you can't spell "horsemen" without "semen" [WZRD]

Eazy-E - Radio
Hisato Higuchi - Guitar #5
Metatron - Tikkune Zohar #
Lozenge - El Bombo

The Residents - It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World (James Brown cover)
Gotan Project - Chunga's Revenge
Derrick Harriot - Message From a Black Man !
Dwight Trible - John Coltrane

JFA- Walk Don't Run (The Ventures cover)
Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow #
Indian Jewelry - Going South #!
Glass Candy - Nite Nurses
Fluorescent Grey - I Am a Photograph of My Old Driveway, the edges of the photogragh are made of cow's teeth, as the cow's mouth closes i explode into a firework cloud of red andgreen dog biscuits #!!!

Dark Dark Dark - Ferment in Dm #!!!
Who Cares How Long You Sink - Leaves Rainbow #
Motorhead - God Was Never On Your Side #!!

Vlor - Wires #!!!
Lady Sovereign - My England #
The Stranglers - Hanging Around
John Medeski and Matthew Shipp - Eclipse #

Lee Scratch Perry - I Am a Psychiatrist #
Keith Morris - Nervous Breakdown

Morlokk - Storm the Catacombs
SunnO))) & Boris - Etna #

To Live and Shave in LA - Percent Obstruct Street #
Junkroc/Jello Biafra - Spoken Word House Mashup


Not only does Fluorescent Grey have the best name and songtitles of today's show, he made this rough ass IDM track out of calm-y nature clips

TwoSlaps Radio [WLUW]

100% Fuckhead Set:

Irma Thomas - While the city sleeps
Elvis Costello and Allen Touissant - All These Things
Fats Domino - BlueBerry Hill
Ray Charles - What'd I Say

Joe Turner - Midnight Special Train
Carla Thomas - Gee Wiz
The Clovers - Devil or Angel
Trevor Dandy - Is there any love
Ben E King - Spanish Harlem

Betty Wright - Paralyzed
Ms Tyree Sugar Jones - If you feel it
Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - Tequila and chocolate
James Last - Soul March

Spanky Wilson and the Quantic Soul Orchestra - Waiting for your touch
Quantic - Bomb In a Trumpet Factory
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - How long do I have
Booker T. and The MG's - Time is Tight

Gnarls Barkley - Boogie Monster
TV On The Radio - Let The Devil In
Dj Spooky That Subliminal Kid w/ Jack DAngers and Chuck D - Brothers Gonna Work it Out
DJ Shadow - Erase You

Scritti Politti - The Boom Boom Bap
GoldFrapp (DFA Remix) - Slide In

Peeping Tom - Kill The Dj (feat. Massive Attack)
KtheI??? - Go-Go-Go-Girls

[Every Monday night, Two Slaps Radio plays the best and most unconventional funk and soul in Chicago, with all of its roots and derivatives including acid jazz, doo-wop, brass band, girl groups and electro. Two Slaps radio can be heard live from 2-4am on WLUW 88.7fm and wluw.org]

Every Fucking Wednesday?

Date: 12/13/06
Venue: Freeform Shuffle at Spot 6
Bands: Right-Eye Rita plus djs
Cost: Free
Things I missed to be there: In-One-Ear at the Heartland Cafe

Rita is in her full XXXmas mode right now, warbling electronic Christmas carols, but she's not much different than the last time I wrote about her so enjoy this picture I took of her.

Letters to Satan

Date: 12/13/06
Venue: Second City E.T.C. Theater
Band: Shellac
Price: $10
Things I missed to be there: I got there at 3 in the morning. If there was something else going on I demand to know about it.

It's 3AM. I've just watched an spelling bee where a lone contestant is playing for his own life. At blackout, one of the actors comes out and introduces:

"A band known for their mellow, James Taylor-like musical stylings...Shellac!"

