DJ Top 5 Lists
We regularly ask some of the CHIRP Radio DJs to put together a list of the 5 albums they are currently enjoying the most — four from current rotation and one older pick from the back catalog. You can check them out here.
Lawrence Peters 07.04.10
- Konono N°1 Assume Crash Position (Crammed)
A rattling, fiery trance of a record from the Republic of Congo. The ideal mix of tradition and DIY technology. This record is what summer was made for.
- Ty Segall Melted (Goner)
Glammy, T. Rex influenced rock, formerly on much-loved Chicago label HoZac. Some of the songs get lost in a noodly haze, but standout tracks like “Girlfriend,” “Imaginary Person” (once it gets going), and “Bees” might inspire one to shake a tail feather.
- Orgone Cali Fever (Ubiquity)
An amazing album of vintage-style funk and r&b that doesn’t sound like a collection of used parts. This is that rare group that manages to deliver the grooves, without ruining them with self-consciousness, or modern updates. It sounds like the real thing, because it is.
- Kathryn Calder Are You My Mother? (File Under: Music)
An charmingly recorded album from this newer member of The New Pornographers. The best songs here are little gems of folky, indie-pop sweetness, or gently soaring piano sketches. There are many moments here that are like looking through a box of old color photographs with a favorite relative.
- Frank Budgen The Legend of Frank Budgen Vol. 1 (Specific)
This is my favorite record of the last few years: a posthumously compiled EP of dark, driving melodies and intense and honest lyrics. Little is known of Budgen, but in these six songs he makes it clear that he lived his life with few filters, feeling everything fully, and channeling the experiences into his work. This is the kind of record that many musicians aspire to, but few manage to make, and it is likely that this uncontrolled burn is what took him from us so early.
Kristin Marks 06.20.10
- Sleigh Bells Treats (Mom+Pop)
This record was cooked in a meth lab! I cannot get enough of this concoction of lo-fi electro beats and cheerleader lyrics about sunglasses and braces. There are a lot of kids out there doing this electro low fi video game sounding stuff but for some reason this one is perfect. It speaks to me. And my booty. The day that “Crown on the Ground” gets out of my head will be a big day. I cannot wait to see them at Pitchfork in a few weeks!
- Cave Pure Moods EP (Drag City)
Chicago’s psychadelic gods Cave are back with more magic. This disc is a slow burner of awesomeness. Three tracks short, this EP makes me so hungry for whatever they come up with next. After their Psychic Psummer LP from last year, it’s good to have a little dose of their sludgy rock back in my life again.
- Dara Puspita Dara Puspita 1966-68 (Sublime Frequencies)
Kickass Indonisian girl group garage from the 60s? Yes, please! Ever since first hearing of this group when I picked up a couple of cassettes from Chicago’s Plustapes, I have been blown away. Incredibly soulful, catchy and dancey, I cannot believe how good this band is. Dara Puspita is the perfect girl group music. Each track is so strong, it is amazing this music has been so hard to find until recently. This collection of tracks goes everywhere from deep dark love songs to poppy go-go tracks and everywhere in between. This record is better than ice cream.
- Young Rival Young Rival (Sonic Unyon)
Something about this record has a distinct familirity that you can’t put your finger on. These punky summery jams have a vintage pop feel to them with a great new twist. Perfect music for kickin’ it in the summertime. Classic, simple rock and effing roll. It’s perfect.
- Disappears Lux (kranky)
I tried to put this record away and it just wasn’t happening. The epitome of simple, chord-driven, straightforward drudgy lo-fi rock. These Chicago boys have created a damn near perfect record. After hearing a few of their 7” over the past year, I cannot explain how thrilled I was to have a full-length feast from them that did not dissapoint. Beautifully done and on kranky! Chicago!
Andy Weber 06.13.10
- Stephen Paul Smoker Violent Sun/ Violent Fun EP (Kilo)
Stephen Paul Smoker is yet another great example of the amazing artists we have right here in our backyard. This debut EP clocks in at 27 minutes and there is not one second wasted. Stephen shows an incredible wide range of songwriting style and skill. In this day and age I need an artist that can show me their range of influence all within one album and Stephen Paul Smoker delivers. I am sold and I am looking forward to more great things from this Chicago artist.
- Suckers Wild Smile (Frenchkiss)
Hailing from Brooklyn makes me draw some parallels to another once promising Brooklyn band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Yet the Suckers’ debut full-length has a more diverse and well rounded sound. It makes me think that this is what CYHSY would sound like today had they continued to make good music after their debut 5 years ago.
- Here We Go Magic Pigeons (Secretly Canadian)
Diversity of sound within one album is a theme for me right now and Pigeons brings just that to the table. Here We Go Magic runs through a number of different sounds which really kicks for yet another great Brooklyn band.
