It’s hard to believe that Kelsey Wild is just 19, and just starting out her career as a musician. Yet, it is true, and there is this unmistakable maturity and depth in her voice that tells you she belongs. It also tells you where she’s been, that she’s been in love, and that she’ll be a star. What first caught my eye with Kelsey Wild was a video that the talent JM Harper did for her a few months ago for the song “Drunken Sailor”. Not only is the video incredible, but Kelsey’s song is captivating even without the great images and effects. She has been releasing songs through her blog all summer, and is currently a freshman at Northwestern. Earlier this month she played both Schubas and SPACE, and will be making her big national debut at SXSW in March 2010. I hope every one is ready for an amazing young talent.

Hello Rabble Rabble here, First off we want to thank the Deli Magazine Chicago for giving us the opportunity and putting us up on the November band of the month poll. Also thanks a huge amount to all of our fans and friends for voting and getting us the win. It means a lot to know that we have so much support and love from all of you. It keeps us going and inspires us to write and perform awesome rock and roll for you all. We just finished our Gallery of Carpets session and wanted to share the finished product with everyone. I know that you are dying to see what your efforts produced. We spent a good four hours recording and mixing two of our recent songs and they are rockin’. So go to our my space and check em out or download them for free and listen to them when ever you feel you need it! Oww! Thanks again and much love to you all. (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

If you are looking to experience something a little different tonight then I suggest you make to Empty Bottle tonight in time to see the opening band All The Creatures of The Sea. Todd Leibov and George Monteleone approach music from the realm of sonic exploration, and not nessacrily melody. The build these experimental swirling pools of sound and then let patterns and rhythms leak out. Especially while on stage, this duo is firmly planted in the field of improved sound, but this is what makes the outcome so exciting. Just as when floating in the sea the adventure and pleasure is in the unknown. It is in that chance that something magical might balanced with the risk of disaster. All of this lies in the hands and in the sound of All of the Creatures of the Sea. When you visit the bands myspace page you will notice that they have three newer demos, and each work to demonstrate the progress the band has made in the last few years. They is depth and excitement, and energy that can only be felt live. Doors open at 9:30 and tickets are $8, also appearing is Conductive Alliance and Montreal’s Winter Gloves. 

Player 1 is a name you may have seen pop up a few times this past year on albums from Remote Control Frequencies and Slow Gun Shogun, but now he has released two album filled with his private creations. The US release is called Music for Pornos, and is filled with a variety of loops and instruments romps through darker side of the Player 1 sounds. What’s interesting is that if he had not named the album what he did I don’t think I would have thought porno when I heard them. This are really fine examples of instrumental hip hop and funk. Released on November 24th, Music For Pornos is not as filled with musical cheese as you would think. In fact, Player 1 is able to balance the elements that you would expect from instrumental hip hop, but blends elements of rock and electronic music. In fact some of the track are full blown rock tracks. This balance fosters an element of surprise and a well-rounded collection. One interesting feature of Music for Pornos are the titles Player 1 has chosen. Almost all of the tracks are named after items of food, that’s right food. I suppose a 9 ½ weeks reference is in order but I’m not sure that was the intent. From honey to tomato to yam to radish, the foods seem to be random and take some of the porno steam away. Overall, Player 1 has managed to utilize the equipment and skill he has packed into his Stray Dog Studio and turn out a soundtrack not just to a porno or a meal, but to life.

Flashwork is actually a new Swedish duo that is making some noise by remixing the best the indie world has to offer. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had taken a crack at one of Chicago’s finest, Keith Masters. They have taken Masters’ electro-banger and turned it into a light, synth filled ode the best the ‘80’s had to offer. “I Love To Floss” is the track and it original appeared on his recent ep Discotheque which was released over the summer.

Greenkeepers make some of the most creative videos in town, and the video for “Lotion” has always been their strangest.

