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Concert Thu Feb 08 2007
A Weekend of Mittens on Strings
Dirty, dark, and cold. These adjectives are on the tips of all Chicagoan tongues these days and, on Friday night at the Subterranean, they'll be in their ears as well. A veritable triumvirate of somber, muddy melody makers, local collective Mittens on Strings, avant composer The Dirty Projectors, and break-up darlings Grizzly Bear, will bring the house down tommorrow night beginning at 10 PM at the Wicker Park haunt. While Pitchfork and blogosphere hype have assured Grizzly Bear's place as one of the current "it" bands and the fuzzy postmodern art songs of The Dirty Projectors have always had a niche crew, local opener Mittens on Strings are also deserving of attention. With a rotating cast of friends and accomplices, Mittens on Strings, who have existed since 2001 but only been in Chicago for the last couple of years, produce mournful sing-a-longs for the shadows that would tickle the ears of both Lou Reed and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous. Having played both South by Southwest and CMJ in recent years, the Mittens put their last LP, Look Up in the Sky!, out on Mountain Goat alum label Emperor Jones, and currently are offering the Strongmen, Tin Sins EP for FREE download on their webpage. Plus, there's a remix EP which should be available in April featuring, among others, mashup DJ Girl Talk, so good things are on the horizon for the band. While the bad news for those that don't already have a ticket is that the Subterranean show is sold out, the good news is that Mittens on Strings will be playing a free in-store acoustic show on Saturday at 3PM at Ukranian Village newcomer Permanent Records at 1914 W. Chicago Avenue. And if that's not enough for you, their website is offering an open invitation to come see some friends play at the Mittens on Strings loft on Sunday evening. Here's the word form the band about the private gig: "Evan from Pillars and Tongues, Elephant Micah, Cell Mates, and To the Left will all be performing starting around 8 PM. Email us if you would like more details (like an address) - mittensonstrings@hotmail.com." Sounds like you just got yourself some weekend plans.
