Radio Free Chicago

RFC Interview - 7inchwave

I recently heard from an anonymous source (who we'll call 'PVH') that this hot new band from Iowa called 7inchwave was coming to town soon. Sounds like a bit of dichotemy, right? You generally don't hear the words "hot band" and Iowa in the same sentence. However, PVH is a trusted source and knows his rock, so I decided to investigate further...

According to their profile on My Space, 7inchwave consists of three robotic humanoids named Danomatika, Karltron and Grantbotnik who play "Dancy Surfer-Robot Punk Rock." Hmmm...perhaps we've found this generation's Devo? Here's their official bio:

7inchWave consists of 3 human entities whose mission is to spread the robotic word of music through all space and time. This message goes out to all who have yet to unlock their own personal vices and programmed inhibitions: those who must strive to maintain sanity among the crowd of normals, those who behave abnormally in a most sub-human manner, and those who exhibit signs of severe frustration with the world. We will absolve all your worldly sins through sheer noise and harmony. Embrace the wave, people, and all shall be right with the robotic world.

With upcoming gigs at both the Bottom Lounge and Buddy Gallery, I decided to track down the members of 7inchwave to get more insight on this mysterious new band from the nation's heartland...

RADIO FREE CHICAGO: So what's the story behind 7inchwave? (how did the band get started, what is the origin of the name, are you guys really robots? etc., etc.)

Danomatika: We are indeed robots. Our only mission is to execute our entertainment protocol. Adopting human form, speech, and mannerisms has allowed us to perform this task to the needed degree. The name comes from surf, new wave, and 7 inch records.
Grantbotnik: Our unit has been performing in our current incarnation for roughly 11 lunar orbits.

RFC: I hear that Ames, Iowa is the next "Williamsburg," is this true?

D: Ames has its moments, its people, and its bands, but it is hardly big on its music scene. Let's just say that most students here pass the time by drinking, instead of drinking while going to shows.

RFC: You've got a pretty solid tour booked for a band that doesn't have a full album out yet, let alone a record deal, how did you pull that off?

D: We have the tunes and our persuasion algorithms are top notch.

RFC: Are you guys really ready to rock Chicago? What can audiences expect from your live show?

D: The real question: is Chicago ready for us? Our attempts at thwarting the unseen sonic invaders usually results in collateral damage to the surrounding area.

RFC: If you could open up for any major artist or band (past or present), who would it be?

D: DEVO
G: The Talking Heads

SPEED ROUND

Favorite Chicago band/artist:

G: Troubled Hubble, Shellac, Does Wilco count?

Analog or vinyl:

D: Pure analog is the ultimate in transmission of continuous signals, since it is directly from the source. A vinyl recording is analogous to the recorded sound, yet is not live. With the live energy taken away, the recording loses some of its human emotional impact.

Best album of 2004:

G: My favorite was The Black Keys' Rubber Factory

Original Recipe or Extra Crispy:

D: We consume food only for appearance. By nutritional standards, the skin is not "the best part" as it contains little to no important nutrients needed for daily energy restoration in organic bodies. Therefore, the question is invalid as we do not eat chicken, nor enjoy the skin.

What does Iowa have more of...pigs, corn or mullets?

D: An endless see of corn to feed throngs of humans.

7inchwave plays tomorrow night (5/10) at the Bottom Lounge with We Are Wolves, Birdnames and The Hot Love. They'll also be back in town on Friday May 20th at buddY with with Ad Astra Per Aspera, Yah Tibla La Blu and The Narrator. Check out MP3 samples of their songs at http://www.myspace.com/7inchwave

Prefuse 73 listening party at Tiny Martini

This Saturday, Koncept & Meiotic present a Prefuse 73 listening/preview party at Tiny Martini. In addition to hearing the latest release, Surrounded by Silence, you can also win tickets to next Thursday's Prefuse 73/Beans show at the Empty Bottle...plus other swag from Warp Records.

Afterward, there will be live DJ sets from Tobias and Lee Chameleon. The night will be capped off by a live performance from Chicago electronic artist Warmdesk. Tini Martini is located at 2169 N. Milwaukee, must be 21+ to attend.