And the band takes the stage. A couple of antique amps, glittery gold drum set, and a couple of guitars that look like they've been chewed on by cougars. Steve Albini comes out in an Upright Citizens Brigade t-shirt, toasting the Chicago expats and Second City rivals with a mischievous smile on his face that quickly moves into a sneer as he punches out the first chord. It's blisteringly loud and incredibly absurd. The stage is so close. And pastel. And well lit. I take a swig from the Fat Tire that was sitting at the table when I got there. This is awesome.

I've missed Shellac more times than I can count and for no good reason. I missed them when they played with Fugazi at the Congress Theater for lke 5 bucks, I missed them last year when they played like six shows in four days, I missed them the last time I was in New Orleans and they were playing the Tape-Op convergence, and I miss them every year at The Second City's annual charity fundraiser, Letters to Santa.



The idea behind Letters to Santa is that the Second City will stay open from 7pm Tuesday to 7pm Wednesday, charge ten dollars to come and go as you please, and alternate between music, comedy and improv. The funds go to providing holiday gifts to children in need. In addition to the door, there are auctions for things like a recording session with Albini, or a guitar of Jeff Tweedy's (who was the show's first musical act).

There was a time in my life where improv meant the world to me. I loved it as much as I loved music, but more because it was something I could actually do. I stayed in Chicago for college because there wasn't a better city in the world to do improv. In high school when I was training on the E.T.C. stage I would have dreamt about something like this, where the actors played out in the crowd so the band could set up on stage, at all hours of the night. It just seems like such a perfect fit for Chicago.

"We're gonna bring the doom and the angry, then the guys'll come back out and bring the funny, then we'll fuck it up again."



During their second set, Steve announced that he would match whatever money was offered up from the audience to watch his girlfriend slap him.

"Is she butch?"

"Full time or part time?"

"Forty bucks!"

When there's a lull in the bidding, she gets up and yells, "I'm from the South Side and I'm Irish!"

"One Hundred dollars."

The bidding ends at $140 for the slap plus a request. After the band closes with "Squirrels", a scene is performed about an office overrun by squirrels. It's one of the few scenes that doesn't work, but it's still pretty cool to watch.

[Other acts include Horatio Sans, Detholz!, Robbie Fulks, and Devil in a Woodpile. If you happen to be reading this right now, you can still catch the end. Upp...it's over.]


I couldn't find any good videos of Shellac, so here's one of Steve Albini's other great bands, Big Black. They reunited this year, and I missed them

TwoSlaps [WLUW]

Peter King - Ajo

Funkadelic - Adolescent Funk
Bobby Byrd - I'm Just Nobody Pt. 1 & 2
Sharon Jones - Hook and Sling Meets the Funky Superfly

The Honey Drippers - Impeach the President !
Harlem Underground Band ft. Willis Jackson - Ain't No Sunshine !
Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny !
The Goodies - Sophisticated Boom Boom !!!

Oh shit, it's a doo-wop set!
The Murmaids - Popsicles and Icicles
The Collegians - Zoom Zoom Zoom
The Viscounts - OO-oo-wee

Howlin Wolf - Three Hundred Pounds of Handlin Joy
Billy Ball and the Upsetters ft. Roosevelt Matthews - Tighten Up Tighter
Gems - I Can't Help Myself

Herbie Hancock - King Cobra
DJ Shadow & Keb Darge - It Ain't Fun, But It's Fun
The Soul Generals - Granma's Funky Popcorn

holy fuck, it's Las Vegas grind!
Tic & Toc - Jibba Jab
Jack Ross - Mumbles
DynaSores - Jungle Walk

James Brown - Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year Pts 1 & 2
Diana Ross & the Supremes - My World is Empty Without You (Tranzition Remix)

Fuckhead Set:

The Ronnettes - I saw Mommy kising Santa Claus
O Jays - Christmas Aint Christmas, Neww Year's Aint New Years, Without The One You Love
Shackleford Singers - God Is All Over Me
Bootsy Collins - I'd Rather Be With YOu
Gnarls Barkley - Boogie Monster

Quantic - Bomb In A Trumpet Factory
K The I ??? - Go go girls
DJ Shadow - This Time (I'm gonna try it my way)

