Radio Free Chicago

Damn you early birds!!

Despite two large festivals last month, it doesn't appear that Chicago music fans have lost their appetite for live music. With the indoor concert season back in full force in September, four major shows have already sold out well over a month ahead of time.

Most recently, it was announced that Sufjan Stevens' home state performance of ...Illinoize at Metro (9/16) sold out, but procrastinating fans don't fret...another show has been added at Metro for Saturday, the 17th. Of course, if you really want to get a true Illinois experience, you can also take a short road trip downstate on the 15th to see Stevens at the Canopy Club in Urbana. Perhaps he and his band will don those U of I cheerleader outfits from the press photo for this show?

And here's a free tip for Stevens' publicist:...because of the whole cover art debacle, what about a quick promo concert in front of the Superman statue in beautiful Metropolis, IL? (just 3 1/2 hours south of Champaign!) Sure the tour schedule is booked solid and no one in the town would know who fuck Sufjan is...but hey, it would make for some great pictures or documentary fodder.

Also joining Sufjan on the sold-out show list this week is Beck. Both of his shows at the Riviera (9/20-21) are now sold out, barely a week after they were announced. Also at the Riv, The Arcade Fire show on September 29 sold out last week, which wasn't too much of a shock after seeing the huge crowd they pulled at Lollapalooza. What was a bit of a surprise was seeing that The National and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have already sold out their 9/23 gig at Schubas. First, Schubas isn't really the type of place that usually sells out shows over a month ahead of time, and second, I didn't realize these bands had become such indie-rock phenoms. However, fans of The National aren't completely out of luck, an early show at 7pm (without Clap Your Hands...) has been added.

Sigur Ros, coming to the

Sigur Ros, coming to the Chicago Theatre 9/21

New Releases Tuesday (8/16)

Sigur Ros - Sæglópur (Geffen) First domestic single from the Icelandic band's forthcoming album, Takk, due out on September 13. Don't go looking for this on a 45 or CD single, this is a download-only release available at such sites as iTunes. Preview the track for free here.

New to the band?? Download some of their older material for free via the band's website.

Idlewild - Warnings/Promises (Capitol)
This was supposed to be available domestically today, but as Shivy Shiv from woxy.com points out, Amazon now lists the release date as September 6? Couldn't find any news about its delay, but here's what Captiol says about the new album: Warnings/Promises is the band's first album to be written with a new lineup featuring bassist Gavin Fox and longtime touring guitarist Allan Stewart, and its songs, although clearly coming from Idlewild, have become broader, richer and more ambitious. Perhaps not a coincidence, Sept. 6 is also when Idlewild kicks off their U.S. tour, which will be making a stop at Metro on Sept. 22.

Malcom Middleton - Into the Woods (Chemikal Underground)
Speaking of Scottish rockers...this is the second solo album from the frontman of Arab Strap. Not recommended if you like happy, upbeat music.

ALSO...

Cowboy Junkies - Early 21st Century Blues (Zoe)
Madness - The Dangermen Sessions, Vol. 1 (V2)
The Ramones - Weird Tales of the Ramones [Box Set] (Rhino)
The Stooges - The Stooges [Deluxe Reissue] (Rhino)
Various Artists - Luaka Bop Remix (Luaka Bop)

Join RFC on MySpace

It was a bit of a slow weekend, so I finally got around to setting up a Radio Free Chicago account on MySpace. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with it, but hey...go to www.myspace.com/radiofreechicago, add RFC to your friends list and we'll see what happens?!?

ALSO...

Finally got the film developed and pictures scanned from Lumpenrave, the big buddY Gallery blow out bash at the end of July. Check out the pics on the RFC Photo Archive here.

Aesop Rock vs. Mountain Goats

How's this for a disparate pair? Tonight's latest installment of the Biz 3 DJ series at Sonotheque features underground hip-hop artist Aesop Rock matched up with indie-rock singer/songwriter John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. Ben from Biz 3 says, "I can't even imagine what the hell these two are going to play....some Appalachian folk next to Chickenhead?" My thoughts exactly. Aesop will undoubtedly be crankin' up the bass and dropping some mad hip-hop beats, but Darnielle is a noted purveyor of all things lo-fi (i.e. no bass)...so there could be some interesting musical transitions between the two. Perhaps they can drop some hot mash-ups by putting some of Darnielle's lo-fi noodling over the top of some bumpin' El-P instrumentals?? Should be an interesting night nonetheless... Doors open at 9pm, $10 cover...21+. Sonotheque is located at 1444 W. Chicago

Another Chicago benefit for Dax Pierson this Fri

This Friday at The Empty Bottle, Tortoise will be headlining a special charity show benefiting the Dax Pierson Recovery Fund. Dax was the keyboardist from the hip-hop group Subtle who suffered a severe spinal injury in February when the group's tour van was involved in a serious accident en route to a show in Minneapolis. He has been recovering well, but is still undergoing treatment in Texas at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research and isn't expected to be able to leave until October or even November. Friday's benefit show, along with the many others that have been organized around the world in the past few months (like the David Cross DJ night in June at Sonotheque), will help raise funds to cover Pierson's insanely high medical and rehabilitation costs.

