Lab Rat set
Baby Huey - A Change Is Going To Come
Quincy Jones - Smackwater Jack
Eldridge Holmes - No Substitute
Magic Sam - Every Night and Every Day
20th Century Steel Band - Heaven and Hell
Antibalas - Filibuster X
Zapp - Do It Roger
Snuky Tate - He's the Groove
Tupac & Dr. Dre - California Love
Myrna Hague - Touch Me, Baby
The Pharohs - Ibo
Bobby Humphrey - Jasper County Man
Fuckhead Set
James Brown - Cold Blooded
Ohio Players - Climax
Mos Def - Body Rock
Mar-keys - Last Night
Willlie West- Hello Mama
Booker T. and The Mg's - Green Onions
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Genuine
Chris Kenner - I like it like that part 1
The Coasters - Yakety Yak
Little Richard - Heebie Jeebies
Fats Domino - Somthing's Wrong
Chuck Willis - What Am I Livin' For?
Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You'll Ever Want to Meet)
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Lil Demon
Lavern Baker - Tweedlee Dee
[Every Monday night, from 2:00 - 4:00 AM (cst), Eric lab Rat and Arvo Fuckhead play the the best of funk and soul, its roots and derivatives. Two Slaps Radio airs on 88.7fm in Chicago and streams worldwide from wluw.org]
Monday, February 26, 2007
b is for blog post
Date: 2/26/07
Location: Elastic
Bands: Scalpels, Rotten Milk & Sounds Happy, & Heather Marie Vernon
Cost: $5 suggestion
Things I missed to be there: Mr. Bobby at the Note; Area #4 release party at Hull House
Reasons for going: Needed to get out of the house. Friends were playing. Finally got a charger for my camera
I got there late on purpose. I can never tell when a show is gonna start on time or not and I wasn't in the mood to sit around.That was a shame because I missed most of Heather Marie's set. She was doing something interesting, with violins and paper dolls and a chorus from a Nirvana song. It all came together to look like some sort of gothic fairy tale.
Scalpels blew my ears out with some blistering proggy shit.
Rotten Milk thrashed around twiddling nobs while Sounds Happy sat on the floor, calmly pushing buttons, creating a sound that alternated between compelling and annoying, and eventually sounded like industrial music.
Location: Elastic
Bands: Scalpels, Rotten Milk & Sounds Happy, & Heather Marie Vernon
Cost: $5 suggestion
Things I missed to be there: Mr. Bobby at the Note; Area #4 release party at Hull House
Reasons for going: Needed to get out of the house. Friends were playing. Finally got a charger for my camera
I got there late on purpose. I can never tell when a show is gonna start on time or not and I wasn't in the mood to sit around.That was a shame because I missed most of Heather Marie's set. She was doing something interesting, with violins and paper dolls and a chorus from a Nirvana song. It all came together to look like some sort of gothic fairy tale.
Scalpels blew my ears out with some blistering proggy shit.
Rotten Milk thrashed around twiddling nobs while Sounds Happy sat on the floor, calmly pushing buttons, creating a sound that alternated between compelling and annoying, and eventually sounded like industrial music.
Friday, February 23, 2007
the truth behind jewish mysticism [WZRD]
Tuxedomoon - This Beast
The Anti Group - The Delivery
Piedmonster - Bloodsucking Developers
Protman - ???
Boyd Rice and Friends - As For the Fools
The Clipse - Mister Me Too
DNJEPR - The Nile Song
Whitey - Intro/In The Limelight
Bonobo - On Your Marks
David Diarreah - Song in the key of JessiE
Officerfishdumplings - My Theme Song
Lady Sovereign - Hoodie
Matt & Kim - Someday
Mum - Smell Memory
[Tuxedomoon doing "Ghost Sonata". I love Tuxedomoon!]
The Anti Group - The Delivery
Piedmonster - Bloodsucking Developers
Protman - ???
Boyd Rice and Friends - As For the Fools
The Clipse - Mister Me Too
DNJEPR - The Nile Song
Whitey - Intro/In The Limelight
Bonobo - On Your Marks
David Diarreah - Song in the key of JessiE
Officerfishdumplings - My Theme Song
Lady Sovereign - Hoodie
Matt & Kim - Someday
Mum - Smell Memory
[Tuxedomoon doing "Ghost Sonata". I love Tuxedomoon!]
Thursday, February 22, 2007
A Damn Shame
The Northside just lost a good venue. The folks over at The Ice Factory have decided to stop throwing punk shows at their place. The decision was announced as a blog and a bulletin on their myspace page. It eloquently states the dilemma they face of wanting to continue to throw proper DIY shows under the watchful eyes of new neighbors and the police. The Ice Factory was never my favorite place to see shows but it was always a good place to have ready, as this not-quite-underground, not-quite-official multipurpose arts venue. I became acquainted with the place a little over three years ago at an underwear party (remember that summer when everybody was having underwear parties?) and then through The Urban Sandbox and The Ice Capades. They called their punk shows The Ice Factory Hardcore Youth Outreach and their absence, following The Studio and The No Exit's decisions to stop doing punk shows, leaves a big gap on the Northside. Here's their letter, announcing the decision:
My guess is many of you sensed it was coming, but it was voted this month that The Ice Factory will no longer be hosting punk or hardcore shows. This is a source of great sadness for us, but we it is decision we feel we had to make.
It was a hard decision and there were many factors. The biggest reasons are increased complaints from our neighbors, a dramatic increase in police attention, further scrutiny from our landlord and a general shift in the goals of the space. It was conceivable to attempt to work these shows in with dramatically stricter constraints in an effort to appease those in neighborhood whom have been offended. However, it was agreed that to do so would be compromise the shows so much (like no drinking and noise limitations) would compromise the integrity of scene and the music.
It may be noted that to eliminate a style of music and culture from our repertoire contradicts our creed of openness and community. That is probably a fair assessment. The space has changed dramatically since we began having punk and hardcore shows in 2004: it has almost completely different residents, a different process for accepting and hosting events and generally speaking, different artistic and domestic goals. We have also gotten older and more serious about our jobs, and have turned our attention more towards recording and intimate shows like film and jazz. Unfortunately, punk and hardcore shows were deemed to compromise and put at risk the principle endeavors of those working and living at the space.
As stated before, this was a hard and painful decision. Those involved in the space have always had a profound respect for the punk and hardcore scene, especially its artistic and moral integrity and its ability to support and sustain itself without mainstream media. In many ways, these shows demonstrated the best of what the space is capable of: people opening their home to an all ages and accepting community for the sake of packing the room for some loud, rowdy music. And it was all achieved independent of the structures and institutions that stifle creativity and humanity. Everyone can remember some truly amazing moments and it is genuinely unfortunate we are not able to continue.
We hope most of you understand why we felt we had to make this decision. And those of you who don't, well, we understand why you don't. As vibrant and diverse as the scene is, we have no doubt punk and hardcore will always have a great home in Chicago. And while in an ideal world, we would be able to continue as before, we would like to think that for a short while, we played a little part in keeping Chicago punk and hardcore as strong as it is.