Lee Fields - Take It Or Leave it
Lyn Collins - DO YOur Thing
MFSB - FAmily Affiar

Mae Young - The man puts sugar in my soul

[Every Monday night, Two Slaps Radio plays the best and most unconventional funk and soul in Chicago, with all of its roots and derivatives including acid jazz, doo-wop, brass band, girl groups and electro. Two Slaps radio can be heard live from 2-4am on WLUW 88.7fm and wluw.org]

Date: 12/10/06
Venue: Mister City
Bands:
Cost: Suggested 5

Date: 12/9/06
Location: Sarah's House
Bands: None, mp3s of Lebanese pop and the on-and-off Berlin is Burning comp
Art: Miranda July recordings, a Jan Svenkmayer flick
Things I missed to be here: Far Rad and Big City at Spot 6, DJ Spooky at the Dark Room, Disrobe and Vietnam Werewolf at the new Lumpen Space, Environmental Encroachment in Ravenswood, Fetor at Cal's; Abrade and Tierra de Nadie at La Casa Maldita; The Wanderers and 4xxP in weird nonchicago places; Herc and TV Pow at the Strawdog Theatre; "afterparty with dykes and porn stars, come on out!" at Mark Bose's crib
Reasons I went: Sleepy. Lame. Sex. Blogging.

I fell asleep a few minutes after we started the Svankmeyer flick, which started with a raving Scandinavian psychopath whose tongue had been cut off and continued on full of claymation grossness. It gave me nightmares. The nightmares led me to believe that going out tonight would be a bad idea. They were full of symbolism and shit.

The real treat of the night was listening to Miranda July recordings. Miranda July is the performance slash every-other-kind-of-artist who made the film Me and You and Everyone We Know, which all the girls I know saw without me and love incredibly deeply (See also: Shortbus). I'm not sure [what to say next, hits "publish" years later]

Cocktastic Party Sauce

Venue: Quennect Four
Bands: Oskie Grey, Godtastic God Sauce, Me and DJ Demchuk
Price: $5
Things I missed to be there: Fuck the Cold party in Lakeview; DJ Falcon at Zentra; Mary Tyler Morphine at Cal's; DJ Rupture and The Ex at Empty Bottle; Eske, Pkdores, and Eat It Raw in NotChicago
Reason I went: Spinning, probably would have shown up anyway

At the end of the night, when Sam was driving me home with my equipment, he told me, "I really wanted to have a real art show, and not a party."
"Yeah, well, it's hard to throw parties and concerts all year round and then tell everybody 'Wait, this time it's different!'"


Oskie Grey at Quennect Four

I think Sam was a little sour because a lot of the crowd didn't get his set. As Oskie Grey, he plays ambient music and some dubby downtempo shit. It was tight but nobody in the room was there to appreciate shit, they just wanted to dance, and they weren't high enough to catch onto the mellow vibe and start working it to that.

I was asked to spin at what was essentially an art show at the undercover East Humbolt space, and when I got there there was some real good art on the walls but not much of it, and when I left I still had no idea who did what, which was fine by me cause the music was awesome.

Me and Dan traded off on dance-y rock shit: Les George Leningrad, Carpet of Sexy, Munich Machine, MIA, Tracy + the Plastics, The Soft Pink Truth, Anavan, et cetera. The track of the night was one of Dan's, a mash up of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" with 50 Cent's "In Da Club".

We weren't the awesome part, but we were pretty good. The awesomeness came from the first band, Godtastic God Sauce (two myspace pages?). Despite the fact that they have the worst name of any band I've liked this year, they rocked my ass. Their music was all synth, beats and guitar, like live-band electro and hard-trance.


