Pit er Pat is all about space.

The Chicago trio may be a rock band at heart, but its songs don’t rock out in any traditional way. Rather, each song opens up slowly and breathes, letting oxygen between every note. It is precisely this quality that makes the group’s newest album, High Time, such a mysterious and alluring work.

With influences ranging from African music to dub, Fay Davis-Jeffers, Rob Doran, and Butchy Fuego create a sound marked by its starkness. Rather than take the typical power-trio route of making as much noise as possible between three people, Pit er Pat plays to its minimal aesthetic, a quality that Davis-Jeffers agrees is one of the band’s greatest assets.

"I remember Butchy saying to me that he realized that a strength of ours was having a lot of space [in our music]," Davis-Jeffers says. “We were talking about the song ‘Omen’ and how when we play it, it’s so stark…there’s so much room for things to go wrong.

"All of that tension and the slowness make it good, but it’s a little nerve-wracking. He reminded me that it was a strength of ours — that our strength is doing things minimally.

"Really, once we realized that we didn’t need to fill it in, it was stronger that way. It’s easier to hide when you’re making thick noise."

When trying to create the perfect balance of sound and space, it helps to have a space of one’s own to focus, and for High Time, Pit er Pat acquired its own studio to do so. As a result, the recording process was a much more relaxed affair, ensuring that the finished record was the one with which the band was most satisfied.

"We really didn’t overwork anything," Davis-Jeffers says. "We didn’t second guess ourselves. And it allowed us to take the time we needed. We didn’t take off two weeks to do it all in two weeks; it really allowed things to happen on their own time.

"In a studio, things are always so rushed — it’s true. There’s always something that falls behind. Some decision gets made that, if you had a minute, you’d make differently.

"What’s the point of putting something out into the world if it’s not what you want?"

Shining (Norway)

Thursday, October 23

Pillars and Tongues, Remindring @ The Hideout

Somber vocal harmonies emanate from aptly named Pillars and Tongues, an experimental trio whose creations exhibit mystical influences. As Remindring, multi-talented bassist Josh Abrams (Town & Country, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble) lays out looped soundscapes with Emmett Kelly and Frank Rosaly.

Fucked Up @ Reggie's Rock Club

Punk-rock misdirection artists Fucked Up hit Chicago two weeks after the release of The Chemistry of Common Life, the group's follow-up full-length to Hidden World. This time around, Fucked Up's material moves through more variety of atmosphere than your standard punk/hardcore, with peaceful, otherworldly intros and layers and layers of guitar. There's less stop-start fury than Hidden World-more sheets of sound-so it will be interesting to see how this vigorous live act performs.

Coliseum starts North American and Japanese tour dates

Louisville hardcore staples Coliseum begin five weeks of performances today, hitting many cities in the USA as well as a few in Canada and Japan. The group doesn't hit Chicago until Nov. 15, but there's a good chance that it will be your city in the near future.

Friday, October 24

Ears & Eyes Festival @ The Hideout

With three outstanding weekend shows at The Hideout, independent jazz/avant-garde label Ears & Eyes Records celebrates its third annual Ears & Eyes Festival. The performances feature groups on the Ears & Eyes roster as well as other local standouts and friends of the label, and one such outside artist, Brooklyn's Parts & Labor, headlines this first night with a catchy mix of indie rock and electronics.

The six-artist, six-hour show also includes bass-and-drums rock duo Black Ladies and free-rock guitarist Tobin Summerfield, but the biggest highlight might be the collaboration between Sunfish Ensemble guitarist David Daniell and Tortoise cofounder/bassist Doug McCombs.

Voodoo Experience begins @ New Orleans' City Park

With a massive three-day lineup that can only really be explored at thetenthritual.com, New Orleans' Voodoo Experience celebrates its 10^th anniversary. If you're in the Big Easy on Friday, the fest's first day, be sure to catch DeVotchKa, Reverend Horton Heat, The Gutter Twins, Man Man, Extra Action Marching Band, and Andre Williams.

Shining (and other picks) at CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival

There are hundreds of bands playing at the dozens of CMJ venues on Friday, the festival's second-to-last day, but we had to single out Norway's Shining at Cake Shop (and again at Knitting Factor on Saturday). The post-prog jazz-rock experimentalists return to New York, one of three cities on their first US tour earlier this year, and it might be a while before they return. If you're in NYC, do yourself a favor and check them out (and pick up Grindstone on Rune Grammofon).

The night's other highlights include sBACH, An Albatross, Akimbo, Phosphorescent, Sole and the Skyrider Band, and Broken Social Scene.

Keep reading…

This nine-song, thirty-minute carnival is the most complete and true expression of An Albatross ever put to tape.

The band's trademark mixture of 1970s psychedelia, hardcore, modern rock, and synthesized circus music is most realized through the progressive, epic, trippy, metal tunes on this third full-length album. Layers of strings, horns, flute, and organs-and a lengthy spoken-word passage-make this more than your father's An Albatross.