Finally, we really want to thank everyone has booked here, including Mariam, Darius, Mike Thrashburg and Dave Swan and everyone who has played here. And most of all, we want to thank everyone who came out to support the space, especially when we needed it most, particularly our fund-raiser in February '06.
My one problem is that this stinks of taking the easy way out. I don't know if The Ice Factory does what some spaces do and send a representative to community meetings but it does a lot of good. Of course, if they have tried everything and found that it's still impossible to continue running their space as they'd like it, then more power to them, but caving to pressure continues to relegate punk rock as "low art" or something other than art altogether.
There's an obvious stigma against punks, who are perceived in the media as goons, just like there is an obvious stigma against hip hoppers, who are still frequently painted as thugs, and in both cases it leads to the scrutiny of those who support the scene by opening their homes and spaces to it. Unfortunately, the bands playing The Ice Factory, for the most part, weren't just privelaged white kids being noisy and acting reckless. A lot of the shows consisted of Hispanic bands from Pilsen and Little Village who have few outlets to play all-ages shows up North, young bands who are closed out of most venues wherever they go, and underground bands from as far away as Japan and Sweden that wouldn't be tp make as much money or draw as much of a crowd at a 21 plus joint like The Beat Kitchen.
But still, three years is an incredible run for a punk venue, and these things never last, so there's not much room for hard feelings. Hopefully, pressed with the task of filling that void I mentioned, some new people will realize that they're willing to sacrifice their floors or their yards for the scene they enjoyed. It happens every year and sometimes it sticks. I just wish had a bigger place of my own to offer up in the mean.
My guess is many of you sensed it was coming, but it was voted this month that The Ice Factory will no longer be hosting punk or hardcore shows. This is a source of great sadness for us, but we it is decision we feel we had to make.
It was a hard decision and there were many factors. The biggest reasons are increased complaints from our neighbors, a dramatic increase in police attention, further scrutiny from our landlord and a general shift in the goals of the space. It was conceivable to attempt to work these shows in with dramatically stricter constraints in an effort to appease those in neighborhood whom have been offended. However, it was agreed that to do so would be compromise the shows so much (like no drinking and noise limitations) would compromise the integrity of scene and the music.
It may be noted that to eliminate a style of music and culture from our repertoire contradicts our creed of openness and community. That is probably a fair assessment. The space has changed dramatically since we began having punk and hardcore shows in 2004: it has almost completely different residents, a different process for accepting and hosting events and generally speaking, different artistic and domestic goals. We have also gotten older and more serious about our jobs, and have turned our attention more towards recording and intimate shows like film and jazz. Unfortunately, punk and hardcore shows were deemed to compromise and put at risk the principle endeavors of those working and living at the space.
As stated before, this was a hard and painful decision. Those involved in the space have always had a profound respect for the punk and hardcore scene, especially its artistic and moral integrity and its ability to support and sustain itself without mainstream media. In many ways, these shows demonstrated the best of what the space is capable of: people opening their home to an all ages and accepting community for the sake of packing the room for some loud, rowdy music. And it was all achieved independent of the structures and institutions that stifle creativity and humanity. Everyone can remember some truly amazing moments and it is genuinely unfortunate we are not able to continue.
We hope most of you understand why we felt we had to make this decision. And those of you who don't, well, we understand why you don't. As vibrant and diverse as the scene is, we have no doubt punk and hardcore will always have a great home in Chicago. And while in an ideal world, we would be able to continue as before, we would like to think that for a short while, we played a little part in keeping Chicago punk and hardcore as strong as it is.
Finally, we really want to thank everyone has booked here, including Mariam, Darius, Mike Thrashburg and Dave Swan and everyone who has played here. And most of all, we want to thank everyone who came out to support the space, especially when we needed it most, particularly our fund-raiser in February '06.
My one problem is that this stinks of taking the easy way out. I don't know if The Ice Factory does what some spaces do and send a representative to community meetings but it does a lot of good. Of course, if they have tried everything and found that it's still impossible to continue running their space as they'd like it, then more power to them, but caving to pressure continues to relegate punk rock as "low art" or something other than art altogether.
There's an obvious stigma against punks, who are perceived in the media as goons, just like there is an obvious stigma against hip hoppers, who are still frequently painted as thugs, and in both cases it leads to the scrutiny of those who support the scene by opening their homes and spaces to it. Unfortunately, the bands playing The Ice Factory, for the most part, weren't just privelaged white kids being noisy and acting reckless. A lot of the shows consisted of Hispanic bands from Pilsen and Little Village who have few outlets to play all-ages shows up North, young bands who are closed out of most venues wherever they go, and underground bands from as far away as Japan and Sweden that wouldn't be tp make as much money or draw as much of a crowd at a 21 plus joint like The Beat Kitchen.
But still, three years is an incredible run for a punk venue, and these things never last, so there's not much room for hard feelings. Hopefully, pressed with the task of filling that void I mentioned, some new people will realize that they're willing to sacrifice their floors or their yards for the scene they enjoyed. It happens every year and sometimes it sticks. I just wish had a bigger place of my own to offer up in the mean.
Happy Valentine's Day Springfield!
date: 2/21/07
location: Spot 6
show: The Freeform Shuffle with Shirrelle C Limes & the Lemons
cost: FREE!
things I missed to be there: Free drinks at The Note; Alvin Lau at the In-One-Ear; DJ Logan bay, VJ Just Joel, Rotten Milk and STRESS APE, Turtle Fur, and Mister Freedom at Sonotheque; Julian Pena, Kid Enigma, Rayaline and Mr Bobby at Tini Martini; MWC at Red Line Tap
reason for going: straight shot from my house down the Belmont bus
In today's episode, the warm weather fills our hero with false feelings of energy and lucidity, so he forgoes another full night's sleep for the friendly confines of Spot 6 and the Freeform Shuffle. We open with an establishing shot of the bar. Red walls, dark goth paintings with wild expressive brushstrokes. Cue confused, rambling, sleep-deprived voiceover:
Remember that game Monster Mash? It's surprisingly hard to explain so I'll provide a link. You have a box with a window with a picture of a monster. The monster's head, torso, and legs are all mismatched like some sort of Hasbro-brand exquisite corpse. It works like a slot machine, you pull a lever and the body parts all rotate independently, eventually coming to a stop and making a new monster. That's what Shirrelle C Lime's music sounds like, except instead of monster parts, it was as if Shirrelle was a mashup machine loaded with elements of songs from the soundtrack to the movie Tank Girl, creating some sort of dark wave riot folk.
