Radio Free Chicago

Top Ten of Twenty Ten: Sara J.'s Picks (Part Two)

5. Isles and Glaciers – Hearts of Lonely People

 

I loved this album before I ever even heard it. Now, you may be thinking to yourselves, “Sara, you’re dumb. That’s not even possible. You can’t love something and not even know what it is!” LIKE HELL I CAN’T! Sorry, I got excited. Anyways, yes, I can loves something before I know what it is. Why? Well, because this particular album is a collaboration of three of my favorite vocalists, Jonny Craig of Emarosa, Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil, and former Chiodos front man, Craig Owens. Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I may or may not be in love with Craig Owens. Now that I think of it, some people who don’t know me are probably well aware of this fact. I don’t hide it! All that aside, this is by far one of the best collaborations I have ever heard. These three were born to sing together. There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong with this album from the very first note. “Viola Lion” is absolutely one of the sexiest songs I’ve ever heard. I don’t mean sexy as in it has really sexy lyrics or anything, I just can’t think of any other word that I could possibly use to describe it. Basically, all I’m trying to say is that you want to listen to this album. It’s honestly just that good.

Isles And Glaciers - Viola Lion

Top Ten of Twenty Ten: Sara J.'s Picks (Part One)

10. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Let It Sway

I was first introduced to SSLYBY when Amber Valentine and I ventured to Iowa for the very first Daytrotter Barnstormer Tour. I think the main reason I was so drawn to them was because they have a really cool name. Also, because at this particular show, they were selling t-shirts that had kitties on them and, as most people who know me are aware, I really like cats. All that aside, that night I became a fan of SSLYBY and immediately downloaded their discography when I returned home that night. Let It Sway has very rapidly become one of my favorite SSLYBY albums and I feel as though it will remain that way throughout the bands career. The album is very dancey and that makes my heart smile. I like dancey music that’s also really good! I assume you probably do too, which is why you’re going to want to listen to this album right now!

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Sink/Let It Sway

Top Ten of Twenty Ten: Shani's Top Tracks

While we're all inundated with lists celebrating the top 10 albums of the year, I thought loyal RFC readers might enjoy a Cliff's Notes version that cuts to the chase. Below are, in my opinion, the best tracks of 2010. This was a particularly difficult challenge, and could have easily been the top 50 tracks of the year, but there is some gratification in whittling it down this far. Happy Holidays to everyone who has read and supported RFC in 2010, you are appreciated and loved. A particularly huge bag of kisses goes out to every writer, photographer, and editor of this site. We rule. 

1. Local Natives - Airplanes.

Airplanes gets top billing not just because its a practically perfect indie rock song, but also because of the massive range of fans that have flocked to its banner this year. I don't know anyone who dislikes this song. In fact, if you don't like it, email me. I want to know who you are and talk some sense into you.

Local Natives - Airplanes

2. The Drums- Down by the Water 

Holy babecrush, Batman. The Drums took Chicago by storm at their Lincoln Hall performance several weeks ago. For a lot of reasons. Down by the Water is the favorite pick here for nostalgia and the I-wanna-be-her factor. This band writes music that is extremely easy to connect to, even if you're not seeing this perfect circus live. The Drums are also easily my favorite live show of the year, and I strongly suggest you pay attention when they come around again. Or maybe just track RFC for the heads up...

The Drums - Down By the Water

 

Top Ten of Twenty Ten: Amber's Picks

I have a "love/hate" relationship with top ten lists. See, I love lists. But I hate the fact that "Year End Lists" are not only expected but also, for the most part, just a simple regurgitation of the same albums, blog after blog. And, what can I say? I'm kind of a snot. When something's expected, my first inclination is to rebel against it. Of course, were RFC to not toss up a single "Best Of" list, it wouldn't seem as though we were rebels, but rather that we were lazy. And my staff and I are no slouches! So, this year, instead of getting a single top ten list, you're going to be getting everyone's favorite discs of the year, from Abby Holmes' top ten of twenty-ten to Shani's favorite tracks of the year and we're kicking the whole thing off with my top... Oh, was I supposed to do ten? I sort of picked fifteen. My mistake! What can I say? Cutting my original top thirty two down to ten proved impossible and it's my belief that all of the following albums deserve your attention.

