Eric lab Rat set:
Pharcyde - Passin Me By
Quincy Jones - Summer in the City !
20th Century Steel Band - Heaven and Hell is on Earth !!!!
Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate (Mocean Worker Remix)
Boney M - Belfast
Fehlfarben - Ein Jahr (Es Geht Voran)
Etta James - Lets Burn Down the Cornfield !!!
Zapp - More Bounce to the Ounce
Art Jerry Miller - Moon Shot
Equals - Police on My Back
Glaxo Babies - Maximum Sexual Joy
Electrostats - 21st Century Kenya
Chuck Jackson - Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird)
Arvo Fuckhead set:
Little Richard & His Band - The Girl Can't Help It
The Coasters - Shopping for Clothes
The Clovers - Devil or Angel
The Flamingos - I only have eyes for you
Lavern Baker - I Cried a Tear
Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz (Look at his eyes)
Chuck Willis - I feel so bad
The Coasters - Young blood
The Bobettes - Mr Lee
The Mar-Keys - Last Night
Little Walter - You're So Fine
Don Tiki - Hot Like Lava
Honey LTD. - The Warrior
Clair Lane - Frankie & Johnny
Susan Rafey - Bring back the love you gave me
The Liver Birds - It's Got to be you
Talking HEads - Electric Guitar
Talking Heads - Pulled Up
ENO - Baby's on Fire
*Free Form Set*
ENO - The Fat Lady of Limbourg *red sticker*
David Bowie - DJ *red*
CASH - While I've still got my mind *core*
Lord Of The Yum YUM - FLight of the bumblebee *local*
Mucca Pazza - Dirge *heavy rotation*
Bird Names - Porcupine is a Spiny Pig *local*
Harry Nilsson - Me and My Arrow *choice*
PIGFACE - Hips, TITS, Lips, POWER! *local*
Nullsleep - The Model (Kraftwerk cover) *heavy rotation*
Lightning Bolt - Rotator *choice song*
ZZZZ! - 2nd Hand SMoke *local*
Deerhoof - Choco Fight *heavy rotation*
James Chance - Designed to Kill *80's song*
SWANS - Money is Flesh *choice song*
Wire - I am the fly *core song*
Ministry - Impossible *local*
Man MAn - Spider Cider *choice*
Clinic - Gideon *heavy rotation*
AFX - PWSteal.Ldpnch.D *choice*
Hank Williams - There's a hole in my bucket *Yellow sticker*
Josephine Foster - An Die Musik *local*
DEVO - Mongoloid *80's*
The Lonesome Organist - Rat Advance on the windsor deluxe *local*
Gob Iron - Little Girl and Dreadful snake *heavy rotation*
Bakelite 78 - Arlene Goodnight
Tom WAits - Goodnight Irene
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Top Somethings of 2006
[Screamin Cyn-Cyn & the Pons were probably the best band I saw all year. If I could stand Wisconsin, I could see the band play street fairs like this]
Song of the year:
"Daydream" by Lupe Fiasco with Jill Scott
Top Films:
Pan's Labyrinth
Idiocracy
Top Bands I Should have Heard Prior, but Didn't:
Kleenex/Liliput
Meret Becker
Tuxedomoon
Current 93
Rosa Yemen/Lizzy Mercier Descloux
Nora Keyes
Munich Machine
Rest In Peace:
Bar Vertigo, Beach House, Beauty Shop, Big Horse, Machine HQ, Rawk! Loft (?), Big Horse, Trevia, Waiting Room, Western Front
(Rest in Peace Malachi)
[Los Crudos playing "En Mi Opinion", "Crudo Soy", "Asesinos" and "That's Right, We're That Spic Band" at their reunion show at The Black Hole]
Some of the magazines that let me write for them asked me to submit end of the year best-of lists. I love lists!
Here's my Top 5 records of 2006, courtesy of Chicago Innerview...