It’s been awhile since Daytrotter has featured a Chicago band, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a new session from Sleep Out on the site today. It was the summer of 2008 that Sleep Out released their second album Not Even Dust. This session features two songs from that album, and two previously unreleased songs.

Sleep Out will be performing on December 5th at Beat Kitchen with Field Music and Canasta.

ADVENT: A Modern Bible is the new album from emcee Gilead7 (G7) and producer I.B. Fokuz. The album will be released in December by The Secret Life of Sound, but to give you a taste of this epic project DJ Seanile has skillfully arranged a mix of the album. The goal of the ADVENT series is to snatch the ethics of several religious traditions and philosophies and show how they relate to issues of ecology, politics, racial identity, class, and the esoteric practice of spirituality. In other words, ADVENT takes in the way of the modern world as it is, and gives back to you an up to date natural way of life by which one can (they believe) create positive evolution within it. This is a message of hope during a time of need. This one makes a place for all religious or non-religious positions, its creed encompassing the most devout Hindu to the nihilistic atheist. Justice for all creation and responsibility for those other than oneself are the only non-negotiable factors. However, these boys since have fun, and absolutely have some crazy skills. This is a personal journey that these two have chosen to share with the city they love and with the world.

You can grab Seanile’s mix here (mp3) and keep an eye out for the album at TSLOS.

Over the summer the local cassette label Plus Tapes released a very popular cassette from noise rockers Implodes. The cassette was so popular that in September the label had to print up a second run. Their brand of rock falls in line with those bands that deal in sonic exploration and developing complex layers of noise and melody. Their songs have this loose structure that lends itself nicely to live sets that turn into fields of white noise and haze. Matt Jencik, Ken Camden, Emily Elhaj, and Justin Rathell all play distinct roles in the band, but when performing or recording everything seems to melt together into a wall of music that is a forceful and seductive as anything I’ve heard this year.

You can feel the noise in person this Monday at The Whistler (just Matt & Ken) or on December 6th at Empty Bottle with Magical Beautiful and Above/Below Sea Level.

It’s been almost a year and a half since the uniquely experimental Renee-Louise Carafice released her debut album Tells You to Fight. Her music is lo-fi folk with slight electronic elements, but it is more her quirky lyrics that give off an experimental feel. Take the first single, “Bodhisattva” (mp3), from her album for example, and her wondering tales of youth romance. She adds all of these wild references and images that catch the listener by surprise. That’s not to mention her tiger mask! That inventive storytelling continues throughout the album in tracks like “House on Fire” and “A Kick To The Head”, and are even more endearing because for her soft and breathy vocals at times. If you’ve missed out on Caraface’s debut I suggest you take a listen and try to check her out live.

Renee-Louise Caraface is performing four shows in the first eight days of December. She will be at The Whistler on Dec. 1st, Empty Bottle on Dec. 2nd, Elastic Arts on Dec 5th, and Funhouse Collective on Dec. 8th.

I’m not sure if Thanksgiving weekend is the best time for the blues, but perhaps you didn’t get the wishbone or didn’t make it to the Best Buy in time to get the best deal or possibly you wasted your morning in a mile long line. Whatever the reason if you feel your life could use a bit of the blues then you need to check out sound and soul of Rough Cut. These four musicians have a knack for making the blues fun, loud, and exciting. Rough Cut makes pro-quality, live recordings of each show in order to keep popular songs featured on their web page fresh, and listeners coming back. They offer free, constantly updated live versions of popular tracks on their web page, which is a unique strategy developed in order to keep fan content fresh. This also gives potential fans a good idea of the live experience may be like. So after you have your cold turkey sandwich head out to Bird’s Nest this Saturday (11/28) and check out Cris Lauer, Mike Tate, Josh Izzo, and Tom Rogus of Rough Cut.

We still have not seen an official release date for Rhymefest’s new album El Che, but he did release two videos from the album over the last year. MTV announced this week that both videos, “Chicago” and “Stolen” will premier on MTV Jams this Friday (11/27). Both videos were produced by the talented Chicago video director Konee Rok.