Spoon@Metro 5/3/05

Spoon@Metro 5/3/05

Introducing...the RFC Live Photo Archive

As you may have noticed yesterday, there's now a "pictures" section in the right-hand column of Radio Free Chicago. This is where you'll find archived pix of the latest live performances at local venues around the city. Leading the new project is Nicole Chavas, who joins the crack staff of Radio Free Chicago as "chief image coordinator." Nicole is a fellow DJ, blogger and music junkie who will now be documenting all of her live music experiences for RFC.

In addition to more pix from last weekend's Dizzee Rascal show, you can also check out pictures from this week's "secret" Spoon show at Metro as well as shots from Animal Collective's recent performance at the Empty Bottle. Stay tuned, many more pix to come...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rfc/

Air America Returns to Chicago...sort of

After months of speculation and rumor, it was finally officially announced yesterday that Air America would be returning to Chicago airwaves after over a year absence. As expected, the network will be broadcast on WAIT-AM 850, which will be changing its call letters to WCPT to reflect the station's new identity as "Chicago's Progressive Talk." However, in reality, the station should actually call itself "Crystal Lake's Progressive Talk."

So here's the catch...yes, Air America will be back on local airwaves, but it will be on a rather weak signal originating from far northwest suburban Crystal Lake. This wouldn't be much of a problem if the station was a full-power 50,000 watt behemoth like WLS or WGN...but with a paltry 2,500 watts, AM 850 barely reaches into the heart of the city. It is audible on the North Side, but it sounds all distant and scratchy like you're trying to listen to the BBC on an old short-wave radio. Trying to listen downtown or on the South Side? Forget it.

Now here's the real kicker...the damn station doesn't even operate 24 hours/day! It's a "daytime-only" station that is licensed to operate only during daylight hours. When the sun goes down, the station shuts off. I'll save you the technical explanation of why this station does this, but basically what this means is that you won't be able to hear any of Air America's night-time offerings like Janeane Garofalo, and in the winter the station will be on the air for barely 10 hours a day. Don't get too attached to their afternoon show, because when December hits the show is going to get chopped off at 4:30!

Yes, yes...I know...you can always listen to Air America on-line at their website. But not everyone has access to the Internet, some offices (like mine) don't let employees listen to streaming audio at work and you still can't take it in the car with you. (unless you have the cash to spend on satellite radio) It's great that someone in the area added Air America to their line-up, but for anyone outside of the north burbs, it's really more like a tease. Chicago is what makes Illinois a "blue" state, but for some reason red-state heroes like Rush, Hannity and Savage still dominate the local talk airwaves. It doesn't make any sense to me, but then again, nothing that goes on at commercial radio ever does.

WCPT officially debuts tomorrow morning (5/5) at 8am on AM 850...good luck trying to pick it up

New Releases Tuesday (5/3)

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth (Interscope) After a 5 year hiatus, Trent Reznor returns with the follow-up to The Fragile. He'll also be in town this week supporting the new album with two sold-out shows at the Congress Theater. Steer clear of the area Friday and Saturday night if you're allergic to black leather.

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses (Lost Highway)
Is this guy a brilliant songwriter or just a pompous arsehole? I can never decide...

Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm (SuperEgo)
Who knew that the teased-haired singer of 'Til Tuesday would still be making relevant records 20 years later?

Also...

Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness (Domino)
The Raveonettes - Pretty in Black (Columbia)
Oneida - The Wedding (Secretly Canadian)
Tullycraft - Disenchanted Hearts Unite (Magic Marker)

Captain Rascal live@Double Door 4/30

Captain Rascal live@Double Door 4/30

Live Review: Dizzee Rascal@Double Door 4/30/05

For the last night of his first North American headlining tour, Dizzee Rascal invaded the Double Door Saturday for a rousing night of grime and rhyme. His first visit to America's third coast, Rascal tore up the place and left fans exhausted at the end.

If you're not familiar with Dizzee Rascal, he is by far the breakout star of the UK's grime scene, a new style of music born out of the London underground that fuses good ol' American hip-hop with music evolved from England's underground "garage" (aka "2-step") dance movement. In reality that's a bit of an oversimplification, especially when it comes to describing the music of Dizzee Rascal. Dizzee's rhyme style is fast and frenetic and unlike anything we've heard here in the States. While the crowd at this show certainly attested to the danceability of his music, Dizzee sure as hell ain't Craig David and you probably won't be hearing his latest jam at your downtown trixie-infested dance club anytime soon.