  1 - Frontier Ruckus - Deadmalls & Nightfalls

I've been living with Frontier Ruckus' Deadmalls & Nightfalls for the greater part of six months now. There are few albums that have orchestrated as much of my year as this one and that's because I just keep going back to it. I know part of the reason for that is that Frontier Ruckus not only formed very close to where I grew up in Michigan but also that Deadmalls & Nightfalls (Reviewed on RFC earlier this year here) is very much a soundtrack to time spent in the area surrounding suburban Detroit. From references to specific places and landmarks ("The billboard dentist from White Lake to East Lansing") to an overtone of the melancholy I felt while doing time in the same state that Matt Milia calls home, Frontier Ruckus' third full length is the album equivalent of Salinger's "To Esme; With Love and Squalor": Equal parts love letter from Milia to Michigan and it's residents and a man reminiscing about the sadness that he can't just shake while he's in his homestate. Musically, the album is in the same lineage as Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea and Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy which is more than okay by me. Read more about my intense newfound love for Fruckus at Indie College and, y'know, you probably ought to pick up this (so far) criminally overlooked masterpiece of an album. Criminally overlooked masterpiece? That's a bold statement but Deadmalls & Nightfalls not only lives up to that moniker, but surpasses enough expectations to blow most other releases of the past twelve months out of the indie rock water.

Frontier Ruckus - Pontiac, the Nightbrink

Tales From the East - D. Gross

It’s no secret my musical interests run quite the gamut. On a given day I can go between The Pastels on vinyl to an LCD Soundsystem MP3. But I truly have a soft spot in my musical heart for Americana. Nine times out of ten, you can woo me with some banjo picking and an accompanying tune on the harmonica. (Don’t get me started on the saw; the instrument of the gods). It’s hard to say what about this type of music I find so appealing. Perhaps it’s growing up with classic country playing in my house as a child. Maybe it was my study on the roots of rock and roll through college. But whatever it may be, Portland’s Dana Gross has the talents and know-how to scratch my musical itch for good old fashioned bluesy sadness.

On his sophomore release We Left The Roadside, Gross expands his sound a great deal from his previous release Pirate Love Songs. Showing extensive delta blues influences, almost every song has an appealing hook that grabs a hold of your foot and gets it tapping. And don’t worry about your head bobbing either. That’s not an involuntary muscle spasm, that’s just Dana Gross’ manipulating of those steel strings getting into your nervous system. (If it persists more than one week, please see a doctor). Each song feels like a piece of classic country. I was half expecting to somehow hear June Carter’s angelic voice chime in on a few tracks. And Gross’ vocals have taken a large step forward with this release. They are an ideal blend of raspiness, heart-warming, regretful, and a slight hint of a southern slur.

 

D. Gross - Roll On

Gross somehow makes every song overflow with countryside charm. The song "Roll On" sounds as if it’s coming right out of your grandparent’s Gramophone player. It has a great “ride the rails” feel which, looking like a vagrant as I sometimes do, I can appreciate. It also has some fantastic washboard playing that will have you looping the track as you pack up your bindle, put on your stovepipe hat with the top cut out and just generally aspire to be a cartoon hobo. This is in stark contrast to "Higher Ground"’s slower, subjugated tempo. Along with "Steady on the Staircase", it’s one of the moodiest tracks on We Left The Roadside. Listening to both had me imagining staring out the window on a humid, stormy southern night in quiet reflection.  "Family Man" and "Hand in Hand" are two of the albums most narrative driven songs. "Family Man"’s story of missed opportunities ends with him letting us know that “Before we turn back to dust, a door opens somewhere along the way”.

 

The whole album is strengthened by the addition of various backing instruments. Jason Ingalls provides the drums throughout and Duane Edwards brings his talent of the upright bass. One of the most fascinating pairings is on the song "Hummingbird". Gross furiously picks away at his banjo while Amos Libby adds percussion from the tabla. Being a traditional Indian instrument, it was amazing to hear how easily the two meshed together and made me hope for more unforeseen pairings on future releases.

 

D. Gross - Hummingbird

RFC Reviews... Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Back in the seventies, Rolling Stone was the ultimate pop culture and music magazine. Now it’s 2010 and Rolling Stone is ran by a bunch of biased, burnt-out hippies who long for the good old days. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Pitchfork Media, a website so cutting edge that they make or break upcoming bands and dictate what’s cool and what’s lame among the hipster crowd. Pitchfork has utter contempt for anything written before 1990 and regards Rolling Stone as the Antichrist.

