Radio Free Chicago

Get On The List: Rademacher

Next Monday at Schubas, it's a "Radio Free Silver Lake recommends..." show with L.A. favorites Rademacher. While actually hailing from Fresno, they've made a name for themselves around Los Angeles the last couple of years and they come highly recommended from Joe over at our sister site, RFSL.

But don't take Joe's word for it, check them out for yourselves...we've got some free passes for you here at RFC so you can check them out risk free. Just drop us a line at radiofreechicago(at)gmail.com with "Rademacher" in the subject and we'll put you in the drawing to get on the list. Get your entries in by this Friday, and in the meantime, click on over to the jump to check out a random clip of the band rocking out their track "Robot Store" at some hippy store in Wyoming.

Download: Rademacher - "If You Got Some Magic"

News and Notes: RIP Mikey Dread, Diddy Denies, The Raconteurs, Radiohead Video

///Mikey Dread, best known for his work with The Clash, died on Saturday from a brain tumor. He is survived by a wife and six children. [Thanks, NME]

///The LA Times recently printed a story about Tupac's murder, which implicated hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs in the crime. Diddy denies the story and calls it "beyond ridiculous."

///The Raconteurs finished recording their new album the first week of March and will be releasing Consolers of the Lonely on March 25th. [Thanks, Billboard]

///Radiohead is holding a contest for all of you wanna be music video directors out there. You get to pick the song, make the video, and hopefully win some prizes. [Thanks, Consequence of Sound]

News and Notes: ABBA, Liars with Radiohead, Keith Richards on Winehouse, Justice

/// ABBA's ex-session-drummer, Ola Brunkert, was found dead by a neighbor on March 16th after he apparently fell from a window of his house in Majorca, Spain. He toured extensively with the group and is the only session musician to appear on all of ABBA's albums. [Thanks, NME]

///It looks like Liars will be opening for the first leg of the upcoming North American Radiohead tour. No Chicago dates have been listed yet, and no one has officially comfirmed those pesky Lollapalooza dates. [Thanks, Information Leafblower]

///Because he's almost dead himself, Keith Richards has taken to warning Amy Winehouse off of the drugs. He also considers her his favorite modern artist, which only contributes to his long decent into irrelevancy. [Thanks, NME]

///NPR recently covered the French duo Justice. They will be stopping by Chicago (at The Riv) on March 20th for a sold out show.

pic from NME

The Magnetic Fields @ Old Town School of Folk Music, 3/14/08, First Show

The Magnetic Fields must really like Chicago, for over the course of the three nights, they played two shows a night--more than any other city on their tour. The last time the Fields played in Chi-Town was in 2004 in support of their record i. In January, they released Distortion, an affable album filled with fuzzy feedback, ironic considering lead singer Stephin Merritt suffers from hyperacusis. It's a condition where high frequencies, ie, distortion, causes great pain in his eardrum. To abate his condition, the band only plays acoustic songs with hardly any electronics present. Despite this scenario, the Magnetic Fields impressed with a lovely and engaging set. Those folks in Austin didn't know what they missed.

Download: "Too Drunk to Dream" - The Magnetic Fields

RFC Interview: Kim Hiorthøy

It's not uncommon to find musicians who also excel in other forms of art, but you'd be hard pressed to find another musician as multi-talented as Kim Hiorthøy. Check out this impressive resume:

As a graphic designer he is responsible for the Rune Grammofon artwork, as well as most of Smalltown Supersound’s [his record label] artwork. He is also an artist (check out www.standardoslo.no for more information about his art) and a writer. Kim wrote the book Du kan ikke svikte din beste venn og bli god til å synge samtidig on Norwegian literary publisher Oktober Forlag. He has released a book of photography in Japan, a book of drawings, Alt Fins, and a design book, Tree Weekend on Die Gestalten Verlag in Germany. Additionally, Kim has illustrated several children’s books. Kim has worked in film as a photographer, having shot the acclaimed Norwegian movies “Kroppen Min” and “Ungdommens Raskap”, as a video director for the concert film “Supersilent7”, and as a filmmaker, having just debuted as a director/screenwriter with the Swedish/Norwegian co-production, ”Hur Man Gor”.

