Video: Tom Schraeder Cassette Release Party

*MP3: Tom Schraeder - "Pat Baby"

Very Don't Look Back, but still neatly executed. Tom Schraeder releases his new cassette tonight at the Beat Kitchen. Listen to his song "Pat Baby" at the top of the post.

Tom Schraeder MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

Review: Netherfriends - Calling You Out

Netherfriends
Calling You Out (Emergency Umbrella)
Grade: B-

*MP3: Netherfriends - "Nunya (Beeswax)"

If listeners were approaching Netherfriends' debut EP on Emergency Umbrella, Calling You Out, with fresh ears, they'd might marvel at how quickly the influence of Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion has spread to younger bands. Despite the fact that the Chicago-based group has been playing live shows since 2007, the stylistic similarities between the two bands is hard to dispute: Both traffic a shimmering brand of modern psychedelia with vocals that pre-suppose Carl Wilson was really an elf. Not helping matters is Netherfriends' use of vaguely African-sounding percussion and keyboard tones that could double as kaliedoscopic songbirds--both of which are sonic tricks that also appear in the AC playbook.

So what's to prevent one fanbase from sneezing "rip off" in the general direction of the other's burgeoning local following? The answer is simple: Just because you happen to follow closely to one path doesn't mean you have to follow all of their steps completely. On tracks like "Really?" and "Friends with Lofts," the band throws in the pleasing sing-song of Americana-tinged experimentalism to great effect, with the former possessing an incredible appealing keyboard line that apes a yodel.

It's only on the EP's soggy, pop-filled middle that the band dances awkwardly with derivative songwriting, with a trio of dodgy songs, that don't help distinguish Netherfriends from the psych-pop pack. Fortunately, EP closer "Don't Invite Me" helps close Calling You Out on a strong note, an compact epic that incorporates ethereal soundscapes and jutting tempo changes. While Netherfriends make a few slips creatively, there's enough strong material to ensure that any forthcoming full-lengths will earn deserved listens.

Netherfriends MySpace Page

Netherfriends play the Automatic Collective tonight. A donation of five bucks is suggested Here's the lineup:

AUGUST 13
EXCERCISE
NETHERFRIENDS
YAWN
FUTURE PLANS
RED ELECTRIC RAINBOW

(Jon Graef)

VIDEO: Mazes - "Love to Lay"

Mazes - Love To Lay


The 1900s offshoot shoots its first video, and its for "Love to Lay"

Mazes MySpace Page

Video: Alla on "Chic-a-go-go"

Indeed, as the intro notes, one of the coolest, most eclectic sounding bands in Chicago recently stopped by the "Chic-a-go-go" studios to "play" a song from its most recent release, the Record Store Day exclusive Digs, a mostly covers EP (save for one new song, "Si, Se Puede"). The band is interviewed, and there some pretty hilarious results when the Chic host asks about the origins of the band's name ("So, the next time you're in Tijuana," "The State department says you don't want to go there"). Watch the video at the top of the post. Digs is out now.

Alla MySpace Page

42 songs for 4/20

(Abstraction - "Nuff' Fire")

Download: Jarvis Cocker - "Angela"
Download: Fleet Foxes - "Mykonos"
Download: The Vaselines - "Son of a Gun"
Download: Fucked Up - "No Epiphany" (No Age Remix)
Download: St. Vincent - "The Strangers"
Download: Vacations - "Hassle with Real"
Download: Black Blondie - "Dirty Ashes" (feat. Muja Messiah)
Download: Deerhunter - "Rainwater Cassette Exchange"
Download: Abstract Rude - "Rejuvenation"
Download: Big Quarters - "Barter System"
Download: Bon Iver - "Blood Bank"
Download: Antony and the Johnsons - "Another World"
Download: Vampire Hands - "Safe Word"
Download: New Ruins - "Symptoms"
Download: The 1900s - "Age of Metals"
Download: Pontiak - "Honey"
Download: Winter Gloves - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Download: The Evening Rig - "The Hilltop Pines"
Download: Woodhands - "Electric Avenue"
Download: The Present - "Love Melody"
Download: Witch - "Sweet Sue"
Download: Black Math Horsemen - "Origin of Savagery"
Download: Gospel Gossip - "Pre-Med"
Download: Wye Oak - "Take It In"

Well, technically, 41 songs and a video. But I'm sure that you're not counting. Hope you enjoy this playlist, the 3rd of its kind.