Because I have a weird need to compare artists first to old Chicago bands, lemme get that out of the way now. My first reaction was that she sounded like the goth pop band Sister Soleil, but nobody even remembers them, so I guess it doesn't count. The second (real) comparison is a bit harder to make, not because it isn't apt, but because it's loaded. She sounds like Ani DiFranco. Saying anything sounds like Ani DiFranco is loaded because so many people think they know what Ani DiFranco sounds like based on a couple songs, or just one album or no albums at all but what she loos like and stands for. When I compare her to Ani DiFranco, I don't mean that she's all women's empowerment, Righteous Babe, worksong neofolk, but that she sounds specifically like Ani DiFranco ten years ago, when she recorded "Living in Clip". At that point Ani DiFranco was just starting to experiment, but not so much that she was all jazzy yet. Shirrelle C. sounded a lot like that, experimental and raw.
The last few years of computer technology have blurred the line between singer-songwriter and one-man-band. Shirrelle's website describes her as Columbia, MO's first one-woman quartet. Her band, The Limes, consists of a laptop, a light box and some electronics, and if you close your eyes, it sounds like a real band (as opposed to, you know, someone comically forcing a harmony out of each extremity). At no point in time did she remind me of the hundreds of women I've seen take the stage at dozens of open mic as songwriters (she had a fuckin compact light show!), but it's similarly hard to judge her as a whole band because of that raw quality I mentioned. At times, her voice broke through the machines she had it running through, and it sounded almost like she would become overpowered it. It was in those moments that she seemed like a (good) singer songwriter.
location: Spot 6
show: The Freeform Shuffle with Shirrelle C Limes & the Lemons
cost: FREE!
things I missed to be there: Free drinks at The Note; Alvin Lau at the In-One-Ear; DJ Logan bay, VJ Just Joel, Rotten Milk and STRESS APE, Turtle Fur, and Mister Freedom at Sonotheque; Julian Pena, Kid Enigma, Rayaline and Mr Bobby at Tini Martini; MWC at Red Line Tap
reason for going: straight shot from my house down the Belmont bus
In today's episode, the warm weather fills our hero with false feelings of energy and lucidity, so he forgoes another full night's sleep for the friendly confines of Spot 6 and the Freeform Shuffle. We open with an establishing shot of the bar. Red walls, dark goth paintings with wild expressive brushstrokes. Cue confused, rambling, sleep-deprived voiceover:
Remember that game Monster Mash? It's surprisingly hard to explain so I'll provide a link. You have a box with a window with a picture of a monster. The monster's head, torso, and legs are all mismatched like some sort of Hasbro-brand exquisite corpse. It works like a slot machine, you pull a lever and the body parts all rotate independently, eventually coming to a stop and making a new monster. That's what Shirrelle C Lime's music sounds like, except instead of monster parts, it was as if Shirrelle was a mashup machine loaded with elements of songs from the soundtrack to the movie Tank Girl, creating some sort of dark wave riot folk.
Because I have a weird need to compare artists first to old Chicago bands, lemme get that out of the way now. My first reaction was that she sounded like the goth pop band Sister Soleil, but nobody even remembers them, so I guess it doesn't count. The second (real) comparison is a bit harder to make, not because it isn't apt, but because it's loaded. She sounds like Ani DiFranco. Saying anything sounds like Ani DiFranco is loaded because so many people think they know what Ani DiFranco sounds like based on a couple songs, or just one album or no albums at all but what she loos like and stands for. When I compare her to Ani DiFranco, I don't mean that she's all women's empowerment, Righteous Babe, worksong neofolk, but that she sounds specifically like Ani DiFranco ten years ago, when she recorded "Living in Clip". At that point Ani DiFranco was just starting to experiment, but not so much that she was all jazzy yet. Shirrelle C. sounded a lot like that, experimental and raw.
The last few years of computer technology have blurred the line between singer-songwriter and one-man-band. Shirrelle's website describes her as Columbia, MO's first one-woman quartet. Her band, The Limes, consists of a laptop, a light box and some electronics, and if you close your eyes, it sounds like a real band (as opposed to, you know, someone comically forcing a harmony out of each extremity). At no point in time did she remind me of the hundreds of women I've seen take the stage at dozens of open mic as songwriters (she had a fuckin compact light show!), but it's similarly hard to judge her as a whole band because of that raw quality I mentioned. At times, her voice broke through the machines she had it running through, and it sounded almost like she would become overpowered it. It was in those moments that she seemed like a (good) singer songwriter.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
David Johansen, Eat Your Heart Out
Date: 2/20/07
Band: Lord Mike's Dirty Calysonians
Location: The Note
Cost: 8 bones
Things I missed to be there: Hotlips Messiah and Saskrotch at the Mutiny; free drinks from my friend's sugardaddy in Boystown
Reason for going: Calypso and mardi Gras go hand in hand
I don't know if I would have come to this conclusion if there wasn't so much of a crowd crossover, but Lord Mike and his Dirty Calypsonians kind of do the same thing as Deals Gone Bad. They adapt old, black, Caribbean sounds for contemporary white audiences. Not that either band is putting on a minstrel show, you can tell that Lord Mike has listened to his fair share of calypso and plays the music with love, just like you can with Deals Gone Bad, but it's a little more exciting with Lord Mike because, unlike ska, there's no built-in audience for calypso, so the band has had to build their scene from the ground up.
There's no shortage of spectacle to draw you to the Dirty Calypsonians. Last night, the band employed guitar, bass, four percussionists, three saxophones, and two dancers dolled u like tattooed Carmen Mirandas. At various points in the evening, the scene onstage also included a guy in a banana suit and one of the guys from The Tossers cavorting with the dancers like he was P. Diddy and doing the mashed potato when they weren't around. Then there was Lord Mike. while his band wore matching red shirts, he commanded the stage like a big cracker Papa Moai in white shirt, pants and shoes, and black Ray-Bans.
"Don't look behind the curtain," he warned, as the band cut short a song he didn't intend to play, "It's all fucking gimmick."
The music wasn't deep calypso but it wasn't a Carnival Cruise Ship ad either. The band wasn't lacking in skill but they weren't able to instill much soul into the music, either, so they settled on being silly (that is, of course, assuming that being silly is settling and not its own thing of merit). when they weren't doing calypso classics or bawdy, double-entendre-laden songs about big sausages and pussycats, they did a set of songs people might remember from movies, including Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot", "Day-O", and -prefacing it with the warning this shit is straight retarded- "That song from Captain Ron". I was halfway expecting (and more than a little bit hoping) to hear the bureaucrat song the character Hermes sang on an episode of Futurama but it never happened.
Highlights included Zatarain's givaways in honor of the holiday, more than one conga line, the blonde dancer's titties which fought to escape from her shirt and seemed to succeed every time I turned my head to order a PBR (dang), the other dancer's belly, and the most spirited banana-themed song breakdown since Gwen Stefani spelled it out in "Hollaback Girl".