Somehow in between all those endeavors, Hiorthøy has managed to release some great lo-fi/leftfield electronic records for the Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound. This Saturday, he'll be in town to play the Empty Bottle as a part of a Smalltown label showcase with diskJokke and Bjørn Torske. RFC recently caught up with Hiorthøy via email to find out how he manages to make enough time to be such a prolific musican and artist.

Download: Kim Hiorthoy - "I Thought We"

News and Notes: Mudhoney, Okkervil River via The Wrens, Them Roaring Twenties

///Mudhoney, who have been playing grunge since I was three, are releasing their 11-track new album The Lucky Ones on May 20th via Sub Pop. [Thanks, Aversion]

///The Wren's Charles Bissell has hopped ship (for the time being) and has joined Okkervil River. The big O. Riv's guitarist left the band to be a dad (awww). [Thanks, Pfork]

///We reported on Them, Roaring Twenties new release the other day, but now you can catch them live and free at the Empty Bottle on St. Patty's Day with Unique Chique.

///If you happen to catch CNN's report about Spitzer's "favorite gal", be sure to note how they assume everything on a MySpace page is true.

News and Notes: The Methadones, The New Pornographers, Leonard Cohen (!), Malkmus

///The Methadones are working on a split full length with The Copyrights. The record will be released by the new label Transparent, which was formed by Adam Fletcher (The Copyrights) and Dan Schafer (The Methadones). Their all important label MySpace will be up shortly. The band is recording over at Atlas Studios.

///A few months back The New Pornographers played a live set at the Apple Store in SoHo. They have made the set available on iTunes. Search for it yo. [Thanks, Pfork]

///Leonard Cohen has announced his first tour in fifteen years. No U.S. dates are included, but Toronto really isn't that far away. [Thanks, Stereogum]

///NPR features Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and their "Cold Son" for the listener supported "Song of the Day."

///Lately the news has all been SXSW. If you aren't there, like me, make sure to get out to some of the (usually) good shows happening all over town.

RFC Interview: Scroobius Pip

While I usually stick to albums when making year end top 5 lists, if you were to pin me down and make me do a top 5 singles list of 2007, "Thou Shalt Always Kill" by Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip would probably get the top spot. Initially just a remix collaboration between a techno artist (Dan) in England who dropped some beats on top of a spoken word track by a local beat poet (David Meads, aka Scroobius), the track quickly took on a life of its own and garnered the duo rampant accolades from critics and fans alike. In fact, at the height of its popularity, a BBC radio DJ deemed it “the hottest track in the world right now.” Now, after a couple more singles under their belt, they've got a full-length album debut slated for release in late spring and will be hitting the road for a headlining tour of the UK next month.

However, first they've got to take care of some business here in the States. They'll be in Austin the next couple of days at SXSW to play some gigs and shop around their recently completed debut full-length to record labels, but they managed to squeeze in a quick stop over in Chicago tonight to play the Empty Bottle. RFC recently caught up with the beat poet, turned MC Scroobius Pip learn more about how their collaboration turned into an unlikely sensation.

Watch: Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - "Thou Shalt Always Kill"

News and Notes: Them Roaring Twenties, People Projects, Tirra Lirra

///Chicago's Them, Roaring Twenties have released their debut record. It's called Future Sandwich. If you would like a sandwich from the future (and the sweet board game that comes with it) visit Sickroom Records.

///The Write Off Record and Zine fair, a part of the Hewhocorrupts Inc Stimulus Festivus, will be taking place at People Projects on Saturday March 15th. Featuring a variety of Chicago punk labels and zines, for a three dollar donation you can let these labels and zines give you free stuff. Awesome!

///One of my favorites, Tirra Lirra, will be playing at WOR (1464. N. Milwaukee) on Saturday as well.

Grand Archives/The Acorn/Builders and the Butchers at Schubas 3/8/08

This was a fantastic night of music, headed by Seattle’s Grand Archives, a five piece led by Matt Brooke, previously of Band of Horses and Carissa’s Weird.  Grand Archives stays truer to form to Carissa’s Weird with more of the darker introspective sense than the overblown rock band I’ve always found Band of Horses to be a little guilty of.  Because of that, it’s perhaps easier to connect with on smaller stages and a nice balance between both of these previous efforts. Brooke also seems like a sweet and modest guy, thanking Chicagoans for buying his record (apparently the 2008 Sub Pop release has sold really well in Chicago in particular.)  Their set wasn’t incredibly long in length due to the fact that the band’s incarnation is recent but they did play a new song not on the record and ended with a long medley of covers beginning with the famous “I Started a Joke” by the BeeGees.

