You may had already heard that Jeff Tweedy's 13-year-old son is a a rockin' drummer when his band, The Blisters, played the kids stage at Lollapalooza two years ago, but what you may not know is that Spencer Tweedy is a proficient writer, blogger, and has his own software website/company. That's right, I said he's 13.
On his blog, he talks about all of the above, among other pre-teen musings like his Bar-Mitzvah and how he spent his birthday--with Neil Young, Pegi Young, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jack McBrayer, Fred Armisen, and his family--oh, and filling in for Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche at Madison Square Garden. Yup, just your typical American teen...
Need some good thoughts to get your mind off the latest doomsday news cycle? Turn to Chicago blog Big Rock Candy Mountain for your very own Happy Endings Mix. As a reward to his faithful readers who've been coming back again and again for two years now to enjoy sweet classic country, blues, and folk posts, blogger Brian Reese has made a sweet mix in anticipation of a "big announcement" TBA. Enjoy tunes from the likes of Sally Timms, The Willis Brothers, Johnny Paycheck and Waylon Jennings here [mp3]. (And keep an eye on the blog for his pending announcement!)
Via the community aggregations over at Fake Shore Drive comes word of recent drops and flips from the local hip-hop scene. In recent days, the diligent and indefatigable FSD crew has passed along the following...
Rhymefest delivers a advance caveat to listeners before the release of the video for his new track "Stolen":
"First of all, dumb ass n******s that can't think past the club, the block, or fat booty b******s, DO NOT WATCH THIS! Your brain will explode. Second, self-righteous hip-hop nerds who expect to hear me go line for line in a metaphorical circus, DO NOT WATCH THIS! You will be sorely disappointed."
It gets deeper from there. Read the whole statement here. Also, catch the new leaked 'Fest tracks "In Between" and "Forces of Nature" over there.
Elsewhere, Lupe Fiasco leaks the rare track, "Gangsta (Up In Here)." Check it.
From the "Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza" Department of Misheard Lyrics comes a live clip of The Cool Kids kickin' it on the Rock The Bells tour. At first it seems everyone was reporting the new track as bearing the title "The Sound of Panties Hitting The Ground." It turns out the track is actually called "Pennies." That's p-e-n-n-i-e-s hitting the ground. But here's to wishful thinking, right.
In case you hadn't glanced over the magazine racks in the past month, Kid Sis Melisa's one of URB magazine's "Girls of Summer."
"We're documenting artists and featuring them in ways we've never been able to," says Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber. "Pitchfork.tv is really an extension of the kinds of features we've been doing on Pitchfork for years—it's a new way to see these artists and get to know them better as people."
In addition to regular music videos, Pitchfork.tv will air full-length feature films, vintage concerts, and music DVDs free of charge, sharing a different feature every week. The channel will also include interviews with bands on the road and in the studio. For a dash of Beatles/U2 charisma, the channel is featuring "Don't Look Down", a series of New York and Chicago shows performed entirely on rooftops. The channel is set for a soft release on April 7th.
en·core [ŏn'kôr'] n. 1. A demand by an audience for an additional performance, usually expressed by applause.
There was a time not long ago when anyone who regularly attended concerts was treated to encores all of the time, whether they wanted one (or two) or not. Set lists were/are written with line breaks to indicate the end of a set and the beginning of a planned encore. (Let's not even get into the set lists crafted to note when a band banters with the crowd.) The definition became hazy as audiences foresaw encores when roadies would tweak gear in the dark. The thrill of spontaneity eroded as nearly every band would leave at least one good song for an inevitable encore. Although, the strategy famously backfired for Janis Joplin at the 1968 Stax/Volt Yuletide Thing when she kept "Piece of My Heart" and "Ball and Chain" for an encore that was thwarted by a lukewarm audience.
The raucous applause that should induce encores became tepid and the act was mechanical. But recently the encore has been given stingy treatment by some headlining acts. Over Wilco's five-night Riviera residency last month, Jeff Tweedy made some comments disparaging expected encores, such as "When we're done, we don't wanna come back." Once those shows ended, the house lights and a pop song would come on while everyone justifiably went bananas to show their appreciation and ask for one more. (This request was usually honored.) Around that same time, Super Furry Animals took a stonewalling approach at Metro by holding signs that read "Resist Phony Encores" and not returning to the stage. And these are bands putting on shows that'd warrant real encores from adoring crowds. So why does the latest flavor-of-the-month leave the one song that the blogs love until after the smoke break at the 40-minute point? It should be a privilege instead of a right to be asked to play more. If performers continue to spurn every encore, perhaps they will begin to mean something again when truly deserved by the artist and the audience.
Chicago-based musician and producer extraordinaire Steve Albini gets some attention on 37signals' blog Monday for his descriptions of how his studio works -- along with his classic anti-record industry rant, "The Problem with Music." Albini then popped into the comments to add some further thoughts.
If you're looking for something to do today while you're "working", or just want to make a non-barking dogs Christmas mix to take to the in-laws, check out one of our favorite Chicago music blogger's annual traditions — it's the Big Rock Candy Mountain Christmas song posts! Since Thanksgiving, blogger Brian Reese has been pulling together great Country and Western classic Christmas tunes on his site, and has also been contributing to a sister site: Barstool Mountain which has been posting it's own favorite alcohol-fueled Christmas tunes. They're only live for a few days, but you can enjoy the promised "extra special" posts from now until the 25th.
One word of warning: there are occasional vintage images of scantily clad women on the blogs, so if you've got a boss who tends to sneak up on you, it might not be work safe.
