It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Houses, and I can’t wait to see what is coming next. Their one released track, “Endless Spring” has been all over the internet lately, and when you hear it you will know why. It is a beautiful encapsulation of the welcomed warmth of the Chicago spring.
Houses signed to Lefse Records (home to Neon Indian, Sunglasses, Woodsman, and other like minded bands) late last month, and is planning to release their debut EP All Night later this summer. Below is a more tropical remix of “Endless Spring” created by David Bird.
Listen to these sweet soul sounds! Have you ever heard anything like them!? Well, perhaps if you’ve been to see the Sometimes Family live and in concert it will all seem like some kind of deja vu. There’s just something about the Sometimes Family’s music that gets into that ear canal and wiggles and jiggles around, reaching down, DOWN, until it hits the deepest parts of your soul. It latches on with its clawed tentacle and pulls your body into positions and postures of dance and wild movements you didn’t have in you before. At the end of the song, you are left with a longing and a feeling of despair, quickly remedied by the simple act of replaying it. It is a painful experience to leave the concert, but you are bettered by it, and it was all worthwhile.
On June 10th The Sometimes Family will play at The Abbey Pub.
Chicago’s File Thirteen Records announced a few details this week regarding the new album from The Poison Arrows. Their new album will be called Newfound Resolutions and will be released on August 3rd. The album will be available on CD, but will also be released as an impressive 2xLP gatefold with digital download. The first single from the album is called “Unveiled In Sequence”, and it is an epic and heavy tune that will force your head to move up and down.
The Poison Arrows are a part of Do Division Street Fest this weekend and will be playing tomorrow (June 5th) at 3:10pm on the Leavitt Stage. For the full Do Division line-up visit their website.
Our newest poll winners, The Clams, have released a new video for their song “Dear Marc”. The song comes from their 2009 ep, Mindbanging. Both of their eps can be downloaded here by naming your own price.
The Clams are performing tonight (June 4th) at Cole’s Bar (2338 N Milwaukee Ave).
The self-titled from Distractions was released this week by the local cassette label Plus Tapes. The first thing that jumps out at you when consuming the sounds of Distractions is the deep rich baritone sounds of Tom Owens. I feel his delivery can best be compared to that of Matt Berninger (The National), but when combined with eclectic sound of his band mates it really sets this band apart. Musically, the band draws from a variety of sources as diverse as British Invasion era rock to spaced-out psychedelic fuzz. The tempo and depth of sound shifts often, and through that shifting draws the listen in the many layers of distracting bliss.
While in New York promoting their new album Perch Patchwork Maps & Atlases performed an impromptu acoustic version of “Solid Ground” for Wild Honey Pie.
Yesterday North Coast Music Festival announced their 2010 line-up. The event will take place from September 3rd to September 5th at Union Park, and will be feature some big names like Chemical Brothers, Moby, De La Soul, Cold War KidsNas & Damian Marley, and more. This festival will also feature talented Chicago bands like Umphrey’s McGee, Future Rock, Van Ghost, Loyal Divide, and others.
Abraham Levitan (Baby Teeth) and Brian Costello (Johnny & the Limelites, novelist) have come together to change the face of the live game show. On June 11th at The Hideout "Shame That Tune" will premier. Here is how it will work, “On “Shame That Tune,” there are three contestants. Each will first spin a "Wheel of Fortune"-style wheel, divided into musical sub-genres (e.g., “Bob Dylan’s Christian Phase,” “Keith Richards solo,” “Led Zeppelin III”). The contestant then tells an embarrassing anecdote, no more than three minutes in length (timed by a giant LED clock), from their high-school or junior-high diary. Costello then interviews the contestant for exactly five minutes while Levitan composes, on the spot, a song about the embarrassing anecdote, in the style of the musical sub-genre that came up on the wheel. The winner is determined by applause based on audience response to his/her story and the resulting song; he/she will be rewarded with generous gifts from local businesses.”
For the first performance of “Shame That Tune,” the contestants will include local garage-rock wunderkind Miss Alex White, as well as Elisse La Roche, drummer for husband-and-wife musical duo Love of Everything. The third contestant will be chosen live from the audience. The show is only $5 so don’t miss out.
Picture Books just announced that they are parting ways, but remaining friends. The band does have a few songs recorded and some they are still finalizing so there may be one more release from the band. The band members have several other projects that they will be focusing on. Nicholas Papaleo and Nicholas Kelley have crafted an epic new band called Brontosaurus and will be playing shows as well as releasing an album later this summer while Josh Miller is teaming back up with the brothers Lanthrum (of Kid, You’ll Move Mountains) as Good Light Bad Light. As always, Kelly Johnson will continue to melt faces with his band, Geronimo!, who just last month released their debut LP "Fuzzy Dreams".
Last week The Smith Westerns and Fat Possum announced their new partnership. The band is currently recording their Fat Possum debut that the label plans to release late this summer. The band will also be touring the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and so on this month.
Recently Apteka appeared on Columbia College’s live music program, Chicago Live. They performed “Aragon Sound” which appears on their latest ep Traitors. They will be performing on June 10th with Panda Riot and Sissy Mena at Subterranean.
