They came together last winter and all of them claim it's been like a marriage with three other people, without the sex. Since, Chicago's California Wives have devoted all their creative effort to their music.
Their sound can be described as 80s new wave, unlike most music coming out of the Midwest. Some have compared them to Franz Ferdinand and New Order. Currently they continue to produce their new EP and play shows around Chicago. This Friday they will be playing at Miska's with Sissy Mena. Also Style 4 Food and Max and Chloe will be selling racks of vintage clothing.
Sky Saxon, best known as the lead singer of The Seeds, passed away last Thursday in Austin, the cause of death not yet released. Shortly afterward, a previously unreleased song featuring Sky Saxon and Billy Corgan hit the net, thanks to the Facebook of Kerry Brown, a long-time collaborator and friend of Corgan. The accompanying video serves as a tribute to Saxon, featuring a photo montage by photographer Kristin Burns. Watch an untagged version of the video here on Facebook.
Femi Kuti was recently interviewed by the folks at Decider Chicago. He discussed his family, including his legendary father Fela Kuti; his infamous club, The Shrine; and more. He performs with The Positive Force tonight at the Ravinia Festival.
Classically trained pianist turned house music producer Kate Simko released her new ep "Take You There" on Ghostly International this week as a 12" and digital release. Kate's smooth beat and detail ear have produced another set of irresistible track that play as nicely on sun-drenched patios as they do in deep secluded basement. You can download an exclusive track from the ep at RCD LBL right now. Kate is listing a show on July 25th at an undisclosed location on her myspace page, but does have a confirmed show scheduled at Sonotheque on August 22nd.
Photographer Ian Merritt caught up with producer and musician Steve Albini after his band Shellac played an unusual Saturday night/Sunday afternoon double gig at the Bottom Lounge this weekend. Check out the rest of the resulting portraits here.
Love in October, who recorded and produced their own new self-titled EP, could be described as rock and power-pop. There is a young innocence in their sound, not surprising since two members are brothers originally from Sweden. Love in October has that Swedish pop feel, with a definite American 90's alternative influence--a hint of Weezer in the guitar on "Permutations" and Blink 182 in the quick paced vocals on "Like Nothing Ever Happened." The album has a reflective, melodic ending on "27-08-08" with a distant voice singing in Swedish (reminding me a bit of Foo Fighters on "Doll").
Join them tomorrow at the Record Release Show for Love in October at Martyrs (3855 N. Lincoln Ave.). The Right Now and Jenny Gillespie will also play. Show starts at 10pm. Tickets are $8. 21 & up. (For your chance to win guest passes to the show, email your name and email address to management@loveinoctober.com by noon TODAY.)
Download a free mp3 of "Like Nothing Ever Happened" at their website.
Few stories begin with quite this much drama: "Against odds, Chicago musician wakes from coma." That was the headline in the Chicago Tribune on December 21, 2004 when Brad Peterson woke from a 39-week coma after being struck by lightening. But this story ends up less a tragedy and more fortunate beginning. Within six days of waking from the coma, Peterson had written an entire album from his hospital bed called The Red Album, named after the red-tinted vision he claims to have had when regaining consciousness.
After the crisis passed, Peterson returned to the normal struggles of life, as is evidenced in his new record, The Ductape Album (because as we all know, duct tape fixes everything, right?). "On the surface, a humorous antithesis to the King Midas touch, The Ductape Album is the collection of songs about love, struggle, spirituality, failure and beauty with words and tones -straight my heart." He will no doubt draw comparisons to The Beatles on the tracks like "More" and "Serenity Prayer," but the album is mostly singer/songwriter alternative rock.
Brad Peterson plays tonight at Double Door for the Record Release Party for The Ductape Album. Nicolas Tremulis opens. Stick around after the show for live band karaoke. Show starts at 9pm. Tickets are $10. Double Door is located at 1572 N. Milwaukee. 21 & up.
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy must really love the Emanuel Congregation in Edgewater (the Tweedy family's synagogue). He played two shows at the Vic to benefit the synagogue last February, and this August he'll be playing yet another benefit show, this time in the synagogue itself (though you don't have to be a member to attend). It's a perfect opportunity to enjoy a relaxing evening of music for those not interested in that little music festival going on the same weekend. Peter Grosz, who is a Second City alum and is currently a writer for "The Colbert Report", will be opening the show.
The charity event is taking place August 8th at the Emanuel Congregation, 5959 N Sheridan. If you've got a bit of extra dough, a $200 VIP ticket will get you front section seating, a meet and greet with Tweedy and Grosz, an on-site parking spot and a drink ticket. Mid-section seating is available at $75 per ticket and third-section seating for $54 per ticket, with off-site parking available for $10. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased here. Doors are at 7 pm, show at 8.
You've seen the great debates: South Side vs. North Side, the Trib vs the Times, now NBC's Golden Local is asking you which music festival is better: Lollapalooza or Pitchfork? Cast your vote and check back in 13 days when the voting ends to see what your fellow locals think!