- Cave Pure Moods EP (Drag City)
OK, enough about Brooklyn — let’s get back to Chicago. Cave dishes out another EP, and it really does prove that sometimes doing a really great EP is better than wasting our time with throwaway tracks on an LP. If you have caught some of my recent shows you may have noticed that I have been in an instrumental mood lately and Cave graces us with a gem of one here with “Brigitte’s Trip (White Light/White Jazz).”
- Gonjasufi A Sufi and a Killer (Warp)
This album was introduced into the CHIRP rotation back in February and I will admit, on my first listen through the disc I found it to be too weird of a trip for me. I could handle a few tracks but I dismissed the rest as being too bizarre and unconventional for my tastes. So in April I was on a plane to New Orleans for the weekend and I was reading a music mag which had a rave review of A Sufi and a Killer. I had the album on my iPod so I felt I had to give it another listen and I thank the heavens above that I did that. Maybe it was cocktail #2 at 30,000 feet or my relaxed state of being headed to New Orleans for the weekend but listening to Gonjasufi that afternoon was a religious experience for me. Now it is easily one of my favorite albums of the year! Lesson learned.
Julie Atomic 06.06.10
- Kurt Vile Square Shells EP (Matador)
Thanks to Kurt Vile’s (yes, his real name) father for encouraging young Kurt’s musical proclivities at an early age – years later, KV’s simple melodies, warm guitar handling, eloquent phrasings, and careful song construction conjure such pleasant associations: an old friend visiting from the other side of the world, a slow, shady picnic in the deep summer, midnight bike rides to the lake. This sweet little EP’s not quite enough really – think of it as an essential stop-gap between his last and next full record. Patience, anyone?
- Mynabirds What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood (Saddle Creek)
Why is it songs of heartbreak often uplift so deftly? Part soul, part gospel, part croonfest, part toe-tapper, What We Lose… soothes the furrowed brow every time. Channeling Dusty Springfield in one ear and Chan Marshall in the other, (and the actual Mynah Birds in both) the Mynabirds have brushed the bullseye with this, their debut(!) release.
- Sweet Talks The Kusum Beat (Soundway)
What’s there not to love about gen-u-ine Ghanaian highlife music from the ’70s? Sweet Talks formed as a hotel house band in the port town of Tema, then became one of the hottest bands of the decade, infusing their traditional roots music with more modern jazz and soul stylings. Thank the stars for reissues, and the Soundway label for THIS infectious one.
- Zs New Slaves (Social Registry)
Because sometimes you simply need skronky, unfettered, electro-arrhythmic, over-caffeinated free-jazz from the frontline of Brooklyn’s avant / improv/ noise scene. Not often, but sometimes.
- Eluvium Similes (Temporary Residence Limited)
Months after its release, I’m still hooked on this piano-laden, rhythmic immersion into melody, reflection, electronic wash and the equivalent of a cool spring rain shower falling softly in your ears. Matthew Cooper’s singing (rare for Eluvium) first shocked, then entranced me, and now I’m hopelessly/happily addicted. Plus the opening track includes these lyrics: “Over-analyzing how the leaves eclipse the light.” So perfect.
Emily Agustin 05.30.10
- Glenn Branca The Ascension: The Sequel (Systems Neutralizers)
The long-awaited sequel to 1981’s Ascension from legendary avant-garde composer and artsy fartsy noise rock guitar god Glenn Branca. Dissonant and minimalistic, yet totally rockin’.
- Mulatu Astatke Mulatu Steps Ahead (Strut)
Chill and jazzy, this record makes me want to wear pencil skirts and sip martinis. A beautiful and timeless record from vibraphonist and father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke.
- The Fall Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)
The Fall’s TWENTY-EIGHTH record finds Mr. Mark E. Smith in fine form. Fuzzed out bass lines and distortion galore, plus a cover of the Wanda Jackson hit, “Funnel of Love.” You can’t go wrong.
- Radar Eyes Radar Eyes (Plustapes)
Local band Radar Eyes is rock done right: lo-fi, high energy. This EP, released on Chicago’s own cassette-only Plustapes label, is on near-constant rotation in my car (the only place I still have a tape deck). Reverb-drenched post-punk with a hard-hitting female drummer? I heart it.
- My Teenage Stride Lesser Demons (self-released)
Equal parts Jesus and Mary Chain, Belle and Sebastian, and Love, My Teenage Stride is pure garage pop bliss. With a jangly, angular, proto-punk sound, I was surprised to find that this Brooklyn quartet is contemporary. Lucky for us, because that increases the likelihood of touring and new albums and such.
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