Addenda Records will be releasing the debut album, Son of the Stars, from Reds and Blue next month. The album is perfect example of the consistently high-quality psychedelic pop that is coming out of Chicago right now. The band is solid and each member has seen success in other bands around town, but the centerpiece of Reds and Blue is the sultry vocals of Ellen Bunch. Her is delivery is at times lazy and drifting, at times heated and mesmerizing, and at times full of force and energy, she is a complete package. The album will be released in an addition of 500 hand stamped vinyl on August 17th, so it is set up like a traditional Side A/Side B release. I think that style, that nostalgia, lends itself to the band’s psychedelic feel. The five tracks on each side fit together and give that natural progression.

Reds and Blues will be performing at Schubas on July 30th.

SELECTRONICS is a junk pile of abrasive fuzzed out beats and melodic sawtooth slapback synths compressed into a glowing red cube of sound. On the verge of psychedelia, Josh Finck [SELECTRONICS] brings things back down to earth through sampling the familiar – whether it be cutting up your childhood Casio keyboard beats or recording musty pitches from your grandma’s air ducts. Plainly stated: SELECTRONICS aims to overwrite your memory. VHS ep release and Live Dates Coming Soon!

The impressive self-titled debut album from Hospital Garden has been released by Ann Arbor’s Cerberus Records. The album is a force, and the twelve consistently hearken back to a time when the word Alternative meant something. This album is powerful, noisy, fun that is bound to be one of your favorite summertime listens.

After a busy spring with shows in Chicago, Milwaukee, Grinnell College and SXSW, it’s been good to get back to work writing songs this summer. A guy somewhere once said something witty along the lines of “The best song in the world is the one you just finished writing,” and that’s pretty much how we feel about several of our tunes right now, except that our favorite song is still and always will be “Hoogie Boogie Land” by Complete.

Aside from writing songs, Blane Fonda’s working on booking fall shows, hopefully including some college dates. We also played a last minute show at Ronny’s—which turned out to be a real fun night. Coming up around these parts, we’ll be playing Friday July 9 at The Union in Naperville with our friends Aktar Aktar, and on August 27 we have a show at Darkroom. – Charlie Nadler

Mike Schpitz (aka Love Jones) is making his Block Starz debut on August 3rd with his new ep Stanley Ipkiss: Year of The Nice Guy. The ten track ep was inspired by Jim Carrey’s character from the 1994 box office smash "The Mask" and takes listeners on a cinematic ride through everyday life as viewed from the offbeat perspective of Mike Schpitz. The heart and soul of this album are the big beats provided by Rob Bates. The combination of Schpitz and Bates seems natural and at times explosive. This is an album to roll down the windows and blast.

Curtis Jones (a.k.a. Cajmere and Green Velvet) can create some crazy beats, but when remixed by Felix Cartel it gets even more insane. His latest release as Green Velvet was released this week and is called Harmageddon. The ep features remixes of the title track from both Felix Cartel and Santiago & Bushido, as well as a track called “I Feel The Love”.

Green Velvet will be playing a DJ set at Millenium Park this Saturday (July 3rd) at 12:00pm as part of the Edible Audible Picnic.

I don’t believe that Hey Champ would dislike this classification, in fact it seems like they have embraced it, but this album, the band’s debut, is pure pop. Star collects the various singles and club hits like “Cold Dust Girl” and “Neverest”, but adds new and more rock based tracks like “Shake” and “Steampunk”. While listening through this album the main comparison that came to mind was New Order, or for a more current comparison Awesome New Republic.

The connection is not only sound, but in the mixture of dance pop and political themes that the band mixes in. Songs like “World=War”, “So American”, and “No Future” brings a very forceful political message while still allowing the listen to dance. I don’t feel that political messages in pop music are as unusual or jarring as they once were, but the album does, in certain points, begin to become a little weighted down by these themes. I suppose it all in what you are looking for. Do you want you dance music light of fun or do you want a line like “lay down your sword because you would be ill advised to fight anymore”? This is still an album to playing at the pool or the summer barbeque, but it walks that fine line. Overall, Star is an impressive debut and is more effective and focused than I expected give their diverse pool of remix work. I suppose we can call it dance pop with a purpose.

Star will be released on July 13th, but can be pre-ordered right now for just $4.99. The band will be performing on August 1st here in Chicago at the Lolla Remix Throwdown.

When I first heard that Mazes were releasing a remixed version of their debut record (dubbed Mazzzes this time around), I was a little skeptical. Why mess with a great thing?

The answer, it turns out, is “Why not?” The remixed tracks on Mazzzes are more like reimaginations, offering completely new perspectives. Lo-fi, breezy tunes sit comfortably next to avant garde and electronic mixes, and while none of it is necessarily better than the original, it’s all interesting and certainly worth a listen. The Dana Okon mix of “Manual Systems” stays true to the essence of the song, adding a fuzzy effect that makes it sound like you’re listening to it on an old radio. It’s an approach that works well with Mazes’ aesthetic, and the Pierce Doerr remix of “I Have Laid in the Darkness of Doubt” likewise takes a page from this book by imitating the locked groove of a broken record.

Several tracks are almost unrecognizable, but it’s never a bad thing. Jeffrey Thomas’ “Cat State Comity” would fit in well on a Frank Zappa album, and “Heather Kissing Heather on the Dancefloor” (Joshua Dumas’ take on “Heather on Heather”) sounds like something you’d listen to on your way home from a rave in 1996. These mixes couldn’t be further from the originals, but they’re great in their own right. When it comes down to it, that’s what makes Mazzzes a success: it achieves the perfect balance of familiar sounds that Mazes fans are bound to love and daring noise that they’ll love for completely different reasons.

Mazes are performing tonight (July 2nd) at The Hideout with Hotel Brotherhood at 10pm. – Bonnie Stiernberg

Back in April Ceiling Stars released their latest album All The Fallen Parts. Above is the video by Hiroshi Narasaki for their track “A Good Son”.

Ceiling Stars is performing tonight (July 1st) with Scott Lucas And The Married Men at Hideout. The show starts at 9pm and is only $8.

In case you missed it, like I did, Daytrotter posted a new session with Maps & Atlases on June 24th. The band performed three tracks from their latest album Perch Patchwork, and an unreleased track called “Ted Zancha”.

The band does not have a Chicago show scheduled right now, but will be touring the country this summer and heading to the UK in October.

Light Pollution recently performed their track “Oh Ivory!” for AON Sessions. The band’s track “Good Feeling” was also recently remixed by Memoryhouse.

Light Pollution will be performing at West Fest on July 11th and at Empty Bottle on July 16th.

I received word today that the local label Dust Traxx will be releasing the debut ep from Noise Floor Crew (Local Hero and Lady Foursquare). The group has been making beats and remixes for the last two years and has stirred up a lot of attention in the dance community. On their debut ep they have created a whole new sound for Chicago house while keeping key traces of the classics. They also have remixes by Rob Threezy and Rampage of Ghetto Division, Edu K, Chrissy Murderbot, Thunderous Olympian and DJ Figure from Tommie Sunshine’s new label, Brooklyn Fire. Here is our first taste of what we can expect from Noise Floor Crew.