This week’s installment of Giant System comes from Icy Demons. The band is currently working on their new album is very close to being completed from what I hear.

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir are making their return to the stage at Subterranean tomorrow night. This will be the bands first show since their horrible van accident back in September 2009. They were on their way to the first gig on their tour to support their latest full-length album "… and the horse you rode in on". We are so glad to see them back performing and healthy.

The show at Subt starts at 9pm and also includes Wells-Next-To-The-Sea and Very Truly Yours.

On his brand new LP, "Exile," Brad Cole moves toward an alt-country sound, opening up his versatility as a songwriter as well as his compassion for the human condition. The album features a solid crew of guest musicians, including Rocco Labriola (of Americana upstarts Van Ghost) on pedal steel. Brad Cole hosts and performs at "Acoustic Circus" at Elbo Room on Saturday, July 19. Other artists scheduled to appear include Dean Milano and T-Bird Magera.

I have to admit that I was surprised by the brother duo known as Boutros. I am not sure if it was the album title, Flat Tires Make Friends, or their myspace page, or what, but I was not expecting what these two delivered. The album is built primarily on keyboards, and is filled this modernized take on ‘70’s am pop with strong traces of r&b. It’s refreshing not because it is all that original, but because it really comes out nowhere and is done really well. The first track from the album is called “Late Night Ring” and is a perfect example of this.

Boutros will be playing at Schubas tonight (June 17th) with Minneapolis band Lookbook.

Keith Masters have released a new video for his track “I Love To Floss”. The track is the first single off his EP, Discotheque. Keith is currently working on a British synth-pop duo Futurecop! that should be released this summer. He also just finished a taping of HBO’s Entourage for an episode that will be coming up this season, so you can look out for him there.

Keith Masters will be performing at Reggie’s Rock Club on June 25th with Seel Fresh, Mac Lethel, and others.

On July 6th Upper Class is releasing a new single from Toronto dance band Dvas. The single will feature a remix by The Hood Internet that features some rhymes from Chicago’s Kid Static. You can preorder the single here.

Company of Thieves have posted a video documenting their first trip to London.

The band’s next Chicago show will be on August 8th as part of Lollapalooza.

Ryan Graveface is several things, the owner of the great local label Graveface Records, a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow, and a solo artist known as Dreamend. As Dreamend he will be releasing a new album called So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite this August. Just as with most Graveface releases the packaging for this album will be rather artistic. The LP version of this album will be presented like a phenakistoscope, a classic Victorian animation machine.

Early we talked about Sean Hernandez and his current contribution to Chicago House, but Daryl Cura and his label Eargasmic Recordings is really at the center of it all right now. He has release work with Hernandez, but clearly has a strong sense and passion for house. His most recent release was a collaboration between himself and The Sun God (aka Jamal Moss) called The 3rd Wave. The above video is for the track “Waiting Room” from that album.

In one word I would have to say haunting, but the twelve solo album from Chris Connelly, How This Ends, is really much more. Spanning more than 50 minutes, but containing only two tracks this album is epic and apocalyptic. It’s an album that contains no songs by design, but instead is home to a long poem that is repeated, spoken and sung, by a number of contributors. The poem is dark and speaks of death, genocide, homicide all planned and unplanned.

Musically the album is filled with sounds, noises, and even brief moments of beauty. It spans the sonic range from subduded electronics to free jazz horns to manic industrial noise to gracefull piano, and is always changing. To help with all of this Chris enlisted the like of Izi Coonagh (Sugar Bullet), Tania Bowers (Via Tania), James Marlon Magas (Magas, Lake of Dracula), Gordon Sharp (Cindytalk), Zak Boerger (These Wonderful Evils), Bill Rieflin (R.E.M., Ministry, Swans), Brent Gutzeit (TV Pow), Sanford Parker (Minsk, The High Confessions), and David Levine (Mucca Pazza).

Connelly has this to say about his new album, "I wanted to compose without any regard to the song-form." The result of that goal is a piece of music like no other, and one that has to be heard to be understood.

How This Ends will be released by Lens Records on July 13th.

Chicago born, but currently Brooklyn living, Bill Brenmar has been ripping it up lately. He is the drummer for These Are Powers, but is making a name for himself with his remixes. In the last few months he has received a ton of attention for his mixes of song by Blondes, Aaliyah, and Yeasayer. Brenmar has also composed several original tracks, and we can only hope for debut ep or album in the near future.

Ok Go has released a video for their track “End Love”. Possibly known more for their videos than their music, this one finds the group practicing their moves in the park in Datarock-esque tracksuits. However, there is a video contest that goes along with this that you can check out on Facebook.