitar, vocals), and Graham Jones (drums, vocal)—released their self-titled LP, an enjoyable array of songs with unforgettable hooks, harmonies, catchy guitar riffs, and a 60s rock flair. The album even earned the band a coveted place on the prestigious Polaris Music Prize long list.  

But it’s Yukon Blonde’s reptuation for rousing live shows that has helped bring them into public consciousness. Performing in different venues enables the band’s music to continually evolve and take on new meaning.   

“I used to hate being on tour—being gone for months at a time and moving to a new place every night,” Innes says. “But now, we all love it. We prefer it. Every town’s different, and brings its own personality to the show.”  

Their current tour began with a string of venues from Vancouver to Winnipeg opening for Montreal’s Plants and Animals. This week, the band will be headlining the East Coast leg of the tour, which includes a stop in Montreal, along with Toronto band the Paint Movement.  

“Being on tour is kind of like going to a new school,” Innes says. “You get put into a room with people you’ve never seen in your life, and you have to make new friends. But last night we partied until five in the morning with Plants and Animals, which was pretty unforgettable.”  

Unlike recording in a studio, live performances also come with the advantage of being able to interact with and get instantaneous feedback from the fans.  

“I have found that the meaning of the music changes as we go to different places,” Innes says. “I feel like I forgot what the original meanings of songs were, because people share what their interpretations are, and even when people start to sing a certain lyric, we often start to sing that lyric instead.”  

Aside from the obvious reasons to enjoy being on tour—the all-night partying, the diehard fans, and the opportunity for sightseeing—Yukon Blonde feels that they can grow musically by listening to and performing alongside other musicians. Just listening to Plants and Animals on tour, Innes says, has given Yukon Blonde new musical inspiration. Critics have tossed the band into a multitude of genres, including folk rock, indie rock, pop, and retro, and many have compared them to artists ranging from T-Rex to David Bowie to Fleetwood Mac to the Shins. But Innes is embracing one label in particular.  

“We keep getting called ‘jangle rock,'” he says, “which is sort of fitting because jangle pop was an 80s revival—that was like the Byrds and R.E.M., so I guess that kind of works for us.”  

So what’s next for the band? Mostly, Yukon Blonde just hopes to keep making and playing music for as long as they possibly can.  

“I think the main thing that keeps us together is the music,” Innes says. “Just playing songs in the van, or figuring out songs together helps a lot. Partying every night doesn’t help—it just makes you crazier. The most important thing is to keep playing songs, keep writing songs, and just be totally good to each other.”  

Yukon Blonde plays with the Paint Movement at Il Motore on Thursday, March 3.