Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni. ✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
If the monthly "Hot Mix Lunch" DJ series wasn't enough to get excited about, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs has announced a new exhibit at the Cultural Center, due to open up on May 21. The exhibit, titled "Move Your Body", explores Chicago's House Music origins, and will include interviews and memorabilia that shows the timeline of this historic genre.
In addition, to celebrate the opening, there'll be a 3-hour Friday night DJ set at the Pritzker Pavilion titled "The House Legacy Project" and will feature DJs Jerry C. King and Joe Smooth. Check it on on May 22 from 6-9pm at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
James Murphy has kept himself busy since the end of LCD Soundsystem a few years ago. He runs and curates the much respected DFA Records. He also travels around the world as a DJ who is highly sought after for his encyclopedic knowledge of all things groove and disco.
Evian Christ has one of the more memorable sets of Pitchfork last summer. Hidden away in the shade of the blue stage, he played a minimalist set creating a chill and decadent aura with psychedelic drug rap samples and spaciously ominous beats. Towards the end of a remix of Kanye's "I'm in It," he experienced some technical difficulties. A John Cage-esque palpable silence filled the place as he made the necessary repairs. After a brief moment, the music resumed to Kanye coincidentally declaring, "Pick up where we left off." It was subtly kinda beautiful. Everyone looked around and took in the serendipity of the moment as Evian Christ finished his set.
Signed to the impeccable TriAngle Records, the Kanye West affiliate recently released his newest EP, Waterfall which finds the UK producer gravitating towards a more full sound, occupying the company of producers such as Hudson Mohawke, Clams Casino, and Lunice.
Check out streams of a few of his singles below.
Our friends, the cool kids at Them Flavors, are helping bring Evian Christ back to town. Evian Christ plays tonight, June 19th, at Primary (5 W Division.) This is a 21+ show. Dutch E Germ, Devin Hudson b2b Beng Fang, Hai-Chu, and Evan Annihilist all fill out the lineup. If you're into it, tickets are $10 and can be grabbed here.
Our intrepid photographer Steve Stearns survived three days of fuzzy boots and technicolor hairdos to bring us these amazing photos from Spring Awakening at Soldier Field this year. Here are his snaps from last weekend's shenanigans at the stadium.
If you're heading to next weekend's Spring Awakening music fest, you're probably already pretty psyched to hear DJs spin and get your dance on. Performers include Tiesto, Diplo, Pretty Lights, Kaskade, Derrick Carter, A-Trak, and many more.
But hey, there are still 8 days to go! Give your ears a little preview with this new mix by performers Moon Boots via Soundcloud:
This has been an entirely unpleasant month for fans of electronic music. It was barely a couple weeks ago when it was discovered that Chicago's iconic house producer, Frankie Knuckles, had passed away. People around the world were devastated. They had barely enough time to mourn his passing when they found themselves stricken with more tragic news, that over the weekend, DJ Rashad had been found dead in his apartment in the West Side at the age of 34.
DJ Rashad was best known as one of the principal architects of Chicago's thriving footwork scene as well as his status as one of the core members of the Teklife crew, which is locally based but a worldwide collective of DJs and producers who are the authoritative force of the footworking scene.
DJ Rashad was going through an unrivaled creative streak, last year releasing what may end up being considered his masterpiece, the critically acclaimed album Double Cup. He found himself traveling around the world, spreading the gospel of the music he loved so much with his hypnotic sets. I last saw him opening for Chance the Rapper at the Riv back in November. He was scheduled to perform at Pitchfork this summer.
According to the Sun-Times, the autopsy report came back and the cause of death was "inconclusive." The Sun-Times also report that the CPD believes this was a drug overdose "and drug paraphernalia were found near the body."
Representatives of DJ Rashad released a statement which ended with the line, "His music will live on eternally." Agreed. His suddenly now posthumous EP We On 1 is scheduled to be released today on vinyl for Southern Belle Records.
Check out streams of his singles, "Feelin" and "Show U How," both from the album Double Cup, below.
NYC's Blondes make blissfully distorted chill out electronica. Signed to the tastemaker label, RVNG Intl, Sam Haar and Zach Steinman have crafting beats since the early 2010's, releasing a steady amount of DJ mixes, EPs, and remixes to ever increasing notoriety. Their single, "Wine," with it's classic house arpeggio synth and hypnotically warbled vocals evoke a manic sensation which commands the listener's attention and compels that person to move and react. They're reminiscent of acts such as Teengirl Fantasy, Mount Kimbie and Laurel Halo. With this in mind, I went to see them a few days ago at Smartbar.
Cloaked in smoke and light, Blondes opened their set with a prolonged burst of shoegaze-esque disarray before delving into a set of deep house grooves and Kraftwerk inspired techno beats. Over the course of their set, the room became a patchwork of vastly diverse styles of dance. There was the woman who pranced throughout the dancefloor, often intensely gazing directly into the eyes of people in the crowd, with this weird yet smoothly jagged interpretive dance that looked like something Marina Abramović would do at MoMA in a Jay-Z video. There was the sharply dressed man who pop and locked with style and expert skill. There were the people who stood in the back near the speakers, minimalistically moving their bodies, getting a physical sensation from the bass. One of the things that I absolutely love about Smartbar is now unpretentious it is, how everyone is welcome and made to feel accepted. This past Friday at Smartbar was no exception, as Blondes pulsing beats kept the crowd moving deep into the night.
Opening and closing the night for Blondes were Smartbar affiliates, Kiddo and Antiphase, who played fervent sets of dark and decadent techno. Below is a recent mix by Kiddo which is somewhat similar to her set from a few days ago that's totally worth checking out.
Frankie Knuckles, the "Godfather of Chicago House," passed away Monday night. He was 59.
Knuckles was born in the Bronx, NY, and moved to Chicago in 1977. He is credited with creating Chicago house during his residency at the Warehouse, a black gay nightclub, in the early 1980s. His remixes of disco records filled the dance floor and sent fans to record stores asking for "house" records.
In 1983, Knuckles moved on from the Warehouse to open his own club, the Power Plant, and put out his first record, a 12" remix of First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder." He went on to produce many more classic remixes and singles, including "Your Love" and "The Whistle Song."
It's been awhile since we checked in with Flosstradamus. The last time we saw one of their shows was at Lincoln Hall; coincidentally during New Year's Eve of 2010. Some things have changed in the last three years. Lead by producers such as Skrillex, a new generation of electronic music has exploded into the mainstream and Flosstradamus have found themselves performing to ever growing crowds around the world in between recording EPs and new mixes. We remember Flosstradamus playing small yet intense sets at dive bars, so we wanted to see how they would transition from that setting to an almost arena sized theater. It was with this in mind as we headed to The Riv on a snowy Monday night for the first of two sold out performances.
As I walked towards the Metro on a chilly Thursday night, I was greeted by the bass. A loud pulsing beat vibrated the air around me as I smoked a cigarette and walked closer to the building. The sound grew more intense as I made my way inside. Bodies were thrashing rhythmically in tune with the beat I as I climbed the stairs. As I approached the main room, the creators of this controlled mayhem became clear; Simian Mobile Disco.
Simian Mobile Disco is a duo of electronica producers from London who have recorded several albums of original material and have worked with bands such the Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons, either producing albums or remixing singles for them. Thursday night was a DJ set from them as they played a mix of mainly Chicago / Detroit house and UK garage. Samples of Julio Bashmore and Falty DL met samples of Green Velvet and Jimmy Edgar throughout the night as the crowd grew both in size and in anticipation for the evening's main event.
If you've been busy these past few weeks, you might have missed a lil slice of summer in The Hood Internet's latest mixtape release. In honor of this coming holiday weekend, it's only right that you take a moment now to jam out and celebrate a bit of a season we'll soon be passing by.
To be sure, Stay Smooth is one of the more unique summer musical adventures you can take in Chicago. Setting sail this year on September 1st aboard the yacht Anita Dee, you can join the Stay Smooth DJs for 70s AM gold and 80s radio hits alongside friends dressed in classic "yacht rock" attire (think captains hats and short shorts). Music highlights include Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Rick Springfield, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, Huey Lewis & The News, Jefferson Starship, Starship, the Doobie Brothers, and much more. Before you sail, join DJs Kriz Baronia, STV SLV, and DJ MR at Schubas for a Pacifico and Svedka-hosted bar before boarding some Pacifico-hosted busses for Navy Pier. Tickets are $60 and go on sale Friday morning at noon. This unique summertime music adventure will sell out, so get your tickets early. Learn more on Facebook or sail away at your computer with the "Stay Smooth Radio" broadcast below.
Had enough festival news for the day yet? Well, if you're head's not spinning (and your wallet's not empty), here's some more.
The second annual Spring Awakening Festival (held at Soldier Field) has churned out its last wave of artists, completing what was already an impressive lineup.
As for the third headliner, Moby will be returning for his second year at the fest. This is great news considering Moby's DJ set was one of the most buzzed about sets last June but his late evening set time clashed with several of the festival's other high billed acts. This year, he'll be uninterrupted.
Scratch DJ Academy instructor Fabian Antonio sets up the DJ booth for the prospective students to play on. (Photos by Brianna Kelly)
Conceived of in New York City in 2002 as the brainchild of the late great Jam Master Jay, Scratch DJ Academy has opened locations over the past decade in Los Angeles, Miami, and most recently in Chicago, at the SAE Institute of Technology, 820 N. Orleans St.
Scratch DJ Academy's aim is to educate people in DJing and music production. With its copyrighted curriculum, each year Scratch trains more than 50,000 aspiring DJs who begin with varying pre-existing knowledge of the art form. They offer a DJ certification program and a music production certification program, through six six-week-long courses for beginning, intermediate and advanced skill-levels. Scratch aims to mold its students into performance ready DJs, no matter at which level they begin their training. "Now-a-days [...] technically anybody can call themselves a DJ, right? What we aim to do with the certification program is to actually put some structure to it and create a baseline," said DJ Hapa, National Brand Director of Scratch DJ Academy.
State of the art DJ equipment is readily available to students for completing assignments and practicing their craft. It not only teaches the skill sets of the art form, it also prepares the DJ for the industry and potential challenge he or she may face. Students learn the tools of the trade from local, "premier DJs" who are already well established in their own local music scene.