Looking back over 2006, I couldn't remember anything but Gnarls Barkley and Justin Timberlake. To figure out what my favorite albums were, I have just browsed through over 2000 albums on the web and I can tell you this...2006 wasn't a good year for records. It wasn't that there wasn't good or challenging music being made, either. Outkast put out a great album, but it didn't have that usual Outkast feel of being the freshest, weirdest, best thing in the world. Bands like CSS and Art Brut proved onceagain that there is always room in this world for stupid punk you can dance to. Noise weirdos Wolf Eyes, Acid Mothers Temple, and Warhammer 48k all put out records that were as listenable as they were dense, and while mainstream hip hop started dabbling in electro, the underground embraced it full bore with new records by K-the-I???, Radioinactive, Lady Sovereign, and Spank Rock. But none of those albums made a very lasting impression, so in a double-blind test I checked my Last.fm page against this year'snew releases to see what I've been listening to.
Without a doubt, my favorite album was Pick a Bigger Weapon by The Coup, wherein Boots Riley andPam the Funkstress make Marxism sound as sexy, dangerous and necessary as hip hop was before it became big business. On A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Josephine Foster departs from freak-folk for an album of 19th century German compositions that's both haunting and beautiful. Carla Bozulich continues to grow with her Evangelista, which is full of morose country hymns and weird art thrash that is as hard and delicate as her voice. Kronos Quartet ended the year with a moody collaboration with Mogwai and Pop Will Eat Itself's Clint Mansell for the soundtrack to Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain. The most mileage I've gotten from vinyl this year came from the split 7" between Chicago's Carpet of Sexy and It's a Trap, where both bands serve up noise you can get crunk to.
It was a year where artists thought smaller. In the shadow of big festivals, the summer was full of pot lucks and backyard traveler jams, and in the wake of 2005, where dozens of spaces were shut down or priced out of existence, people found out how accomodating this city could be by setting up their own festivals in old man bars and ice cream shops. It was a good year to see a band, but a shitty year to buy an album.
--and these two came from Newcity's end of the year issue...
Top Five Festival Shows at Places Where You Don't Usually See Shows
1. Southkore Fest with Los Crudos, Juventud Crasa, Bastard Sons of the Apocalypse, No Slogan, Tropietzo and Condenada at The Black Hole (video arcade)
2. The Noise District 6/6/6 with the Bang Bang Circus, Black Bear Combo, Genderfuck Burlesque, blood wrestling and Satanic Marriage at the Beach House (house)
3. Mauled by Tigers Fest with Screamin Cyn-Cyn & the Pons and Totally Michael at Ronny's (bar)
4. Trans-Sexual Express with Waterbabies, He Not In, TK Raptor and Velcro Lewis at the Tastee Freez (ice cream shop)
5. Pitchfork Fest with Diplo, Aesop Rock, Spank Rock, Os Mutantes, Flosstradamus and Tarantula at Union Park (park)
Top 5 Reasons I've Heard for Coming Back to Chicago
1. "That fresh air was starting to make me soft."
2. "New York City really doesn't care as much about the live music scene as they say they do."
3. "I'm just here for the trial, then I'm gone again."
4. "So I was out there milking a goat when I started thinking, 'What the fuck happened to me?'"
5. "After a few months in Iraq, you can really appreciate a Chicago-style hotdog."
Song of the year:
"Daydream" by Lupe Fiasco with Jill Scott
Top Films:
Pan's Labyrinth
Idiocracy
Top Bands I Should have Heard Prior, but Didn't:
Kleenex/Liliput
Meret Becker
Tuxedomoon
Current 93
Rosa Yemen/Lizzy Mercier Descloux
Nora Keyes
Munich Machine
Rest In Peace:
Bar Vertigo, Beach House, Beauty Shop, Big Horse, Machine HQ, Rawk! Loft (?), Big Horse, Trevia, Waiting Room, Western Front
(Rest in Peace Malachi)
[Los Crudos playing "En Mi Opinion", "Crudo Soy", "Asesinos" and "That's Right, We're That Spic Band" at their reunion show at The Black Hole]
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Catharsis
Date: 1/24/07
Bands: Fuck 911, Bomb Banks, Gypsy Feelings, Harshe Nu Tru, Dramatic Paws, Jennifer Lorraine, Common Visions, random peoples
Location: Nihilist
Cost: Donation for touring bands
Things I missed to be there: Bookslut Reading with Neal Pollack at Hopleaf; Freeform Shuffle with Oskie Grey, Shamanavi, Emulsion, and Fuzzirobot at Spot 6; In-One-Ear at the Heartland Cafe
Reasons I Went: Jon Ziemba's last show, free ride there and back
I haven't gone to any shows in the last couple weeks because I've been on a group trip in Israel. On the trip, there were a number of Israelis who took the same sort of joy in teaching us Israeli cuss words that I take in getting a toddler to repeat one after me. The language of the hebrew man (Hebrew only slightly less than Yiddish) is full of words that sound so much like what they describe, they're practically onomatopoeia. For example, the word shpich, which is Hebrew for cum, and most closely resembles the slang term skeet.
