Bill Callahan @ BCoPA in 2011 (more by John Yingling)

Bill Callahan has announced that he'll be embarking on his first U.S. tour since the summer of 2011 next month. That tour features support from Flat Foot, and includes a performance at the Garfield Park Conservatory on May 6. Advance tickets for the Chicago show are on sale now. If you can't wait that long to get your Bill Callahan fix, Apocalypse: A Bill Callahan Tour Film will be making its Chicago debut when it screens at The Society for the Arts next Friday, April 19. The film is "a collection of live performances and a glimpse of the road from Bill Callahan's American leg of the 2011 Apocalypse tour." Advance tickets for the screening are also on sale now.

All Bill Callahan dates and a couple of clips from the tour documentary are below...

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A couple of stills from Parallax Sounds

The documentary Parallax Sounds has finally been completed and will make its Chicago premiere this month with a two-night stand the Gene Siskel Film Center on November 16 & 17. Parallax Sounds has been in production for over a year and was successfully funded through Kickstarter in August of 2011. Advance tickets for the two screenings are on sale now.

The documentary interviews a cast of influential Chicago musicians including Steve Albini, Damon Locks, Ken Vandermark, and Ian Williams. Chicago's architecture is prominently displayed throughout the film. The project was directed by Italian film maker Augosto Contento, who previously directed two others.

Parallax Sounds was the center of a number of promotional events last year. The Hideout hosted a fundraiser for the film and showed attendees a preview of the animated intro sequence. A rough cut of the film was later screened at CIMMfest, and Ken Vadermark, who also composed the film's soundtrack, played to an excerpt at The Chicago Cultural Center.

In related news, Steve Albini will be interviewed by Tom Scharpling, Daniel Ralston, and Maggie Serota as part of The Low Times' first-ever live show at the Hideout on January 17. Advance tickets are on sale, and as the event is part of Tomorrow Never Knows 2013, a 5-day pass will also get you in the door.

Watch a few clips from Parallax Sounds below.

Continue reading "'Parallax Sounds' is screening at the Gene Siskel Film Center this month"

70's cult rocker Rodriguez is set to visit Chicago on September 20 for a performance at Lincoln Hall. Advance tickets to see the Detroit-based musician live are on sale now.

Light in the Attic Records recently reissued both of Rodriguez' albums -- 1970's Cold Fact, '71's Coming from Reality -- which you can check out via Spotify. His documentary, Searching for Sugar Man, is coming to U.S. theaters starting on July 27. It will begin screening in New York and Los Angeles, and might even be in Chicago theaters by the time he plays here.

Check out a trailer for Searching for Sugar Man and other live videos below...

Continue reading "Rodriguez playing Lincoln Hall; documentary 'Searching for Sugar Man' coming to US theaters"

The Jay Reatard documentary Better Than Something is currently screening throughout the country and will be shown TWICE at Chicago's Public Works on May 5. Advance tickets for both the early and late showings are on sale. As BV's Bill Pearis points out, Better Than Something was originally intended to be a short film to help promote Jay's final album Watch Me Fall. After his untimely death in 2010, directors Ian Markiewicz and Alex Hammond turned the short into a feature-length film. Check out the film's trailer below...

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