For more songs, go here.

(Jon Graef)

Ticket Giveaway: The Whip

Download: The Whip - "Trash"
Download: The Whip - "Dubsex"

Chicago is Mildly Interesting is giving away not one, not two, not three, not five, but FOUR pairs of tickets to tomorrow's show with The Whip at the Congress Theatre. We realize its at the last minute, but that's how we roll. BY THE SEAT OF OUR PANTALOONS! First four people to email chicagoismildlyinteresting@gmail.com will get tix that they can pick-up at will call.

The Whip MySpace Page

Michael Zapruder - "Ads for Feelings"

Download: Michael Zapruder - "Ads for Feelings"

Like an electro-pop Leonard Cohen, but with prog-rock breakdowns, Michael Zapruder combines a mellow, almost sing-speak vocal with a whole host of other nifty production and songwriting tricks to create an engaging, crisp song about the implications of consumerism. Listen to it at the top of the post.

Michael Zapruder MySpace Page

New Music: Vacations - "Hassle With Real"

Download: Vacations - "Hassle With Real

Read my write-up of Vacations' debut "album" (it's a combo of a 7" and an 8-song EP) over at Decider Chicago. Rising out of the ashes of Chin Up Chin Up, the recently broken up indie-rock quartet from these here parts, must have been a difficult challenge, but this album is quite fantastic.

The record release party is tonight at the Bottle. Here are the deets:

Empty Bottle
1035 N Western Ave
Chicago IL 60622
773-276-3600
21+

Vacations MySpace Page

Paul Haig - "Reason"

Download: Paul Haig - "Reason"

I got a notice from Tarty Tart after she saw that Blogger took down my Elbo.ws post about how, today, April 6th, would be Paul Haig day. Why a specific day devoted to this specific songwriter?

Behold:

Bloggers have come under increasing attack in recent times, thanks to many in the music industry using the draconian measures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), an American piece of legislation signed by President Clinton in 1998 which insists that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must remove material that appears to constitute copyright infringement.

So, if a music industry lawyer discovers a blogger has posted an mp3 of a song without permission, they can contact the ISP, claim they represent the individual or organisation with the copyright and demand the offending material be removed. Fair enough you might say…

But, the law is such that anyone can use DMCA to demand a takedown without having to prove that they have ownership of the copyright, and the ISP have no option but to comply - it has even been proven that where musicians have expressly given support for their song to be highlighted on a blog, an anonymous DMCA request has seen the mp3 removed.

Such was the case last month when ‘The Vinyl Villain’ blog, one that has been running since September 2006 and almost exclusively looks back to music of the 80s and 90s, featured ‘Blue For You’, one of the early solo singles by Paul Haig. The blogger had been in touch with the singer who didn’t object at all to featuring the song and was given a few words by Paul Haig to add to the story behind its recording in Edinburgh back in 1982.

Within 48 hours of publication, the piece was removed by the ISP, although no-one associated with the copyright had made such a request.

In response, Paul Haig immediately decided to make his 2007 single ‘Reason’ available through ‘The Vinyl Villain’ blog on the basis that music fans who downloaded the song and decided that they liked it were more than likely to subsequently purchase a copy. So far, after just more than a week, no-one has asked the ISP to remove the mp3….

And so, in response, U.K. bloggers, and those across the pond, have decided to all post "Reason" in solidarity. To read a great, in-depth summation of Paul Haig's career, check out this post over at The Vinyl Villian. Additionally, take a listen to "Reason" at the top of the post.

Paul Haig MySpace Page

Top Ten Songs On Elbo.Ws Reviewed In 50 Words or Less: 03/15/09--03/31/09

**The original post was deleted by the IFPI and Blogger. Here it is reposted with label and band approved mp3s and Hype Machine links (4/04/09 8:30 am).

My concession to April fools is that this list consists of 11 tracks, and not ten. That's how awesome I've become in my late 20s. With that, have at!