[can you believe that this douche used to sing for the New York Dolls? Life is weird]
Band: Lord Mike's Dirty Calysonians
Location: The Note
Cost: 8 bones
Things I missed to be there: Hotlips Messiah and Saskrotch at the Mutiny; free drinks from my friend's sugardaddy in Boystown
Reason for going: Calypso and mardi Gras go hand in hand
I don't know if I would have come to this conclusion if there wasn't so much of a crowd crossover, but Lord Mike and his Dirty Calypsonians kind of do the same thing as Deals Gone Bad. They adapt old, black, Caribbean sounds for contemporary white audiences. Not that either band is putting on a minstrel show, you can tell that Lord Mike has listened to his fair share of calypso and plays the music with love, just like you can with Deals Gone Bad, but it's a little more exciting with Lord Mike because, unlike ska, there's no built-in audience for calypso, so the band has had to build their scene from the ground up.
There's no shortage of spectacle to draw you to the Dirty Calypsonians. Last night, the band employed guitar, bass, four percussionists, three saxophones, and two dancers dolled u like tattooed Carmen Mirandas. At various points in the evening, the scene onstage also included a guy in a banana suit and one of the guys from The Tossers cavorting with the dancers like he was P. Diddy and doing the mashed potato when they weren't around. Then there was Lord Mike. while his band wore matching red shirts, he commanded the stage like a big cracker Papa Moai in white shirt, pants and shoes, and black Ray-Bans.
"Don't look behind the curtain," he warned, as the band cut short a song he didn't intend to play, "It's all fucking gimmick."
The music wasn't deep calypso but it wasn't a Carnival Cruise Ship ad either. The band wasn't lacking in skill but they weren't able to instill much soul into the music, either, so they settled on being silly (that is, of course, assuming that being silly is settling and not its own thing of merit). when they weren't doing calypso classics or bawdy, double-entendre-laden songs about big sausages and pussycats, they did a set of songs people might remember from movies, including Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot", "Day-O", and -prefacing it with the warning this shit is straight retarded- "That song from Captain Ron". I was halfway expecting (and more than a little bit hoping) to hear the bureaucrat song the character Hermes sang on an episode of Futurama but it never happened.
Highlights included Zatarain's givaways in honor of the holiday, more than one conga line, the blonde dancer's titties which fought to escape from her shirt and seemed to succeed every time I turned my head to order a PBR (dang), the other dancer's belly, and the most spirited banana-themed song breakdown since Gwen Stefani spelled it out in "Hollaback Girl".
[can you believe that this douche used to sing for the New York Dolls? Life is weird]
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Your Local Gay Dance Party...Not Just for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transexuals or Queers anymore!
Date: 2/20/07
Location: Subterranean
Show: Chances Dance Party with DJs Nina Ramone, Dick Simmons, Lil' V and Ken
Cost: FREE!
Things I missed to be there: The 1900s at Schubas; ft (the shadow government) at Empty Bottle; drinking Shlitz and drawing on my roommate's passed-out boyfriend
Reason for going: It's Monday Gras and I deserve to dance!!!
I finally made it out to Chances Dances. Actually, I went to Chances back when it was at The Big Horse once but it was pretty early and pretty tame. I don't have many opportunities to go to the once a month, Monday evening LGBTQ dance party because my radio show usually places me in Roger's Park about that time, but talking to my friends Rachel and Kyle strengthened my resolve to check it out again.
It was worth it.
I don't know why but I always thought that Subterranean was cursed. Not fun aw shucks something else fucked up The Mutiny cursed, but cursed in a way where I would see bands that I really liked and just not be into it at all. I was really excited to hear that Subterranean was becoming an all-ages venue in 07 but I figured that there'd be little point in it if they couldn't break the curse. Well somewhere along the line they must have because the show was incredible.
The night got off to a rocky start. At ten, there were no more than a dozen people, by ten thirty a few dozen but by eleven they were numbering in the hundreds and the dance floor was, well, everything in the room but the beer line. The DJs switched up a lot, more than I'm used to seeing, which gave the evening a kind of a freeform feel. In an given fifteen minutes I heard hip hop, afrobeat, The B-52s, indie, electro, Rupaul, and disco (in both mutant and solid gold variety). The DJs weren't much for beat matching, if that's your thing, but they had impeccable taste.
The theme of the show was ice, which had the hosts and djs dressed up as figure skaters and penguins (with at least one person playing a glacier). There was also a game of freeze dance and some incredible, Adult Swim style surreal video art portraying polar bears, Al gore and the musician Seal suffering through global warming in the South Pole.
In moving the show from the Big Horse, Chances shed some of the little, dirty, sleaziness that comes with throwing a dance party in the back room of a Mexican restaurant, which is a shame, but they also managed to become a bona fide event, one big enough to completely fill Subterranean on a Monday night. I'm going to probably alter the way I get to the radio show once a month, cuz I likes dancing. I would also mention that Chances now also runs an offshoot night at Danny's, but I can't recommend it because it happens the same night I spin Chicago music at Delilah's, and that shit is better than getting a blowjob from Jesus.
Location: Subterranean
Show: Chances Dance Party with DJs Nina Ramone, Dick Simmons, Lil' V and Ken
Cost: FREE!
Things I missed to be there: The 1900s at Schubas; ft (the shadow government) at Empty Bottle; drinking Shlitz and drawing on my roommate's passed-out boyfriend
Reason for going: It's Monday Gras and I deserve to dance!!!
I finally made it out to Chances Dances. Actually, I went to Chances back when it was at The Big Horse once but it was pretty early and pretty tame. I don't have many opportunities to go to the once a month, Monday evening LGBTQ dance party because my radio show usually places me in Roger's Park about that time, but talking to my friends Rachel and Kyle strengthened my resolve to check it out again.
It was worth it.
I don't know why but I always thought that Subterranean was cursed. Not fun aw shucks something else fucked up The Mutiny cursed, but cursed in a way where I would see bands that I really liked and just not be into it at all. I was really excited to hear that Subterranean was becoming an all-ages venue in 07 but I figured that there'd be little point in it if they couldn't break the curse. Well somewhere along the line they must have because the show was incredible.
The night got off to a rocky start. At ten, there were no more than a dozen people, by ten thirty a few dozen but by eleven they were numbering in the hundreds and the dance floor was, well, everything in the room but the beer line. The DJs switched up a lot, more than I'm used to seeing, which gave the evening a kind of a freeform feel. In an given fifteen minutes I heard hip hop, afrobeat, The B-52s, indie, electro, Rupaul, and disco (in both mutant and solid gold variety). The DJs weren't much for beat matching, if that's your thing, but they had impeccable taste.
The theme of the show was ice, which had the hosts and djs dressed up as figure skaters and penguins (with at least one person playing a glacier). There was also a game of freeze dance and some incredible, Adult Swim style surreal video art portraying polar bears, Al gore and the musician Seal suffering through global warming in the South Pole.
In moving the show from the Big Horse, Chances shed some of the little, dirty, sleaziness that comes with throwing a dance party in the back room of a Mexican restaurant, which is a shame, but they also managed to become a bona fide event, one big enough to completely fill Subterranean on a Monday night. I'm going to probably alter the way I get to the radio show once a month, cuz I likes dancing. I would also mention that Chances now also runs an offshoot night at Danny's, but I can't recommend it because it happens the same night I spin Chicago music at Delilah's, and that shit is better than getting a blowjob from Jesus.