That being said, it was an interesting crowd at Double Door. The show had not sold out ahead of time, which lead me to believe that perhaps the grime phenomenon had not took hold into the inner reaches of the continent yet. However, the long and narrow confines of the Double Door quickly reached close to capacity and the room was filled with more than just the usual conglomeration of hip kids in-the-know. Trixies dressed up in their best club attire, Abercrombie-wearin' dudes, stoner kids, hip-hoppers and even a couple geezers (the American kind, not the ubiquitous English bloke) were all interspersed with Double Door's usual predominately young,white indie-rock crowd. So perhaps grime had infected the masses of middle America?? ...at least on a small scale?

This theory was proven even more by the response to the live turntable set from opener DJ Wonder. The tightly squeezed crowd was groovin' along to every beat of his set that consisted solely of underground grime tracks. The crowd really erupted whenever Wonder dropped a track from the recently released compilation, Run the Road, the first grime primer released on this side of the pond. I'm guessing the comp hasn't sold thousands of copies in Chicago yet, but of those that have picked it up, I'd say 90% of them had come out to see this show.

And yes, while everyone enjoyed shakin' their ass to DJ Wonder's set, it was really just a warm-up exercise for the main attraction, Captain Rascal himself. Jumping on stage to one of the most enthusiastic welcomes I've ever heard at Double Door, Dizzee started off the set with an acappella version of "Sittin' Here," the first track from his debut album, performed appropriately enough while sitting down with the stage lights off. A nice excitement builder and an essential introduction of his craft to the virgin audience who were experiencing Rascit for the first time in their city.

After the intro, Rascal kicked it in to high gear and never let up the rest of the night. Aided by just a hypeman (Big Scope) on stage and a DJ behind him (DJ Semtex), Dizzee literally kept the audience jumpin all night. Even on a couple of his slower jams like "Jezebel" and "Respect Me," Rascal never let his energy down and always kept the audience engaged.

I've been a huge of Rascal ever since his debut was released in the States last January and thought he and his crew sounded crew sounded great live. However, by the middle of the set, I have to admit that my enthusiasm was started to wane a bit. It certainly wasn't the quality of the material, nor was from a lack of energy and presence on stage from Dizzee. At the time, I thought that perhaps in my case, Dizzee was just preachin' to the long converted. His first two records just blew me away, and I had been listening to them for a while, so perhaps I couldn't be blown away anymore? I had maxed out on my enjoyment of these tracks?

In hindsight, a more reasonable explanation for my mild malaise was that the first half of the set just really tight and by the books. Like I said, I thought it sounded great, but since I had heard these tracks a million times and they sounded almost identical live, I just wasn't getting the same euphoria as I did over a year ago when I first bumped Boy in da Corner in the car with the bass cranked up.

But alas, like any good performer, Dizzee kicked in the reserves for the home stretch and really brought the house down to close out the night. The turn-around for me came at the performance of "Jus a Rascal." After a couple of slower tracks and a very brief break to talk to the audience, the hyper intro to "Jus a Rascal" started and the place just exploded. The floor of the old venue literally started to bounce along with the crowd and it was impossible not to start groovin' along with everyone to this infectious track. This was quickly followed by an interpolation of the Dead Pres' track, "Bigger than Hip-Hop," which got the crowd raisin' the roof and the floor at the same time.

This momentum was maintained through the rest of the performance, thanks to more improvised (or, more likely, planned variations of) beats behind the rhymes, more interaction with the crowd from Dizzee and Co., and hot tracks like "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and "Stand Up Tall," which were naturally saved until the end.

All in all, this was a really great show. Dizzee Rascal is truly one of the few artists that lives up to the hype, both live and on record. I think my only disappointment is that I wasn't able be experience this live show a year earlier. Experiencing tracks like "I Luv U" and "Fix Up, Look Sharp" for the first time in a live setting would have been mind blowing. Hopefully Dizzee will be back to tour the states sooner after his next record, but regardless, I'll still be first in line to see him again. In the meantime, keep buyin' his records and check out that Run the Road comp, maybe if they sell enough copies we could get an entire grime tour here in the states. Imagine, Dizzee and The Streets co-headlining a tour with a supporting cast of Wiley, Lady Sovereign, God's Gift, etc. Now that would be a hot tour...however they'd have to book it at somewhere else besides Double Door, I think the floor would literally collapse at that one.

Dizzee (right) with hypeman Big

Dizzee (right) with hypeman Big Scope

More Dizzee here