Guitar World recently ranked the “10 Female Guitarists You Should Know” and Chicago’s own red headed force of nature Alex White of White Mystery made the cut.
The magazine listed White’s raw energy and “jangly punk-ass guitar playing” as reasons for inclusion.
If you have ever witnessed hard rocking duo White Mystery live – and the band has given us plenty of chances, logging over 100 shows in 2011 alone – Alex White puts on an electrifying show with her trusty Rickenbacker. No matter the playing position – either writhing on the floor or standing upright – the woman can wail.
Clear your calendars come early January. Chicago’s dead-of-winter, multi-venue festival, Tomorrow Never Knows, is back for its eighth year.
The event, which takes place from Wednesday, January 5, through Sunday, January 11, goes down at a number of top Chicago venues including Lincoln Hall, Schubas, Metro, Smart Bar and the Hideout.
The initial lineup as always brings together some excellent indie talent from both the national and local level. At a glance, highlights include moody folk rockers The Walkmen (who will play at the Metro on Saturday, January 14), electro-pop duo Chairlift and alt-rockers Grouplove.
Three who-knew-the-Sharks-were-going-to-be-the-weak-link-in-my-world-of-sports-fandom reasons to just go to Lincoln Hall and do the following already…
1. First, I’ll try my hand at coming up with something original for Portland’s The Helio Sequence. They are from Portland. You’ll love their Northwest indie sound. You know, swirling guitars, chiming at times, kind of poppy. It’s definitely easy to digest and quite ready for a car commercial, which, what with all the hipster stuff finding its way into commercials recently, isn’t even a diss. Not at all.
Well, the good people at Lincoln Hall and Schubas, who are spearheading the whole sha-bang, have put together this really awesome mixtape featuring a great number of acts participating in the event from locals A Lull and In Tall Buildings to national buzzbands such as The Besnard Lakes and Twin Shadow.
TMK 2011 kicks off next Wednesday with The Helio Sequence at Lincoln Hall and Magic Kids at Schubas. Check out the schedule here, and listen to the mixtape after the jump.
It’s back! Chicago’s top winter music festival, Tomorrow Never Knows returns for its seventh year from January 12 – January 16, 2011. TNK has become one of Chicago’s most anticipated musical events because not only is it in a dead time, musically and weather-wise, but it serves up the best of both national and local acts.
UPDATE: There’s been a few updates to the lineup from the TNK 2011 Facebook page. First off, Oberhofer, Cloud Nothings and Jaill have been added to the Handsome Furs show on Saturday, January 15, at Schubas. Bone and Bell will open for Markéta Irglová on Thursday, Januar 13, at Schubas. Local indie rockers Lionlimb have been added to the S. Carey show on Sunday, January 16, at Schubas, and Sun Airway will support The Helio Sequence at Lincoln Hall on Wednesday, January 12. You can find the complete, updated lineup after the jump.
Chicago natives, Secret Colours, are bringing the 70’s sound back to this decade with their self-titled debut. The band finds a way to make the classic sounds of Pink Floyd or The Doors approachable in this day and age and breathes some life into the 2010 stoner rock scene.
Some bands find it a daunting and intimidating task covering arguably the greatest rock band of all time, The Beatles. But Chicago’s ’60s-influenced psychedelic rockers Secret Colours stood up to the challenge.
Having just released a new self-titled album just last week, which you can currently purchase right now at Secretcolours.bandcamp.com/album/secret-colours, the band on Tuesday released a bonus track that is a cover of the Beatles classic “Tomorrow Never Knows” from their 1966 release Revolver.
Secret Colours trade in some of the original’s rhythmic center and swirling leslie speaker cabinet flourishes for a more shoegaze approach featuring drifting guitars and droning vocals. You can listen to the track above, or download it for free at Secretcolours.bandcamp.com/track/tomorrow-never-knows.
Be sure to catch Secret Colours this weekend at the Beat Kitchen for their record release show with Geronimo and Panda Riot.
Clear your calendars come early January. Chicago’s dead-of-winter, multi-venue festival, 
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