Radio Free Chicago

Live Pics: Múm @ Logan Square Auditorium 11/1/07

Download: Múm - "Dancing Behind My Eyelids"

Juliette & The Licks w/ Suffrajett and Scissors for Lefty @ Reggie's 11/16/07

Reggie's is a fairly new South side rock venue with excellent sound hosting a wide array of bands thus drawing crowds as diverse as teenage punksters to 35 year old yupsters. Juliette Lewis is mainly known for her celebrated acting career. You might remember her in such classics as Kalifornia, Christmas Vacation, The Other Sister, and of course her Oscar nominated turn in Cape Fear at the tender age of 18. Juliette has put her acting career on hiatus to focus on her four-year old band, the Licks. With Juliette at the helm and local based rock band Suffrajett and San Fransisco indie group Scissors for Lefty opening, it all made for quite an impressionable evening with a lot of clothing being removed onstage and a wet beer fight offstage.

Click here for the complete photoset courtesy of rpmime.

News and Notes: Amy Winehouse, Kevin Drew, and Studs Terkel

///Amy Winehouse has been "attacked" by Antonia Maria Costa of the United Nations Drugs and Crime Office. Winehouse was accused of glamorizing a global drug culture that is destroying parts of Africa. [Thanks, NME]

///NPR.com presents Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew. It's 2 hours and it's definitely not bad.

///It's not music, but it is Chicago. Popmatters.com reviews Studs Terkel's memoir Touch and Go. Terkel is known for his books of interviews about people and his activist spirit. This book focuses on him.

Get on the list: Back Home from the Holidaze (11/23)

After a couple of days hanging out with the family over Thanksgiving, we know you're going to be dying to get back out on Friday night...and we also know it's probably going to take a couple of stiff drinks to get back to feeling 100% normal once getting back out. So, as a public service this week, RFC is giving you chance to win free admission (with a +1, of course) to either the Hideout or The Empty Bottle on Friday, so that you'll plenty of cash still in your wallet to spend on those double tall whiskey drinks that are sure to be calling your name.

So, what's your preference?

The down-home confines of The Hideout who will be hosting Australian post-punks Love of Diagrams?

OR

The slightly larger and billiards-friendly confines of The Empty Bottle who'll be hosting the shoegaze-y sounds of 4AD band Celebration?

Drop us a line at radiofreechicago(at)gmail.com with your show preference in the subject line for your chance to win. Winners will be drawn by end of day tomorrow (Tues), good luck!

Download: Love of Diagrams - "The Pyramid"
Download: Celebration - "Evergreen"

News and Notes: Daniel Johnston, Ramones DVD, Mos Def, New Years

///Daniel Johnston is giving two of his older releases, Hi, How are You and Yip/Jump Music, the vinyl treatment. Early next year Lost & Found, Johnston's 2006 UK release will be making it to this side of the Atlantic. If you are a Johnston fan this is your time. [Thanks, Pfork]

///Need a Ramones kick? The DVD Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996 has gotten a swell review by PopMatters, and really what else were you going to do on a Friday night?

///For any hip-hop fans out there Mos Def is working on a new album and Kanye West will be producing a few tracks. Mos Def will also be appearing in several (as in 9) movie roles over the next couple of years.

///It looks like The Methadones, The Arrivals, and Pegboy will be playing The Note for New Years Eve.

News and Notes: My Bloody Valentine, Sigur Ros, Thom Yorke

///My Bloody Valentine will be playing three shows in England next summer; their first shows since 1992. All shows go on sale Friday, start saving now for a plane ticket. [Thanks, NME]

///Sigur Ros has started working on a new album with producer Mark Ellis. Until then their documentary Heina will be available Stateside November 20th and their rarities disc is available now. [Thanks, Pfork]

///Thom Yorke (umm... of Radiohead) has turned down an offer to do a duet with Paul McCartney (from, you know, The Beatles). [Thanks, Buzzgrinder]

///Get your Shellac tickets from The Hideout before they completely sell out. That means get them today!

Live Pics: Rodrigo y Gabriela @ The Riviera 10/27/07

Download: Rodrigo y Gabriela - "Diablo Rojo"

News and Notes: Tomorrow Never Knows, Mount Eerie, Ubiquity Boom Box, Weezer, Bazan

///Schubas have announced their annual Tomorrow Never Knows Festival lineup. The festival runs from January 16th - 20th, with tickets going on sale this Friday at Noon. A $55 five-day pass will get you in to see NOMO, The M's, Ecstatic Sunshine, John Vanderslice, The Walkmen, etc. etc.

///If anyone was thinking about making a road trip to St. Louis to see Mount Eerie, all the shows on the tour have been canceled due to a family emergency. [Thanks, Pfork]

///Ubiquity Records is my sustainable link to all thinks funk, jazz, and soul. So you should definitely check out almost everything that they put their hands on. However, on a completely different note, check out this super rad boom box covered wallet they are letting you purchase.