Two Slaps Radio [Fat Tuesday!]
Lab Rat Set:
The Dixie Cups - You Should Have Seen The Way He Looked At Me/Little Bell/Iko Iko
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Feet Don't Fail Me Now
Chris Kenner - Land of 1000 Dances
Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
The Meters - Sophisticated Sissy
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl
Clarence 'Frogman' Henry - On Bended Knee
Lee Dorsey - Workin in a Coalmine
The Showman - It Will Stand
Eddie Bo - Hook & Sling
Little Richard - I Don't Know What You Got but It's Me
Fuckhead Set:
Fats Domino - When My Dream Boat comes Home
Snooks Eaglin - Sophisticated Blues, Come Back Baby, Rock Island Line
Quintron - You Don't Own Me (Lesley Gore Cover)
Irma Thomas - Some things you never get used to
Allen Touissant - Yes We Can Can
The Meters - Look ka py py
Benny Spellman - Lipstick Traces on a cigarette
Lee Dorsey - Everything I do Gonh be funky
Randy Newman - Louisiana 1927
The Chords - sh-boom
Dee Clark - Hey Little Girl
The Spiders - I didn't want to do it
Carla Thomas - (Gee Whiz) Look at his eyes
Chuck Willis - Feel so bad
Thurston Harris & The sharps - Little bitty pretty one
the crows - gee
jackie Wilson - Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You'll Ever Meet)
Jerry Butler and the Impressions - For your precious love
The moonglows - Sincerely
The Flamingos - I only have eyes for you
The spaniels - goodnight sweetheart
[this is what we're missing RIGHT NOW]
[Every Monday night, from 2:00 - 4:00 AM (cst), Eric lab Rat and Arvo Fuckhead play the the best of funk and soul, its roots and derivatives. Two Slaps Radio airs on 88.7fm in Chicago and streams worldwide from wluw.org]
The Dixie Cups - You Should Have Seen The Way He Looked At Me/Little Bell/Iko Iko
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Feet Don't Fail Me Now
Chris Kenner - Land of 1000 Dances
Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
The Meters - Sophisticated Sissy
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl
Clarence 'Frogman' Henry - On Bended Knee
Lee Dorsey - Workin in a Coalmine
The Showman - It Will Stand
Eddie Bo - Hook & Sling
Little Richard - I Don't Know What You Got but It's Me
Fuckhead Set:
Fats Domino - When My Dream Boat comes Home
Snooks Eaglin - Sophisticated Blues, Come Back Baby, Rock Island Line
Quintron - You Don't Own Me (Lesley Gore Cover)
Irma Thomas - Some things you never get used to
Allen Touissant - Yes We Can Can
The Meters - Look ka py py
Benny Spellman - Lipstick Traces on a cigarette
Lee Dorsey - Everything I do Gonh be funky
Randy Newman - Louisiana 1927
The Chords - sh-boom
Dee Clark - Hey Little Girl
The Spiders - I didn't want to do it
Carla Thomas - (Gee Whiz) Look at his eyes
Chuck Willis - Feel so bad
Thurston Harris & The sharps - Little bitty pretty one
the crows - gee
jackie Wilson - Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You'll Ever Meet)
Jerry Butler and the Impressions - For your precious love
The moonglows - Sincerely
The Flamingos - I only have eyes for you
The spaniels - goodnight sweetheart
[this is what we're missing RIGHT NOW]
[Every Monday night, from 2:00 - 4:00 AM (cst), Eric lab Rat and Arvo Fuckhead play the the best of funk and soul, its roots and derivatives. Two Slaps Radio airs on 88.7fm in Chicago and streams worldwide from wluw.org]
Sunday, February 18, 2007
joygasm
Date: 2/17/07
Location: Ronny's Bar
Bands: The Catburglars, Herc, Totally Michael
Things I missed to be there: Pommel, Winters in Osaka, and Metaphysical Playroom at Morpho; Bobby Conn and Bird names at Empty Bottle; Ulele at Martyr's; Arbiter, Chicago Thrash Ensemble and Tower of Rome at People Projects; Roth Mobot at Hotti Biscotti; COMA 9 with Lilli Carre and more at The Occidental Museum; Uffie at Sonotheque
Things I probably still could've gone to but missed because I'm lame: Afterparty with Livewire, Rayalin3, Trancid, and Mr. Bobby
Things that I intended to do but forgot about because I have the memory of a squirrel: Living room fort-building ar Mister Sarah's
Reasons for going: I loved Totally Michael the last time I saw him, I'd never seen Herc, and I'd already missed The Catburglars the night before
It's good to see that Ronny's is throwing shows regularly now. It looks like they've hooked up with the MP Shows cats, who are a bitch to work with but know how to utilize a venue. As a venue, Ronny's is pretty good one. From the front, the place is pretty unassuming, just another old man bar on California Avenue. They've got PBR cans for two dollar and a jukebox full of classic rock and mariachi jams. They also have a big spare room, a lot or a beer garden or something, with an old tiki bar that's been converted into a sound booth. The last time I was there, Totally Michael was playing as a part of the Mauled by Tigers Fest, which was put on by (no shit) Mauled By Tigers, which joins Everyone is Famous and the Chicago Suicide Club for a triumpherate of hipster Chicago websites that are just slightly too New Yorky for me to feel completely comfortable with. The crowd at both sides was pretty NY, too (a lot of expensive fauxghetto-fauxdesigner ugliness, mixed in with Matt and Kim backpatches). The show that day featured Totally Michael, and was one of the happiest things I've ever seen.
Totally Michael is a scrawny white guy from Bloomington, Indiana who swears excessively and plays music on his laptop and guitar. He sings songs about the epic choice a girl has to make between becoming a cheerleader or joining the drill team, and an alternative to punching walls to relieve stress that involves popping balloons with your butt. He is undoubtedly the cutest thing I've ever seen, and the music can back it up. I wish we had him ten years ago so we wouldn't have had to pay attention to Atom & His Package, which is the closest comparison I could make. If I had seen him at 18, he would be my favorite artist in the world. I would cross state lines to see him and I don't know if that's what happened but he had a huge following for a guy who's only played the city a handful of times. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if they are all just new fans. I saw him once, and have been proselytizing about him for months. By that same token, I feel like I'm being excessive and maybe redundant, and also, possibly, redundant when I'm praising someone, so I think I'll move on and talk about the other bands now.
As many times as I've seen Lord of the Yum Yum, I've never seen his band Herc. Herc has made a name for themselves by playing fierce rock on unconventional instruments (like an accordion and a child's drum set) in ski masks and matching suits, and for their unparalleled silliness. The set opened with a synchronized dance full of jazz hands and air humps, set to the song "Whatever Lola Wants", then the set started and continued until Mike fell ill. While Herc left the stage to deal with their cramps and stage, Metal Porpoise emerged. Metal Porpoise is a two-person black metal band, known primarily for their matching outfits and their hatred of Herc.
