This Saturday music blog Dedicated Ears will be hosting a concert that will feature two quality local singer/songwriters. I long felt that Brendan Losch is one of the most underrated musicians in the city and I was thrilled to see him included in this line-up. Brendan was kind enough to send me a new track for everyone to enjoy.

You can catch Brendan with David Safran and Pretty Little Empire (St. Louis) at Chopin Theater on Saturday May 8th.

The Deli Chicago finally has a Facebook Page! I know just in time for to not be cool (or safe!) anymore. Go over and “like” our page for updates you cannot find anywhere else.

If though that “In A Dream” by Skybox had the potential to be the jam of the summer The Hood Internet left no doubts. The original version of “In A Dream” comes from the band’s latest album Morning Cuts.

You can catch Skybox next in Chicago at Lollapalooza in August. The Hood Internet will be performing at MoCA on May 7th as part of Inside/Out.

Despite the weird and cheesy intro the new video from Blane Fonda is actually pretty nice. The song, “Old Mare” is taken from their EP which you can purchase directly from their website.

Over the weekend we sent our photographer, Shalimar Beekman, to Cubby Bear to photograph The Freddy Jones Band.

Lazer Crystal has a new video in support of their new album MCMLXXXon Thrill Jockey Records.

"That One" is the first single from the new album from 1773 that will be released this Fall called Greenlight Go. You should also check out their latest mixtape Returning The New Stuff. 

The unique electro-pop duo A Simple Life have a released a track called “PokerKids” which is a live-mashup combining MGMT and Lady Gaga.

Leaves have been championing Chicago’s post jazz scene for four years now, but tonight they will perform their last show. Tyler Beach, Charles Gorczynski, Charles Rumback, & Daniel Thatcher will take the stage at The Whistler tonight at 10pm, but they are leaving one last recording in their wake. Plustapes announced last week that they have released a self-titled cassettes of some of the bands unreleased material. The actual approached the label and asked for the tape to be released before tonight’s show. Plustapes agreed and those in attendance will be the first people with the chance to buy it.

The tape is limited to 100 so fans should make their way to The Whistler tonight, and as always there is no cover at The Whistler.

Back on April 22nd we sent our photographer Daniel Bartel to The Beat Kitchen to photograph The Vindits and SimCo. You can find all of Daniel’s photos of The Vindits here and of SimCo here.

SimCo will be performing at Cole’s Bar on May 14th.

JT & The Clouds rock Giant System this week and you can check it out here.

The press release for Sonoi’s debut album defines their sound as experimental pop, and with an album that is diverse and complex I can see why they defaulted to that verbiage. However, this album is very accessible, melodic, and clearly driven more by pop than experiment. What adds that extra element and excitement are the layered and textured sound that the listen will find hidden throughout the album. Yes, there is cowbell and catchy rhythms, but the band does expand their sonic palette and breaks some patterns with horns and other surprising elements. A song the really brings all of this together is the albums very first track, “Red Ant”. The track begins with what sounds like flutes or horn and then transitions into a calculated guitar rhythm before giving way to Adam Busch’s creative vocals. My favorite track on the album is the mysterious and eerie “Rotativa”, it’s all instrumental and beautifully constructed. Coupled with the closing track, “Friends In Dry Places”, Sonoi becomes more closely related to the likes of The Books than anything else. Sonoi made it live debut just over two years ago at the Hideout, and since then have culled a strong local following that with this worldwide release on Low Transit Industries should begin to spread.

Sonoi plays at Empty Bottle on May 14th.