A number of great shows -- in various genres -- hit Milwaukee this week and Blonde Redhead and LCD Soundsystem headline but two of them.
It's been three years since Blonde Redhead -- a trio comprising Italian-born, Canada-raised twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace and singer Kazu Makino -- toured on the heels of its seventh disc.
That Mitchell Froom-produced set -- "23" -- reached a whopping No. 63 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart -- a big achievement for the band.
Now, with a brand new record -- "Penny Sparkle" -- just out and full of pleasingly ethereal, sometimes dance-y pop, Blonde Redhead plays Saturday at Turner Hall Ballroom. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $18.
Opening the show is German electronic musician and producer Pantha Du Prince, whose latest Rough Trade release, "Black Noise," garnered rave reviews for its mix of techno, house, electronica and more.
Meanwhile, over at The Rave, LCD Soundsystem makes what might -- or might not -- be its Milwaukee swan song on Friday.
A couple years back frontman James Murphy said the group was splitting, but later denied it and went on to spend the next two years recording LCD's third record, "This Is Happening."
With that well-reviewed disc -- which mixes dance, electronica and post-punk guitar -- in hand, the group hit the road, playing European summer festivals and now a month of U.S. dates, with more reportedly in the works.
Here, we get a double whammy thanks to the fact that Hot Chip is on the bill, too. The group's fourth studio record, "One Life Stand," came out earlier in the year and a new remix EP arrived last month.
Hot Chip's Al Doyle plays bass in the LCD Soundsystem band, which includes Murphy, Nancy Whang and drummer Pat Mahoney, and for this tour, keyboard player Gavin Russom, guitarist David Scott Stone and percussionist Matt Thornley.
Tickets are $27 and $32.
Some of the other gems of the week include James Lee Stanley Tuesday, Bob Mould Wednesday and James Apollo with Conrad Plymouth Thursday at Shank Hall (sorry, Chuck Prophet was there last night).
Hank Williams III is at The Rave on Saturday.
Don't forget that Milwaukee's own JC Poppe hosts Hip Hop Hates Breast Cancer on Saturday at the Cactus Club at 9:30 p.m. This benefit show has Stricklin, SPEAKeasy & Misen Lync, The Hollowz, AUTOmatic and DJ Bizzon.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
