Earlier this year the electro-pop trio known as Moon Furies released a really fun album called Mercury digitally through bandcamp. The album has a lo-fi production style, but you can still get a sense that Moon Furries would be fun to dance to live. My favorite track is the band’s salute to Logan Square. Andy Kiel, Jim Wittmann, and Andrew Hertzberg seem to be having a great time and making some fun music.

Moon Furies are performing with DFM, MC Sparkplug, and Environmental Encroachment at Reggie’s this Friday (4/22).

Local beat maker and co-founder of the label Fieldwerk, Zavala will be releasing his new album The Dark Time Sunshine Vessel instrumentals LP on May 10th. Zavala with Onry Ozzborn released the album Vessel last year and was named one of 2010’s 10 Awesome New Beat Makers by URB because of it. Fieldwerk is partnering with Fake Four, Inc. for this vinyl and digital release, but if you preorder through Fieldwerk you can get a ton of extra items including Zavala’s Canciones Modernas split instrumental LP and Grayskul’s “At The Time”/”Mod Volatile” 45rpm 7″ featuring the Zavala produced “Mod Volatile”.

YAWN announced this week that they will be touring with two of the bigger internet buzz bands, Tame Impala & Yuck, later this month. After that short tour they will be headed into the studio to put the finishing touches on their debut full-length album which is slotted for a summer release.

YAWN will be performing tonight (4/19) at Lincoln Hall with Delorean, and then on May 3rd and May 4th at Lincoln Hall with Tame Impala and Yuck

Young Man has released a video for their track "Five" which appears on their debut ep "Boy" which was recently released by Frenchkiss Records.

It’s been awhile since Azita has played her hometown, but it has been even longer since she has released a new album. However, she a new album slated for release through her label Drag City this year in late summer/ early fall, and on April 22nd at The Hideout Azita will be performing some new material from that album. Her last release was the wonderful How Will You? which was released by Drag City back in 2009. The first track track from that release was the tune "I’m Happy".

Avita will be performing at The Hideout on April 22nd with The Judy Green and Relaxation Record.

It’s tax day! How many of you are skipping work to finish your taxes at the last minute? Well, Archie Powell & The Exports have released a perfectly timed video.

Paper Thick Walls is releasing their debut album on May 3rd, and they have scheduled to play 150 shows this year in support of the album. The album is entitled "A Thousand Novels", and is one of the most mature debuts I’ve heard in awhile. The album was masterfully produced by Mike Hagler (Wilco, Neko Case). The harmonies of Kate Schell and Eric Michaels perfectly weave in and out of this band indie pop gems.

Paper Thick Walls will be performing at The Hideout on May 6th with Derek Nelson & The Musicians.

The latest addition to the Small Chicago project comes from The Henhouse Prowlers. They are well established in the bluegrass community and delivered a great performance. 

Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross is a side project from Dexter Tortoriello of Houses. The debut ep from the project, Blow, was released this week through Mad Decent.

Tonight (4/15) at The Beat Kitchen Tim Larson and The Owner/Operators celebrate the release of their new album, A New Deal. This is the band’s first album in four years and it finds these folk and country tinged musicians on top of their game. What I like about Tim Larson is they way he tells a story. On A New Deal he draws from current and very relevant subject to tell the story of Chicago right now. "Own To Rent" kicks off the album with a tale of hard times and the album continues on from there.

Tim Larson and The Owner/Operators (4/15) and performing tonight at Beat Kitchen with Ohio’s Wolf Ram Heart.

This ep was released by Rock Proper last month and features one of my favorite weekend songs. "What So Special" perfectly captures that lazy feeling you get when you know it is ok to relax, but you still feel like you should be doing something. Love Story In Blood Red is mainly the work of Jason Frederick and these song span over a decade in time., but still feel fresh and inspired.

You can down the entire ep "Hot Cha" from Love Story In Blood Red and Rock Proper here.

I am loving the textures and layers that fill the debut ep, Ten Thousand Years, from Heavy Ghost. The band is the latest edition in Chicago’s push to rule the new psych-rock movement. However, Heavy Ghost pushes further into electronic and dance impulses. They are drawing comparisons to Boards of Canada mainly for the track below and I can’t argue. As you get further into the ep you find the band has several different flavors and sounds and all of them are solid and complex. With both Jonathon Freund and Caden Moore signing on different tracks the band can tackle any number of sounds, and the two play off of each other perfectly.

Ten Thousand Years can be found here for name-your-own-price.