Friday's show starts at 10pm, tickets at the door are $15. Experimental duo Locks will open. The Empty Bottle is located at 1035 N. Western...as always, must be 21+

Serious Rock Geeking Tonight at Hideout

Tonight at the Hideout, Joe Losurdo from Hi-Fi Records Eric Coli of ModChicago will be hosting "Welcome to the Void," a musical exploration of the post-psych, pre-metal heavy 70's. According to local rock historian/puppetronic cable access producer Jake Austin, Losurdo and Coli will "spin sounds that will make the Earth tremble with over-driven bass guitar, flute solos, prog-funk-boogie, and tales of Saxon, Celtic, Futuristic, and Sexual conquests." Expect to hear some classic favorites like Grand Funk, Floyd, Blue Oyster Cult as well as plenty of rare rock grooves from deep in the Hi-Fi archives. Cover is only $3, but you must be 21+. The Hideout is located at 1354 W Wabansia, near the corner of North and Elston.

New Releases Tuesday (8/9)

Local Releases

Sybris - s/t (Flameshovel)
Chin Up Chin Up - s/t [ep] (Flameshovel)

Other Notables

Cursive - The Difference Between Houses and Homes [b-sides and rarities] (Saddle Creek)
Holopaw - Quit+/Or Fight (Sub Pop)
Minotaur Shock - Maritime (4AD)
The Juan McLean - Less Than Human (Astralwerks)
Various Artists - Little Movies, Big Noises: The Complete Definitive Jux Video Collection [DVD] (Def Jux)

The Changes begin Schubas Residency

Tonight, local indie-popsters The Changes begin a month-long Monday night residency at Schubas. The band has only has two self-released eps under their belt, but they've been able to generate quite a bit of buzz both locally and nationwide. In fact, they even recieved a glowing brief blurb in a recent issue (7/30) of Billboard magazine:

For a young, unsigned Chicago pop act, the Changes have a powerful ally. Manager Chris Baronner books shows for the city's famed Cabaret Metro, which has helped the Changes play in front of the likes of Stephen Malkmus, the Futureheads and the Walkmen...with bouncy keyboards, jangly guitars and easy-to-hum choruses, the Changes have become darlings of the city's pop scene. The group stands apart from its peers by adding a light tough of jazzy improvisation, a la Chicago's beloved Sea and Cake. The Changes will perform in their hometown July 24 at Lollapalooza, the lone unsigned act on the festival's bill.

Yeah, the Sea and Cake comparisons are inevitable at times, but they've also got plenty of their own power-pop choruses and jangly hooks to keep them from being discounted as mere Prekop/Pruitt copy-cats. Case in point: "Her, You and I." An unbelievably infectious tune that just may be their ticket to a juicy major-label deal. Then again, that track is by far the least listened to song on their MySpace page, so what do I know???

All of the August residency shows start at 8pm and are 21+, except for the 22nd performance which is 18+. Different bands will open every week...with Baby Teeth and The Narrator getting the nod for tonight's kick-off performance. Price at the door is a dirt cheap $6. Cans of tasty Schlitz beer are only $2.

More Great Free Music at the Bottle

In addition to tonight's FREE launch party for Sneaker Pimps at the Open-End Gallery, The Empty Bottle is also featuring a great FREE music event this weekend. Sunday night kicks off their new monthly series dubbed Alternate Currents that features "a series of art exhibitions by artists whose work straddles the disciplines of music and visual media."

Here's the official manifesto from the Bottle website:

Music and visual art have been interrelated fields of artistic expression for as long as man has been a creative animal. Each generation of musician and artist has been inspired by and often worked with others in these related fields of creativity. Historically, though, the worlds of fine artist and serious musician has been characterized as opposing fields of study. The opinion has often been expressed that no serious artist can also study music and vise versa. In the past 2 decades a new generation of artists has emerged that refuses to be characterized within a specific field. Why just be a musician or a painter or a filmmaker? Creativity seeks a language for expression and ideas often develop that require more than one discipline. Alternate Currents presents work by those artists who have taken the reigns of a multidisciplinary course of creative output.