So you can imagine my surprise that when I discovered both Pitchfork and Rolling Stone named Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy their number one album of the year. Both lists read like you might imagine them. Rolling Stone’s was a hazy trip down pop culture lane, while Pitchfork’s choices were so obscure that as music obsessed as I am I only recognized 10% of them. But despite their differences both lists hailed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as a tour-de-force and the magnum opus of twenty-first century rap. Regardless of my distaste for the modern day rap scene, I picked up a copy of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to see what all the hubbub was about.

Kanye West - Runaway (feat. Pusha T)

Don’t get me wrong, despite being one of the whitest people you’ll ever meet I love rap. From the social satire of The Roots to the pop-culture references of the Beastie Boys to the political rage of Zack De La Rocha, when rap is done well it’s one of music’s most powerful genres. Rap is to the 90s and 00s what folk music was to the 60s and 70s. Lyrically focused and  change driven, both genres finest artists cry for reform in a world gone mad.

Unfortunately, the modern day rap scene is something of a joke. Instead of crying out for justice most modern day rap is a dick-measuring contest. It’s all about who has the most bitches, the most money, and the most infamy. While Kanye shocked the dying rap scene back into life with 2004s The College Dropout, he’s always been a dick-measure-er, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is no exception.

Wiping Off The Dust… Reminisces of The Music Tapes’ For Clouds and Tornadoes

It was just after 10 p.m. last Tuesday night when I got word that The Music Tapes were playing in Hyde Park. Actually, it was the last of three thirty-minute sets in three Chicago homes as part of the band’s Lullaby Tour, and it would begin in less than 30 minutes. There was no way I could make the ten mile bike ride in that time, so instead I comforted myself by listening to The Music Tapes' discography, enjoying a few beers in my warm apartment, and re-sparking an old obsession.

The amorphous Athens, GA-based experimental collective has been making albums since 1999, but my particular obsession began in 2008 when I came across their third album For Clouds and Tornadoes entirely by accident during a Pirate Bay search. The seeder to leecher ratio was pleasing, so I snatched it up, took a listen, and fell in love with its strange and emotional sound - lead man Julian Koster’s endearingly quavering croon, the warbly rhythms of his singing saw, and the vast collection of unusual instruments, such as tape organ, flugelhorn, clarinet, accordion, and euphonium.

I was lucky enough to catch them live a few months later at the AV-aerie in Chicago’s West Loop just before the venue was closed down due to zoning and licensing issues. They performed a long and remarkable set that incorporated sprinklings of each of their four albums. Much of the show was like story time in kindergarten - the audience sat on the floor encircling Koster as he performed holiday songs from The Singing Saw at Christmastime, off-stage and without amplification.

Julian Koster - Jingle Bells

Toward the end of the night, we played a game: everyone in the audience wrote a memory on a piece of paper, folded it, and dropped it in a bucket. We followed Koster outside where he lit them on fire, and one at a time we jumped over the fire while concentrating of our specific memories. What the point was, I don’t know. But it was fun, no one caught on fire, and Koster ended the night with an improvised song based on a memory he pulled out of the flames. When the show finished and the band began packing up, I of course took the opportunity to drunkenly profess my love for Koster and though clearly creeped out, he obliged me with a hug.

Before I came across The Music Tapes, I was already familiar with Koster’s other collaborations, Elephant 6 and Neutral Milk Hotel, who seem to have lately come out of hiding and are inspiring long-time fans to rediscover old favorites. But The Music Tapes take prominence in my collection, specifically For Clouds and Tornadoes, which I find myself returning to again and again, particularly during winter when the warm, cozy melodies offer comfort from the biting Chicago cold.

The Music Tapes - Freeing Song for Reindeer

People Covering An Arcade Fire Song I Love... And Arcade Fire Covering A Song I Love, Too!

I'll be the first to admit that the slick, grandiose melodies of Arcade Fire took a while to grow on me. In fact, it wasn't until last autumn when I finally took a shine to Win Butler and his crew of avant garde Canadians. And, interestingly enough, very little of my introduction to Arcade Fire had to to with Arcade Fire themselves.

