Radio Free Chicago

You can pick your friends...

You can pick your friends...

Madchester Monday

Wrapping up their month-long Monday residency, Andrew Morgan and Kevin Tihista present "Man Oh Manchester" tonight at Schuba's. It's a joint gig from the two local singer/songwriters featuring an orgy of covers from a variety of Mancunian acts, including the Smiths and Oasis. Smallwire opens the show which begins at 8pm. Admission is a bargain at only $6 (or about 4 quid), but an order of bangers and mash will cost you extra. Cheers!

Schubas is located at 3159 N. Southport

Breaking the Sonotheque dress code...

Breaking the Sonotheque dress code... Frank and John Navin of The Aluminum Group

Weekend Music Outlook

Overall, things seem a bit slow this week in the local music scene (is everyone at Sundance or something?) , but there are a couple of notable shows this weekend featuring homegrown talent you might want to check out...especially if you're a fan of mellow indie-pop.

Saturday night, local duo Aluminum Group will be performing a hybrid DJ/live set at Sonotheque. The brothers Navin will be showcasing some of their own work, as well as spinning some of their personal favorites. Doors open at 9pm.

On Sunday, L'altra will be peforming at the Empty Bottle in support of their new Hefty release Different Days , which oddly enough, Urb magazine called "the perfect soundtrack for a late Sunday night." San Diego's Tristeza headlines...AND, as as an added bonus to get your arse out late on a Sunday, superstar deejays Yves St. Leroc and Coco Leroc will be spinning music in-between sets, with a dance party throwdown erupting at the show's conclusion. The mayhem starts at 9:3op, admission is only $8.

Jazz makes you happy

Jazz makes you happy

Live Jazz tonight at Rodan

Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise, Isotope 217) will be performing a set of live jazz tonight at the uber hip Asian-fusion restaurant/lounge bar Rodan. Parker will be accompanied by Nori Tanaka on drums and Jason Ajemian on bass. Visuals will be provided by Selina Trepp. Rodan is located at 1530 N. Milwaukee, right next to Reckless. (If you're hungry, check out the grilled salmon in curry sauce...it's delicious)

Local Media Critique: WLUW-FM

After several months of deliberation and numerous rewrites, I've finally completed my analysis and critique of one of the city's most popular community radio stations, WLUW-FM (88.7).

The project came about after I was asked to leave the organization last April (2004) after almost four years of dedicated volunteer service. Besides being abruptly terminated from the organization without warning or appeal, I also was refused any type of written documentation explaining exactly how and why the verdict was reached. Initially, I tried to get some press coverage about my situation, but my efforts were futile. Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands and proceeded to document the entire story myself and post it to the Internet.

So, here it is...the story of how I was "fired" from a community radio station and my inside analysis of the behind the scenes operations at Chicago's Independent Community Radio:

www.fearchannel.blogspot.com

(also, don't forget to check out the "Prologue" and "Links" sections in the right hand column for additional coverage)

You need to do some

You need to do some record shopping...

New Releases Tuesday (1/25)...best in months!

New releases Tuesday returns with a vengence this week, boasting the largest line-up of new releases in over two months. Scrape up some cash and head directly to your favorite record store...

Local labels and artists:

Jeff Parker - The Relatives (Thrill Jockey)
Archer Prewitt - Wilderness (Thrill Jockey)
Bonnie Prince Billy and Matt Sweeny - Superwolf (Drag City)
Six Organs of Admittance - School of the Flower (Drag City)
Bettie Serveert - Attagirl (Minty Fresh)
Viva Voce - Lovers Lead the Way! (Minty Fresh)
L'altra - Different Days (Hefty)

Other Essentials:

Stereo Total - Do the Bambi (Kill Rock Stars)
Low - The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)
Lou Barlow - Emoh (Merge)
M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute)
Erasure - Nightbird (Mute)
The Chemical Brothers - Push the Button (Astralwerks)
Graham Coxon - Happiness in Magazines (Astralwerks)
...Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart (Interscope)
Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Run (Saddle Creek)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake it's Morning (Saddle Creek)
Twilight Singers - She Loves You (Birdman)
Tim Booth - Bone (Koch)
Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down (Righteous Babe)

Antisocial DJ tonight (1/24) at Rodan

This just in from the RFC newsroom...

The Chicago Reader's Liz Armstrong, best known for her infamous "Chicago Antisocial" column, will be spinning tonight at Rodan. Word on the street is that she just scored a big lot of vintage 1980s rap records from a local thrift store...so you can probably expect to hear some old school bangers tonight from the likes of Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J (Forget Oreos...eat Cool J cookies!), Run DMC, and who knows...maybe even some Fat Boys. Plus, you'll be able enjoy the sonic wonder of those vintage 808 beats with the classic flavor of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for only $2 a piece. Dyn-o-mite!

Rodan is located at 1530 N. Milwaukee

Shameless Plug

This Sunday, I'll be manning the turntables at Lava Lounge from 11pm to midnight as the guest DJ for B.Y.O. Music night. Every Sunday night at Lava, erstwhile hosts DJ Jam Sandwich and Rotten Milk (as seen in this week's "Chicago Antisocial" column in the Reader) invite aspiring DJs to bring their own records and bliss out at the bar's DJ booth for 20-30 min. It's sort of like "open mic night" for DJs...except that instead of 1 or 2 songs, everyone who signs up gets to play for about 20 minutes. However, the hosts recommend getting to the bar early as slots quickly fill up. Here's the official info:

B.Y.O. Music@ Lava Lounge
859 N. Damen ave.
Sundays, 8 pm - 2 am
21 and up, no cover
guest DJs every week from 11p-mid

Super Villain invades Sonotheque

I have no idea whether the new Scion is a complete piece of shit, or whether it's a reliable, yet stylish, economy car...but I've got to hand it to their marketing department. They've certainly caught the attention of this single, under-30 urban dweller with moderate disposable income.

After sponsoring a free show featuring legendary hip-hop artists Grandmaster Flash and Biz Markie last month at Sonotheque, the Scion marketing machine is back to present one of the hottest hip-hop artists of the moment, MF Doom (aka "The Super Villain"). Hot off his recent solo effort, Mmm...Food and the universally acclaimed Madvillain project with producer Madlib, Doom will be headlining a night of live DJs at Sonotheque tonight. Opening on the decks will be LA's DJ Hier and Chicago's The Twillite Tone and Tone B. Nimble.

Once an unsung hero known only to fans of underground hip-hop, Doom is now the toast of the entire underground music scene (and beyond?) thanks to all of the press coverage and critical praise for 2004's Supervillainy by Madvillain. Doom has been paying his dues for years and certainly deserves every ounce of the fame that he’s finally recieved, but unfortunately this means you'll probably have to secure your spot at Sonotheque early to a catch a glimpse of this villain in action…

The MF Doom show is tonight (1/20) at Sonotheque, 1444 West Chicago. Festivities begin at 9pm, must be 21+ to attend. Admission is free, but you also MUST sign up on the Scion website to gain entry:

http://www.scion.com/metro/