A deep space electronic exploration vessel code named Squarepusher has scheduled a landing at Chicago's Cabaret Metro for the evening of Saturday Nov 3. Squarepusher is touring in support of Ufabulum his newest collection of broken beat extremeist high energy future music released on Warp Records. Below is a retina burning video interview with Squarepusher displaying the aggressively psychedelic visuals developed for Ufabulum's live performances. Tickets for Squarepusher at Caberet Metro Saturday Nov 3 are $25 and are on sale Saturday May 19 at noon.
Tonight a grand science experiment will be conducted in The Metro. After the Record Store Day pop-up has packed up astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will not make an appearance but a swarm of German technocrats will begin assembling an immersive sound and light display. Tonight the whimsical euro-crunk bass masters from Berlin, Modeselektor will cram their festival grade Coachella weathered show full of into The Metro.
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs announced its free summer concert lineup for The Jay Pritzker Pavilion within Millennium Park. This year we get four series: the electronic and new music heavy Loops and Variations, indie rock star studded Downtown Sound, the classical-leaning Grand Park Music Festival, and Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz.
Downtown Sound
Monday, May 28, 6:30 pm
Kelly Hogan + Scott Lucas and the Married Men
Monday, June 4, 6:30 pm
Jonathan Richman + Joel Paterson and the Modern Sounds
Monday, June 11, 6:30 pm
The Eternals + Wild Belle
Monday, June 18, 6:30 pm
Cloud Cult + Judson Claiborne
Monday, June 25, 6:30 pm
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International + Chico Trujillo
Monday, July 2, 6:30 pm
Joan of Arc + Daniel Knox
Monday, July 9, 6:30 pm
The Sadies + James Vincent McMorrow
Monday, July 16, 6:30 pm
Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires + Abigail Washburn
Monday, July 23, 6:30 pm
Ana Tijoux + Sidi Touré
Monday, July 30, 6:30 p.m.
SMOD + M.A.K.U. Soundsystem
Been looking for the right opportunity to get into this whole EDM (electronic dance music) craze? This weekend might be your best bet.
On Saturday, March 31st, English DJ/producer headlines the Congress Theater. Performing under his stage name Feed Me, Gooch's sounds channel some of the biggest names in the elctroniic music scene. See his latest EP Feed Me's Escape from Magic Mountin for a unique blend of the lighter, trance-like side of the genre (i.e. DeadMau5) and the heavier, glitchier--dare I say--dubstep sounds of other heavy hitting EDM artists like Skrillex. Feed Me, who's signed to DeadMau5's label Mau5trap, provides a solid span of styles that give an authentic, yet non-polarizing, glimpse into the music scene.
Sure to be the ultimate party setting, this stacked show goes from 7:30pm to 2:30am Saturday night. Other DJs on the bill are local duo Team Bayside High, Jackmaster, Plastician, Kill the Noise, as well as Skream & Benga. It's 17 and over show. The Congress Theater is located at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave.
But wait! Gapers Block is giving away two pairs of tickets to the show tomorrow to a lucky couple of readers. Just email us at contests@gapersblock.com with the subject line "FEED ME!" and you and a friend will head to the show for free. [Update: Hold the phone, we have our winners! Congrats to Ryan and Nina.]
Sometimes it's a little surprising how little press electronic music gets in Chicago, given the city's long and rich history with the genre. That seems to have been changing as of late, and this weekend, you don't have to be in Ibiza to get satisfy that international superstar DJ jones you've been harboring, as The Mid hosts Paul Oakenfold.
Oakenfold has been DJing, remixing and producing since before electronic music was really a blip on the radar, throw in his stewardship of influential label Perfecto Records and you've got a more than convincing argument that he was central in fostering it into the mainstream. These days, the kids are going nuts for Skrillex, but for those of us old enough to remember the good-old days, but still young enough to stay up late listening to trance DJs, this weekend promises to be enjoyable.
The literature publishing house with the greatest ratio of edutainment blog posts vs difficult web 3.0 page design, Melville House is turning 10. As a reflection of their genre pushing publishing schedule the birthday publisher booked The-Drum and Supreme Cuts, two of Chicago's most adept blenders of musical tropes and added an unknown quantity of author readings. The whole literary/dance shebang will be going down at the Stop Smiling storefront on Friday March 2.
To someone like me, whose taste in electronic music developed at a time when wafting ambient acts like The Orb drew a lot of water, and even the "heavy" dance stuff wasn't much more than speedy disco with more low-end bump, a fair share of the modern electronic music being produced sounds something like R2D2 being shoved down a metal staircase. I'm solidly on board, however, with the lineup at the Congress Theater this Friday, which brings together Lotus, Conspirator, and Emancipator, three acts which manage to carve their own space in the spectrum of electronic sounds, while keeping a firm grip on the fundamentals.
Lotus is a band with its feet firmly in two different worlds. On one hand, they are a traditional rock group, with traditional instrumentation, and have long been stalwarts of the jam band and festival scene, appealing to the patchouli-scented masses with comparatively long-form songs and an obvious virtuosity. At the same time, the band has from its late-90s inception been at the vanguard of incorporating available electronic gadgets and gizmos to shape their sound into something like a live techno production, there on the stage, sans-studio. While their latest album, self-titled Lotus, gives a good taste of what the band is all about, they truly shine in a live setting, where their improvisational genius can come through.
One of the most enjoyable shows of the year 2011 A.D. in the Georgian calendar was Chrissy Murderbot and Machinedrum at Chicago's dance institution Smart Bar. Separately Murderbot and Machinedrum are both a treat for your mind and booty but when together they feed off each others energy and unlock a cheat code for the universe. Colors become more vibrant, smells wisk you way in Proustian revelries, and every Gluteus maximus on the dancefloor maximizes it's jiggle radius by 15 degrees. Their explorations of 160 BPM+ no cares happy hardcore and footwork dance music are a sure fire bet to put a bounce in your Friday step.
Earlier this month both Murderbot and Machinedrum played back to back at Boiler Room TV. Those modern digital historians at Boiler Room have put both of their sets online for us to enjoy. Follow the links below to stream into a world of bass and jiggle.
R. Kelly is one far out singer but he's always represented Chicago. Tonight is our chance to give it back to one of our towns most talented. Eric from Glitter Guts has assembled a pop band, DJs, porn stars, comedians, newspaper columnists, a rapper, singers, and burlesque performers to celebrate the life of The Pied Piper of R n B; Mr. Robert Kelly. Bump and Grindcore will be at The Beauty Bar for one night only, Wednesday December 14th. It's time to put on your stepping shoes and go out and step the whole night through.
You just can't beat tacos as art. Local mixmasters The Hood Internet created an amazing, larger-than-life version of their new album cover with over $450 worth of Taco Bell tacos.
Their new (and totally free) self-titled album of remixes and production work comes out on December 6th at mishkanyc.com. My mouth is already watering.
The Food Republic blog spent the week interviewing over a dozen DJs about their tastes in food and music. See what Chicago (and nearby) spinners Flosstradamus, The Hood Internet, Michigan's Mayer Hawthorne and Carl Craig, and others from around the country had to say about what they eat before a show, during a show, and after. And sometimes even what their official tour riders supply them with the second they hit a venue. Bonus: there are food-oriented playlists to enjoy at the end of each piece. They'll leave you craving some horsey sauce.
Chrissy Murderbot is a dance shaman of the 21st century mixing folk cures for club foot, rickets, shyness and other dance impairments. Chrissy Murderbot makes the type of high-energy dance music you get in trouble listening to. Siren noises and explosive bass drops paint an auditory backdrop as your mom would opened the door and asked you to turn it down with her serious mom face on. Chrissy is coming off a heroic year in the exploration of retro-future booty swagging dance music. In May, UK tastemaker label Planet µ released his "future booty gonzo sex bass"* album Women's Studies. In July Murderbot played a set with MC Zulu at Pitchfork fest (See Transmission's coverage and interview with Chrissy and MC Zulu from Pitchfork.). Chrissy just released a hyperactive gluteus maximus themed dance pop EP I'm a Asshole on his own label Loose Squares. The grammatically incorrect title and musical content will send grade school teachers into fits of rage. Before you click on the link below to stream the EP be warned that the lyrics are NSFW in most workplaces, except for Lawrence's Fisheries where you can hear explicit booty music while eating fried fish anytime of the day.
Wednesday, November 2nd at the Viaduct Theatre polymath Hi-NRG-Disco-Booty-Jungle-Rave producer Chrissy Murderbot will be DJing a live soundtrack to a quartet of films running the gamut of a dog's quest through the afterlife in search of an orange, unintentional slapstick employee training videos, scientists, dancers, and rockets. Expect an evening where dream logic reigns supreme.
You'll remember Chicago DJ Chrissy Murderbot as the dude who bombarded you with kazoos and rave whistles as you shuffled into Pitchfork Fest last year. Starting in May of 2009 Chrissy began a yearlong weekly DJing odyssey through dance music micro-genre history. His demonstration of oft forgotten secret booty moving rituals in the realms of new jack swing, ambient jungle, booty bass, Philly soul, Quebecois Disco, and late '70s roller rink boogie are party starting standouts. Chrissy's love of kitsch and encyclopedic knowledge of dance music paired with the touch of bizarre the film selections provide will make for a one of a kind night.
Amon Tobin has a great name for a noir detective. In some alternate reality he's a superstar gumshoe who finds lost kids and protects New Orleans' eccentric family secrets. In our reality he's a sleuth of sound. Since his premier under the name Cujo in 1995 he's been known for possessing an uncanny sense of finding the best parts of forgotten records. Amon Tobin has become a post-modernist sound hero. He reclaims discarded pieces of sonic art and revitalizes them. In the past Amon has relied on a traditional DJ approach to present his music. For the ISAM show tonight at the Congress Theater, an army of mixed media artists have been brought into the fold to create an interactive museum-grade installation on par with the bombast of Daft Punk's rave pyramid or Deadmau5's ecstasy Rubik's cube.