"Fuck this silly shit. Our songs are about hate!"
I'm paraphrasing but that was the extent of their set, played on electric bass and a child's toy drum set. For a novelty band, I must say that I've seen worse. They trashed and left the stage just in time for Herc to return and finish up the set.
The first band was The Catburglars. They sounded like a bunch of kids my age who, like me, listened to Guttermouth ten years ago, gave up the band for better music and then realized, fuck all that serious shit. They played irreverent rock and roll. Rawk even. Rawk and rails songs about wanting to be John Goodman and being old at 24. They were decent, but as far as silliness goes, the young band was waaaay outclassed.
Location: Ronny's Bar
Bands: The Catburglars, Herc, Totally Michael
Things I missed to be there: Pommel, Winters in Osaka, and Metaphysical Playroom at Morpho; Bobby Conn and Bird names at Empty Bottle; Ulele at Martyr's; Arbiter, Chicago Thrash Ensemble and Tower of Rome at People Projects; Roth Mobot at Hotti Biscotti; COMA 9 with Lilli Carre and more at The Occidental Museum; Uffie at Sonotheque
Things I probably still could've gone to but missed because I'm lame: Afterparty with Livewire, Rayalin3, Trancid, and Mr. Bobby
Things that I intended to do but forgot about because I have the memory of a squirrel: Living room fort-building ar Mister Sarah's
Reasons for going: I loved Totally Michael the last time I saw him, I'd never seen Herc, and I'd already missed The Catburglars the night before
It's good to see that Ronny's is throwing shows regularly now. It looks like they've hooked up with the MP Shows cats, who are a bitch to work with but know how to utilize a venue. As a venue, Ronny's is pretty good one. From the front, the place is pretty unassuming, just another old man bar on California Avenue. They've got PBR cans for two dollar and a jukebox full of classic rock and mariachi jams. They also have a big spare room, a lot or a beer garden or something, with an old tiki bar that's been converted into a sound booth. The last time I was there, Totally Michael was playing as a part of the Mauled by Tigers Fest, which was put on by (no shit) Mauled By Tigers, which joins Everyone is Famous and the Chicago Suicide Club for a triumpherate of hipster Chicago websites that are just slightly too New Yorky for me to feel completely comfortable with. The crowd at both sides was pretty NY, too (a lot of expensive fauxghetto-fauxdesigner ugliness, mixed in with Matt and Kim backpatches). The show that day featured Totally Michael, and was one of the happiest things I've ever seen.
Totally Michael is a scrawny white guy from Bloomington, Indiana who swears excessively and plays music on his laptop and guitar. He sings songs about the epic choice a girl has to make between becoming a cheerleader or joining the drill team, and an alternative to punching walls to relieve stress that involves popping balloons with your butt. He is undoubtedly the cutest thing I've ever seen, and the music can back it up. I wish we had him ten years ago so we wouldn't have had to pay attention to Atom & His Package, which is the closest comparison I could make. If I had seen him at 18, he would be my favorite artist in the world. I would cross state lines to see him and I don't know if that's what happened but he had a huge following for a guy who's only played the city a handful of times. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if they are all just new fans. I saw him once, and have been proselytizing about him for months. By that same token, I feel like I'm being excessive and maybe redundant, and also, possibly, redundant when I'm praising someone, so I think I'll move on and talk about the other bands now.
As many times as I've seen Lord of the Yum Yum, I've never seen his band Herc. Herc has made a name for themselves by playing fierce rock on unconventional instruments (like an accordion and a child's drum set) in ski masks and matching suits, and for their unparalleled silliness. The set opened with a synchronized dance full of jazz hands and air humps, set to the song "Whatever Lola Wants", then the set started and continued until Mike fell ill. While Herc left the stage to deal with their cramps and stage, Metal Porpoise emerged. Metal Porpoise is a two-person black metal band, known primarily for their matching outfits and their hatred of Herc.
"Fuck this silly shit. Our songs are about hate!"
I'm paraphrasing but that was the extent of their set, played on electric bass and a child's toy drum set. For a novelty band, I must say that I've seen worse. They trashed and left the stage just in time for Herc to return and finish up the set.
The first band was The Catburglars. They sounded like a bunch of kids my age who, like me, listened to Guttermouth ten years ago, gave up the band for better music and then realized, fuck all that serious shit. They played irreverent rock and roll. Rawk even. Rawk and rails songs about wanting to be John Goodman and being old at 24. They were decent, but as far as silliness goes, the young band was waaaay outclassed.
Red Capes Make The Bull Man Mad
Date: 2/16/07
Location: Unnamed apartment in Humboldt Park
Bands: Minotaur, Walkie Talkies
Things I missed to be there: Catburglars and Intifada at Humility Gallery; Eavil at Jackhammer, benefit for the Skeleton News at the Boris Kar-Loft with Root Shoot Leaf; benefit for South Union Arts with Shemilaya at Ronnys, The Warriors themed birthday party in Logan; j+j+j and yip-yip at the Beat Kitchen; The Eternals at Empty Bottle; Hillary Rawk!s art show at the Ice Factory
Reason for going: It was centrally located for meeting up with my girlfriend, and I had a Sparks-induced time traveling moment where all of a sudden it's three in the morning and it felt like no time at all had past. We probably would have been there til five if we didn't see the opportunity to glom onto a free ride up north
This weekend has had a shocking amount of quality shit to do, and it was pretty well spread out across the city to boot. I almost felt guilty going to see two people I'd seen so many times before, but it was a good scene. The crowd ranged in age from early twenties to midfifties, the spread included spicy falafel and various cheeses, there was never any shortage of booze and the music was tits. It's not often that someone who hasn't hit it big will have a chance (or a reason) to stand up his critics but that's just what Minotaur did on Friday.
Before the show he announced that he wouldn't be using electronics. He'd just plug in a twelve string and play. He would also be printing out lyrics sheets. This was so that we could finally understand what it was he was playing and singing, and it was necessary. Minotaur doesn't just do music, but he does sound, and his setup is pretty unorthodox. I don't know if it's particularly complex or not, but almost every time I've seen him play it comes out all garbled. The guitar and the banjo get lost in the beats and the samples which end up clashing with each other. Sometimes this is because of soundguys who don't get it and sometimes it's because he's working with a sound system that isn't worth a shit but it makes up about 3/4 of the times I've seen him.
With the (relatively) unplugged set, I learned a lot. First off, his lyrics aren't just sing-song string-of-consciousness gibberish. There are tricks and allusions and turns of phrase. Then I found out he could actually play guitar, like really well, enough to warrant a twelve string. When Rita came out to join him on the casio and played The Walkie Talkies' song "Nicotine Girl", I could see past the cabaret vocals and hear it as a blues song. I'd never realized that before. That was the thing though. Right Eye Rita and Minotaur, individually, are two of my favorite acts in the city, but together, The Walkie Talkies is more than the sum of its parts. Each song gives one of them a chance to experiment while the other has a chance to craft it into something, and keep the other one grounded. Unlike either of their solo projects, Walkie Talkies songs will get stuck in my head and I'll listen to them over and over. Supposedly, they broke up last year but I've seen them a few times since then and they're working on a video, but until they realize that the Walkie Talkies is the way to go, i'll settle for a long future of solo sets.
