Shapers frontman Zaid Maxwell recently went into the studio with bandmate Amelia Styer and Patrick Brin and emerged with a track he is now giving away called "Nadya Lyons and the Imposing Peril of a Brave New World". It is a beautiful track, and you have no reason not go and grab it.

It has been awhile since Giant TV has posted a video, but today they posted their session featuring the heavy sound of Bloodiest.

Shalloboi are playing a somewhat holiday-themed show at Martyrs’ (3855 n lincoln) with Friends Having Fun (an off-shoot of Essex Chanel) and the pawns on Monday, December 13th. They will play their four-song ‘Christmas Suite’ in its entirety. The strings trio will be present at this show as well.

They’ve also completed an animated video for ‘Falling Stars’ off of their latest release ‘All Hope is Blind.’

California Wives have released another track from their debut EP Affair. The band created a lot of buzz around the track "Blood Red Youth" when they released it last month. With "Purple" you get a look a pop-filled but driving side of the band.

California Wives will be performing at Schubas on December 22nd.

Twin brothers Joseph and Erik Duemig, the co-founders of Chicago-based indie-folk band The Window Theatre, are throwing a release party for their new EP, "Away" at Subterranean on December 11th. What’s more, the twins will be celebrating their 21st birthday on stage when the clock strikes midnight. To celebrate, they will be giving away a free copy of their new EP to the first 50 people through the door, and a compilation of new music from all the bands playing the night (The Window Theatre, Carbon Tigers, Katz Company, and Late in the Playoffs) to everyone in attendance. The EP was recorded in the twins’ hometown of Austin, TX. They played every instrument on the record except for drums, which were provided by the twins’ friend and the album’s producer, Austin singer-songwriter Danny Malone. Show at 10:00 PM. Cover is $10.

Love of Everything’s (aka Bobby Burg) Daytrotter session has been posted. Two of the songs he performed appear on his recent release Best In Tensions (Polyvinyl). He is currently touring Europe opening for Joan of Arc.

On November 12th the duo known as Calm Palm Vapor released their debut album Morning Pacific. These ten tracks are a mixture of keyboards, atmospherics, and gentle pop vocals. Recorded over the course of a year, the album is simple but infectiously fun. The duo celebrated the release with a raucous show at Subterranean. Since forming in January 2010 the duo of Pierogi (melodies) and Secretwars (beats) have established a decent catalog that also includes an ep released back in September. You can stream the album on the band’s bandcamp page or purchase it digitally for just $5.

Distractions are back with a new 7" single that will be released by twosyllable records on December 7th. This is the bands first release on their new label, and comes in advance of the release of their new LP Dark Green Sea on January 18th on Infinite Best. The single will contain two tracks "We Were Better Off In The Rain" and "I Need A Reason".

Distractions will be performing at The Empty Bottle on November 27th with Bird Names, Nude Sunrise, and Wumme.

I don’t know if the Chicago music scene would be the same with out Jerry Bryant and JBTV. I found this new documentary while searching around youtube. You can really tell that it is and has been a "Labor of Love"

Arcade Sound Ltd. is home to inventive bands like Blackbird Blackbird, Memoryhouse and Teen Daze, and next month they will be releasing the debut album from Rainbo Video. The album will be called Shadow Relics and will include five new tracks including the beautifully funky "Crystal Glaciers".

Thrill Jockey announced last week that Chicago native Matthew Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) will be releasing a series of solo album through out 2011. The series will be called Solos and begin in January. There will be six album and they will be released every two months in a limited quantity of 700. Each album will be released on vinyl only and will be packaged in fully artworked jackets. The last album will be delivered to subscribers with an exclusive bonus of two exclusive full-length albums, featuring Matt and special guests on each. Subscribers will also get an LP box – old-style "Tip On" with a hand mounted photo – in which to keep the Solos LPs. Thrill Jockey also sent around the first track from the series "Shirley".

The track "Ghostsong" from Daniel Knox has been around for awhile, but the Chris Hefner directed video recently surfaced on vimeo. The track is also available as a single on iTunes.