While Sunday is a day of rest for most, North Coast goers knew that the third and final day of the fest was their last chance to get all the raging out of their system. It was one of, if not, the most rock-heavy days, with acts like Of Montreal, Gogel Bordello and locals Van Ghost hitting the big stages, but you didn't have to search too hard to find some bass thumping. -Katie Karpowicz
If Saturday was sloppy, Sunday was a bit strung out, as tired hippies hooped a little slower and in general the crowd (until Bassnectar) seemed a bit more subdued. Granted there was a raging circle pit at Gogol Bordello and the kids at the Red Bull stage were still dancing hard (that might be the Red Bull), but overall I saw more people relaxing in the shade, taking it easy on the suddenly chilly afternoon. I also thankfully saw more security around the areas surrounding the sound board, a problem that was apparent in my Saturday coverage, so it was nice to see the festival staying on their toes and trying their best to improve any newbie mistakes. -Lisa White
Well, we avoided the rain on Day One of 2011's North Coast Music Festival, but fest goers still suffered through a sweltering September evening. Things got sweaty once the bass started bumping throughout Union Park. Organizers of this year's NorCo fest organizers admittedly bulked up on electronic acts and DJ performers--an effort that was already noticeable after just one day with acts like SBTRKT, Wolfgang Gartner and headliner David Guetta all hitting the stage on Friday. -Katie Karpowicz
Before I even hit the festival grounds, I received a simple text from a friend that "this crowd is an odd mix." Her sentiment was spot on, since North Coast brings together a mash of ravers, hippies, hip-hop heads and everything in between. It's your best bet for seeing a guy wearing high end Nikes next to a girl wearing fairy wings while hooping. Yet one thing is obvious by the enthusiastic demeanor of the crowd; they came here to dance. -Lisa White
We'll be at Union Park (1501 W. Randolph St.) all this coming Labor Day weekend for the second annual North Coast Music Festival, but before we slather on the suncreen and grab a corndog, here are some best bets for sets that can't be missed, and info on the prime Chicago talent on the bill as well. Single day tickets ($60) are still available (will call info.), so come on down and join us! (Download a PDF festival map.) We'll be reviewing the best and bounciest beats all weekend long, too.
Labor Day weekend is about relaxing, right? So why not get a little smooth? Stay Smooth XV (actually the third installment) is a one-night DJ party on the big white yacht in Monroe Harbor (note: boat does not sail around — so you won't get sea, er, lake sick!). If you're keen on rocking to some smooth '70s and '80s tunes from some of our favorite local DJs (STV SLV of the Hood Internet, for one, Bald E. for another) then this is the night you've been waiting for all summer. Entertainment also includes a special all-45 RPM set from Matt Rucins, plus a live set of smooth jams by Quadraphonica. "Yacht wear" is strongly encouraged (think captain's hats, knee socks, tropical shirts, '80s dresses, platforms and flip flops), as is a smooth attitude.
What is "Yacht Rock"? Well it's that special kind of smooth tune from the 1970s and '80s you might associate with legends of the radio like Michael McDonald or Christopher Cross. It's about letting the sea breeze take your cares away while you sip on something cool and fruity. It also is about Hall & Oates. HALL and OATES, people. It's just plain awesome — yeah, that's it.
This evening of smoothness takes place on Sept. 3 (a Saturday night) from 7 to 10pm at the Columbia Yacht Club in Monroe Harbor. Check out details and see pictures from last year. Tickets are $40, (if still available, they can be purchased for $50 on 9/3 at the harbor) which includes admission and a hosted bar on the big boat. There's also a free trolley from Lincoln Hall (2424 N. Lincoln Ave.) to the harbor for your convenience. Start the evening off early at 6pm with a pre-party at Lincoln Hall, and later on at a Lincoln Hall afterparty starting at 10:30pm, with Auto-Tune Karaoke, plus DJ LA*Jesus and DJ PHNM. VIP packages also available.
Friday's forecast calls for the Triple H: Hot, Hazy, and Humid. But at Beauty Bar Friday night the weather's going to be cool and crisp with three masterful DJs set to spin and a beach party theme sure to get a fair share of skin showing. The Wet Hot American Beach Party kicks off at 9pm with DJ sets from Empires, My Gold Mask's Jack Armondo, and Greg Corner. There's a hosted vodka bar from 9-10pm and tropical drink specials. Plus, $3 Bud Drafts, $3 PBR Tall Boys, $4 Well Drinks, and Beauty Bar's classic $10 Martini and Manicures deal. As a bonus, each drink purchase means a donation gets made to Rock for Kids, an amazing local non-profit that brings music programming to at-risk youth in Chicagoland. There's also a $3 suggested donation at the door which goes to the charity (if you're not going, but like the idea of helping kids, make a donation online).
Beachwear is suggested, so drag out those coconut bikinis that have been gathering dust since Halloween! Beauty Bar is located at 1444 W. Chicago Ave. RSVP on Do312.
Year after year, folks all over the country celebrate Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras by throwing around cheap beaded necklaces and getting sloppily--and selfishly--drunk.
No longer! This year, on Tuesday, March 8, drink and dance for a good cause at Division Street's Mardi Gras celebration. Expect drink specials, dance parties, contests, and local DJs and bands, including Mike & Joe and the Big Shoulders Brass Band. To allay any booze-induced guilt, rest assured that a portion of the night's proceeds will go toward helping the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, a cause devoted to helping musicians still in need in the New Orleans area. The event kicks off at 7 pm at Bootleggers (13 W. Division St.) and moves on down the street to The Original Mother's (26 W. Division St.) and She-nannigans House of Beer (16 W. Division St). Visit Rush & Division for more details.
If you're looking to start off your 2011 with some creative endeavors, look no further than the WBEZ 3rd Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago's Hip-Hop Artists. This multi-faceted event includes a mash-up contest, a free visual art exhibition, a film screening, a sampling showcase, and a dance battle.
On January 15, 2011, admission is free for the gallery and graffiti art show. Various ticketed daytime events include a film screening and dance battle (tickets range from $3-$5). The evening's main event on 1/15 costs $10-$15 and starts at 8pm (buy tickets). This year's evening event will be a presentation titled "Original Style: Exploring the History of Chicago House" and will host a panel including legends of Chicago House music such as DJ Frankie Knuckles (groove out to some amateur video of him DJ-ing below) and local music promoters, and a screening of an "archival film" from Chicago's House scene in the 1980s and '90s. A free after-party follows.
The Winter Block Party for Chicago's Hip-Hop Artists takes place at the Chicago Urban Art Society, located at
2229 S. Halsted Street. For full information see WBEZ's site.
Camilla Ha takes pride in making crowds uncomfortable. This should surprise nobody familiar with Ha's primary background, extensive experience in the Japanese performance art known as Butoh. The form emphasizes grotesque movements and exaggerated gestures that illustrate Andre Breton's motto, "Beauty will be convulsive, or it will not be at all." Most recently known for her one-woman sound/performance project Magic Is Kuntmaster (and before that as a member of My Name Is Rar-Rar, Panicsville, and Foamula), Ha channels a poised unease, a seeming contradiction that punches through the ennui permeating your average loft space performance.
This Saturday, Ha says farewell to Chicago in her own peculiar way, curating a multimedia cavalcade of performance, readings, interactive exhibits, and video art titled "The Cosmic Mind of Black Leather" this Saturday (September 18) at Reversible Eye Gallery (1106 N. California). The doors open at 8 p.m., but the exhibit itself will stick around until the 30th. Admission is free.
Although summer is slowly slipping away, festival season in Chicago carries on. The first annual Sónar Chicago kicked off on Thursday at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion, starting the weekend early for electronic music lovers, curious downtown office workers and passing tourists. Whatever brought you to the first day of Sónar, you arrived at a rock gig, a dubstep club night and a live electro breakdown all rolled up into one.
The evening started at 5 pm with the soft sounds of Spain's Bradien. A three-piece combo incorporating guitar, synthesizers, melodica, trumpet and a single snare drum, Bradien's dub exotica provided a gentle ease into an action-packed weekend. Hailing from Sónar's native city of Barcelona, the band were put into the position of sonic ambassadors, underlining the fact that Sónar was as much a cultural exchange program as it was a music festival.
Diesel is teaming up with Mad Decent to throw a pre-party tonight at their downtown store, which will include free drinks, Diesel dollars to buy merchandise at the festival, and tunes provided by Willy Joy. The pre-party is also free, with no RSVP required, tonight at 923 Rush Street from 4-8 pm.
The Mad Decent Block Party starts tomorrow at 1 pm (with gates open at noon) and runs until 8 pm. The Hideout is located at 1354 W Wabansia. The festival is all ages.
From Chicago mixmasters The Hood Internet and rapper extraordinaire Kid Static comes the official video for "Chi City," a collaborative song that'll be on a new 7" release due out September 7th on Whistler/TTD records. Note the (now kind of nostalgic and wistful) Olympics-themed hijinks and some rad (do not try at home) stunts around town. This video has nothing but love for Chi-town.
If you want to party down with the boys, get your tickets to their release party going down at Lincoln Hall on September 11th. 18+ Tickets $10. Music starts at 10:30pm with The Hood Internet, Kid Static, DVAS, Kid Color, and Just Desserts.
If the idea of a hot, sweaty, nine-hour, outdoor, shoulder-to-shoulder dance party doesn't exhaust you just to think about, if in fact it sounds like your typical evening out, then Wicker Park Fest is where you'll want to be tonight. Moneypenny, a DJ duo with the Loose Change music collective, has chosen a lineup of house and club DJs -- including LA Riots, Kid Color and Team Bayside High (no appearance by A.C. Slater, Kelly Kapowski or anyone else from the gang, unfortunately) -- who will be playing the Fest's center stage from 1 to 10pm on July 31.
Moneypenny will play a set itself at 9pm, and if you're still not done bumping and grinding with hundreds of other people when 10 o'clock rolls around, there will also be an after-party at Metro. The event is combined with the Metro's monthly 18 and over dance party, and it'll feature still more DJs, including Jokers of the Scene, from Ottawa, Canada, and a second set by Moneypenny. Cost to get in is $10 at 923 N. Rush St., and don't forget to bring your dancing shoes. Better yet, bring a couple pairs.