Location: Unnamed apartment in Humboldt Park
Bands: Minotaur, Walkie Talkies
Things I missed to be there: Catburglars and Intifada at Humility Gallery; Eavil at Jackhammer, benefit for the Skeleton News at the Boris Kar-Loft with Root Shoot Leaf; benefit for South Union Arts with Shemilaya at Ronnys, The Warriors themed birthday party in Logan; j+j+j and yip-yip at the Beat Kitchen; The Eternals at Empty Bottle; Hillary Rawk!s art show at the Ice Factory
Reason for going: It was centrally located for meeting up with my girlfriend, and I had a Sparks-induced time traveling moment where all of a sudden it's three in the morning and it felt like no time at all had past. We probably would have been there til five if we didn't see the opportunity to glom onto a free ride up north
This weekend has had a shocking amount of quality shit to do, and it was pretty well spread out across the city to boot. I almost felt guilty going to see two people I'd seen so many times before, but it was a good scene. The crowd ranged in age from early twenties to midfifties, the spread included spicy falafel and various cheeses, there was never any shortage of booze and the music was tits. It's not often that someone who hasn't hit it big will have a chance (or a reason) to stand up his critics but that's just what Minotaur did on Friday.
Before the show he announced that he wouldn't be using electronics. He'd just plug in a twelve string and play. He would also be printing out lyrics sheets. This was so that we could finally understand what it was he was playing and singing, and it was necessary. Minotaur doesn't just do music, but he does sound, and his setup is pretty unorthodox. I don't know if it's particularly complex or not, but almost every time I've seen him play it comes out all garbled. The guitar and the banjo get lost in the beats and the samples which end up clashing with each other. Sometimes this is because of soundguys who don't get it and sometimes it's because he's working with a sound system that isn't worth a shit but it makes up about 3/4 of the times I've seen him.
With the (relatively) unplugged set, I learned a lot. First off, his lyrics aren't just sing-song string-of-consciousness gibberish. There are tricks and allusions and turns of phrase. Then I found out he could actually play guitar, like really well, enough to warrant a twelve string. When Rita came out to join him on the casio and played The Walkie Talkies' song "Nicotine Girl", I could see past the cabaret vocals and hear it as a blues song. I'd never realized that before. That was the thing though. Right Eye Rita and Minotaur, individually, are two of my favorite acts in the city, but together, The Walkie Talkies is more than the sum of its parts. Each song gives one of them a chance to experiment while the other has a chance to craft it into something, and keep the other one grounded. Unlike either of their solo projects, Walkie Talkies songs will get stuck in my head and I'll listen to them over and over. Supposedly, they broke up last year but I've seen them a few times since then and they're working on a video, but until they realize that the Walkie Talkies is the way to go, i'll settle for a long future of solo sets.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Two Slaps Radio [WLUW]
The Bad Plus - Iron Man
Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Damo Suzuki- Part 5 #
Busdriver - Casting Agents & Cowgirls #!
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Sister
Lee Fields - Problems
Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up
Mucca Pazza - Alarm #
Natural Bridge Bunch - Pig Snoots, Pt. 1!
The Freedom Sounds featuring Wayne Henderson - Soul Sound System
Clarence Carter - Snatching It Back
Artie Cheistopher - Stoned Soul
Brother Jack McDuff - The Shadow of Your Soul
TV on the Radio - Dreams
Diverse feat. Vast Aire - Big Game
Sound Directions - Play Car
Oriental Funk - Come Togethor
Little Milton - Satisfied
Calypso King & The Soul Investigators - Gator Funk
Quantic feat. Spanky Wilson - Don't Joke With a Hungry Man
Beans - Win Or Lose You Lose
Lee Dorsey - Eveything I Do Gonh Be Funky
Oliver Wittchow - Kristallo
Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Damo Suzuki- Part 5 #
Busdriver - Casting Agents & Cowgirls #!
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Sister
Lee Fields - Problems
Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up
Mucca Pazza - Alarm #
Natural Bridge Bunch - Pig Snoots, Pt. 1!
The Freedom Sounds featuring Wayne Henderson - Soul Sound System
Clarence Carter - Snatching It Back
Artie Cheistopher - Stoned Soul
Brother Jack McDuff - The Shadow of Your Soul
TV on the Radio - Dreams
Diverse feat. Vast Aire - Big Game
Sound Directions - Play Car
Oriental Funk - Come Togethor
Little Milton - Satisfied
Calypso King & The Soul Investigators - Gator Funk
Quantic feat. Spanky Wilson - Don't Joke With a Hungry Man
Beans - Win Or Lose You Lose
Lee Dorsey - Eveything I Do Gonh Be Funky
Oliver Wittchow - Kristallo
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Two Slaps Radio [WLUW]
Lab Rat Set:
Rose Stone, the Venice Four & the Abbot Kinney Lighthouse Choir - Trouble of the World
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Blackbird Special
Courtney Pine - Children of the Ghetto
Eric Burdon & War - Tobacco Road
Zapp & Roger - Computer Love
The Mohawks - Ride Your Pony
Mel Brown - Swamp Fever
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - St. James Infirmary
The Blind Boys of Alabama - Run On For a Long Time
Masonic Wonders - I Call Him
The Soul Stirrers - Come, Let Us Go Back to God
Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm- The New Breed
Packers - Go Head On
Fuckhead Set:
Perez Prado - Guaglione
Cab Calloway - Duck Trot
Red Ingle - Cigareetes, Whuskey, and Wild, Wild Women
Louis Armstrong - Sobbin' Heart Blues
Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues, Part 1 - Jim Jackson
Les Paul and Mary Ford - I Just Want Your Stingaree
Fats Waller - Your feet's too big
Fats Waller - A Little Bit Independent
Fats Waller - Sugar (Instrumental)
Fats Waller - Last Night a Miracle Happened
Fats Waller & His Rhythm - Black Maria
Gene Kardos and Joel shaw - Mean Music
Track one from Rock N' Roll 1927 - 1938 Vol 1 Disc 2
Josephine Baker - Where Did you get those eyes?
Dinah Washington - I want a rich man
Blind Willie McTell - ???
Snook Eaglin - ???
Bukka White - ???
Howlin' Wolf - ???