-Can You see The Sunset From The South Side? threw together a "hot" Chicago Marathon Mix. If you can stand Ben Lee, followed by Glen Fry and then Archer Prewit this is a mix you might like.
-Audioversity has a lengthy review and sample mp3 from Chicago AfroBeat Project's new release (A) Move To Silent Unrest.
-Seattle's KEXP (KEXP Blog) did the live remote broadcast thing from Chicago's Engine Studio's all last week. They brought in a couple local bands to play live. Here are the highlights:
A lovely little blast from the past, courtesy of the Lovely Little Girl himself, Greg Jacobson (and YouTube) ... 11 (!!!) year-old footage from venerable Chicago public-access kids-and-hipsters dance show Chic-A-Go-Go, featuring "live" musical mayhem from the Scissor Girls (featuring Azita, now better known in her current singer-songwriter incarnation).
Tribune music critic Greg Kot joins the blogging world with Turn it Up. So far, it's notes from the underground SXSW and a piece on Jon Brion — and not a hyperlink to be found — but here's hoping he stretches out as he gets used to the medium. I mean come on, Greg, it's not that different from the Sound Opinions forum.
With so many mp3 blogs in existence and new ones popping up every day it's hard to figure out how and why the mainstream press selects one to be crowned king for a day. But that's just what the Wall Street Journal did for Audiversity the other day. It must be combination of luck, timing and talent that gets a particular blog noticed. I don't know about the first two, but Audiversity certainly has that last category covered.
Audioversity is the project of two Music Directors and a record store clerk. The local connection is Michael Ardaiolo, WLUW's music director and host of the WLUW radio show Audiversity: The Radio Show!The Wall Street Journal article (subscription needed) got it wrong when they said Audiversity features rare music. In fact, they cover pretty run of the mill new releases, but the extent, thoroughness and quality of the coverage is what sets them apart. I think in this new media age the term "content is king" will once again rule and sites like Audiversity that showcase excellent writing will somehow rise to the top.
Local DJ's E6 and Matt Roan have setup a low key blog (warning: super confusing video) highlighting their respective underground finds. I've seen Matt Roan spin a couple times now and come away highly impressed - he works a solid blend of new/old school mashes, 80s dance, and mainstream hiphop into a pretty frenetic set. E6 will be spinning at SmartBar on February 25th, while Matt Roan continues his every-other-Saturday residency at Tuman's Alcohol Abuse Center this weekend.
We're looking for a little help here at Gapers Block, Transmission included. Check out the details over in Detour and let us hear from you!
Bonus: along with our spiffy redesigned page, we've added a new way for you to get involved in Transmission with our Flickr group. Join up and post your pics of Chicago musical happenings.
Brian, a Chicagoan who runs the music blog Big Rock Candy Mountain, has just recently undertaken a huge project: making a list of the Greatest Drinking Songs Of All Time, as submitted by you the drinker...er...music-lover. Represent, Chicago! Check out the details here and get him your votes by March 17th. He'll reward us all by posting the top 50 (or 100, or whatever it takes) when he gathers them up. [Update!] He's also looking for a few more judges. Details here.
I'm a sucker for a good cover song, and one of the best sources for them on the web happens to be right here in Chicago. Copy, Right? is an mp3blog whose "only goal is to share my love/hate relationship with cover songs and to turn readers on to artists of whom they might not have otherwise been aware." Liza's collection is wide and deep, enabling her to do a round-up of Adam Ant covers one week and a random selection of international acts the next. Keep up and you'll have a mix CD of your favorites in no time.
Sadly, indie music paper/blog The Crutch was put to rest at the end of September. But the good news is editor Chad Cheatham is now a contributor to Monte's Gauntlet, a sort of meta-review site that doesn't so much aggregate reviews as it does rate them, cutting through the BS and giving you a critical perspective on the critics. And they give you links to "found" mp3s of each artist around the web so you can judge for yourself.
If you headed down to the Cobra Lounge last night to try to get in to the not exactly secret Naked Raygun show, you were likely denied. Chicagoist's Tankboy laments on his blog and his Myspace page about not getting in (and the volume of bitter emails he's been getting) because the show was made "guest list only" and nobody who wasn't a "friend of Cobra" got in. Well, there's always RiotFest.
Add to Pete Margasek's blog Post No Bills the Reader Music Writers' Crickets. The Reader's third blog features posts from Miles Raymer, Monica Kendrick and Bob Mehr, musing on everything from a drug bust at a music festival in Lawrence, Kansas, to the ubiquity of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Woo.
Welcome to the wonderful world of music blogs, Metro! The big ole Chicago venue has announced that it's got it's own blog rolling on the front page of its website. The blog's got some nice artist Q&A, mp3s, and a peek behind the scenes at the Metro staff plus the occassional bit o' gossip. If you've got a music blog out there that we should be checking out, just let us know at inbox {at} gapersblock.com.
What is music but focused energy? If you have ever seen Naked Raygun perform then you will know this to be true. Formed in 1980, the band has seen its share of success and change, but with a loyal following...
Transmission is the music section of Gapers Block. It aims to highlight Chicago music in its many varied forms, as well as cover touring acts performing in the city.
Editor: Anne Holub, ash@gapersblock.com
Transmission staff inbox: transmission@gapersblock.com
You may had already heard that Jeff Tweedy's 13-year-old son is a a rockin' drummer when his band, The Blisters, played the kids stage at Lollapalooza two years ago, but what you may not know is that Spencer Tweedy is a proficient writer, blogger, and has his own software website/company. That's right, I said he's 13.
