Woody Guthrie, despite his aw-shucks Okie persona, was no fool. He knew how the fame game worked -- it hasn't changed much, even since his 1940s folksinging heyday -- and he seemed to know exactly what would happen to his own musical legacy.

"The hungrier you get up here in New York, the more they run your picture," Guthrie wrote to his younger sister in 1949, inserting a photo of himself from The New York Times. "After you starve clean to the rim of death they call you a professional, and after you die off they call you a great genius."

Various Artists, "Cruel Summer" (G.O.O.D.) -- A year and a half ago, Kanye West trotted the roster of his G.O.O.D. Music record label across a Texas stage in the middle of the night, like a musical fashion show. Then we waited for the compilation.

And waited. It was delayed, and delayed again.

Finally, on Tuesday (and after a handful of previews and a couple of online leaks), "Cruel Summer," Kanye's latest collection from his boutique rap label is due.

Worth the wait? Yes and no.

The Sea & Cake, "Runner" (Thrill Jockey) -- The Sea & Cake is the sound of 21st-century Chicago. In a metropolis slowly but surely evolving beyond its big-shouldered blues legacy, this artful, deceptively easygoing quartet remains a big tent of influences (plus rich collaborative resumés) while remaining relentlessly consistent; regardless of how they may color their edges, the Sea & Cake always sound like themselves: crisp, clean, humble, utterly modern. Technically, yes, they're post-rock, but without the sonic cubism common to bands usually saddled with that hyphen. "Runner," their ninth full-length (and a swift follow-up to last year's expressive EP, "The Moonlight Butterfly"), is another cool lake breeze -- 10 more songs worthy of careful listening (each player is vital, inextricable, wholly present in the mix) or just as easily employed as zone-out music on the L. Supple grooves, subtle electronics, guitar artistry, singer Sam Prekop's long, sweet sighs -- the city's perfect band.
In concert: The Sea & Cake is scheduled Oct. 29 at City Winery.

Summer music festivals in Chicago are often maddeningly eclectic and increasingly
electronic. This year, though, some of the best moments at the biggies were when a rare
rock band hit the stage, such as at the Pitchfork Music Festival (Ty Segall, Wild Flag)
and Lollapalooza (Jack White, Black Sabbath, the Black Keys).

Now the transformation of Chicago's Riot Fest from a late-autumnal, five-day club haunt into a last-week-o'-
summer outdoor festival stabs a sharp period on the end of the season by blaring all rock and roll, all the time. Many shades of it, to be sure, but this new expansion brings welcome focus to a city that's been getting more attention for its EDM roots than its considerable rock and punk heritage.

The weather agreed. After an opening night (with Neon Trees, the Offspring and more) indoors at the Congress Theater, the eighth annual Riot Fest stepped outside for the first time on Saturday and Sunday into sunny, cool Humboldt Park, complete with four stages and carnival rides.

Before we get too deeply into a story about musician and rock legend John Cale, I must pass along his (wha?) hipster-worthy hip-hop recommendations.

"The gangster stuff I can take or leave, and the misogyny, but there's a lot of funny stuff out there that's really good," Cale says in his hoarse Welsh brogue. "There's a group called Not the 1's with a song called 'You Dress Like an Asshole,' all about fashionistas. Ching Bling in Texas, he's good. One of his songs is 'They Can't Deport Us All.' There's a guy named Kokane, out of Snoop's crew. He's the most musical of them. He has three voices when he does a track -- one high sweet falsetto, one low growly one and one in the middle, where he talks. He's got a wicked sense of humor. He has a song called 'When It Rains It Pours,' about Katrina. Really gorgeous, gospelly stuff."

Not exactly where you think a conversation with the Velvet Underground's founding cellist would go, right?

Last weekend's concerts by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band set an attendance record at Wrigley Field. (Read our review.)

The Boss packed 84,218 fans into the ballpark during his two shows, Sept. 7-8.

Paul McCartney's two-night stand in August 2011 held the previous record with 83,998.

Occupy Wall Street didn't produce much potent protest music, but in just a couple days of Chicago's teachers strike at least one rapper has enshrined the debate in song.

It's not bad, either. "Chicago Teacher," by Chicago-native hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz, patiently lays out the points of the dispute between the Chicago Teachers Union and the city. A chorus of "Homey, I was taught by a Chicago teacher!" doesn't come off nearly as hokey as it looks here in print, and they're clearly on the side of the teachers: "Rahm's a fake pretender with a corporate agenda / neoliberal offender, of course you offend us!"

Here's the song (free!), lyrics (complete with Chief Keef reference!) and more below ...

Another year, another expansion of Chicago's Riot Fest.

Last year the annual punk and indie-rock festival had grown to five venues over five days. They'd even expanded outside the city, launching the first Riot Fest in Philadelphia.

For this year's eighth event, Riot Fest is a three-day blowout -- the first night in the Congress Theater, the second and third days outdoors in Humboldt Park.

"We want to be the last big thing people remember from the summer," says co-promoter Sean McKeough.

McKeough and Riot Fest founder Michael Petryshyn can't be accused of lacking good ol' DIY ambition. The bigger dreams have meant bigger acts, and this year's lineup includes Iggy & the Stooges, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, the Offspring, Rise Against, the Descendents, Dropkick Murphys and many more.

Billy Corgan's schedule the rest of this week looks like this:

-- Thursday: Open new tea shop in North Shore suburb
-- Friday: Attend matches by his wrestling team, Resistance Pro
-- Saturday: Start rehearsals for Smashing Pumpkins tour

"There's my life," Corgan told the Sun-Times this week, chuckling. "Maybe not magical but always interesting."

The tea shop is Corgan's latest endeavor in a career full of Neil Young-esque left turns, on and off stage. It's an idea he said he's had for a decade, one that was announced almost a year ago and is finally budding with Thursday's grand opening of Madame Zuzu's Tea House, a former post office storefront at 582 Roger Williams Ave. in Highland Park.

UPDATE: The mayor's office actually responded to this news, assuring us that Rahm does not, in fact, like Nickelback.

The first Chicago teachers strike in a quarter century began just yesterday but already is getting downright dirty.

To wit: this protest sign captured and posted on Twitter ...