Sao Paulo Underground: The Principle of Intrusive Relationships (Aesthetics)

Led by composer / cornet player Rob Mazurek, the mastermind behind Exploding Star Orchestra, this Brazilian version of Chicago Underground focuses more on rhythm for its second full-length.

The echoing, delayed cornet of Rob Mazurek and the boundary-less beats of drummer Mauricio Takara are augmented by a pair of additional percussionists as well as space-age electronics. This was overlooked last week, but we don't think that you'll mind us adding it seven days late.

Sao Paulo Underground: "Pulmões"
Sao Paulo Underground: \"Pulmões\"

RTX: JJ Got Live RaTX (Drag City)

Led by Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux fame, RTX's second full-length amplifies the band's trademark blend of psychedelic rock and late '80s LA metal. Over the haze and arena-ready riffs, Herrema snarls her way through blistering tracks like opening number "You Should Shut Up" and the swaggering "Birthday Song."

RTX: "Cheap Wine Time"
RTX: \"Cheap Wine Time\"

Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping [Dig] (Polyvinyl)

From lo-fi indie pop to gender-bending glam rock, we've learned to expect the unexpected with Of Montreal, and with its sunny, eclectic dance pop, the group's ninth album has proven no exception.

There are furious hammered dulcimer riffs that give way to hazy psych-pop dissonance and multi-tracked vocal ululations ("Nonpareil of Favor"). There are heartbroken piano ballads ("Touched Something's Hollow") that shift into celebratory horn riffs and twin-lead-guitar arena rock ("An Eluardian Instance"). It's abrupt and jarring, and that's the whole point.

Pit er Pat: High Time (Thrill Jockey)

Poly-genre minimalist three-piece Pit er Pat weaves through indie rock, dub, haunting grooves and much more on High Time, the group's third full-length for Thrill Jockey. Traditional instrumentation is mixed with modern electronics and a rock base, and a talented guest panel of Dylan Ryan (Bronze, Herculaneum), trombonist Nick Broste (Mucca Pazza) and flutist Nate Lepine lends its talents.

Pit er Pat: "Evacuation Days"
Pit er Pat: \"Evacuation Days\"

Night Horse: The Dark Won't Hide You (Tee Pee)

Comprised of members of LA-based epic-metal quintet Ancestors and psych rockers Bluebird, Night Horse presents a Southern-rock-tinged boogie — one that is the perfect soundtrack for downing numerous shots of whiskey and dancing your ass off.

Tim Fite

Friday, October 17

An Albatross, DMBQ @ Abbey Pub

Psychedelic circus-metal stalwarts An Albatross play at Chicago's Abbey Pub in advance of headliners DMBQ, a Japanese throwback rock group that kicks out long-form psych jams. For the record, An Albatross' new album, The An Albatross Family Album, owns it.

Music editor Jamie Ludwig and online editor Scott Morrow will both be in attendance, so be sure heckle them if you see their perty mugs. Avant-garde indie group Pit er Pat also performs.

Against Me! @ The Riviera

Political punks Against Me! rock one of the city's main small-to-medium venues with Ted Leo & The Pharmacists just 17 days before the general election. Our money is on a night full of emotionally charged anthems and political shout outs.

Vast Aire, Qwel @ Subterranean

Former Cannibal Ox rapper Vast Aire continues the solo life in support of his second such album, Deuces Wild, and he gets quality local openers in the forms of MCs Seel Fresh and Qwel. This promises to be one of the month's better hip-hop shows.

Saturday, October 18

Man Man, Tim Fite @ Bottom Lounge

Saturday is Scott's mega day. First, he gets to see peerless folk rapper Tim Fite and manic freak rockers Man Man in the early evening (thank the gods for two performances!). Fite's most recent album, Fair Ain't Fair, focused more on pretty melodies than hardcore rhymes, but it was also borne of depression. Make sure to read our interview with Tim Fite if you missed it.

There are not enough words for the Man Man experience. If you live in Chicago and haven't seen the group's all-white-clothing-and-face-paint routine, you have a pair of opportunities for initiation. Man Man's newest album, Rabbit Habbits, is its finest collection of tunes yet.

Ten-year high-school reunion!

After Tim Fite and Man Man, Scott will whisk himself to his 10-year high-school reunion, where he may or may not shun the party's "no jeans" request. He'll also do his best to get hammered on Shirley Temples.

Genghis Tron @ Beat Kitchen

Scott's night ends with the matchless electro-metal manipulation of Genghis Tron. The trio's incomparable blend of IDM, grind, ambient, and doom sounds is pulled off remarkably well for not having a drummer; instead, drum samples are weighted to sound live. Board Up the House, the group's February full-length, is a serious contender for this year's list of top-ten favorites.

Sunday, October 19

RTX CD release party @ Kuma's Corner

If you're a music fan in Chicago, chances are that you've eaten at Kuma's – where else can you order a burger (animal or vegetable style) named after metal bands? Former Royal Trux vocalist Jennifer Herrema has a CD release show with RTX here this Sunday, providing the tunes to wash down that greasy goodness.