Rose Stone, the Venice Four & the Abbot Kinney Lighthouse Choir - Trouble of the World
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Blackbird Special
Courtney Pine - Children of the Ghetto
Eric Burdon & War - Tobacco Road
Zapp & Roger - Computer Love
The Mohawks - Ride Your Pony
Mel Brown - Swamp Fever
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - St. James Infirmary
The Blind Boys of Alabama - Run On For a Long Time
Masonic Wonders - I Call Him
The Soul Stirrers - Come, Let Us Go Back to God
Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm- The New Breed
Packers - Go Head On
Fuckhead Set:
Perez Prado - Guaglione
Cab Calloway - Duck Trot
Red Ingle - Cigareetes, Whuskey, and Wild, Wild Women
Louis Armstrong - Sobbin' Heart Blues
Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues, Part 1 - Jim Jackson
Les Paul and Mary Ford - I Just Want Your Stingaree
Fats Waller - Your feet's too big
Fats Waller - A Little Bit Independent
Fats Waller - Sugar (Instrumental)
Fats Waller - Last Night a Miracle Happened
Fats Waller & His Rhythm - Black Maria
Gene Kardos and Joel shaw - Mean Music
Track one from Rock N' Roll 1927 - 1938 Vol 1 Disc 2
Josephine Baker - Where Did you get those eyes?
Dinah Washington - I want a rich man
Blind Willie McTell - ???
Snook Eaglin - ???
Bukka White - ???
Howlin' Wolf - ???
Monday, February 05, 2007
So Cold. Hard to Dance. Easier to Complain.
Date: 2/2/07
Location: The Shape Shoppe
Bands: Aleks & the Drummer, OCDJ, Videohippos, Bird Names, Fake Lake and Santa Dads
Price: $5 sugg. donation. Cab ride home.
Things I missed to be there: Power Junkie at Delrock's, Southkore bands at Albion House
Reason for going: I was closer to The Shape Shoppe than I was to Albion House when I started drinking, plus I'd never been there
Aleks & the Drummer has been getting a lot of hype, more like a slow burn than a blitz. It maks sense, the band is doing something that nobody else is doing it right now, but unlike other bands you can say that about, Schizowave for example, they're doing it in a way that almost everyone can getdown with. Sure, Aleks Tomaszewska sometimes sings in Polish but the music has so much more of a familiar rockish base that it's not too much of a stretch.
The last article I read about them was by the Chicago Reader's new music guy Miles Raymer. I'll go on the record as liking him. His tastes vary a lot more than previous columnists. In the Sharp Darts column, he took a lot of space to describe how indescribable the duo is, and how they force you to make a number of semi-valid comparisons. I could see that. I could say that Aleks & the Drummer sounds like the now-defunct band Apartment, with less ambitious melodies and better vocals (less theatrical poetry), or that they sound like Aenima-era Tool with a K-Records-era Olympia grrl on vocals, but watching them the other night, I came up with the perfect description of their music. It's a weird reference, and if I knew what the word convoluted meant, I might call it that, but nevertheless it's perfectly apt.
Do you remember about ten years ago, when Rob Zombie had his own record label and put out nothing buy horror-themed surf records by The Bomboras and The Ghastly Ones? If you stripped those albums down to nothing but the organ lines, that's what Aleks and the Drummer sounds like.
Before them was OCDJ and his band, Videohippos. OCDJ has a show on WFMU where he plays hiphop like Blockhead, Ghislain Poirier and Bone Thugs N Harmony and other nonhiphop shit that I've never heard of. Live he's incredible, but in that dj way where I don't know how to describe it [yay for blog eloquence!]. Videohippos played indie dance that was a little bit shoegazer and a little bit Nintendo, mixed with nonsense videos. They were a great band to see live but unlike Aleks & the Drummer, I don't need to hear any of their songs again. By that same token, Aleks & the Drummer was incredible, but towards the end of their set they just seemed repetitive and I started to lose interest and wonder how I was gonna get home.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
new adventures in SCI-ence!
Date: 1/29 and 1/30 2007
locations: Elastic and the Mutiny
bands: Me + Smokeless Heat and John Herndon, Jeff Parker, and Josh Abrams; Me + DJ Demchuk, Minotaur, and Lovewhips
things i missed to be there: Pit Er Pat, 1980000, Lazer Crystal, Aleks And The Drummer at Schubas; Golden Birthday, Coyote, Death Factory, Big Gold Hoops and Kosher Dill Spears, Nate 1980 Thousand, DJ New Jack at Sonotheque
reasons I went: the me part in those shows
John Barth once theorized that the ultimate failing of literature was how much effort one had to put into appreciating it. Unlike a painting, which can be processed and understood by a room full of people simultaneously, a book or a poem or even a blog cannot be enjoyed all at once. You need to go through it one word at a time. Unlike music, you cannot appreciate literature just by being in its vicinity. It will never find you in the silence.
It also takes a lot more to be moved by literature than by music. I saw two acts this week that were fun. They weren't impressive or very original, they just followed a familiar structure well. I can't think of a literary equivalent, someone who I like more for the style than the substance. I know of a few authors who tell reallyt amazing stories poorly, but I can rarely sit it out through the ending.
I played my first show of the year at Elastic on the 29th of January. I'd never been to Elastic before. It was not as stylish as it's Humboldt Park predecessor, 3030, but it was easier to get to. I bombed. No one was there to see me and I didn't change their mindabout what I was doing, a mix of storytelling and comedy, but that's alright. I made a sawbuck, had a good time, and got to see jazz, which is something I next to never get to do. After I picked myself off the stage, a trio called Smokeless Heat went on. Drums, saxophone, and upright bass. It sounded like jazz...exactly. If I was watching a movie where someone walked into a jazz club, I would expect to hear music like I heard from Smokeless Heat. The next night I DJed (successfully) at The Mutiny. High Priest,from Antipop Consortium, was on the bill but had to cancel because of weather or laziness or something, so the only band was lovewhip.
Lovewhip was by-the-numbers electropop, with machine gun beats, plink plunk synth, and a ridiculously hot frontwoman. They had a soundguy mixing and remixing theirset live on his laptop and everything sounded better than anything I'd ever heard come out of The Mutiny PA, but after a two pitchers of gin and tonic, I was the only person dancing and it felt a little forced. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy their set. In the right setting with the right crowd they could have shredded a club or house party, because they did what they did well and with intensity, but what they did never rose to the level of, say, the Videohippos, whom I'll come down on in my next blog.
One of my favorite parts of the night was getting to play disco and funk in Chicago's best punk rock bar, so I got to play boney M and Giorgio Moroder as I segued into The Eternals and The Buzzcocks. One of the bands I played, somewhere inbetween, was Glass Candy, which is probably why I made the connection, but the band reminded me most of an unimaginative Glass Candy (who, to complete the cycle of me being bitchy and using run-on sentences, were pretty weak when I saw them open for Les George Leningrad a few years back at the Texas Ballroom).
Something awesome happened at the end of the night at Elastic. I was starting to nod off and enter my own world when Herndon/Parker/Abrams started and did something few bands have been able to do for me...they got me to stop thinking about them. I wasn't thinking about what I would scribble here. I just listened, unaware that I was listening. I close my eyes and started to drift from where I was, but I was no longer nodding off,my brain just took off behind me and whenever I opened my eyes I was surprised to see that there were still other people sittinmg around me watching people play music in front of us, and not just tones resonating in my head. Fucking awesome. And I thought and that's what jazz is supposed to be.
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