Godtastic God Sauce at Quennect Four

As a gallery show it was kinda lacking but as a party it had some real potential. There must have been a changing of the guard over the last year because I didn't know half of the hip kids runnin around (maybe I just fell off) but they were all pretty low-key. Unfortunatly the timing was off. Just as we were getting a lot of people going, and the drunks started requesting bangers they would've been too embarassed for sobere, it was Oskie's time to play and before he could finish, the cops had entered and told everyone to leave. Maybe the party had too much potential. I must say I was impressed though, at the evacuation. The Quennect Four boys have been doing this kinda shit for years so for them, clearing the place was old hat, but this was the first time in a long time that I've seen a sizeable chunk of sixteen-to-twentyone year olds evacuate a party without freaking out, yelling, running and making matters worth. Whoever this new crop of kids is, more power to em.

You can download mp3s of the entire Godtastic God Sauce album Victims of Manhood in mp3 here.

The Flim is Okie-Dokie

Date: 12/7/06
Venue: Quencher's
Band: Karaoke Dokie
Price: Free Admission, but too much altogether
Things I missed to be there: Les George Leningrad, Grace Kulpa and KK Rampage at Empty Bottle, DJs at Bar Vertigo
Reasons I went: Too drunk to leave

I've never ever liked Quencher's and now I know why. I've gone there too late. Quencher's is a great bar when there's no one there, full of no-frills sandwhiches and sides and exotic beer, like a low-rent Hopleaf.

But if I had shown up at the end of the night, rather than just had it all happen around me, I would have turned around, left, and gone back to the Mutiny.

Thursday was a shitty day. Only kinda shitty because I had just received a paycheck I was waiting for but downhill after that. I was supposed to DJ at Liar's Club but that was postponed so I had this big, free night spread out in front of me, where I would have to pay to get drunk. My girlfriend was having ladies night in my neighborhood at the Map Room but it was girls night out so I couldn't go. Meanwhile the heat was shut off in my place so I had to go somewhere, so I picked up my rat and left.

Les George Leningrad was doing a free show at Reckless Records. I couldn't think of a better way to kill time, especially since I've actually started to listen to my Les George records recently. It was my first time riding my tricycle in the winter and it was weird running it over ice. For some reason or another 1st Gear was shot and 2nd was jumpy and by the time I was in Wicker Park my hands were frozen into claws. Then something terrible happened. My chain broke. It's alright. I would watch the band, get drunk on whatever the special was at Pint, eat fried cheese and take the bus home. Then I realized that I'd forgotten my wallet. When I got to Reckless, Les George was already broken down and meandering about. I was starting to freak. I called Sarah, who uPassed me onto the train on her way to the bar, went home and started over.

Google Search: "bar food", "Logan Square"
Best Result: Quencher's

I grabbed my friend Margaret and went to Quencher's which was the closest bar food bar to my house. Their special was a thick, unnamed Chocolate Lager that actually tasted choclatey. They also had buffalo tater tots. My friends Kelly and Bettie showed up and it was starting to be a party. I snuck the waterbottle mojito out of my bag and chugged it, then filled it with a can of Sparks. By the time the band started setting up we had no intention of leaving.

I guess being a live-band karaoke band is a good deal for musicians, the same way being a club DJ is a good deal for me. You swallow your pride and give the people what they want to hear. I don't know how many of the members of the (wack-ily named) Karaoke Dokies were in bands but I'm pretty sure that their keyboardist played for the Sonnets.

They had a pretty good crowd, almost too-full of familiar faces. There was the older lady from all the punk shows that everybody calls Mom, there was the daughter of my last boss's boyfriend, a girl whose roommate gave me a handjob five years ago, and another DJ from WLUW. Still, I was determined to enjoy Karaoke and not just be cynical, and I did. The band had a good variety of songs, ranging from cheesy and guilty classic rock pop classics to predictable (but awesome) punk rock favorites. Margaret and I kicked ass doing The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl". Then the four of us blew David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust".

Overall it was a fun night, but like I said, if I would have seen it coming in as an outsider, and not from my fuzzy stoop at the drunk table in the back, I never would have believed it.

Captured, Tortured, and Butchered [WZRD]

Since I have so much freedom at the Wizard, and since the record of these setlists is so meaningless, I thought that I would start and end with a video of my favorite artistsfrom the show. Here's the opening track from Pop Levi sings Blue Honey. It's name is in the title...


