New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Magicks has released a new single called "Ohaider;)". On the bandcamp page for the single he writes, "At 1:25 close your eyes and imagine your first time kissing someone. Maybe it already happened maybe it didn’t.". This track is a part of Magicks forthcoming ep Musicks which will be released on Jan. 26th.
Midwest Hype call themselves a "Urban Garage Jazz" band and they are celebrating the release of their new EP Dayglow on January 5th at Schubas. The group recently dropped by Audiotree to record a fantastic hour long set.
Lightfoils are releasing their debut EP tomorrow, December 30th through Xd Records. The released a sneak peak on Christmas in the form of the track "Into Deep Sea".
Lightfoils are performing at Double Door on January 5th with Battle Stations, Viceroy, and Tribe of the Mountain (Detroit). The doors open at 8:30pm and admission is just $1.
The Hood Internet (aka Aaron Brink from ABX and Steve Reidell from STV SLV) have been remixing and mashing and blending amazing tracks for the last four years, and have released mixtapes and single galore. The now have complied the best of what they have done into a debut self-titled album through Mishka. The duo also released a behind-the-scenes video filled with tacos and fun.
Driftless Pony Club has had a great year which saw the release of their latest album Buckminster back in February, a couple of big tours, and the release of several great videos. The band is capping it off with a New Year’s Eve (Eve) party at Lincoln Hall on December 30th with The Hood Internet.
Their latest video was released back in October, and is for the track "Inspectors of Inspectors".
Algebra Huxley and Arthur Aircraft (aka Wolf In A Spacesuit) are back with a new album filled with lush electro-pop. The release is called Safari – Sea of Doors, and through the eight tracks you will find gentle piano sound, well placed sample, hushed vocals, multi-layered beats, and more. Sea of Doors is the first half of what will be a full release called Safari. Both releases will be combined into a full-length vinyl release. You can stream or purchase the Sea of Doors on the band’s bandcamp page, and also download the track "No Bird Fly" for free. The band also created a video for that track which you can watch below.
Seel Fresh has released the fifth video from his 2011 ep Fresh To Def. The entire ep can still be downloaded for free from his website.
With every year that passes the medium of video becomes increasingly important in how people discover, enjoy, interact, and experience music. In this post I am going to attempt to recap 2011 in video by posting my 15 favorite, but I would be missing something if failed to mention all of the wonderful live video that was captured this year. With sites like Small Chicago, Giant System, Rooftop Sessions, Lightbox Sessions, Living Room Songs and others dedicated to capturing local live performance fans of local music have access in ways they never have before.
Here is my disclaimer, as with all year end lists, this is in no way comprehensive, but these are my favorite video from 2011 and so how shape my year as a fan of Chicago music. You can view the entire list here.
15. Shapers "Jar"
After Anna Vogelzang left Chicago in 2008 for Madison, WI she began the tradition of recording holiday songs every Christmas and releasing them for her fans to enjoy. This year she has released the three tracks that she recorded in the form of a digital ep called Christmas Spectacular!.
Anna’s next release will be coming out on Feb. 28th and will be called Canary In a Coal Mine. You can preview the first three songs from the full-length album here.
Although the only released a single in 2011, it still seems like Gold Motel had a great year. The band performed at Lollapalooza and continued to tour in support of their 2010 release "Summer House". The band plans to release the follow-up in 2012.
You can catch Gold Motel at Lincoln Hall tomorrow, Dec. 23rd, at 7pm with Deserters and Chaperone.
Owen is closing out his live acoustic video tour through his latest album Ghost Town by bringing it back to his home. Check out his performance of "Everyone’s Asleep in the House but Me".
shalloboi will be headlining a show at the empty bottle on december 27th, 2011 with the flying cars (from new york) and local duo nervous cloud (which includes travis from schizophrenic pop band essex chanel). after playing with a trio of live strings players for over two years, shalloboi has pared back down to the core duo of singer/guitarist/songwriter tyler ritter and singer/percussionist stefanie goodwin with some very pleasing (and loud) results. the band will play a few new tracks, a few from their last three releases as well as some old surprises that haven’t been played in years. the show is free w/ rsvp through the empty bottle’s website and costs $8 at the door.