English is a much trickier language, and full of words that often sound like they'd be perfect for the situation, but upon closer reflection have absolutely no relevance. I wanted to title this blog "catharsis", but I wasn't completely sure that I knew what the word meant, so here's a definition from dictionary.com:
1. the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, esp. through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.
After twenty-some years of living in Chicago, Jon Ziemba is leaving fo Portland. Last night's show, where he performed as Bomb Banks was his last before leaving. The show began with Nihilist's Ehsan playing accordion and Right Eye Rita playing empty wine bottles as percussion. Jon emerged from a bedroom, with his face painted black and white like an inverse racoon, screaming and smashing an old black electric guitar with a hammer. When the guitar was thoroughly demolished, he walked up to the stage, plugged in another guitar, a sleek white one and joined in with Rita and Ehsan, yowling about everyone wasting their lives. When the song was over, he walked into the middle of the room, sang a Pulp cover, and left.
I was talking to Rich Syska about an old friend who'd moved to Portland, actually one of a number of old friends and noise/party weirdos who have left Illinois for Oregon. Her take was that the town is so much more stoned than Chicago that, while people are really open to new, weird, and heady things, there are a lot fewer individuals ready to get up off their couches to throw together a band or an event just for the hell of it. I never really think of Chicago that way but it makes sense. It's a big city but there's never anything to do, or never enough, or maybe just never the right thing. This was in full effect last night, where I was treated to not just the seven bands on the bill but an Iranian dance party and impromptu performances by David Diarrhea and Right-Eye Rita.
After Bomb Banks was Gypsy Feelings, a hiphop act that consisted of a guy who looked like an effete pirate and a girl with two hoodies sewn together. The guy, Ossian, jumped into the crowd and rapped over lofi keyboard beats while the girl, Rebecca, sat back and rapped over casio and guitar. Harsh Nue Tru had Hunter Husar playing house music in a corner while Jenifer Lorraine danced. Fuck 911 was Rotten Milk and Rand Sevilla making noise and breaking bottles in Nihilist's kitchen, which inspired a number of people to climb up onto the tiled sink and perform in between bands. The best of these was a tall man in a bright one-piece a friend of his had scammed him that had something to do with parachuting or Olympic training. He lifted his head up and yelled, and held a single note which lead to more people yelling and harmonizing until the entire room was standing there with their mouth open or looking around incredulous, unable to stop laughing.
Another highlight was Dramatic Paws, whose set reminded me of Fugazi, the Descendents, the Dead Milkmen and a lot of semirelated things that he didn't actually sound like. Dramatic Paws was a guy who sat on the floor and pounded through some loudfast ballads on an acoustic guitar. It reminded me of high school in the late 90s when emo was only a bad word to punks and didn't mean anything to anyone else. His songs were really good, even as they were derided, loudly by members of the audience who got mad at being shusshed. He ended with a cover of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" in a full Tiny Tim falsetto.
The headliner was Common Visions from Asheville. If you could create a world of music that fit on a line segment where on one end of the line segment, you would have Southern Culture on the Skids and on the other end, Current 93,, and inbetween nothing but variations inbetween. Common Visions would fit perfectly on such a timeline, about three-fourths of the way towards Current 93. Their songs alternated with every other song sounding like old 1980s no-wave or twangy cowpunk, but with each one containing elements of the other.
[Fuck 911 reminded me of America's Meth Problem, which has included both members of Fuck 911. Unfortunately, neither band is as fun as Rand's (now defunct?) two-piece, Carpet of Sexy. Here's one of their videos.]