When it comes to hometown heroes and proving that the Midwest is the best bet, Flosstradamus is one of the strongest examples for Chicago. The DJ duo of Autobot (Curt Cameruci) and J2K (Josh Young) first popped up on the Chicago music radar in 2005, when the duo formed and hosted the "Get Outta' the Hood" parties at local joint Town Hall Pub. The event was a huge success, a no frills affair where the one guarantee was the night would end in a massive dance party. The Town Hall Pub days might be long gone, but Flosstradamus has kept Chicago moving with their FlosstraPROMus, a yearly event, and the long running Oldies Night that just wrapped up after two successful years. Besides throwing party after party, the duo found time to tour all over the globe with the likes of Chromeo and Kid Sister (J2K's sister), release a slew of mixtapes and singles, and play massive festivals including Coachella, South by Southwest, Pitchfork Festival, and Lollapalooza, where they'll return to the stage this year to keep Grant Park moving Lolla 2010 weekend.
Venus Zine is partnering with Kanine Records, Wao Wao Record, InSound, and SoundScreen Design to host a special, free installment of its After Hours series post Pitchfork, featuring Brooklyn's We Are Country Mice, known for their lively rock, and L.A.'s Pepper Rabbit, a psych-pop band heavy on the instrumentals.
Venus Zine readers and guests are also invited to dance, dance, dance to the DJ sets following the live performances, including Delorean, a Spanish alternative dance band, Real Estate, a psychedelic surf pop band, and Headlights, an American indie rock band.
A night of national and international music begins at 9pm on July 16 at Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago Ave. Send an RSVP to rsvp@venuszine.com. RSVP is required but will not guarantee entrance. Photographers are welcome.
It seems that Chicago has finally decided to get that winter coat dry cleaned, busted out the shorts (for better or for worse), and realized we can actually leave the house with (GASP!) only one layer on. Yep. This week marked the official start to summer, with the weather keeping the days long and attention spans short. So for those of us more nocturnally-inclined, it means some of the best bookings of the year as clubs vie for attention from festivals, outdoor events and each other. Many regard Memorial day as the unofficial beginning of summer, and indeed many Chicago DJs and mainstays found themselves in Detroit at the Movement Electronic Music Festival for a long weekend of celebrating...well, anything (and then a longer week of recovery). I was recently asked when I knew summer had started, and immediately remembered a night a couple days prior to Memorial Day: the had-to-be-there kickoff show of the summer — LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost! at the Metro — and its afterparty downstairs at Smartbar, with Ellen Allien, Tyrel Williams, Blue J, and the easy-to-guess special guests. That night was my official start to what has already been an excellent summer with more to come.
Rumors had abounded on whether or not Sónar was establishing a stateside version of their festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art at all, let alone which US city would play host to the now 16-year-old institution. An annual electronic music festival set in Barcelona, Sónar is well known for bringing together some incredible international talent as well as featuring Spanish artists and musicians for three days of exhibits, conferences, fairs and music, called Sonar By Day. Sonar By Night is a showcase of DJs and electronic music in a location outside of Barcelona and many of the sets are recorded and available online.
Well, it seems Sónar chose Chicago as its American home, and work is underway with the the city's own Department of Cultural Affairs to get the stage set for the weekend of September 9 through the 11th. No venues or acts are confirmed yet, and details are a little far off. What is sure is that it seems Sónar might make a permanent home here and with that, be able to share the spotlight with our little enclave of electronic music history.
So, the thing about the Beauty Bar -- the new club at 1444 W. Chicago (ex-Sonotheque) -- is that it has a ton of floor space. Enormous, glittery floor space. What that means is that there's a whole lotta room to dance, preferably with cocktail or PBR in hand.
And you know what goes great with a big dance floor? Awesome '60s garage rock and funk crossovers provided by DJ Dr. Drase and DJ Bylamplight, that's what. The fellas, who are also the driving forces behind the Addenda and Plustapes record labels, are well versed in what makes a fun dance party; lucky for us, their Hot Smoke and Mini Skirt nights will be held at Beauty Bar on a monthly basis. Catch them this month on Thursday, May 27, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. No cover.
DFA records' Juan MacLean's recent contribution to !K7 DJ Kicks series definitely shows he has a bit of a love affair with classic house. While that might seem surprising given DFA's reputation - which leans more toward indie dance, nu-disco fare - the man knows his roots. The DJ Kicks mix is peppered with older tracks, such as Armando's "Don't Take It" and Rick Wilhite's "Get On Up," but keeps it current with contemporary house/techno producers from all over the world and just a touch of DFA with labelmates Shit Robot and Still Going.
While it's worth a listen sooner rather than later, you can check out Juan MacLean's impeccable selections and more on June 4th, when his DJ Kicks tour hits Chicago at Green Dolphin Street. What better place for a man who hopes to pay homage to the classic house sound then to play at a venue that hosts the longest running house residency in town? The night promises some great energy, as the DJ Kicks mix was intended for a crowded dancefloor.
His Chicago date features more than just some stellar support from a long list of talented locals from Smartbar mainstays Justin Long and Michael Serafini to the infectious disco and house of the Chicago Workgroup and Yazi. Apparently, there's free entry to a pre-party BBQ that starts at 6pm and the whole crazy business goes until 4am, with a GlitterGuts photbooth and three rooms of DJs.
[mp3] The Juan MacLean "Feels So Good" from DJ-Kicks
Green Dolphin Street is located at 2200 N. Ashland and is 21+. Special limited pre-sale tickets for the June 4th show are available here and go for $5, though the price jumps to $15 when they're gone. 773-598-0852
I was starting to think that citycutbacks were going to stretch all the way into summer music programming at Millennium Park, but luckily the schedule for this season's Edible Audible Picnic arrived in our inbox today and here we share it with you.
As you probably guessed by the name, Edible Audible Picnic is a music series that takes place at, you guessed it, lunchtime at Pritzker Pavilion. Every Monday afternoon beginning on June 7th, the "polyrhythmic music series" will present bands and DJ's spanning from around the world to right here from Chicago including Green Velvet, The Cool Kids and Orchard Lounge. It's like a party instead of work. You can step away from your computer for an hour a week for that, right?
All concerts begin at noon. See the full schedule after the jump.
For all the buzz surrounding dubstep, some of its most-touted producers (Burial, Flying Lotus) are overshadowed by heavier, louder fare in the club. Smartbar's Thursday night series, Subfix has been bringing those heavy-hitters, like Caspa and Rusko along with more subtle, nuanced fare. This Thursday's Subfix with Incyde, Timid, Jeff Pietro, and Olin will surely be the latter as Incyde is the manager for forward-thinking label Hotflush Recordings, which has released the likes of Joy Orbison, Pangaea, Untold and Chicago's own Eric H. And Transmission has a pair of tickets to Incyde's Chicago debut at Smartbar to the first person to email contests@gapersblock.com with the subject line "Subfix!".[Update!] We have a winner! Congrats to Michael.
The locals round out what promises to be an interesting night of intricate sounds, from Timid - formerly of Chicago's first dubstep monthly Bass Goes Boom - and Chicago veteran Jeff Pietro to the Smartbar debut of Rumble Lounge resident Olin. The show starts at 10pm, is presented by Abstract Science, Fresh Kid and local blog Little White Earbuds and is $8 ($5 w/ text before 11).
In light of the Arcade Fires and New Pornographers of the world, it's maybe easy to miss a few of the more experimental artists our neighbors to the north have to offer. It might even be a surprise to hear that Canada has a thriving electronic music scene. Indeed, Montreal boasts one of the longest running and world-renowned electronic music festivals in the world. Mutek has been bringing some of the most influential and innovative musicians and artists to our side of the Atlantic for eleven years, and for 2010 they've rolled out something special. A taste of Mutek's forward-thinking style is on tour in other Canadian cities as well as select dates in the states as Avant Mutek. It makes its stop in Chicago tonight and features two Montrealer ambassadors who are as internationally acclaimed as Mutek itself, legendary microhouse producer Akufen and Stephen Beaupre. With support from locals Leo 123, Hernan Sanchez and Jeff Pietro, Chicago's edition of Avant Mutek goes down at Green Dolphin Street tonight, Saturday, April 10, at 10pm, although there will be an Ableton workshop at 7pm for the techie early birds. Tickets are a cool $10 in advance, $15 at the door. If you find yourself wanting more after this small preview, Mutek festival itself goes from June 2-6th, 2010 and annually in early June.
Due to high demand, the electro-pop Trio from Stockholm, Sweden, Miike Snow, added a second show at Metro Sunday night with Delorean and Light Pollution joining them. Even as their second Chicago show, they still managed to sell over 800 tickets to an all ages crowd — Metro holds 1,100 — on a very rainy Easter Sunday.
I hopped in the barricade a few minutes before their set began and chatted with Metro employee, Joel, who was working stage security, "What's up with the bubbles," he said- looked up, and pointed up to the right balcony, "That girl has been standing there blowing bubbles the entire night."
If you're already a fan (or really even just intrigued) by Pittsburgh-based Black Moth Super Rainbow, you'd best get your tickets and your dancing shoes ready for this weekend's Tobacco show at the Empty Bottle. Tobacco (a DJ pseudonym so tightly guarded one wonders if he puts it down on his taxes) made a fine name for himself with BMSR — but this DJ likes his air of mystery and that's best a one-man show. With less than a handful of dates left on his tour, Tobacco's latest album Maniac Meat (due out 5/25, Anticon) and his past work with BMRC gained the attention of perennial music mixer Beck who guests on the track "Fresh Hex". Replete with a "swampy analog aesthetic", Maniac Meat is truly dark and nasty when it comes right down to it. Gritty, glitchy, screaming with cymbal rings and squeedly synth guitar, Tobacco's songs would make a great soundtrack to your favorite kick boxing movie or maybe some sort of ridiculous parkour video. (Which isn't really so surprising given T's adolescent interest in freestyle BMX.) This is a mixer who loves his vocoder, a scratcher who likes to sniff (at least when it comes to album art). In the intimate, setting of the Empty Bottle, I couldn't imagine a stage more set for auditory magic.
There will of course be a troop of Hood Internet fans at the Bottle who had no idea who this Tobacco fella is, but just keep in mind that the duo have been sharing van space with big T since SXSW and a little might have rubbed off either way. Nearing the end of their tour together, and standing firmly on the Hood's home turf, the evening will either be the sonic equivalent cat fights and hair pulling or inside jokes and flour bombs. Just you wait.