Kicking off the series on Sunday will be local jazz trumpet virtuoso Rob Mazurek, founder of the Chicago Underground Duo and solo artist who has recorded for the legendary Delmark label. Starting at 7pm, you can grab an ice cold PBR at the bar and enjoy an exhibition of art works by Mazurek. Then, promplty at 9, Rob will take the stage for a music set constructed specifically for this unique event.

ALSO...

The Bottle's unbelievably strong free Monday music series continues the following night with a showcase from local label File-13. Electronic experimentalists Fahsion Flesh headline, with an opening set from the newly reconfigured TRS-80. Labelmates Poison Arrows and Odiorne round out the bill, festivities begin at 9:30p. Again, this event is also FREE.*

*(Trust me, you'll want to take advantage of these free events while you can...have you seen the all the great shows coming up in September?? Yeah, start saving those pennies..)

Sneaker Pimps at Open-End Gallery

Every time I see the listing for this, I want to crank up the Nelly Hooper edit of "Six Underground"... but alas, this event has nothing to do with the one-hit wonder trip-hop sensation from the mid-90s. It's actually the world's largest global touring sneaker exhibition featuring over 600 pairs of rare and customized sneaks. It's actually a very similar event to the recent Up Our Sleave exhibition at Open End, except instead of using blank record sleaves, a wide range of artists from around the globe have created works art of using old pairs of Nikes and Addidas. The event takes place both Friday night and Saturday afternoon, but you'll definitely want to try to hit the opening night festivities. Adding to your sneaker viewing pleasure on Friday will be DJ sets from Sapien (Diverse), Ben Fasman (Biz 3) and Rude One (Simple Minded Pros) , plus live art installations from Gary Baseman, Ethos and Goodfoot. The opening night party starts at 8pm and is a FREE all ages event.

The Open-End Gallery is located at 2000 W. Fulton.

From the RFC press wires...

-Local independent art zine Love, Chicago has expanded from the shelves of Quimby's and Reckless to the expansive regions of the world wide web. Found at www.lovechicago.org, the debut web version of Love,.. features articles from Issue#2 of the print rag, including profiles of local musicians Paul Caporino and Devin Davis, the new Foundation Gallery art space and legendary Lakeview watering hole Jake's Pub. Launched last August, Love, Chicago is led by editorial director Erica Burke and creative director Chris Beck, who is leading the new web efforts.

-Looking to start your own Internet radio station and have about $3k lying around the house?? Go to worldvibrations.com and check out the cool little gadget they call a "Radio Station in a Box." All you have to do is plug in a microphone, upload some songs and...voila! You've got the tools to create your own professional-quality radio station.

OK, granted you can make your own basic radio stream via just about any PC and some Winamp software. However, this box gives you the tools that the professionals use like voice tracking, extensive music scheduling software, programming logs, live feed capabilities and even network feed capabilities. The box also operates on 12 volts, so it can run off of a car battery, which their website says makes it "ideal for creating a radio station in a small village." Sounds to me more like that feature would be perfect for running a pirate radio station in a large metropolitan area (where it's essential to keep moving transmitter locations to avoid the FCC), but of course that would be "illegal" and RFC would never condone such behavior.

Oh, and speaking of which, the box also includes software and a reporting service that can take care of all those pesky royalty issues if you are serious about starting a legit station that plays commercially-licensed music. Overall, the cost for this is too much for your garden-variety basement pirate, but if you're part of a well-organized group with broadcasting aspirations, you may want to seriously check this magic box out and start pooling some money.

New Releases Tuesday (8/2)

Public Enemy - Power to the People and the Beats: Greatest Hits (Def Jam) Yeah booyiee...PE in full effect! All da greatest hits from the legendary Chuck D, Flavor Flav and Co. Includes "Bring the Noise," "Fight the Power" and "911 Is A Joke." All young hip-hop fans should be required to buy this record, this is what the genre is all about.

ALSO...

The Greenhornes - East Grand Blues [ep] (V2)
Richard Hell - Spurts - The Best of (Rhino)
Zuco 103 - Whaa! (Six Degrees)

(that's basically it today for new records...really slow week for releases)

buddY bids adieu

As of today, the crew from Lumpen magazine will be packing their bags at 1542 N. Milwaukee as they've lost the lease on their venerable 2nd floor loft known as buddY gallery. Friday night was the final hurrah for the space, with a dancetastic rave-themed party dubbed "Lumpenrave" that also extended next door at Heaven gallery. In true buddY fashion, there was plenty of PBR, costumed party-goers and, of course, a visit from some of Chicago finest. The space will be missed (especially that great patio), but don't worry, Lumpen will be back very soon with a new artist-run performance space on the Near West Side. Stay tuned...