Bands: Fuck 911, Bomb Banks, Gypsy Feelings, Harshe Nu Tru, Dramatic Paws, Jennifer Lorraine, Common Visions, random peoples
Location: Nihilist
Cost: Donation for touring bands
Things I missed to be there: Bookslut Reading with Neal Pollack at Hopleaf; Freeform Shuffle with Oskie Grey, Shamanavi, Emulsion, and Fuzzirobot at Spot 6; In-One-Ear at the Heartland Cafe
Reasons I Went: Jon Ziemba's last show, free ride there and back
I haven't gone to any shows in the last couple weeks because I've been on a group trip in Israel. On the trip, there were a number of Israelis who took the same sort of joy in teaching us Israeli cuss words that I take in getting a toddler to repeat one after me. The language of the hebrew man (Hebrew only slightly less than Yiddish) is full of words that sound so much like what they describe, they're practically onomatopoeia. For example, the word shpich, which is Hebrew for cum, and most closely resembles the slang term skeet.
English is a much trickier language, and full of words that often sound like they'd be perfect for the situation, but upon closer reflection have absolutely no relevance. I wanted to title this blog "catharsis", but I wasn't completely sure that I knew what the word meant, so here's a definition from dictionary.com:
1. the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, esp. through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.
After twenty-some years of living in Chicago, Jon Ziemba is leaving fo Portland. Last night's show, where he performed as Bomb Banks was his last before leaving. The show began with Nihilist's Ehsan playing accordion and Right Eye Rita playing empty wine bottles as percussion. Jon emerged from a bedroom, with his face painted black and white like an inverse racoon, screaming and smashing an old black electric guitar with a hammer. When the guitar was thoroughly demolished, he walked up to the stage, plugged in another guitar, a sleek white one and joined in with Rita and Ehsan, yowling about everyone wasting their lives. When the song was over, he walked into the middle of the room, sang a Pulp cover, and left.
I was talking to Rich Syska about an old friend who'd moved to Portland, actually one of a number of old friends and noise/party weirdos who have left Illinois for Oregon. Her take was that the town is so much more stoned than Chicago that, while people are really open to new, weird, and heady things, there are a lot fewer individuals ready to get up off their couches to throw together a band or an event just for the hell of it. I never really think of Chicago that way but it makes sense. It's a big city but there's never anything to do, or never enough, or maybe just never the right thing. This was in full effect last night, where I was treated to not just the seven bands on the bill but an Iranian dance party and impromptu performances by David Diarrhea and Right-Eye Rita.
After Bomb Banks was Gypsy Feelings, a hiphop act that consisted of a guy who looked like an effete pirate and a girl with two hoodies sewn together. The guy, Ossian, jumped into the crowd and rapped over lofi keyboard beats while the girl, Rebecca, sat back and rapped over casio and guitar. Harsh Nue Tru had Hunter Husar playing house music in a corner while Jenifer Lorraine danced. Fuck 911 was Rotten Milk and Rand Sevilla making noise and breaking bottles in Nihilist's kitchen, which inspired a number of people to climb up onto the tiled sink and perform in between bands. The best of these was a tall man in a bright one-piece a friend of his had scammed him that had something to do with parachuting or Olympic training. He lifted his head up and yelled, and held a single note which lead to more people yelling and harmonizing until the entire room was standing there with their mouth open or looking around incredulous, unable to stop laughing.
Another highlight was Dramatic Paws, whose set reminded me of Fugazi, the Descendents, the Dead Milkmen and a lot of semirelated things that he didn't actually sound like. Dramatic Paws was a guy who sat on the floor and pounded through some loudfast ballads on an acoustic guitar. It reminded me of high school in the late 90s when emo was only a bad word to punks and didn't mean anything to anyone else. His songs were really good, even as they were derided, loudly by members of the audience who got mad at being shusshed. He ended with a cover of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" in a full Tiny Tim falsetto.
The headliner was Common Visions from Asheville. If you could create a world of music that fit on a line segment where on one end of the line segment, you would have Southern Culture on the Skids and on the other end, Current 93,, and inbetween nothing but variations inbetween. Common Visions would fit perfectly on such a timeline, about three-fourths of the way towards Current 93. Their songs alternated with every other song sounding like old 1980s no-wave or twangy cowpunk, but with each one containing elements of the other.