Arcade Fire - My Body Is A Cage

It was a cover song that did it. (This is where you can answer "Of course it was, Amber." and roll your eyes because, by now, I'm sure you've caught on to the fact that most things in my life can be traced back to a cover song.) I was on the corner of Southport and Belmont at Schubas, the best tavern in the world, seeing Sea Wolf. Opening for him were Port O'Brien and a lovely woman named Sara Lov, formerly of Devics. Sara's music is lilting and has a music box like quality to it and her voice is smooth and feminine but never borders on saccharine. Where other like-sounding ladies like Eisley get a bit too produced and darling for my own personal tastes, Lov maintains her indie sensibilities and also churns out some bad ass covers, including one of Beck's "Timebomb" and a seductive, stripped down take on a track from Arcade Fire's sophmore LP, Neon Bible, "My Body Is A Cage".

Sara Lov - My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire Cover)

Seafarer To Re-Release Debut EP Hiding Places

Admittedly, I didn’t even know about Seafarer until last week. The Chicago quartet has been around for two years and in that time has independently released only a handful of songs. The band released its debut EP Hiding Places back in May, but garnered little attention. And now, the foursome is getting ready to re-release the EP this winter in hopes of attracting a larger audience this time around. It’s a good strategy, because the album – with its warm, drowsy feel - is really best served with a frosty Chicago winter.

Hiding Places is a lengthy EP composed of seven songs coming to just over 30 minutes of a well-crafted, atmospheric blend of psych, pop and folk. Its dreamy ambience is due to its paced melodies, spooky harmonies in the distant background, and of course lead man Patrick Grzelewski’s nasal, drowsy vocals. “Noise Floor,” for example, is a woozy, textured track, layering both shimmery and gritty guitar chords, heavy, constant drums, and Grzelewski’s weary vocals howling poetic lyrics like “The road beneath our toes arrived and came to pass as quickly as it told a tale of the last night we escaped the cold.”

Perhaps the album’s strongest track is “Sound It Makes,” an initially folky melody that twists and turns, dropping off entirely before Grzelewski bellows, “So carry on, so carry on, if you know how” and the whole thing explodes into a flurry of psychedelia. It looks like the band is keeping “Sound It Makes” tightly under wraps, so you’ll have to wait for the album to enjoy this one.

Hiding Places is set for re-release Jan. 18. In the meantime, you can catch the band’s live performance next Wednesday, Dec. 15 at Subterranean, with accompanying acts House Sounds, Dead Sheriff, and Males and Females. If that’s too short of notice, no problem: Seafarer will also play a free set at Saki Jan. 8 in support of the new album. 

Seafarer - Noise Floor

Seafarer - The Archipelago

Rachel's Top 5 Tracks of the Week

Thee Oh Sees - Peanut Butter Oven

Patrick Watson - Where The Wild Things Are

The Pica Beats - Poor Old Ra

Suckers - A Mind I Knew

Shogu Tokumaru - Rum Hee

Keren Ann's Name Is Trouble

Anyone with an affinity for attractive ladies has probably taken note of French-Israeli-Brooklyn chaunteuse Keren Ann. It's been a fair few years from Keren as a solo artist, as she's spent the majority of her last five years as the femme half of conceptual duo Lady and Bird, as well as composing scores. Wait... Composing? What is she, the female Jon Brion? Well, just about. This Frenchwoman is more than just a pretty face and a beautiful singer - Girl knows her stuff about music. For proof, just check out Keren Ann's latest single, "My Name is Trouble", off her forthcoming release 101.

Wiping Off The Dust: Ride - Nowhere

Back in the waning years of the 80's, the music genre known as shoegaze had sprouted from the the roots of different bands, labels and movements. The beginnings can be traced through many different roots. The punishing pedal work and feedback of Jesus and Mary Chain, the delicate swirls of 4AD pillars Cocteau Twins and the distant harmonies of 60's British Invasion and psychedelica can all be excavated in this musical movement. The reigning champion of shoegaze was My Bloody Valentine despite putting out two LP's and a handful of singles and EP's. Of course, one of those albums was Loveless, which still is a tour de force in beauty and cacophony. There were many other great shoegaze bands such as Lush, Slowdive, Chapterhouse and later The Verve and The Catherine Wheel. So many amazing albums from the annals of Brit-pop that were birthed by shoegaze as well: Primal Scream - Screamadelica, The Charlatans UK - Some Friendly, Swervedriver - Duel and the self titled debut album from The House of Love all immediately come to mind. In my opinion, none of these bands or albums found that perfect balance in amazing songs, incredible musicianship and fiery passion that the Oxford quartet Ride captured on the 1990 album Nowhere.