Now here's the setlist for the whole show:

It's a Trap - Hoy Decimos Basta
Pissed Jeans - Don't Need Smoke to make myself Disappear
Pterodctyl - I Can See a River/Goodand Evil

Jason Webly with Andrew Bemus - How Big is Tacoma
Devendra Banhart/Xiu Xiu - Split 7"
Make Believe - Small Apartment Party
Tijuana Hercules - Fighting Off the Evil Eye
M99 - Shut it Out

Disrobe - Lost Rights/Seething
Liberty Greg - Can't Stop
Tuxedo Killers - I'm Going to Sell those Kids My Bones/Amoeba Hat

The Like Young - Don't Get Dead
No Doctors - T-Bone Pt. 2
Numbers - Solid Pleasure

Lovely Little Girls - All theChildren of the World Born Up Dead/How Stunning I Looked

Panicsville - Boile, Baked, & Basted Babies
Cause Co-Motion! - ThisJust Won't Last
Metatron - Tikkun !

Pop Levi - Blue Honey !!! / (A Style Called) Crying Chic / Mournin Light
Parts & Labor - Take Us Back
Hrvatski - Une Drole De Journee
Matmos - On & On (Curtis Mayfield/Gladys Knight & the Pips Cover)
Kali Z Fasteau/Kidd Jordan/Michael T.A. Thompson -Levess, Lies & Lives


I played two songs by the Tuxedo Killers because I liked them so much

Spot 6 and the Rumble in the Shuffle.

Date: 12/6/06
Show: Johnny Rumble, DJ Billy Oaks and DJ Geek at the Freeform Shuffle
Venue: Spot 6
Price: Free
Things I missed to be there: Sing Sing and Carezza at the Blog Cabin; DJ Rupture and The EX at the Hideout
Reason I went: Too cold/lazy to go to the Southside (this reason needs to die or I need to get my own car)


I have no tolerance for setlists that last longer than 30 minutes anymore. I can listen to a DJ spin bootyjams all night but I can't listen to the Boredoms pummel my ass for more than 45 minutes at a time. That was why Johnny Rumble, like so very many bands i've been seeing lately, got on my nerves. At first I was happy to see them. They were a rock band. Just rocknroll, no subcategories. Three cord melodies and feedback. Someone noted that "this is a natural progression of someone who grew up listening to a world of music where Kurt Cobain was already a dead hero."

Then their influence started to bleed through too much and they sounded like a soft Nirvana, which is kinda like Local H but without the pop chops. By the time their set got good for the hard jammy part at the end I already wanted them gone. They were annoying.

Speaking of annoying. I hate writing about the same show twice in a week like I'm doing here. It makes me feel like an underachiever. Not that there's much I can do about it, unless someone wants to pay me to write about shows, this will just be a blog and I'll just go to whatever shows I can, even if it means being at the same place every time, which brings me back to Spot 6.

I found Spot 6 a few years ago through my friend Budros (or maybe it was Boutros, fake names are annoying like that). He had just dropped out of Northeastern and was starting his burgeoning gig as a promoter with a goth night there. Though well conceived and fairly populated, it didn't work. The bar was a few blocks north of the general Punkin Donuts/Alley/Igor's Dungeon mallpunk strip, nestled right inbetween Boys Town and Wrigleyvile. It was death rock in a bright orange bar that was more used to club DJ and Mexican Karaoke.

The bars' owners must have a soft spot for death rockers though. I didn't think much about Spot 6 for a few years after Budros' show collapsed. Then I started hearing about shows there. This gothic beauty by the name of InGrog (again, a fake name, probably spelled wrong) was booking bands to play in the basement. Spot 6 was becoming a place where you could regularly see good experimental noise and hip hop, as well as industrial/EBM/fetish nights and straight up DJ nights. Now their location is paying off and I've noticed that on any night of the week, they'll pull in a fair amount of spooky kids AND Smart Bar rejects who all seem to feel at home there.