In the world of sports, we might be rivals. In the world of industry, we're colleagues. On the world's stage, we're close relatives, but in dance music Chicago and Detroit are the kind of sister cities that finish each others' sentences. But in light of the ever-increasing ability to connect with people of the other side of the planet, Chicago's been neglecting regular contact with our own next door neighbor. There was once a time when music, artists and energy traveled freely between the two cities, and this Friday, March 12th at Smartbar, D3: Deconstruct, Discover Detroit Art and Music Series hopes to revive this exchange of ideas. Put together by local techno promoter VOLATL, house label D'Lectable Music, and art collective Prak-sis, D3's opening night features Detroit native and second-wave techno innovator Stacey Pullen, D3 founder Lady D and locals Max Jacobson, Max Loomis and Jay Cho, as well as multimedia art and performances. Friday's kickoff event is only the first in the quarterly series, and Gaper's Block sat down with organizer Darlene Jackson, aka DJ Lady D to discuss her vision and Detroit's influence on dance music.
If you've ever been to a party in Wicker Park, then you've probably seen Clayton Hauck--flat rimmed baseball cap, ponytail, and always armed with a camera, he's there to take your picture and make you famous. Because besides being an amazing photographer with a talent for catching the most stunning candid shots, he's the man behind the website everyoneisfamous.
Well, for one day, Clayton gets to be the one who's famous. This Saturday he throws his annual all-day birthday bash, Claychella, at Lincoln Hall (2424 N. Lincoln Ave) with upwards of 30 local DJs playing throughout the day including Flosstradamus, The Hood Internet, Bald E. and Moneypenny, just to name a few. Beginning at noon, this party will have a "photo booth" manned by Ryan Mitchell and drink specials galore, plus we're told to watch for more surprises throughout the day.
If you're over 21, the shindig is free til 10pm. After that it's just $5. Fall in the 18-20 category? Free til 5pm, then $10. Be sure to click on the link below for a full list of DJs and MCs after the jump. For more information, visit everyoneisfamous.com.
Much lauded music magazine XLR8R showed our fair city a bit of love yesterday, as it unveiled a representative Chicago City Guide podcast, done by local DJ collective Ghetto Division. XLR8R has long been a well-respected resource for the global DJ community; recognizing groundbreaking artists, while reflecting on present trends in music and culture. Their City Guide is an extension of the publication that takes a close look at the scene in a particular city, and is available online and in apps for iPhone and Android. More for the non-touristy type travelers, the City Guide for Chicago not only lists upcoming events, but old standbys like Gramaphone Records and even some of our more off-kilter local attractions (Museum of Surgical Science, anyone?). XLR8R also shines a light in a city's small niches with regular podcasts showcasing local talent and sound.
Hailing from various South side neighborhoods, Ghetto Division has been garnering attention for their raucous parties; most notably, the Southside Shakedown at the Metro. XLR8R says that their difficult choice of who to represent a city as integral as Chicago was made when Ghetto Division requested to tackle the Chicago City Guide podcast. Moving deftly from classics to their own productions, the comprehensive 90-track 70-minute mix is a veritable history lesson on the home of house. Judging from the comments and the attention for the mix only a day after it's release, it's not hard to agree when XLR8R tweeted that Ghetto Division "murdered" the tall order of defining the Chicago sound — past and future.
About a year ago, I flew down to Florida to visit my mom, who was dating a man my boyfriend's age. We were looking for something to do, and her boyfriend suggested we go to a club in Ybor City to see his friend's band play. Well, he got his dates mixed up, and as it turned out, we were accidentally in store for a treat. That treat was Leslie and the Ly's-- a colorful, overstated, and wildly entertaining dance act employing such accessories as sassy attitudes, lame', and, of course, bedazzled sweaters. Leslie emphatically danced around the stage, singing about Dairy Queen and stretchy pants, glaring at the audience through her giant plastic glasses. Her sidekicks, playing keytars and wearing dark sunglasses, managed to never crack a smile, which totally worked for them.
Over the years, Leslie has become wildly popular in niche markets-- particularly with budding hipsters and gay guys-- and I haven't been able to get that performance out of my head. It's hard not to have a good time at a Leslie and the Ly's show. Even my mom came up with some new moves.
Check her out this Friday at The Subterranean with Christopher the Conquered and Locks. The show starts at 10pm and admission is $12.
Local DJ Collective the Chicago Workgroup have been doing their fair share to bring Chicago both a new sound and a couple of fairly old ones. At once a blog, a collective and a residency every second Wednesday at Smartbar, the seven DJ deep Workgroup has been making strides to showcase forward-thinking house and disco. All Systems Go! - their monthly night at Smartbar - has been booking ever more prominent artists in both genres, and tonight's bill is topped by none other than DFA's Holy Ghost! with CWG DJs Scotty Brandon, Samone Roberts, Kid Color and Weaponry providing the support and Mister Joshua, Ross Kelly and OneFiftyOne sharing hosting duties.
Despite strong line ups for All Systems go in the next couple months with Trus'me on March 10th and Aeroplane on April 14th, the Chicago Workgroup hope to achieve much loftier goals. Before an eventful Friday evening out, I met with Samone Roberts, Scotty Brandon, Noah Casser (Weapony) and Josh Ferguson (Mister Joshua) to discuss the Workgroup's beginnings, future plans, the benefits of being a collective and a little bit on how technology has helped in unexpected ways.
UPDATE: Smartbar has just released a statement confirming that the ridiculous snow storms on the east coast have canceled Holy Ghost!'s flights out of New York. Pre-sale tickets can be redeemed for the rescheduled performance in the Spring or refunded at the Metro Store. Though Holy Ghost! will not be performing tonight, All Systems Go! is soldiering on with no cover all night.
One of the premiere Game Boy-wielding 8bit electronic musicians in the world is Josh Davis, aka Bit Shifter, and subVariant and Front 312 are excited to have him perform at Ai Lounge on Halloween. Having played over 100 live shows armed with only two Nintendo Game Boys and two home-brew aftermarket music programs, he has a dedicated following and has been known to ignite dance floors with his high energy live performances.
A bit of what's been going on elsewhere online this week:
A.V. Club Chicago asks Jeff Tweedy to react to comments about him on the Internet.
Big Rock Candy Mountain goes all weak in the knees over Chicago band Cococoma and their luscious pink vinyl record.
Lincoln Hall's Official Grand Opening event will be on 10/25 with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Tickets on sale now. Just $15.
The Deli Chicago has the line (and a video) from a DA reunion on Chic-a-Go Go.
More in video is on Fake Shore Drive with local hip-hop artists Kidz in the Hall on Mark Bazer's "The Interview Show" which also begs the question: Why isn't there any hip-hop at The Hideout? Or any, really?
Jim DeRogatis has the line on a fledgling band called Ideamen hitting the Beat Kitchen later this month with their newly minted album.
Loud Loop Press has it that Pelican will play an in-store show at
Reckless later in the month, but more importantly, they'll debut a new "Pelican Burger" at Kuma's. Congrats, fellas! You've arrived.
And I totally missed the recent announcement of Kid Sister's long-awaited (and awaited) debut album release. Ultravioletdrops 11/17 and you can be at her show at the House of Blues to celebrate on 11/25. Tickets $16-$18.
In Chicago's contemporary club culture, it is easy to forget that house and industrial could once be heard at the same club on the same night. Bands such as Nitzer Ebb and Front 242 took as much of their influence from punk and new wave as they did from
Chicago house. One year ago, promoters Mr. Automatic and Adam Black decided to create Front 312, a night dedicated to this time in Chicago's club history.
For its one year anniversary on October 9th, 2009 , Front 312 will take a turn toward techno and house, with DJ Gant Man headlining. KHA and Mikul Wing of Members Only AV will be play separate solo sets as well, throwing down anything from classic italo tracks to extended versions of 80's new wave dance classics.
From releasing his earliest 12″s on Dance Mania, to rocking clubs and raves worldwide alongside legends such as Paul Johnson, Gant has been pushing his signature Chicago sound for almost two decades. Mixing up rapid-fire juke beats while referencing all the house and disco classics that first paved the way. His recent work includes a remix for Fool's Gold of Kid Sister's "Damn Girl", production on "Switchboard", and his new solo single debut on Fool's Gold, "Juke Dat Girl." For Front 312, however, he will be bringing out the classics.
KHA and Mikul Wing have made a name for themselves as Members Only AV over the last year, playing with anyone from Le Castle Vania to The Rapture. For Front 312, however, they will be playing two rare solo sets of all new wave and italo disco.
Mr. Automatic will be playing classic Razormaid tracks, 80's new wave, classic industrial, acid house, and new electro tracks prior to the headliners. Expect anything from Meat Beat Manifesto to The Presets and Frankie Knuckles. DJ Adam Black will open the night with punk rock, new wave, and alternative rock.
Doors open at 9pm. Admission is Free before 11pm with RSVP to Front312@gmail.com and $5 without RSVP or after 11.
Drink specials include $2 PBR, $3 Goose Island IPA and $4 well drinks, and plenty of other reasonably priced options are available at the bar.
Liars Club is located at 1665 W. Fullerton in Chicago. at the intersection of Fullerton and Ashland.
Paste magazine sat down recently with our favorite local mashup DJs: The Hood Internet and had a little chat. Read and learn about the creative process behind their dancefloor breaking mashups, their feelings on Girl Talk, and plans for an actual Hood Internet album release. These guys (well, a solo STV SLV, but still) rocked our anniversary party like nobody's business, so we have a lot of love for what they do.
Since Calvin Harris, unleashed his certified gold debut album I Created Disco in 2007, the young Scottish DJ hasn't stopped since. He's collaborated with the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Kylie Minogue (he co-wrote and produced one of my favorite Kylie songs, "Heart Beat Rock"), remixed a plethora of artist, and still has found the time to crank out a new album and tour all over the world (he'll head to LA, Tokyo, and Ibiza following his set in Chicago). All of this is no surprise, given his tightly woven electro-pop music. His style is crisp and sleek (see "You Used to Hold Me" off his latest album, Ready for the Weekend), and each track snaps and pulsates with a sexy loose vibe (for this evidence, check out "The Girls" off I Created Disco).
Harris will be manning the decks this Friday night at Visions Nightclub, as C3 and Dark Wave Disco bring Harris to town before he jets off again across the world, winning over dance floors, one turntable at a time.