1. Grizzly Bear - "Cheerleader"

Download: Grizzly Bear - "Cheerleader"

After a rhythmical, bluesy beginning, Grizzly Bear forge the baroque elements of their musical persona (mellotron, youth choir, torrents of harmonies) into a mash of modern psychedelia and soul. The pleasure lies more in discovering the creatively arranged harmonic layers rather than in the ultimate song destination (fancy talk for an anti-climatic end).

Grade: B+

2. Bill Callahan - "Eid Ma Clack Shaw"

Download: Bill Callahan - "Eid Ma Clack Shaw"

"Love is the king of the beasts/and when it gets hungry/it must kill to eat." Wow. Lyrically, If Callahan = Richard Thompson as a troubled, sing-speaky troubadour with a Beatles-esque sense of melody and Newsom = Linda, then fans of everywhere can rejoice. Wait a minute, that's kind of sick.

Grade: B

3. Harlem Shakes - "Strictly Game"

Download: Harlem Shakes - "Strictly Game"

It's been said before, and it'll be said it again: "Strictly Game" is the track that Gen Y will listen to after they lose their jobs, and it will be this song's exhilarating, but subtle, blend of pops electro, afro and indie that will lift their spirits throughout the recession.

Grade: A

4. Voxtrot - "Trepanation Party"

Download: Voxtrot - "Trepanation Party"

The Austin-based blog-poppers add some synth-goth minimalism and new wave doom-and-gloom to their effervescent brand of melodic rock. If Death Cab for Cutie wrote a rap song (or at least a song with a more rhythmic vocal), it might sound like this. Nothing to drill a hole into your head about, but a solid change in direction all the same.

Grade: B

5. Passion Pit - "The Reeling"

*MP3: Passion Pit - "The Reeling"

Suitable for a laptop discotheque, the dormroom-born electro-pop quintet throws a bevy of post-pro tricks (synths, The Go! Team-style chants, airy vocals and snare-hi-hat hits) up the flagpole of dance and disco to see who salutes. Upbeat, but strangely inert.

Grade: C

6. The Felice Brothers - "Run Chicken Run"

Download: The Felice Brothers - "Run Chicken Run"

The first and probably only hoedown to appear on the Elbo.ws charts. The sub-Dylan/Westerberg-isms (smoky, throaty vocals, ramshackle rock tempo and arrangements) are catchy, but commonplace. "Chickens don't get no life after death." So true. But hey, chickens are good people. At least they don't beat the shit out of their hens.

Grade: C

7. CFCF - "You Hear Colours"

Download: CFCF - "You Hear Colours"

Booming drum sounds give way to a keyboard line somewhere between Mark Snow and Harold Faltermeyer, along with a clear, ringing splash of guitar for texture, make for a cool, but somewhat detached, instrumental track.

Grade: B-

8. The Virgins - "Rich Girls (Le Castle Vania's Spring Break No Parents Remix)"

Download: The Virgins - "Rich Girls (Le Castle Vania's Spring Break No Parents Remix)"

The new wave of neo-post-punk arrived with the original, but this remix brings out the funk and rollerdisco inherent in the song, with solid, head-bopping results

Grade: B

9. The Prodigy - "Take Me To The Hospital (Hostage Remix)"

Download: The Prodigy - "Take Me To The Hospital (Hostage Remix)"

Techno remix of the 90s breakbeaters song straightens things out a bit beat-wise while retaining some of the original's nasty loops. The Prodigy's more syncopated rhythms are more intriguing on the whole, the remix as a simple, visceral appeal set to get movers on the dancefloor.

Grade: B-

10. The Decemberists - "The Rake's Song"

Download: The Decemberists - "The Rake's Song"

A macabre tale of familial murder, The Decemberists take a menacing two-chord vamp, and spin it into a darkly funny dirge with an unrepentant narrator. The shift from prog-rock majesty to hard-rock muscle doesn't quite suit the band's past strengths, but "Rake" is good for a wry laugh.

Grade: B

11. The Mary Onettes - "Dare"

Download: The Mary Onettes - "Dare"

I have absolutely no problem with this C86/Smiths revivalism that's going on right now, just as long as it keeps producing songs as singularly great as this one. The pains of being pure of heart have once again been transformed into beautiful pop catharsis.