I think that's neat.

TwoSlaps Radio [WLUW]

The Temptations - I Know I'm Losing You
Exodus Quartet - 18th Street
Shirley Bassey - Where Do I Begin (Away Team Remix)

Howlin Wolf - 300 Pounds of Joy
Rebirth Brass Band - No Shame In My Game
Showstoppers - Ain't Nothin But a Houseparty
Prince - A Rock in a Funky Place

Black Merda - The Prophet
Edwin Starr - Agent Double-O Soul
Donald Byrd - Beale Street
Voices of East Harlem - Choose Your Seat and Set Down

London Funk All Stars - Booyakka
Dyke & the Blazers - Don't Bug Me
Otis Redding - Day Tripper
Lou Rawls - Dead End Street
Ebony Rhythm Band - Drugs Ain't Cool

Papa Mali & the Instigators - Fire Water
Slim & the Soulful Saints - Fish Head
Axiom Funk - Free-Bass

Wilson Pickett - Funky Broadway
Solomon Burke - Got to Get You Off My Mind
Messengers - Hancock's Hideaway
Up, Bustle & Out - Hip Hop Barrio !
Marvin Gaye - Hitchhike !

Funkadelic - Lunchmeatophobia
Little Milton - Grits Ain't Groceries (all around the world)
Booker T & the MGs - Medley

Walking in a [WZRD] Wonderland

Jackie O Motherfucker -
Parts & Labor - Days in Thirds
Grey Ghost - Horns and Organ

Root Boy Slim - Don't make Me Stop
The Microscopic Septet - Baghdad Blues #
Emergency Broadcast Network - The Dreammaster
Rachel's - Moscow is in theTelephone

Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning *
Matmos - Reconstruction
Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer (live)
Winters in Osaka - Snout

Leonard Cohen - The Future
Defiance, Oh - Oh, Susquehanna!
Tom Waits - God's Away On Business
IfIHadAHiFi - (The HiFi Vs.) Potential Energy
Kraftwerk - We are the Robots
RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke

Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch - Death Valley '69 !!
Vas Deferens Organization - Modular Squad !!


Kraftwerk - We Are the Robots

It's a Fuckheadfull Life, pt. 2

Date:11/31/06
Location: Bar Vertigo, 853 N Western Ave.
Cost: $5 suggested
Things I missed to be there: Urban Sandbox at the Ice Factory; Zoku launch with Autobot and Vyle at Sonotheque
Reason I went: I was spinning between bands

It's the first day of Winter in Chicago which means that, as if on cue, we're having a small-time blizzard outside as I write this, even though yesterday it was pouring rain. It's also Thursday, which means that it's time for Mister Fuckhead Presents, our good friend Arvo Fuckhead's gig over at Bar Vertigo in Ukrainian Village.

Bar Vertigo is simultaneously great and terrible. It has a corner bar vibe, which means that the Polish staff could really give two shits about you if you're not from around the neighborhood. It's also decorated as a homage to Hitchcock, which for some reason means a lot of red and concentric vertigo spirals everywhere. Anyone could play there, too, but barely anyone ever shows up, especially when it snows. But the first snow means that holidays are coming, or at least some time off work so everybody's in good spirits, and more than ready to be drunk already.

So what does Christmas mean for Fuckhead Present?
It means dance music and cabaret, apparently.

Two of tonight's performers have a lot in common. Schizowave's Lena Potopova and Right-Eye Rita both sing in throaty European accents, although Lena's comes from her native Russia and Rita's is more Vaudeville. They are both given to heavy costuming on stage and unpredictable live performances, Lena writhing around as some sort of tormented sexpot and Rita jabbing knives and tossing meat around like a performance art sociopath. As mentioned before, both have been tempering their cabaret chanteuse sounds with breakbeats and both sang fractured Christmas carols tonight.