Calvin Harris will be DJ-ing tomorrow night, Friday September 11th, at Visions Nightclub, located at 632 N Dearborn St. The show is 21+ and tickets are $25 pre-sale, $30 general admission at the door.
Dutch techno pioneer Speedy J released last year Kreate, a huge collection of his original loops and samples that allowed DJs to build entire tracks in a live setting. Then he launched the "Open Collabs" project that encouraged producers worldwide to submit samples and loops to him, so that he could build an entire album from them. It's like open-source track creation; open source being a term that, in the software world, allows one to have access to a software's source code--the guts of a program--so that they can use it as they best see fit, and / or continue to develop the program on their own. It's become totally hot as of late, with the internet providing access to many minds and distribution methods.
So how has SJ's methodology affected his DJ performances? Check him out this Friday at Smartbar.
Girls Rock Chicago, a non profit that helps girls express themselves and develop community through rock music is having a Camp Kickoff party and BBQ this Saturday at the Hideout. The evening will be filled with a line up of local lady rockers including 8 Inch Betsy and Lemmy Caution. The event starts at 1:00pm and goes until 5:00. This is an all ages show and admission for everyone under 16 is free! $10 for everyone else.
Stay after for post punk disco clash bands The Guystorm at 9 for $8 and then a Hideout Dance Party with Chance Dances Djs who take the floor at 11:30. The dance party is a $5 admission. All this takes place at 1354 W. Wabansia (773) 227-4433.
Hangovers are the annoying, productivity-inhibiting result of a night spent drinking quite a bit, and yet we still put up with them because it's fun to loosen up, be social, and dance. Sure, it's easy to pop some aspirin, rehydrate and muddle through the morning, but wouldn't it be cool if music could relieve your hangover?
That's the concept behind Exception AM, a free digital compilation from subVariant that aims to present a collection of electronic music to help you feel better in the morning after a night of drinking. To celebrate the release on June 20, the release party will be held at Ai lounge in River North as the first in a series of concept parties called "Artificial Intelligence." Liz Revision will mix the mostly-ambient and downtempo tracks from the compilation together at the beginning of the night and will then hand over the decks to local DJs Silentcorp, Andrew Kevins, Dirtybird, and Droopy to finish out the night with techno and house. The party will be free all night from 10pm-3am.
Fashion :: Sex :: Music is a multi-disciplinary event series hosted by Godsgirls.com [NSFW] -- a Suicide Girls-type site that takes things a bit further -- that aims to showcase and cross promote fashion, sex, music, and art in a single night. With attractive girls in lingerie, a photo-installation from the site, a mixed media and fashion installation by My Broken Heart Mafia, and a diverse, dance-oriented sound from an all-girl DJ lineup, FSM delivers more than just another hipster dance music night.
The night also encourages community building and intra-industry networking by concurrently billing itself as a meetup for The Chicago Fashion Industry on Meetup.com, a group that has amassed more than 1,000 members. Judging by the comments and introductions on the site, the group is filled with ambitious and dedicated amateurs and professionals alike who work within or on the periphery of the fashion industry in Chicago. Combined with the increasing focus on Chicago as a fashion hub (with the relatively recent Chicago Fashion Week, for instance), grass-roots efforts like FSM that reach out to build a thriving network may help bolster Chicago's image as a fashion resource as well as a thriving and innovative music community.
The event starts at 9pm on Thursday, June 18 at Sonotheque, 1444 W Chicago Ave, and features an-all girl DJ lineup that includes Liz Revision, Fathom, Avi Sic, and Hilary Rawk.
Lollapalooza's Last Band Standing competition is back, but this year they're mixing remixing it up with a separate DJ contest. They're pitting Chicago artists against The World, and we know this city is known for its world-class DJs, so let's hear it Chicago!
Of course, in LBS fashion, there will be a final live event at Double Door on August 5th where the Top 4 (the final two contestants from each side) will compete for the title of Last DJ Standing. Oh, and for a slot at Lollapalooza on Perry's stage. Other prizes include a Dell Laptop, artist passes, cash money and tickets for your friends.
So if you think you've got the skillz, uh, skills, submit your best remix before June 25th.
Chances are good that you're familiar with DJ and producer Prince Paul in one way or another. Either as the man behind the decks in Stetsasonic, for the number of concept albums he's released over the years, from his work in Handsome Boy Modeling School, or most likely you might know him for the major role he played in shaping the first three albums by De La Soul.
Even though it's never translated into getting stinkin' rich or leading a glamorous life, Paul's always gotten mad respect as an innovator and an outside-the-box craftsman. And he's been quick at trading on that clout over the years. Among other things, he's recently worked with Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell on their collaborative Baby Elephant project, and he also had a major creative hand (with some critical input from his 5-year-old daughter) in producing the Baby Loves Hip-Hop CD. Presently, the rumor's been circulating that he's working on the next Souls Of Mischief album, a job which -- to hear Paul tell it -- has him amassing an array of vintage analog equipment to give the tunes a warm, throwback feel.
This Friday night, DJ C and the Mashit crew host their "Bouncement" residency party at Lava in Wicker Park, and they're welcoming a special out-of-town guest to headline on the decks the occasion -- DJ Kingdom from NYC. Hosts DJ C and MC Zulu will also be on hand, and they'll also be welcoming their Windy City confrere Whoa-B aboard to help keep the party on-track. Expect an evening of bassline, Bmore bangers, dancehall, grime, dubstep, and plenty of other styles that'll get the dancefloor jumping. It all gets underway at 10 PM, admission is $7, and it takes place at 1270 N. Milwaukee.
Really quick contest! We here at Transmission have a pair of complimentary passes to give away for the event. If you're 21 or up, just be the first to shoot us an e-mail at contests(at)gapersblock(dot)com with the subject line "Bounce this Friday" and you'll be the winner.Update: And we have a winner! Congrats to Colin.
When he first slunk on the scene earlier in the decade, Superpitcher (a.k.a. Aksel Schaufler) delivered a heads-up to electronic-music fans when his 2001 breakthrough track "Heroin" first popped up via the Cologne-based Kompakt label. Riding on minor-key washes and a dark, foregrounded bassline, the tune demonstrated Superpitcher's wont for augmenting Kompakt's minimalist tech-house thump with shades of "micro-goth" moodiness and dejected romanticism.
His highly-touted 2004 debut LP Here Comes Love saw him moving toward a slight more melodic, song-oriented approach -- with Schaufler delivering whispered vocals throughout and sometimes draping the shadowy grooves with a Roxy Music-styled melodic lushness. But more recently, he's mostly been working with Kompakt labelmate Michael Mayer under the Supermayer moniker. The duo have cranked out a plethora of remixes, and released the dazzlingly eclectic and upbeat Save The World album in 2007. If anything, both artists have proven that the standard Kompakt formula isn't immune to radical and unexpected overhauls.
No stranger to the pioneering fringe of experimental music, Kieran Hebden was a key member of the forefronting U.K post-rock trio Fridge back in the early 1990s before he delved into electronic music under the name of Four Tet just over a decade ago.
In the past few years have, Hebden's stayed unusually active and prolific. He not only brought Fridge out of hibernation for a reunion album and series of concerts, but also releasing collaborative albums with avant-jazz drummer Steve Reid, putting in a guest appearance on Vashti Bunyan's 2006 LP Lookaftering, as well as continuing work under both his own name and under his Adem alias. Somewhere amidst it all he found time to check in under his Four Tet guise with last years last year's Ringer EP. While it largely leaned toward bleeps-and-beeps mesmerism, the EP still hinted as Hebden's usual modus -- folktronic tapestries of electronic and organic instrumentation laced with samples, beats and loops that as equally evoke the rich sweep of pastoral expanses as the recesses of inner space or the dancefloor.
House legendFrankie Knuckles will be spinning at Smartbar, 3730 N. Clark, for free this Wednesday, Feb. 11. The show goes on at 10pm; Ralphi Rosario backs him up. Red Bull drinks are on special, since they're sponsoring the gig.
It seems the work of Lindstrøm has struck a deep chord with a number of listeners. After the success of his tune "I Feel Space" back in 2005 and subsequent remix work for the likes or LCD Soundsystem and Franz Ferdinand, anticipation had been running high for the Norwegian electronic producer's full-length debut. The debut in question, Where You Go I Go Too, finally arrived via the Smalltown Supersound label this past August -- meeting with unanimously glowing reviews. By year's end, the album was ranked as one of the best releases of 2008 by such publications as XLR8R, Pitchfork, and Dusted.
When it comes to making electronic music, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm's working process is mostly an organic one. He plays and lays down parts with guitar, keyboards and drums himself; then brings them all together by layering these components into sweepingly panoramic soundscapes. On Where You Go I Go To, tracks sprawl to epic lengths as sonic vistas unfurl and undulate like nebulae over a 4/4 beat. If anything, his sound hails back to the synth-splashed, psychedelic explorations of The Orb and (going further back into the canon) Tangerine Dream than anything from the usual house or techno end of the spectrum. It's an expansive, exploratory breed of electronica that a few critics have dubbed "space disco;" but one could just as easily imagine it accompanying a long helicopter tracking shot from some early '80s Michael Mann flick as, say, providing the soundtrack for the TV edition of Cosmos.
As dubstep came into it's own in 2008; and one of the potential breakout artists that some had their eye on was 27 year-old Philadelphia DJ and producer Paul Geissinger -- a.k.a. Starkey. This Friday night, DJ C and the Mashit Records crew welcome out-of-own guest Starkey to Lava for an evening of dancefloor bouncement, dubstep, electro-crunk and street-bass boom.
Geissinger first immersed himself in the grime scene after encountering it while residing in London in the early aughts. After returning to his native Phillie, he quickly hooked up with fellow grime enthusiast Dev79; and the pair launched a monthly series of DJ parties at an area club. A series of "Street Bass Anthems" mix-CDs soon followed, and by 2005 Starkey had stepped up his game -- cranking out a steady stream of his own remixes, bootlegs, and 12" tracks. This past year saw the release of his full-length debut Ephemeral Exhibits (Planet Mu), as well as the appearance of Geissinger's more club-bumpin' tracks under his Moves!!! alias.