Ride - Seagull

Show Preview- Sybris and Apteka at The Empty Bottle 12/13

After spending all your holiday cash buying spa gift certificates and organic cotton neck ties, reward yourself with something that don't cost a damn thing. This Monday The Empty Bottle gives us two hometown bands for an insane bargain- FREE.  I say insane because unless you've lived under a Chicago snow pile for the last few years, you'd know about local talents Sybris and Apteka. Epic rock brainchild Sybris has long won over fans with energetic fun wrapped in the warm, dirty embrace of rock. Captivating, toocool vocals combine with some serious guitar power to result in a show that refuses to let you stand still. The freeness of this Sybris show means that Christmas just came really early. 

Also hailing from our frosty streets are the men of Apteka, who were recently smiled on by Greg Kot of The Chicago Tribune for releasing one of the Top 10 Chicago Albums of 2010. The likes of The 1900s and Disappears also made the cut. Much is said about the shoegaze-y influences that must be fueling Apteka's sound, but I tend to think they're a genre of their own. The less I can put my finger on the force-field of rock they're throwing at me, the happier I am. If their sound alone is not enough sensory overload for you, hope for a reappearance of Apteka's elusive fifth member, the light show. Its not so much distracting as it is an awesome and oddly appropriate accompaniment. Stop trying to focus your eyes and ears and just enjoy.

Sybris - The Best Day in History in Ever

Show opens with Secret Colors at 9:30, FREE. Join RFC at The Bottle Monday night, and get your snow melted. So to speak.

Show Review: Doomtree at Bottom Lounge Dec. 3 2010

Even the first snow of the year couldn't stop anyone from coming out to The Bottom Lounge on Friday for the Doomtree show. Friday was the first time Chicago has seen the Doomtree collective perform as a whole, and no one in that audience left disappointed. It was clear that there were fans who knew only of P.O.S. or of Dessa, but the five other emcees and producers easily made you fall in love with the entire Doomtree collective. 

Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak started the night off with a DJ set. Paper Tiger spun songs from his new album, Made Like Us. Lazerbeak then took center stage with an electric guitar and announced, " We are going to do some songs that aren't rap songs. Then we are going to do a shit ton of rap songs." P.O.S. then came out, to and DJ and add smooth beats with Paper Tiger. while Lazerbeak played a few songs from his new album, Legend Recognize Legend. Lazerbeak's roots are with his former indie band, The Plastic Constellations. He joked about not being able to rock out the "guitar face," so he took a moment and really hammed it up with the crowd. He also introduced Chicago to the "No Dance". "Imagine you walk out of the club and you are surrounded by haters up in your grill. What are you gonna do?" he said as he demonstrated the dance. "You just put your palm right up in their faces. What else are they gonna do?" 

Paper Tiger - Palace

M. Ward Covers A Joanna Newsom Song I Sort Of Love

While I hold Joanna Newsom's debut release, The Milk Eyed Mender, very near and dear to my oddball heart, "Sadie, an ode to Newsom's dog, never really grew on me. I had a white dog, though, and found the fact that Newsom loved her pup so dang much pretty endearing but The Milk Eyed Mender is a fantastic album. And, to me, "Sadie" sort of falls short.

M. Ward, my long-standing folk music man crush aside from Will Sheff, has been turning "Sadie"'s grating edge into a gentle, smoky voiced lullaby for quite some time live. Personally, I remember seeing Ward bust out a version of this with a dawning look of realization on my face when I realized the reason why I recognized but didn't really recognize the song he was playing on stage at the Vic.

Now, even agoraphobics can enjoy Ward's take on Newsom's "Sadie" because the fine folks at Oxfam have put together a 22 song compliation featuring a ton of musicians who specialize in songs under fifteen minutes long offering up versions, uh, of Joanna. I guess that's why the CD is called Versions of Joanna. Makes sense.

Joanna Newsom - Sadie

Anyhow, enjoy Ward's lovely "Sadie" below. Personally, I'm pumped to see what Ben Sollee does with "Sawdust and Diamonds".

Sadie - M.Ward by Peter24B