"I went to a show where there were these...black guys doing hip hop and everyone had so much energy and were jumping around and I went into another room where there were white guys doing...you know, indie rock and...mothing, so I went back with the black guys. I just wish you all could be a little more... like black guys right now."

Lena fell over and got back up again and again during her ballads before surprising us with a rapid-fire rap in Russian, Rita handed out candles that dripped white and red waxall over the floor irritating the bartender who'd already decided that she didn't like her, and Khupera Tum played a soft set inbetween, full of lalalala's and violin.

For most of the night, the musicians and DJs outnumbered the crowd, but towards Rita's closing set, the place filled in a bit with drunken regulars and a group of dominatrices prepartying it on their way to Neo, which was just one of those great moments you get from seeing live music in this town, and the type of experience that almost makes it all worthwhile when you're hanging out after the show, helping Rita scrape wax off the floor so it can all happen again next week.


Yesterday ended with an Iggy Pop cover...so should today

It's a Fuckheadfull Life, pt. 1

Date: 11/30/06
Location: Spot 6
Price: Free
Things I missed to be there: The Groodies, The Reptoids and The Machine Media DJs at the Empty Bottle
Reason I went: I forgot that I was supposed to be DJing at the botle until I was already buttfuck up North. Oops.


It's Wednesday in Chicago, which means it's time for the Freeform Shuffle at Spot 6, a free weekly program of DJs and bands hosted by DJ Demchuk and Mister Fuckhead.


The name is kinda generic and very redundant, which makes it almost perfect. Freeform comes from a radio format where the DJs are allowed (and often encouraged) to play music from any genre. The Wizard (WZRD 88.3fm) is currently the only radio station in Chicago that utilizes a Freeform format. The term shuffle was invented for the function on cd players which would allow you to hear songs at random, an option which was not possible in any previous medium. The term has only recently come into vogue as MP3 players allow music listeners to carry their whole music library with them. The point of the show is that all the music is coming from a different place. One DJ might play trance, while another might play hiphop or funk or noise, or all of the above, with a jazz band closing the night, and so on.

The first DJs of the night were Icon (of the videogame dance combo Icon/Prix) and Rotten Milk (of the whatever duo Rotten Milk vs. Bubblegum Shitface). Icon kept it danceabley low key mixing up hiphop and IDM while Rotten Milk went for the booty jams, Miami Bass, mashups and little slices of guiltypleasure-style 90s house.

Then came He Not In. He Not In is a little bit of a lot of things. Sometimes they're a band, sometimes they're a DJ collective. They run Noisy Neighbor Tuesdays at Bar Vertigo and kill it around Wicker Park. Sometimes they have dancers, and sometimes they have explosions. I haven't seen it but I've heard that sometimes they have stilts. As a band they blend Post-Punk and House, and work their asses off trying to get their friends to dance. Halfway through their set, DJ Madrid showed up with a whole posse of crosseyed honeys and losers. By the time He Not In were finishing up (with a fantastic cover of "Now I Wanna Be Your Dog") they'd one over most of the newcomers, but they were only able to get their friends to dance.

...Not that getting hipster whitefolks to dance to rock music at a Wrigleyville bar isn't a great feat, in and of itself...

...it's just that these particular hipster whitefolk were the kind who reeeally reaaally wanted to dance...

....they just gave em a reason...

the last performer of the night was DJ Madrid, probly the most legit of all the DJs who've come through the Shuffle so far, and probly the only one with deeper crates than Rotten Milk's. I don't even know how to describe his set, so Ill sum it up in two songs. 1. He played a remix of "Sexyback" that took out all of the cool Timbaland parts, just leaving Justin Timberlake chanting over some drumnbass and 2. He mixed Ram Jam's "Black Betty" with some electro. Perfectl. r he had an electro remix of "Black Betty" which may very well be the coolest thing I've ever heard.



[Disclaimer: I work with Dan and Icon at WZRD, I work with Fuckhead at WLUW, Rotten Milk and He Not In have both DJed house parties I've thrown...everyone is tainted but DJ Madrid. Here's a video by He Not In]