Grade: A

New Helicopters - "White Lily No Soul"

Download: Helicopters - "White Lily No Soul"

Mixing electronica with pan-Asian musical elements, the new song from digit-pop trio Helicopters "White Lily No Soul" is a scathing, but melodic, kiss-off against a vapid starlet. Sure, as far as targets go, that's like shooting fish in a barrel, but when the results are this ingratiating, who can complain? Download the track at the top of the post.

Helicopters MySpace Page

New Music: Mazes - "Cat State Comity"

Download: Mazes - "Cat State Comity"

Another download released for your enjoyment, courtesy of Mazes and Parasol Records. "Cat State Comity" continues the impeachable pop melodies of The 1900s. Listen to it at the top of the post.

Mazes MySpace Page

Anni Rossi gets an 8.0 on Pitchfork

Download: Anni Rossi - "Ecology"

If you haven't already picked up Anni Rossi's latest record, Rockwell, named for the street she lives on in Chicago, then you absolutely should. Personally speaking, I'm more partial to the Afton EP which came out last fall (which I retroactively put on my best-of list for 2008, b/c I'm a dumbass), but Rockwell has more than its fair share of viola-plucked charms and unique vocal stylings. After being released on March 10th, Pitchfork has finally gotten around to reviewing Ms. Rossi's disc, and they've bestowed upon it a very great score of 8.0.

Here's the a key paragraph:

Anni Rossi's 4AD debut full-length, Rockwell...is the conclusion of a series of recording experiments taken over the last few years. Her instrumentation is so sparse that it naturally calls for the highest standards of recording to fully translate the relationship between the vocals and strings, so it's not surprising that she chose to record Rockwell with Steve Albini, albeit in a day

Read the rest of Mia Clarke's review here.

Check out video of Rossi performing in the MPLS right here.

Read my review of Rockwell for Decider Chicago here

Anni Rossi MySpace Page

(actual words by Jon Graef, but written in spirit by Ian Anderson)

Video: Rhymefest Explains Charles Hamilton Beef

(part one)


(part two)

Rhymefest explains his diss records against hipster-rapper Charles Hamilton. Video courtesy of Fake Shore Drive

Rhymefest MySpace Page

New Music: New Ruins - "Ships"

Download: New Ruins - "Ships"

The Parasol press page for the New Ruins' new song, titled "Ships," and taken from the East Ill. group's upcoming album, We Make Our Own Bad Luck, notes that the track bears sonic resemblance to a "droney acoustic/electric rock, songs rendered in sepia-tone, awash in rural melancholy." At first, I immediately thought of Zelionople, but the moment that New Ruins jangly, mid-tempo, and definitely melancholic guitar strums popped up on "Ships," any impressions of trance disappear. Instead, what listeners get is pleasantly mobile indie-pop that, yes, is sepia-toned. Check it out at the top of the post.

New Ruins MySpace Page

Tonight: Women @ Bottom Lounge

Video Blog: Wounded Roots

Watch the latest video blog from the promising up-and-comers at the top of the post.

Wounded Roots MySpace Page

Smashing Pumpkins License "Today" To Visa

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Reunited Jesus Lizard To Open Pitchfork 2009

Via Chicago Breaking News:

The reunited Jesus Lizard will play its first hometown show in 11 years July 17 at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park, promoters will announce Friday.

The noise-rock quartet broke up in 1999, but the original lineup of David Yow, Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, and Mac McNeilly has announced plans to play a handful of shows this year while their label, Touch & Go, reissues much of their back catalogue.

I think there's a used copy of something Jesus Lizard-related with my name written all over it.

The Jesus Lizard Wiki Page

The Sea and Cake Used In Citibank Commercial

Download: The Sea and Cake - "Car Alarm"

Found this over at Videogum. Say what you want about either Citigroup or jazz-influenced, post-rock pioneering Chicagoans The Sea and Cake, at least they're not hiring Sheryl Crow for golf outings. Incidentally, guess which bank I belong to? The answer may surprise it's Northern Trust.

Speaking of corporate and/or municipal fuckery, have you check this out yet?

The Sea and Cake MySpace Page