///In the Spring you can tentatively look forward to (repress the idea of?) a new album by Weezer. [Thanks, Aversion]

///A David Bazan complete concert download for your listening pleasure. [Thanks, Buzzgrinder]

Get on the List: Mission of Burma

They're back...again! Post-punk legends Mission of Burma have been back on the road this fall playing a select few dates and this week they'll be gracing the stage of the Abbey Pub for a headlining Friday night gig. Tickets are 20 bucks at the door, but we "know a guy" and can sneak you and a guest in for free. Drop us a line at radiofreechicago(at)gmail.com with "Burma" in the subject for your chance to get on the list. Winner will be drawn at random Thursday morning...good luck! 

Caribou @ Metro 11/8/07

There are a few times in a year when I see a band and come away from it inspired and changed.  The experience is transcendent and visceral and has taken me to another place.  Such is the case of last Thursday’s Caribou set and even though I’ve seen well over a hundred different live sets of bands this year, Caribou’s was easily ahead of all of them.  Though this is the fourth time I’ve seen this band, it was by far the best.  Caribou has perfected an art form and learned how to hone in on their skills in terms of bringing the songs to a live audience in a way that at times is almost a psychedelic assault that makes you fall in love with music all over again. In addition, their most recent release, Andorra, is their best to date and ranks #2 in my top albums of this year (second only to PJ Harvey’s brilliant White Chalk.) It’s an album that highlights the utmost creativity of human existence and is one I’d surely bring to any desert island.

News and Notes: Radiohead, Kanye's Mom, Casiotone, Morning Recordings

///The big news for the weekend was Radiohead's webcast. Stereogum, Information Leafblower, and others have posted YouTube pieces of the webcast for everyones enjoyment. Don't miss The Smiths cover. In Rainbows will receive a "proper" release in the States on January 2nd.

///According to NME.com Kanye West's mother has died in an LA hospital.

///Tonight, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, will be gracing The Hideout's intimate stage. CftPA has graced many Chicago stages, but it will be nice to have the chance to hear his nicely packaged stories in a warmer environment. To Bad Catholics and Cue start off the 8 o'clock show.

///Members of Lambchop and The Coctails have joined forces on a new project they call Morning Recordings. They've got a new album titled Music For Places that they claim "takes melanchonic instrumentation to a whole new level." You can sample their new wares tonight at yet another fine free Monday show at The Bottle; click here for here for audio samples.   

Battles w/Caribou @ Metro 11/8/07

Thursday night at Metro was a full assault on the senses; from the smoke in the air stinging the inside of ones nose to the array of lights flashing blue, then red, then stark white, to the monumental wall of sound from the bands on stage. It was one of the most appropriately planned bills in ages, and the transition between acts complimented one another and built upon the vibe rather than overshadowing them.

News and Notes: Sones de Mexico and Yea Big & Kid Static

///Sones de Mexico is a group of immigrants, living in Chicago, who have put together a nice reputation for themselves as a Latin folk music group. In fact they are up for a Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album, for their album Esta Tierra Es Tuya. NPR has the story. After looking at the groups website it looks like they also do a lot of educational things in the community. Very cool.

///Chicago's Yea Big and Kid Static present their Jib Door Records S/T debut. Check out their MySpace or these next couple links for some MP3s.

Let's Get Out of This Terrible Sandwich Shop release New LP

When you hear a name like Let's Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich, you know you can expect a few yuks, but the laughs that they receive are due to their witty, dry, and at times bizarre humor that only years of improv and sketch comedy can yield. But if you were to focus on the music, which I will after the jump. They embody a variety hour of genres, from punk to rock to vaudeville torch songs, which is sure to keep you on your toes. Their live performances are quite entertaining as well, they throw in a few jokes here and there, received with a groan or a barrage of applause. Most of the members are multi-instrumentalists, so it is not uncommon to see them jump around from instrument to instrument as they take you through the sound of the Sandwich Shop. Let's Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop is releasing a new LP Listen-ing , and they are having a party TONIGHT at the newly established South Side rock club, Reggie's Live with the rest of their Roydale Records Label family.

11.09.07 - 8PM - 18+
Roydale CD Release Bash
Reggies Live * 2109 S. State
with *josepi* / .22 / The Bitter Tears

Download: Let's Get Out of This Terrible Sandwich Shop - "Henry and the Horse"

News and Notes: Isotope cancelled?, MBV Album, Control Review

///It appears the Muncie, Indiana Isotope Music Festival has been canceled, with little communication with the bands actually playing the festival. Well thats at least according to the Anathallo blog. So if you were planning on heading over there, maybe call ahead?

///More confirmation. Shields told an interviewer that the new My Bloody Valentine album would contain songs recorded back in 1996, some stuff from 1994 and 1994, and a bit of new songs as well. This record should be out by the end of the year.

///PopMatters.com reviews Control, the new Ian Curtis/Joy Division documentary.