The rain broke, the heat rose with the sun, and there was a free show Monday night at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. Oh, I was there. The lawn was not quite a Decemberists-level crush of blanket sitters, but the crowd was lively and comfortably dressed in the sundress and bicycle cuff style. Beer was purchased (or brown-bagged), wine was shared, and cheese was added to crackers. The excitement peaked as the sun slid behind the Michigan Avenue wall and a collective sigh rose as Dirty Projectors hit the stage.
Swinging through through hits like "Stillness is the Move" and "Cannibal Resource" and from their latest album, Bitte Orca, the harmonies between Angel Deradoorian and Amber Coffman were magical in the haze of the slow burn of the evening. From where I was sitting, in that soft light, I couldn't make out the band well, but I could clearly see two members of Broken Social Scene (in town to do some recording at Soma with Sea and Cake's John McEntire) Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew sitting, socializing and enjoying the music. You know, there is something very BSS-like in the harmonies and loops that Dirty Projectors utilize. I can see how that's up in their wheelhouse.
DP closed with a seemingly truncated version of "Knotty Pine" (Byrne-less, sadly), but the Park was keeping a tight schedule. [Note: Later Monday night, after heading off toward Detroit, the band got into a car accident. It seems like the initial reports of serious injuries were false, but they're scrapping two shows in Canada and heading to NYC to regroup.]
Starting right on time were the evening's headliners The Sea and Cake, all business and down to it. Unfortunately clocked in as the "older" band by some of the less-familiar in the crowd, Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt led the fellas through the set beautifully and really gained some new fans Monday night. The sound was something else — I repeatedly remarked that the bass was stronger than any other Sea and Cake show I'd heard — in a good way. I felt like even though I was hearing this outdoor performance of great songs like Car Alarm's title track and their older self-titled album tune and audience fave "Jacking the Ball" I was experiencing them for the first time in high fidelity. Likely this is a testament to the fine design of the speakers at the Pritzker. To you, I say, Bravo. I wasn't alone in feeling the love that night — the crowd begat several pockets of bouncy dance circles (one of which spilled over into a post-show drum circle, but that's ok).
Following up on the sudden death of former Wilco member Jay Bennett, the Trib's Greg Kot is reporting that he died from a painkiller overdose, specifically fentanyl. Bennett was likely taking the drug for the chronic hip pain, as he announced on his MySpace page in the weeks before his death that he needed hip replacement surgery.
In all genres of music, there are those who toil at the edges, plowing ahead while the people making the big money and selling out House of Blues locations keep churning out the same thing. Those artists grow and explore and put out music that actually seems to expand what the genre could mean outside the rote and usual.
In hip-hop, outside of a few artists and labels (Def Jux, Madlib and his work at Stones Throw come to mind) who are secure enough to make the music they feel like making, the notion of originality isn't necessarily met with popular acclaim and commercial success. Among the number of those who knows about label politics and growing in the music is veteran J-Live, who rocked Morseland Saturday night.
The one man powerhouse not only rocked the microphone, but is also an accomplished DJ, and to do both at the same time is something not a lot of people can do. The fact he does it well kept the party moving, even when the record decided to skip. He was at Subterranean earlier this year, and ended the show there with "Braggin Writes," his magnum opus of simultaneous turntablism and rapping. Saturday night, he did "Braggin Writes"...and kept going.
Morseland, being a small, intimate space, seemed roomy enough to accommodate the crowd, who seemed to know his catalog pretty well. And a knowledgeable crowd that knows the Allen Iverson sample on "Practice" ("...not a game...we talkin bout PRACTICE...") is a crowd I can happily rock out with.
A supportive crowd, undeniable skills, and a pretty thorough run-through of a catalog that's been label-ravaged and delayed at every turn made for a great night. Somehow, you have to hope that, in the end, talent wins over BS, but until then, J-Live should really be on your radar. Check The Early Works of J-Live on iTunes for a good intro to the beginning of his career.
You may have heard about a Lollapalooza festival. The schedule was announced last week after months of speculation. And now, so have the aftershows. People may complain about a summer music festival capped by a 10PM curfew, but it certainly does allow for full evenings at various venues around the city that weekend. It also helps some people going to Lollapalooza work out their scheduling conflicts.
This year's highlighted official aftershow features the Beastie Boys at the Congress, but there are some top-notch shows elsewhere. The Decemberists, Arctic Monkeys and Fleet Foxes headline Metro. Thievery Corporation, Band of Horses and STS9 headline at House of Blues. TV on the Radio's playing Double Door. Lykke Li and MSTRKRFT headline the Bottom Lounge. So it's already shaping up to be a pretty good weekend. All shows go on sale this Saturday, June 27, except the Beastie Boys. (But they've got a presale right now and the password's their occupation - rappers.)
Transmission is the music section of Gapers Block. It aims to highlight Chicago music in its many varied forms, as well as cover touring acts performing in the city.
Editor: Anne Holub, ash@gapersblock.com
Transmission staff inbox: transmission@gapersblock.com
