I Lost Control is excited to announce a release for its debut EP, "Cones & Arrows" early Spring. The 5 song disc was recorded at Million Yen Studios in October. "Andy Gerber at the Yen and Collin Jordan at Boiler Room did a great job of capturing the intensity of our live shows on the disc. We’re very pleased with the result." stated Steven Anderson, lead singer for the band. "We’re glad we had the opportunity to get these songs down before Grant [Davidson, ILC’s bassist] left the band." In addition to a CD, the band plans to release a limited edition vinyl 12". The album is also available on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, and Rhapsody. The band has been rehearsing with a new bass player and is in the process of scheduling a CD release show in the Spring.

Adam James and vocalist/drummer/bassist Kyle Victor formed the band Gypsyblood in 2009 after the breakup of their previous band. Last Winter the duo recorded over 30 tracks working on their own in an old building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The songs were captured on equipment normally used for film audio recording. The openness of the building and method of recording both lend themselves to the lo-fi and raw sound the band. Gypsyblood’s style is a noisy approach to classic pop, and their debut album Cold In the Guestway will be released by Sargent House on April 12th.

The duo will be performing at Beat Kitchen on Feb. 11th and at Lincoln Hall with Maps & Atlases on March 11th before heading down to SXSW.

Casey Meehan (Rock Proper, Jitney) has been a long time supporter of Chicago Music and on Feb. 14th he is launching a new site and service called Chicago Mixtape. Its mission is simple: a mailing list that continuously connects Chicago music fans to progressive local bands by supplying a weekly compilation of high quality MP3s to its subscribers.

Fans who subscribe before midnight on Valentine’s day will instantly receive a bonus “Starter Mixtape” featuring unreleased material from long standing Chicago favorites Oh My God as well as the buzz-worthy new soul band JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound and more.

White Mystery has announced the details of their next release, and the follow-up to their self-titled, self-released debut LP. The album will be called Blood & Venom, and will be released on April 20th.

The duo is performing on Feb. 14th at Empty Bottle and then playing three shows at SXSW. The release party for Blood & Venom will be held at Pancho’s on April 20th. Starting at 6PM today (2/9), the first fifty patrons who walk into the Whistler receive a copy of the limited edition 7-inch record, a split with Black Apple that features “Take a Walk” live by White Mystery at the Hideout the Whistler Records released last year.

Maps & Atlases session with Laundromatinee (the live video performance series from My Old Kentucky Blog) was released yesterday. The band performed three songs from their 2010 debut album Perch Patchwork (Carpark), and a cover of Bob Marley’s "Redemption Song".

The band will be performing at Lincoln Hall on March 11th.

The Pilsen band Ornery Little Darlings recently released a free digital ep called "Ooh-La-La" and now have teamed up with Lumpen Magazine to kick off Valentine’s Day Weekend in an interesting and provocative way. The band were enamored with Lumpen’s 1995 sex issue, and decided that they would dedicate their February 11 hometown show to that particular rag. Not only that, but the band will also curate Lumpen’s next sex issue, on stands in July. They will also be giving away copies of the 1995 at the show. While the band (Emmi Chen, Jason Ewers and Paul Puschatz) performs, erotic artist Tom Torluemke will unveil never-before-seen paintings and sculptures of the hot and heavy variety. Meanwhile, chocolatier Jered Brown will tickle your tongue with velvety truffles and sticky caramels that will have you begging for more.

Also, performing at Co Prosperity Sphere on Feb. 11th will be The Loneliest Monk, Grace Kulp and Cleveland’s HotChaCha.

The latest video session from Giant System features the band Stranger Waves.

I normally don’t post live video’s but this video of Scattered Trees live at Schubas was well put together and the sound quality is pretty good.

The band will be performing again at Schubas on March 3rd before heading down to SXSW.

Plustapes recently announced that their next release will be the new solo album from Brian Griffith of Very Truly Yours and L’éternèbre. When Griffith is on his own he calls himself Grey Ghost. The six track cassettee, Songs To Wake Up To, is a beautiful collection of piano, synth, and other enchanting and peaceful sounds. You hear samples of each of the tracks over at Plustapes. Below is the video for the track "Hot Mess"

Sad Brad Smith has released a video created by the talented Bernie McGovern for his track "Old Days are Here Again". Sad Brad Smith will be performing a free show at The Whistler on on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14th) at 9pm. 

Starting in February, The Whistler (2421 N. Milwaukee) will be giving away 50 Free Records! According the bar, it is their mission to introduce people to the music that they love, so every Wednesday they will be giving away 50 free records to the first 50 patrons who visit The Whistler. Each week in February, it will be a different release from the Whistler Records catalog. In the coming months they will also be featuring exclusive releases from some of their favorite local record labels and bands.

The Giving Tree Band will be performing at Mayne Stage tomorrow with Hoots & Hellmouth. The will be performing a new track, "Silent Man" from their next record. The video above is from their acoustic performance for Our Vinyl.