In tribute to a great venue going through a bit of Chicago-style zoning politics (ie bullshit). Here is one of my favorite shows that I saw there. This was later (november-ish?) of last year. It was cold out side and the parachute was up so the venue isnt to echoey. We sat on the floor. Everyone was perfectly quiet. Enjoy:
Calm Down It's Monday (Julie on drums/Fred on guitar)
Julie Doiron Solo
Mt Eerie w/Julie and Fred
Welcome to a new feature here at RFC, "Hear What You Missed", where I will post a live set of a band that I think everyone should check out. This will hopefully encourage you to get to shows earlier and see all the bands; many times the openers are really great too. As is the case today with Sonoi who opened for MV & EE last week at the Empty Bottle. Check out their MySpace, which mentions a Hideout show 7/25. (related: Manishevitz )
Disclaimer: I hold my standards high for my live recordings and will only post ones that I feel are decent sounding fidelity-wise. If you disagree or just would rather not have your show posted here please let me know (cinchel_at_gmail.com) and I will remove this. I am just trying to spread the love.
Continue reading "Hear What You Missed: Sonoi @ Empty Bottle 6/19/08" »
It's time for another downtempo-tastic episode of the Red Room! This one will make you want to dance like a backwards-talking dwarf. On this edition, I started with Mark Ronson's "Stop Me" cover and then the next thing I knew I ended up with an entire covers set. What is it about hearing bands playing songs by other bands that's so fascinating? It seems like it should be a tired concept at this point, but at the same time even this cynical music fan had fun digging for buried cover song gems in the archives and piecing them all together in one set. Even if you're not in the mood to hear 45-minutes of covers, at the very least I highly recommend forwarding ahead about 5 minutes in the podcast to hear Nick Cave's cover of Pulp's "Disco 2000." Absolute genius.
Download: Red Room, Covers Edition
So...after sorting through thousands of email suggestions about what to name my resurrected downtempo radio show, I decided to go with the Lynch-inspired moniker, "The Red Room." On this first official episode, I've got new tracks from Amy Winehouse, The Good, The Bad & The Queen and James Yorkston, as well as some classics from Air, Waldeck and Doves.
Download: The Red Room, episode 1
Chicago's favorite sons Baby Teeth, whose recent album The Simp was unleashed on Tuesday, are preparing for their Chicago CD Release Party at Schubas' on March 17th, which is sure to be one helluva shindig and will end a five month hiatus. We had the chance to sit with Baby Teeth to discuss the new album, the recording process, and of course their favorite karaoke songs.
Download the Podcast Interview Here or listen via the streaming audio player below:
Wanna hear the title track off their new album?
Download: Baby Teeth - "The Simp"
Musically, I've always had a bit of a penchant for the downtempo and morose. In college, I had a radio show called "Pump Up the Valium" where I played a healthy dose of bands like Portishead, Low and Air. A few years later, I resurrected the show late nights on WLUW and dove even further into the realm of dark and obscure electronic music. That show was called "Halcyon Nights" (inspired by the Orbital song, "Halcyon On and On") and my plan was always to relaunch it here on Radio Free Chicago. Inspiration to finally record some new material struck this past weekend while seeking refuge from all the snow and ice, but when I was done I realized I didn't really want to use the Halcyon name anymore.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Bandwidth featured artist Quasar Wut Wut for an interview, in their studio as they prepare to finish up a soundtrack to The General and begin recording the follow up to their 2004 release Taro Sound. This RFC exclusive podcast kicks off with a new, unreleased track "Ms. Brown."
Download the Podcast Interview Here or listen via the streaming audio player below:
Like pictures with your sound? You can also check out photos from the podcast here.
Probably the most recognizable example of musical "borrowing" that occurred in this past year came from the debut of The Raconteurs, the indie supergroup featuring Jack White, Brendan Benson and two Greenhornes. Their lead single, "Steady As She Goes," was a well-deserved hit on the charts, but its resemblance to a certain Joe Jackson hit from 1979 raised quite a few eyebrows amongst critics and fans alike. On this edition of Under the Influence, we've mashed the two together to give you an idea of just how much these story-lovin' rockers owe their success to the pop stylings of Mr. Jackson. Also on the full podcast, find out who links Beck to Dylan on the folk rock family tree.
Download: Joe Jackson vs. The Raconteurs - "Is She Really Going Out Steady With Him?
When the new Yeah Yeah Yeah's album came out this Spring, Rory had it cranked up in hot rotation around the RFC offices for quite some time. I was probably a bit less enthusiastic about the album overall, but I did really like the opening track, "Gold Lion." However, after about the third or fourth listen, I was like, "hey Rory, is it just me or does that song sound just like "No New Tale To Tell" by Love and Rockets?" Via the magic of the Internets, we then tracked down some Love and Rockets and listened to both tracks back to back. Sure enough, we both agreed they sounded pretty damn similar. About a week or so later, Rory was playing some other indie rock jam and once again I was like, "hey, that sounds just like...?" This game continued around the office quite a while and eventually I started writing the matches down with the idea of later piecing them all together as an "old school vs. new school" themed mixtape. The compilation never got made, but I saved my notes and decided to turn the project into a Podcast series. This first installment features the aforementioned Love & Rockets vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs battle, plus another recent indie rock track that sounds even more like "No New Tale to Tell" than "Gold Lion" does! Also on the full Podcast, hear where Goldfrapp stole, er...I mean "borrowed" the riff for their hit single this year, "Oh La La."
Download: Under the Influence (full podcast)
Download: Love & Rockets vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs vs. Hopewell - "No New Gold Lion To Tell in Calcutta"
I've always had a love/hate relationship with classic rock. Growing up, it was pretty much all that I listened to because...well, it was pretty much the only thing I knew. I grew up in the boonies and didn't have MTV, so it was either listen to the rock station, the country station or the top 40 station. Eventually I did discover my older sister's discarded Depeche Mode and R.E.M. cassettes and started to pick up on other 120 Minutes staples like The Cure, Dinosaur Jr., Ween, etc., but it wasn't until college that I completely stopped listening to our local AOR-powerhouse known lovingly as "Rock 106."
Continue reading "RFC Podcast: Late '70s Smooth Rock Tribute" »
Receiving critical praise recently for their work as "Public Four," this local 5-piece abruptly changed their name two weeks ago to become "Slings & Arrows." Now this Saturday at Metro they're making their live debut under the new moniker, opening for fellow local scenesters Airial and Office. RFC caught up with the band earlier this week at their practice space to discuss more about the name change and Chicago's burgeoning indie rock scene.
Download the Podcast interview here, or listen via the streaming audio player below:
Local electronic pop duo Walter Meego return to the SubT this Saturday for a headlining gig celebrating the release of their latest single/EP, "Romantic." RFC caught up with Meego's Colin and Justin this week at their Portage Park compound to find out more about the new record and their plans for an upcoming debut full-length. Download the Podcast here or hit play on the player below:
The Meego boys also have a new video to coincide with the release of the single, enjoy the YouTube fun after the jump.