Owned and operated by the crew at the Shape Shoppe studio and members of affiliated groups Icy Demons and Chandeliers, the recently-launched Obey Your Brain label aims to showcase the work of the Shoppe's allies, associates, and fellow travelers alike -- of adventurous musical artists from Chicago and from across the country. This Tuesday evening, the folks at OBY take the venture one step further as they kick off a series of monthly events that will be hosted by Sonotheque.
The lineup for the first show of the series features a headlining set from the Mahjongg side-project Waterbabies, and DJs Alex Valentine and Smart Cousin are scheduled to spin. Piling onto the bill at the eleventh hour are DJ HoloGram Trav (of the band Killer Whales) and a set from Warhammer 48K offshoot CAVE. Word has it that Nashvillian underground hip-hop emcee Count Bass D, who recently recorded some new material to be released via Obey Your Brain, might -- repeat: might -- also be in the house. Admission is free and doors open at 9 PM. 1444 W. Chicago Ave.
Since relocating his base of operations from Boston to Chicago a couple of years ago, DJ C (aka Jake Trussell) has kept his MashIt label going; issuing a steady stream of digital tracks and mixtapes, serving up a lot of bouncement and nu-skool ragga-jungle rollers on top of frequently teaming up local dancehall artist MC Zulu. This week finds C using the label to spotlight some recent work by a pair of emerging artists on the international dubstep scene -- specifically a pair of Venzuelan DJ/producers by the names of Cardopusher and Pacheko.
Both hailing from the city of Caracas, Cardopusher and Pacheko have been dropping tracks via various labels over the past two years, and -- despite Cardopusher's recent move to Barcelona -- they often collaborate on rocking spots as cornerstone members of the Caracas-based Wob This! network of dubstep DJs.
Given that this stretch of the Greater Midwest has long been a hive for breakcore activity, it's weird how little of it ever goes off in Chicago. Maybe it's because the breakcore crowd largely adheres to the original rave happening em-oh, and such events are most likely to take place in a warehouse on the outskirts of Pittsburgh or (no, not kidding) a barn in Wisconsin than at a legit/above-ground venue with a liquor license and neighbors who just might be inclined to complain about the noise.
When it comes to breakcore, many would argue that Venetian Snares (aka Winnipeg's Aaron Funk) pretty much rules the roost. Back when Aphex Twin dropped off the radar as Most Innovative And Fanatically Revered Mad Genius of the electronic-music community about five or so years ago, Mr. Snares immediately stepped in to fill the breach. Averaging about 3-4 albums' worth of released material per annum, he's widely hailed in breakcore subculture as the artist who defines (and pushes to re-define) the boundaries of leftfield extremist "electronica." Case in point: In the past few years, he's even made a few side-stepping excursions into composing beatless orchestral and chamber music.
Venetian Snares will be playing at Reggies Rock Club tomorrow evening, Friday the 5th, headlining an evening of nosebleed-inducing splatterbeats and bleeps. Joining him on the roster will be fellow and high-productivist squelch-wrangler Otto Von Schirach, who's currently traveling with VSnares as part of their "Detrimental Disco Wibble" joint tour. Cyrusrex, DJ Naha, Surachai, and Flashbulb are also piling onto the bill. With visual accompaniment by VJ Dizypixl. It ain't a party until someone calls for a medic! Doors open at 8 PM, and it's a 17 & over show. Tickets are $20, $25 the day of. 2109 S. State Street.
Interestingly enough, his hidden celebrity has brought him admiration from his own heros in the world of electronic music. Hernan says,
I meet people on the dancefloor throughout the world; they'll introduce me as the "Mortal Kombat voice guy" and you can see their eyes get as big as plates. These are people that I respect within the industry, that I'm a fan of, and they'll look back at me and say, "I'm am so glad to meet you!" Then the conversation eventually comes around to, "Hey can you please do 'Finish Him!'" or something like that, and it becomes an exchange of fandom from one world to another.
Hernan performs locally under his own name and as Bastard with Brian Franzen.[via]
Don't listen to the rumor mill on this one — there are definitely still tickets left for the Kid Sister show at the Metro Wednesday night. On your way to the visit with the fam come Thursday? You can head out the night before and head off some of those Thanksgiving calories with some seriously fun dancing. Kid Sister's debut album Dream Date doesn't hit the shelves until January, but her single "Get Fresh" is already blowing up the airwaves (web and otherwise). She'll be celebrating the release of the tune tonight in her hometown. What better way is there to do it? None.
Kid Sister takes the stage Wednesday night, November 26 at the Metro with DJ duo Flosstradamus and mashup kings The Hood Internet opening. It's a trio of Chicago talent! The show is all-ages and the music gets going at 7pm. Tickets are $16, but if you're quick, and email us at contests (at) gapersblock (dot) com with the subject line "Get Fresh" you and friend could be on your way to the show for free! Update: We have our winners! Congrats to Eric and Catherine!
Female rappers have always received a lot of flak. Despite the effort of many artists to reform the hip hop scene, misogyny and aspersion still remain commonplace. Perhaps that's one of the reasons Chicago rapper Melisa Young is such a breath of fresh air. Instead of grumbling about beefs, she'd rather have everyone going wild on the dance floor. Known as Kid Sister, she blew up on the radar almost overnight after the release of her single "Pro Nails". Also featured in the single is Chicago's own Kanye West, whom you may have heard of. Since then, she's been busy popping up on magazine covers, getting interviewed, and working on Dream Date, her debut album.
Getting your fingernails done, telephones, and beepers--these are just some of the finer things in life that Kid Sister focuses her rhymes on. They help define Kid Sister as a carefree party starter rather than just another female rapper people compare to Missy Elliot. Fans love her upbeat personality, hip fashion sense, and catchy beats. To an extent, Kid Sister is a throwback to old school hip hop acts that focused on having fun as opposed to east coast-west coast rivalries. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince immediately come to mind.
If you're anything like me, work has been trying to kill your soul. Chase that bad juju away with at the Cease to Resist dance party starring DJs Michael Flavor and Dr. Drase this Wednesday at the Darkroom. Special guests Clique Talk and BFF will also play, and--get this--there'll be cupcakes by Meghan of rocknrollingpins.com. Cupcakes! Begone, deadlines! The gig begins at 9 p.m. and is a measly $7. Bring extra cupcake money.
Two-thirds of Hey Champ originated from Rockford, therefore dooming the trio to a lifetime of Cheap Trick comparisons. Perhaps that's a small price to pay when considering their newfound success. Hey Champ was recently signed to Lupe Fiasco's 1st and 15th label, instantly catapulting them to "up-and-comer" status. They've also been touring with Lupe and blogging about the difficulty and excitement of it all.
So what's the big deal about these guys, anyways? For one, their music is a refreshingly catchy mélange of indie pop, rock, and dreamy synth sounds. Hey Champ manages to capture the "I just want to boogie" synthesizer sound and fuses it with a sleek guitar and drums that get your head bobbing. The end result will get just about anyone dancing in no time, including your grandma. Additionally, Hey Champ continues to work on their DJ skills. It's a safe bet to assume that their experience with banging dance anthems contributes to their musical versatility. Expect for these guys to remain cutting edge for a while.
The Empty Bottle is hosting a dance party this Sunday 11/16/08 to help cover the recent vet bills of the feline Empty Bottle CEO. Poor Radley's years of excess have led to a necessary teeth pulling excursion (ouch!) DJs include: Alex Valentine, Hologram Trav, Willy May, DJ Hugsen Kissus, and DJ Miles Raymer.
After the deluge of 2nd-gen, 3rd-rate Bmore styled remixes that glutted the blog-house scene a year or so ago, one couldn't be blamed for having heard enough of the Baltimore club sound. But throughout it all, the Charm City's DJ Blaqstarr stood leagues above all the come-lately carpetbagging clatter -- creating a mesmerising, hardcore dance music by intertwining the deep, minimal punch of Bmore club trax with neo-soul influences and an echoless dub-y spaciousness. It was a heady and distinctive sound -- one that soon brought MIA, the producers of HBO's "The Wire," a steady stream of DJs and artists knocking on his studio door.
This Halloween evening, DJ Blaqstarr hits Smart Bar for a headlining set, touring with South Rakkas Crew. The two artists are currently hitting spots as part of the recent Mad Decent tour, representing DJ Diplo's label. Rob Threezy and Charlie Glitch are slated to start things off in the opening slot. Doors open at 10 PM. Tickets are $10 before midnight, $15 after. 3730 N. Clark.
Back some 8 years ago, DJ C (aka Jake Trussell) was runnin' t'ings on the experimental fringe of the Boston dance scene -- recording under the moniker Electro Organic Sound System and being a prime mover in Beantown's network of junglists, trip-hoppers, and leftfield turntablists via his affiliation with the Toneburst Collective.
More recently, C relocated to Chicago about 18 months ago. He frequently spins around town at clubs like Lava and Subterranean, hosts a radio show on WLUW -- all the while continuing to run his own Mashit label from his new home base. Now via the Mashit label site, Trussell's serving up the free downloadable "Mas Hits" collection; a selection of assorted remixes, mashup antics, and a few assorted web-only remixes that's he's leaked through various sites over the past year or so.
As a seasoned junglist, C has an expert sensibility for craftily chopped beats and depth-charge bass, making a good portion of the tracks far more serviceable for dancefloor purposes that the standard mashup fare. And while there's a fair amount of prankish whimsy and silliness throughout, Trussell manages to bring some top-notch bouncement on some of the selections; especially with the bhangra/jungle/Timbaland bump of "Ooh Wadda Doo Dadda" and the Bmore/dancehall jawn "Prerogatives Change." The download also features a few bonus tracks that includes a couple of full-on jungle rollers, as well as his remix for MIA's "U.R.A.Q.T."
To get a sample or to download the whole of "Mas Hits" for free, go to the Mashit website (or just go here).