[Fuck 911 reminded me of America's Meth Problem, which has included both members of Fuck 911. Unfortunately, neither band is as fun as Rand's (now defunct?) two-piece, Carpet of Sexy. Here's one of their videos.]
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Two Slaps Radio [WLUW]
Mucca Pazza - Alarm
Boney M - Ma Baker
Clipse - Nightmares
Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco - Touch the Sky (live)
Little Richard - Ooh! My Soul
Parliament- Red Hot Mama
Jonna Gault - I'm Never Gonna Cry Again
Little Milton - We're Gonna Make It
Ernie K- Doe - Mother-In-Law
Bobby Bland - I Pity the Fool
The Coasters - Along Came Jones
Darlene Love - Strange Love/Stumble and Fall
The Ronettes - When I Saw You
Chris Kennner - I Like It Like That, Pt 1
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra - Pleasure
Howlin Wolf - Evil
Arvo fhead:
Snakefinger - Living in Vain
The Contortions - I can't stand myself
Mark & The MAmbas - Empty Eyes
The Paris Sisters - Dream Lover
Diane Ray - Please Don't Talk To the LifeGuard
The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me
Priscilla Paris - Help Me
Robbie Winston - Help Me
Crazy Girls - Hey Hey Ha Ha
Carla Thomas - Comfort me
Irma Thomas - The Same Love that made me laugh
The Staple Singers - Uncloudy Day
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - You're Gonna Get It
Billie Holiday - I'll Be Seeing You
Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy
Snakefinger - I love you too much to respect you
[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 ]
Boney M - Ma Baker
Clipse - Nightmares
Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco - Touch the Sky (live)
Little Richard - Ooh! My Soul
Parliament- Red Hot Mama
Jonna Gault - I'm Never Gonna Cry Again
Little Milton - We're Gonna Make It
Ernie K- Doe - Mother-In-Law
Bobby Bland - I Pity the Fool
The Coasters - Along Came Jones
Darlene Love - Strange Love/Stumble and Fall
The Ronettes - When I Saw You
Chris Kennner - I Like It Like That, Pt 1
Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra - Pleasure
Howlin Wolf - Evil
Arvo fhead:
Snakefinger - Living in Vain
The Contortions - I can't stand myself
Mark & The MAmbas - Empty Eyes
The Paris Sisters - Dream Lover
Diane Ray - Please Don't Talk To the LifeGuard
The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me
Priscilla Paris - Help Me
Robbie Winston - Help Me
Crazy Girls - Hey Hey Ha Ha
Carla Thomas - Comfort me
Irma Thomas - The Same Love that made me laugh
The Staple Singers - Uncloudy Day
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - You're Gonna Get It
Billie Holiday - I'll Be Seeing You
Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy
Snakefinger - I love you too much to respect you
[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 ]
Two Slaps Radio [WLUW]
[all Arvo, all Fela set]
Fela Kuti - Unknown Soldier part 1 of 2
Fela Kuti - Dog Eat Dog
Fela Kuti - Witchcraft
fela Kuti - Teacher Don't Teach Me Non Sense
Fela Kuti - Coffin For the Head of State
Fela Kuti - Unknown Soldier part 1 of 2
Fela Kuti - Dog Eat Dog
Fela Kuti - Witchcraft
fela Kuti - Teacher Don't Teach Me Non Sense
Fela Kuti - Coffin For the Head of State
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Two Slaps Radio [WLUW]
Gnarls Barkley - Go Go Gadget Gospel
Walter Jackson - What Would You Do
Artistic - Patty Cake
Herbie Hancock - Riot
Con Funk Shun - Rock It All Night
James Brown - White Lightning (I Mean Moonshine)
Radiants - Shy Guy
Friends of E Rodney James - Soul Heaven
Denizen Kane - Amerika Dub (feat. avery r young) !
Greyboy Allstars - Toys R Us
Five Du-Tones - My World !
