Chris Catania saw Sparklehorse transcend nasty weather and nastier flu to deliver a transcendent set of American Gothic. What’s your excuse?

M. Ward’s recent Chicago gig saw the crowd becoming much more active participants in the performance. Chris Catania reports from the frontlines.

Stage blood, punk rock, a group jam on a John Lennon X-mas song, angular sonics, three top-notch Chicago bands - what more could Chris Catania have asked for this holiday season?

Chris Catania takes in a triple bill of bubbling-under indie talent, headlined by the flamboyant pop of Bon Savants , and leaves the Chicago venue mightily impressed.

Chris Catania takes in a Chicago concert by Patrice Pike, contestant on the recent “Rock Star Supernova” show, and he ends up seeing a serious performer, and not a one-trick pony, whose career may have been harmed, rather than helped, by reality television exposure.

The recent Penguin Classics edition of Upton Sinclair’s tale of worker exploitation in the beef industry is both a labor classic and the perfect holiday gift for your slacker cousin, says Carl F Gauze.

Pessimism & Satire (Fearless). Review by Addam Donnelly.

The whirlwind electro-pop of Hot Chip, complete with giant glasses and walls of keyboards, makes a convert of our very own Chris Catania. The opening bands weren’t half bad either.

Speckly (Aum Fidelity). Review by Bob Pomeroy.

Scott Adams travelled all the way to Chicago to scope out the veteran indie label’s birthday. And with Big Black , Scratch Acid and the Didjits , amongst other label mainstays, reforming just for the event, there was no way he would leave disappointed.

Room Service (Polydor/Universal). Review by Andrew Ellis.

Elements of Style, Exercises in Surprise (Atavistic). Review by Aaron Shaul.

It’s All Around You (Thrill Jockey). Review by Aaron Shaul.

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Ben Varkentine says the only way this book, subtitled “Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration and All That Jazz,” would be a greater experience is if it came with an accompanying CD of Kander & Ebb’s greatest creations. Yeah, he liked this one a little bit.

The Tyrades (Broken Rekids). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Everyone Deserves Music (Boo Boo Wax). Review by Henry “Hank” McCoy.

Epica (Sanctuary). Review by Daniel Mitchell.

An Automotive (Six Gun Lover). Review by Troy Jewell.

Cooking With Lasers (TVT). Review by Bettie Lou Vegas.