From the sound of top-40 radio these past couple of years, you'd think that a good portion of the pop-music industry had been taken over by robots. Little surprise that there's been talk in some quarters lately of a grassroots backlash -- something along the lines of a Citizen's Council for a 15-Year Moratorium Against the Use of the Vocoder. But back in 1982 when deejay Afrika Bambaataa and his crew the Soulsonic Force delivered "Planet Rock," synthesized vocals were still very much a novelty. An instant dance-club smash and b-boy anthem, "Planet Rock" was a hybrid of Kraftwerk keyboard riffs undergirded with liquidic rhythms and 808 kicks, and sported a crowd-rousing cybernetic call of Bam asking party people, "Can y'all get funk-ay?" As history shows, the answer was a unanimous yes. Not only did the tune birth a new breed of boom called electro-funk, but it also inspired more than a few producers down South to take a few moments off from contemplating thongs, turn their attention to some other low-end affairs, and engineer the Miami Bass sound.
It was, however, Bambaataa's work as a pioneering DJ in the 1970s that earned him the title "Godfather of Hip-Hop." And while that may have been three-plus decades ago, he hasn't shown any signs of waxing complacent or slacking off to rest on any honorific laurels. On the decks, Bam's kept his game up. He demonstrated as much when he was in Chicago back in January of last year to spin a headlining set at Smart Bar. He entered the DJ booth donned in a silver lamé hood-and-cloak affair, which he soon shed for optimum mobility as he got busy with the wax and wheels. For the remainder of the night, he threw a long, tight, and relentless set of old-school joints that kept the dancefloor packed and jumping for the full duration. It was lively, it was dope, and it left a good many attendees sore from dancing for a few days thereafter.
So if you missed it last time, this weekend's your chance to recoup. Afrika Bambaataa will be returning to town to play a headlining set at Smart Bar this Friday night. DJs Tone B Nimble and Intel will be spinning in the warm-up slots. 3730 N. Clark St. Doors open at 10 PM and tickets are $15.
In a recent interview, Matthew Dear stated that he feels he doesn't quite fit in anywhere. Not surprising, seeing how he kicked off his musical career but relocating from his native Texas to the more sketchy, metropolitan digs of Detroit. Add to that all of the traveling and globe-trotting he's done as an electronic musician, producer and DJ, and a sense of dislocation or rootlessness is bound be of a part of one's life.
Chances are, however, that it has more to do with the artistic and stylistic restlessness that's fueled Dear's approach to making music. When recording and performing under his own name or with his band Big Hands, he's specializes in techno-infused pop songs that often fall on the fidgety, slightly soulful, and more moody perimeter of the dance-music spectrum. Imagine David Bowie re-recording Low with the assistance of Jamie Lidell, and you're in the general neighborhood.
But it's when recording and DJing under his Audion alias that Dear seems to feel most at home. As Audion, he's proven himself a capable and crowd-pleasing tone-twister -- churning out austere tech-house tunes that ride on subtle rhythmic progressions, sultry basslines, and no shortage of crafty digital left-hooks and subtle pop trimmings.
Those who might've spent some time in the Biz3 tent at Pitchfork Fest two summers ago might've witnessed how Matthew Dear took to the decks and got a tent full of people dancing to their hearts' content. (In 103-degree heat, no less.) This Friday night, Matthew Dear returns to Chicago to spin a headlining DJ set at Smart Bar that'll keep the crowd moving. Joining him on the evening's roster are DJs Daniel Mnookin and Brian Ffar. 3730 N. Clark. Doors open at 10 PM. Admission is $10 before midnight, $15 after.
Two French DJ performances hit the Funky Buddha this month: Tonight, Kap Bambino, an electronica duo known for their live performances, performs for the weekly Outdanced party ($10). And August 8, the Buddha invites Parisian DJ Jean Nipon (Nipon = Japan en Francais) ($10).
And at the Alliance Française (the French cultural center) on August 22, DJ Madrid invites participants to bring in their top three French songs and he'll mix them in with the rest ($10 members, $15 non members).
Darkside navigators: Kode9 (center), traveling incognito with emcee Spaceape.
Brooding, bleak, sleek and spacious, the sound of dubstep is a heady concoction of noir-ish urban atmospherics and hauntingly expressionistic, textured melodies intertwined with fat and warmly visceral basslines. A mutant South London brew of two-step garage, grime, minimal techno and post-jungle beat science, dubstep has become the defining sound of the outer fringes of electronica over the past two years. And DJ and producer Steve Goodman, who records under the moniker Kode9, has been at the forefront of trackcrafters that've been spearheading the music's recent evolution.
Kode9 first pricked up ears back in 2004 with the single "Sign of the Dub." An eerie, foreboding versioning of Prince's "Sign O' The Times," the track featured Goodman's frequent collaborator Spaceape on vocals and sounded like an excerpt from some supremely dusted collaboration between Tricky and Linton Kwesi Johnson. More recently, Kode9's released his debut album, Memories Of The Future, and has pitched his tent on the pioneering edge of the subgenre as proprietor of his own Hyperdub label -- a label that netted a huge amount of praise for releasing the two album's by "outsider" dubstep mysterioso Burial (including last year's much-lauded Untrue LP).
This Saturday night, Kode9 will be putting in a headlining appearance on the decks at Sonotheque. DJs Chris Widman and Phaded spin in the opening slots. 1444 W. Chicago ave. 9 PM – 3 AM. Admission is $15.
L-R: Mashit methodists Kid Kameleon, DJ C, and DJ Ripley
If you follow the more experimental fringes of electronic music, chances are you've seen Oakland-based "beat strategist" Kid Kameleon popping up in a number of places lately. Aside from his regular contributions to XLR8R magazine and a number of other music publications, he's also netted a lot of big-ups for the steady stream of "grubstep" mixes that he's dropped via the internet -- most notably his "Aim High" and "Aim Low" dual mix sessions that were getting pinged around the web this past December. This weekend, Subterranean and Mashit Records welcome Kid Kameleon and his frequent collaborator DJ Ripley to Chicago as the pair take to the decks for a special headlining appearance.
Kid K and Rip both share a strong affinity for the more experimental offshoots of Caribbean-derived rhythms -- especially for such woofer-taxing fare as grime, dubstep, ragga-jungle, and breakcore. That being the case, they've also each gained global reps for spinning an eclectic, genre-spanning variety of beats. On Saturday evening, they'll be joining up with their Riddim Method associates DJ C and Chrissy Murderbot for the club's recurring "No Mas Tequila" dance event. NMT helmsman DJ Zebo will also be joining in for a set. Considering that line-up, it should make for an eclectic evening of bass-heavy, leftfield groove. Downstairs at Subt, doors open at 9 PM. Free before 11 PM, $5 after.
When he first arrived in the U.S. with his immigrant parents in 1967 at the age of twelve, Jamaican-born Clive Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc, carried with him the seeds of a cultural movement. Bearing memories of classic DJ soundclashes and block parties in his hometown of Kingston, he would later aim to recreate similar events on the streets of the Bronx -- rigging up his own sound system with two turntables, PA columns, and a guitar amp, and setting up block parties in the park, spinning (against the disco trend of the time) a selection of funk, soul, and breakbeat-heavy selections that provided a dance-friendly vibe that folks weren't getting anywhere else. And with that, Campbell established the first of hip-hop's four elements, paving the way for all that would follow.
That, of course, is Hip-Hip History 101 -- so Old School that it's positively Pre-School. But, according to Herc, the role of playing selector and party-starter was always of a matter of knowing how to please a crowd. "When I started DJing back in the early '70s, it was just something that we were doing for fun," he wrote in his introduction for Jeff Chang's Can't Stop, Won't Stop. "I came from the 'people's choice,' from the street. If the people like you, they will support you, and your work will speak for itself."
Agreed: this "spring" weather is officially, uh, bullshit. Here it is nearly June in Chicago and we're still having to keep some layers handy. Be that as it may, that hasn't stopped some of us from breaking out the summer tunes weeks ago and trying to absorb some warmth from vicarious sources.
So, as you close your eyes and picture July and tell yourself that it will (eventually) get warmer, Austin's DJ Chicken George has something that'll help pull you through the lingering chill. By way of the latest Blentwell podcast, he's served up a summery mix that was recently recorded at Chicago's own Darkroom. It's a deep set of hip-hop, nu-jazz, neo-soul, dope beats, and some remixed dusties; all of it building into an uptempo homestretch that caps off -- in a solid Southside summer barbeque tradition – with a tight reworking of a classic Roy Ayers cut. Recommended. Soak it up until the higher temperatures finally kick in.
DJ Chicken George - "Darkroom Mix" (courtesy of Mr. Blentwell)
There is a party at Funky Buddha Lounge every Tuesday night that is notrious for debauchery and cutting edge music. Outdanced has been bringing out the hottest Chicago scenesters for almost two years now. Mixes dance-hungry hipsters, exotic clubbers and edgy-fashionistas, the Funky Buddha on Tuesday has a wicked weekend feel. Cheap drinks ($1 beers and mango vodka shots) and reduced admission with RSVP, usually helps insure a packed house. Tonight disco-house floor drivers Riot in Belgium will help keep the party frenzied into the night. Local DJ crew Dark Wave Disco spins as well. The night will be filmed by Avant/Chicago.
This Saturday's installment of Subterranean's No Mas Tequila dance party welcomes out-of-town guest Ghislain Poirier. Having first emerged from the underground hip-hop scene in Montreal back in 2000, Poirier soon gained attention after releasing a string of albums and EPs via the Chicago-based Chocolate Industries label. He's become a major linchpin on the diverse Montreal music scene, bringing big crowds together with his monthly Bounce Le Gros parties and building a broad international fanbase.
Poirier initially made his name as a DJ and producer of leftfield beats. But with his 2007 No Ground Under LP (released on the Ninja Tune label), he moved solidly into the pocket with the sound he's been brewing up these past couple of years -- ruff'n'tumble riddims from the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and the Middle East threaded on deep, block-rattling basslines with a fair amount of digital dirt throw in for good measure. Given No Mas Tequila resident DJs Zebo and C's own respective backgrounds as ragga-junglist trackmasters, Poirier's "digital dancehall" style couldn't be in better company.
No Mas Tequila takes place downstairs at Subterranean this Saturday evening. Zebo, DJ C, and Murderbot will be warming up the decks and getting the beats rolling. Poirier headlines. 9p-3pm. Admission is $5 after 11pm. 2011 W. North Ave.
Frankie Knuckles, the "Godfather of Chicago House," 
Fashion :: Sex :: Music is a multi-disciplinary event series hosted by 
Two French DJ performances hit the Funky Buddha this month: Tonight, 