Betty Everett - You're No Good
Funkadelic - You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
Liquid Soul - What a Story
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Real Men Don't Kill Coyotes
Fugess - The Score
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - The Tears of a Clown
Dyke & the Blazers - The Wobble
Billy Holiday - Fine and Mellow
Funka Fize - Because You're Funky
Art Jerry Miller - Mod Strut
Linda Ballantine - Glad About That
Over Night Low - The Witch Doctor
Eldridge Holmes - Where Is Love
Huey Piano Smith - Little Liza Jane
Rotary Connection - Memory Band
Spot & the Blotters - Soul Circle
Richard 'Dimples' Fields - Finger Licken Good
Dottie Wright - Eclipse of a Lover
Carleen and the Groovers - The Thing
Kim Weston - Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little)
Kashmere Stage Band - Scorpio
Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances
Bobby Byrd - I'm Comin'
Prince - Irresistable Bitch
Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
[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 ]
Walter Jackson - What Would You Do
Artistic - Patty Cake
Herbie Hancock - Riot
Con Funk Shun - Rock It All Night
James Brown - White Lightning (I Mean Moonshine)
Radiants - Shy Guy
Friends of E Rodney James - Soul Heaven
Denizen Kane - Amerika Dub (feat. avery r young) !
Greyboy Allstars - Toys R Us
Five Du-Tones - My World !
Betty Everett - You're No Good
Funkadelic - You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
Liquid Soul - What a Story
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Real Men Don't Kill Coyotes
Fugess - The Score
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - The Tears of a Clown
Dyke & the Blazers - The Wobble
Billy Holiday - Fine and Mellow
Funka Fize - Because You're Funky
Art Jerry Miller - Mod Strut
Linda Ballantine - Glad About That
Over Night Low - The Witch Doctor
Eldridge Holmes - Where Is Love
Huey Piano Smith - Little Liza Jane
Rotary Connection - Memory Band
Spot & the Blotters - Soul Circle
Richard 'Dimples' Fields - Finger Licken Good
Dottie Wright - Eclipse of a Lover
Carleen and the Groovers - The Thing
Kim Weston - Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little)
Kashmere Stage Band - Scorpio
Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances
Bobby Byrd - I'm Comin'
Prince - Irresistable Bitch
Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
[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 ]
Strip Maul
Date: 1/6/06
Show: Fleshtones Burlesque
Location: Lakeshore Theatre
Cost: $20
Things I missed to be there: Davy J. Sparrow, Dog Dixie, Choke Cherry and Blah Blah Black Sheep at the Lowercase Collective basement; Matthew Arkell and la radio at Zoku; Livewire at Stadium West.
Reason I went: I scored comp tix, and free titties trump half pipes and folk punk nearly any day of the week.
Burlesque is a Latin word meaning, "someone who, upon realizing that they've put on far too many pairs of underwear, undresses to music".
Location can make or break a burlesque show. When the Genderfuck Burlesque Troupe played the basement of the Beach House it was intimate and very underground, a setting where they could pull off more risque and dangerous bits than any legit venue would allow. At the same time though, some of their acts lost their inherent cabaret sophistication as the cd player skipped and performers tripped over light cords. When the Abbey Pub was doing Gurlesque Burlesque everything was professional (if a bit tame) but the crowd and the performers had to deal with Abbey Pub's obnoxious staff who really don't know what to do when their place sells out. At both places there were visibility problems for anyone who got there late.
As as a legitimate theater that is used to doing off-kilter shows, including the monthly Belmont Burlesque revue, Puppetry of the Penis, and any number of gay kitsch musicals, The Lakeshore provided a perfect balance. They're a little timid, but they know how to light a show, treat a show, and make sure everybody can see it.
Flesh Tones Burlesque is a new monthly event that gathers up many of the city's diverse acts to burlesque, busk, and strip for charity.
One of the treats of the show was when the house band, 8 Inch Betsy, performed as the soundtrack to a vintage burlesque film. For most of the night, the band played with a very Chicago, melodic punk sound, like an all-girl version of the Bollweevils, but as the film played they got really slow and really loud (think Iggy Pop with Mazzy Star on vocals).
Aside from the band, there was a lot of 90s music in the show.
From the world of trip hop, you could hear women strip to Morcheeba and White Town, then there was Cherish the Burlesque Godess dancing to the Squirrel Nut Zippers' song "Hell" and in what was possibly the sexiest act of the night, Betty Cracker danced to Southern Culture on the Skids' song "Camel Walk".
