The dream-pop duo of Fair & Kind will be performing the first ever on-line concert via ustream tonight starting at 8pm. The band is excited and a little nervous. They recommend checking their twitter feed for updates about the show. Fair & Kind released the latest full-length A Little Past Twilight back in 2008 and have been working on new music ever since. You can stream their album at their website to prep yourself for their on-line free show tonight. You can view the concert here.

Last week Empires launched a massive East Coast tour that will last will into June and will find them playing with bands like TV/TV, Lights Resolve, and Motion City Soundtrack. “Damn Things Over” is a pure rock anthem and will hopefully bring some new fans to their shows, and is one of the best tracks from their new ep Bang!.

Empires will be performing at Subt on June 6th with Lights Resolve and Harvard.

There is a new record store in town, the first in West Logan Square, and it will be celebrating its grand opening this weekend. Saki is owned by Patrick Monaghan of Carrot Top Distribution, Ltd. and Carrot Top Records. The store will carry vinyl, CDs, books, magazines, toys, and turntables, while welcoming bands for in-store performances on its modular stage. For the opening weekend they are bringing in a bunch of talented bands to perform including White Mystery, Poison Arrows, Love of Everything, Daniel Knox, Jim Becker, and a bunch of celebrity dj’s from labels like HoZac, Drag City, Kranky, and of course Carrot Top. In addition, there will be performance throughout the week from Hollows, Sadhu Sadhu, Astronomer, and Jon Landford. You can visit their events page for dates and times, but it kicks off this Saturday, May 29th at 12pm. 

Located at 3716 W Fullerton Ave., Saki is clearly launching big and with the support of the music community and has a strong future ahead of it.

This Tuesday, May 24th, marks the one year anniversary of the passing of Jay Bennett. He is most widely known for his work with Wilco, but around the city he is known for so much more. A producer, collaborator and solo artist, Jay has been missed, and now there is a way to remember him and help continue his work and legacy. The Jay Bennett Foundation will launch on May 24 on JayBennett.org, on Facebook and at Twitter. On July 10, fans will also be able to support the JBF by downloading the album Jay was completing at the time of his death. The download of Kicking at the Perfumed Air is free, but donations are accepted and will benefit the foundation or one of its partner charities. Kicking at the Perfumed Air will also be available to purchase as a CD via the site on July 10, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Foundation. “M Plates” is a track from this new album.

The Streets On Fire announced the details of their full-length debut This Is Fancy. The album will be released on July 20th via The Currency Exchange, and features 11 new tracks. Recorded over the course of four days with the help of friends at Woohoo Studios, the band kept a foot in the past using analog recording gear and tracking to a 1” 8-track MCItape machine. Mixed by Alex Gross at Chicago’s famed Studio 11 and with the mastering touch of Shellac’s Bob Weston, the result is a decadently tattered, high-energy sound with a retro-aesthetic appeal. This is the follow-up to the band’s debut EP, 2009’s Hot Weekend.

We have the first single from the album an interesting track called “No One’s F-ing to the Radio”. The Street’s on Fire will be celebrating the release of the album on July 2nd at Double Door.

Anthony Magera was born in Indiana and went to art school in Ohio. He moved to Chicago, where he has worked as a painter and actor. He writes, records and plays music under the moniker T-bird Magera, which is a nod to a childhood nickname. He lives with his gal, Mary, who bought him a guitar. T-Bird Magera will be performing May 31 at Silvie’s and on July 30 at Tonic Room.

This week the local net label Rock Proper announced that they will be releasing the latest album Jonny Rumble. The album will be released on June 15th, and will feature ten new tracks from the band. What is unique about this Rock Proper released is that it will be an actual vinyl issue (limited to 250) with a digital download. The majority of Rock Proper’s releases to this point have been free digital albums.

You can preorder JR here, and the band will be hosting a listening party of June 15th at Burlington Bar. The record release show will be on June 25th at Beat Kitchen.

To celebrate the release of their new EP Big Bang and the birthday of band member Vee, The Maybenauts are taking part in a seven band FREE show at The Darkroom this Friday. The show starts at 8pm and I recently had the chance to ask the band a few questions. You can read the interview here.

The first lady of Chicago hip hop Psalm One (sorry Kid Sis…) released a new ep called Women @ Work earlier this month. The ep is free and preview of what is to come on her debut on Rhymesayers Entertainment. Go download the ten track ep and blast it!

The latest album for the prolific band Berry was released yesterday by Indiana’s Joyful Noise. Joey Lemon, Paul Goodenough, Shane Bordeau, Matt Aufrecht formed the band in 2002, but didn’t arrive in Chicago until 2007. In the last eight years the band has written and recorded over 100 songs and have released 10 albums and eps. Blue Sky, Raging Sun is the bands eleventh release and their first since singing with Joyful Noise back in March. What is interesting about this album and its sound is that the band decided to stop touring by van and only traveled by train while writing this album. The result is a new sound that is both fresh and classic at the same time. The album is a twelve track travelogue of sorts and pop adventure at every turn.

Yes, it’s Tuesday night, but sometimes a show is just so good that you have to make a point to attend. Tonight that show is the Love of Everything record release show at Empty Bottle. Best In Tensions is the latest release from the duo of Bobby Burg and Elisse La Roche. Over the years the band has received additional help fromTim Kinsella (Joan of Arc, Make Believe), Jeremy Bolen (Chin Up Chin Up), Jeanine O’Toole (1900s) and others. I haven’t heard what the line-up will be tonight, but the show is only $5 at the door and with an album like Best In Tensions to support it will be a great time.

Also appearing tonight at Empty Bottle will be Loose Dudes and Calibrated Crematorium. The show begins at 9pm.

Over the weekend we sent our photographer Shalimar Beekman to Double Door to capture a few images of The Last Vegas.