MOONY HABITATIONS, A COLUMN BY LEILANI CLARK: “I have a retained the pure, unadulterated joy in hearing a new album, in reading a perfect sentence, the same joy I felt in my teens and twenties.”
A FINE LINE, BY CAT JOHNSON: I’m one of the endangered music lovers who goes for the album experience. From the cover art and packaging to the practically perfect afternoon spent listening to an album from top to bottom, thumbing through the photos, reading along with the lyrics, envisioning the band at work in the studio…this for me is bliss
The Devil Makes Three’s Pete Bernhard details what he wished he’d known before heading out on the road the first time
The San Francisco psych-rock band lets loose with one of the most stunning debuts of the year
Making digital music live and organic at Chicago’s electronic music competition
Returning to a forgotten childhood favorite with a new generation
The Silver Jews’ David Berman returns to the stage with renewed vigor
Why the success of Jonathan Coulton is absolutely irrelevant to the music business
Ra Ra Riot’s Rebecca Zeller shucks off classical convention for rock abandon
As previously reported, the people behind the Chicago Independent Radio Project aren’t ones to sit around and just wait for great radio to happen. Although legislative decisions still need to be made about low power FM, the organization is moving ahead with a more immediate project: launching a web station.
On the CHIRP website, the industrious staff explains their plan: “As we’ve continued with our efforts to make sure we’ll eventually be able to bring a brand new low power FM signal to Chicago, we’ve always assumed that the station’s webstream would be crucial. That’s why we’ve decided to go ahead and launch a web version of CHIRP radio… We’re excited about the prospect of making CHIRP radio a reality even before we get a broadcast license.”
Slated to launch in late summer, the web station will feature “great underappreciated music across genres and eras,” while demonstrating “a true commitment to Chicago’s diverse music and arts scenes.” According to staff member Dustin Drase, the organization is currently working on programming specifics, and the group hopes to have a station launch party sometime this fall.
In another exciting development, CHIRP has found a home for the station in the historic Dank Haus building in Lincoln Square. The organization has been collecting office furniture, supplies, and computer equipment to improve the new digs, but there are still items on the CHIRP wish list. To donate equipment or funds (and stay tuned into upcoming events), visit the official website.
A throwback to a time when punk rock could conceivably change the world, the all-woman five-piece Mika Miko is unapologetically punk rock.
ALBUM REVIEW: Having refined a signature doom-laden dirge, The Black Angels rose to prominence with 2006’s striking breakout Passover. Two years later, the Austin outfit is still channeling waves of feedback-drenched, portentous rock on their latest, Directions to See a Ghost, though the effect isn’t quite as powerful the second time around.
"Doves" mp3
The Black Angels break out of their well-defined sound at points, showing more rhythmic flair than seen on Passover, what was strikingly compelling on that album bears the mark of stasis on Directions to See a Ghost. The band does show some signs of progression—the lyrics are more affecting and personal than on the Vietnam War-themed Passover, and the swaths of far-out psychedelic guitar are applied much more liberally. And considering the disaster that was the hidden acoustic track on Passover, it’s a welcome surprise that they avoid acoustic meanderings here.
Without a doubt, The Black Angels have refined their drunken amalgam of Joy Division and Black Sabbath to a science. But considering how much promise band holds, it’s hard not to want the band to reach outside of its comfort zone more than it does here.
All the same, the band puts on a blistering live set. They’re on tour this summer, visit the band’s website for details.
Orchestral metal three-piece Russian Circles summons an epic cacophony
DJ Spooky creates art out of Antarctic climate change
An interview with Moritz Reichelt of German racounteurs Der Plan
Late-career reappraisals shine a light on the work of two forgotten folk greats
The Chicago Independent Radio Project fights to provide Chicago with an independent voice on the airwaves
An explication and exploration of John Dudley’s blues classic
Paul M Davis