[8 Inch Betsy with vintage erotica]
Show: Fleshtones Burlesque
Location: Lakeshore Theatre
Cost: $20
Things I missed to be there: Davy J. Sparrow, Dog Dixie, Choke Cherry and Blah Blah Black Sheep at the Lowercase Collective basement; Matthew Arkell and la radio at Zoku; Livewire at Stadium West.
Reason I went: I scored comp tix, and free titties trump half pipes and folk punk nearly any day of the week.
Burlesque is a Latin word meaning, "someone who, upon realizing that they've put on far too many pairs of underwear, undresses to music".
Location can make or break a burlesque show. When the Genderfuck Burlesque Troupe played the basement of the Beach House it was intimate and very underground, a setting where they could pull off more risque and dangerous bits than any legit venue would allow. At the same time though, some of their acts lost their inherent cabaret sophistication as the cd player skipped and performers tripped over light cords. When the Abbey Pub was doing Gurlesque Burlesque everything was professional (if a bit tame) but the crowd and the performers had to deal with Abbey Pub's obnoxious staff who really don't know what to do when their place sells out. At both places there were visibility problems for anyone who got there late.
As as a legitimate theater that is used to doing off-kilter shows, including the monthly Belmont Burlesque revue, Puppetry of the Penis, and any number of gay kitsch musicals, The Lakeshore provided a perfect balance. They're a little timid, but they know how to light a show, treat a show, and make sure everybody can see it.
Flesh Tones Burlesque is a new monthly event that gathers up many of the city's diverse acts to burlesque, busk, and strip for charity.
One of the treats of the show was when the house band, 8 Inch Betsy, performed as the soundtrack to a vintage burlesque film. For most of the night, the band played with a very Chicago, melodic punk sound, like an all-girl version of the Bollweevils, but as the film played they got really slow and really loud (think Iggy Pop with Mazzy Star on vocals).
Aside from the band, there was a lot of 90s music in the show.
From the world of trip hop, you could hear women strip to Morcheeba and White Town, then there was Cherish the Burlesque Godess dancing to the Squirrel Nut Zippers' song "Hell" and in what was possibly the sexiest act of the night, Betty Cracker danced to Southern Culture on the Skids' song "Camel Walk".
[8 Inch Betsy with vintage erotica]
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Top 5 of 2006
Top Five Festival Shows at Places Where You Don't Usually See Shows
1. Southkore Fest with Los Crudos, Tropietzo and Condenada at The Black Hole (arcade)
2. The Noise District 6/6/6 with the Bang Bang Circus, Black Bear Combo, Genderfuck Burlesque, blood wrestling and Satanic Marriage at the Beach House (house)
3. Mauled by Tigers Fest with Screamin Cyn-Cyn & the Pons and Totally Michael at Ronny's (bar)
4. Trans-Sexual Express with Waterbabies, He Not In, TK Raptor, America's Meth Problem, and Velcro Lewis at the Tastee Freez (ice cream shop)
5. Pitchfork Fest with Diplo, Aesop Rock, Spank Rock, Os Mutantes, Flosstradamus and Tarantula at Union Park (park)
[couretsy of Newcity]
1. Southkore Fest with Los Crudos, Tropietzo and Condenada at The Black Hole (arcade)
2. The Noise District 6/6/6 with the Bang Bang Circus, Black Bear Combo, Genderfuck Burlesque, blood wrestling and Satanic Marriage at the Beach House (house)
3. Mauled by Tigers Fest with Screamin Cyn-Cyn & the Pons and Totally Michael at Ronny's (bar)
4. Trans-Sexual Express with Waterbabies, He Not In, TK Raptor, America's Meth Problem, and Velcro Lewis at the Tastee Freez (ice cream shop)
5. Pitchfork Fest with Diplo, Aesop Rock, Spank Rock, Os Mutantes, Flosstradamus and Tarantula at Union Park (park)
[couretsy of Newcity]
Friday, January 05, 2007
Strong Start, Phat Middle, Weak Finish [WZRD]
Girl Talk - Touch 2 Feel
Dan Deacon - Song for Dina
Faust - Carousel II (Trillian Remix)
Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get it if you Really Want
The Ex - Human Car
Pelican - Sirius
Mad Happy - Serial Wigga
IQU with Miranda July - Girls on Dates
13 & God - Ghostwork
Lady Sovereign - Blah Blah
Dove Rock - Designer Gas Masks
Negativland - Helter Stupid
Radioinactive - With Light Within