Download: Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"

Yeaaaah, Boyeee! Pitchfork Music Festival reveals first of batch of names

Pitchfork Music Festival has quietly released (via email) the first batch of lineup names as well as on-sale dates for their 2008 festival, which we once again descend on Union Park. It looks as though they are keeping it a 3-day event this year, with Friday night being co-promoted by All Tomorrow's Parties. The dates for this year's festival are July 18, 19, 20 and tickets go on-sale via Ticketweb on Wednesday, March 12th at Noon. But, those are just the small details, you want to know who's playing...

See the initial Line-Up after the Jump!

News and Notes: Rock 'n' Roll Inductees, Yea Big + Kid Static, Girls Rock!, Shellac

///Madonna, John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five, and The Ventures will all be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

///Chicago's Yea Big + Kid Static have been featured on MTV's Buzzworthy. So, now are they cool to like, or does this actually subtract cool points? I can never keep track.

///Girls Rock! The Movie has officially started showing over at the Music Box. From what I have heard it looks like a good film. [Thanks, TLTP]

///Going to Europe soon? So is Shellac, why not be a groupie?

News and Notes: Lolla Pre-Sale, Line-Up Rumors, Go Away Dave

//Gold rush over already? Lollapalooza sent out a somewhat vague email earlier this week about "$60 Ticket Gold Rush," but checking back at their website this morning it says that "souvenir tickets went fast." Well, so much for that!?  Don't fret, a more formal cheap ticket pre-sale has been announced to take place on March 25th.

//Speaking of Lolla...the rumor has been swirling around again, but Radiohead certainly has to be on the bill this summer right? Also, word on the street is that Pitchfork will be making an announcement very soon about their festival line-up this summer. Let's hope they bring the noise for another spiritual weekend at Union Park this summer!!!

//Finally, who were the ad wizards who sent us a press release announcing this year's Dave Matthews summer tour? We'll get right on that one...look for extensive multi-city DMB coverage on RFC all this year!

UPDATE: this just in...Kot confirms Radiohead at Lolla!

RFC Interview: Sharin Foo (The Raveonettes)

After 3 albums for major label conglomerate Columbia, gothic retro pop duo The Raveonettes have reemerged in 2008 with a new record, a new sound and a new lease on life. After a few of months in limbo after its initial European release, the band’s latest album, Lust Lust Lust, finally dropped stateside last month thanks to Vice Records, who just added The Raveonettes to their roster in January. In addition to bringing their uber cool style to the fashionable Vice empire, the band also brings with them one of their best musical efforts to date. A completely self-performed and self-produced effort, Lust, Lust, Lust wipes away the gloss that had built up by the end of their major label run and returns the band to its gritty and noisy origins. Now the two are hitting the road this month for an extensive North American tour that brings them to the Double Door on the 18th. RFC recently caught up with vocalist Sharin Foo via phone to discuss the band's latest sonic endeavors.

Download: The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk With Me"

News and Notes: Smoking Popes, Silver Jews, Chicago, SXSW and Bangers & Mash

///Chicago's Smoking Popes will be going with Flameshovel Records for their follow-up to 1997's Destination Failure. It's called Stay Down and you can here a couple of songs on their MySpace. [Thanks, PFork]

///The Silver Jews will be releasing their new album Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea June 17th via Chicago's Drag City. [Thanks, Aversion]

///If you are making the trip to Austin for SXSW be sure to stop by Chicago's labels' showcases. Minty Fresh is pimping their bands at Habana Calle Annex on March 15th. Bloodshot bands will be at the Yard Dog Gallery on March 14th and then again on the 15th at the Red Eye Fly.

///RFC's very own Brad and Jeremy (aka "Bangers and Mash") will be hitting the decks again tonight around 10p at The Burlington. Jeremy says he's loading up the iPod with lots of stoner rock this time, while Brad will be sticking to the vinyl as usual and loading up on cans of Schlitz.