Stuntman 5 - Ourazi
The Gothic Archies - Freakshow #
NoMeansNo - I See a Mansion In the Sky #
The Slits - Slits Tradition #
Essential Logic - Shabby Abbot
The Melvins - Rat Faced Grandma
Jackie O Motherfucker - Hey! Mr. Sky
Miss Kittin - Meet Sue Be She
Amon Tobin - The Whole Nine
Eyedea & Abilities - Glass
Anavan - Notoriety
Arto Lindsay - Anything
Dangermouse - 99 Problems
Dan Deacon - Song for Dina
Faust - Carousel II (Trillian Remix)
Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get it if you Really Want
The Ex - Human Car
Pelican - Sirius
Mad Happy - Serial Wigga
IQU with Miranda July - Girls on Dates
13 & God - Ghostwork
Lady Sovereign - Blah Blah
Dove Rock - Designer Gas Masks
Negativland - Helter Stupid
Radioinactive - With Light Within
Stuntman 5 - Ourazi
The Gothic Archies - Freakshow #
NoMeansNo - I See a Mansion In the Sky #
The Slits - Slits Tradition #
Essential Logic - Shabby Abbot
The Melvins - Rat Faced Grandma
Jackie O Motherfucker - Hey! Mr. Sky
Miss Kittin - Meet Sue Be She
Amon Tobin - The Whole Nine
Eyedea & Abilities - Glass
Anavan - Notoriety
Arto Lindsay - Anything
Dangermouse - 99 Problems
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Two Slaps Radio salutes James Brown [WLUW]
L.A. Style - James Brown is Dead
James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
James Brown - Bewildered
James Brown - Ain't It Funky
James Brown - I Want to Be Around
James Brown - Down and Out in New York CityMiss Dominique - It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World (James Brown cover)
The Residents - It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World (James Brown cover)
The J.B.s - Gimme Some More
James Brown - Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)
James Brown - Cold Blooded
James Brown - Give It Up or Turnit Loose
James Brown - I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothin (Open the Door I'll Get it Myself)
James Brown - Out of Sight
James Brown - Try Me
James Brown - I'm A Greedy Man
The Contortions - I Can't Stand Myself (James Brown Cover)
James Brown - Hot Pants
James Brown - Get Up Off a That Thang
James Brown - Please. PLease, PLease
James Brown - Get on the good foot
james brown - Papa Don't take no mess
James Brown - Super Bad
James Brown - Payback
[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]
OO-Wee-OO
bar vertigo
I don't know what idiot thing I was doing this Summer that forced me to miss Zolar X when they played The Note but I regret it, and I've been regretting it until I saw Cybernaut and Goltron (of the band Velva) play at Bar Vertigo on Saturday. In antennas, wigs, jumpsuits and glitter paint, they were the closest I was gonna get to the California glam spacemen, but they weren't the next best thing, they were a whole different brand of alien music that was a cross between techno, psychedelia, and some kind of Martian triphop, played on circuit bent phazers, samplers, theremin,and "guitars" that looked like they were built out of old toy car remote controls. They were incredible. I felt like I'd been sucked into "All Your Base Belong to Us"...the future as seen from the past and all that.
Point of reference: Cybernaut and Goltron: All Your Base Are Belong To Us:
Also playing was Sir Vixx, who was hilarious. He was this big metalhead lookin dude, who danced in front of his laptop as he played Fruity Loops drumnbass tracks, whipping his dreads around, mouthing the words to all his samples, and occasionally playing air guitar, drums, or piano as was needed.
Point of reference:Sir Vixx: Strong Bad's techno song:
Currently listening: MC Lean's Randomatic Radio on WLUW 88.7 fm
Friday, December 29, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
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]
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]
Thursday, December 14, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
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]
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]
Monday, December 11, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
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]
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.
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.
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.
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