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CHIRP Music Trivia: Nothing But Flowers
Beermiscuous
2812 N Lincoln
Chicago
,
IL
60657
CHIRP Welcomes: Minor Moon
Lincoln Hall
2424 N Lincoln Avenue
Chicago
,
IL
60614
(773) 525-2501
18+
CHIRP is excited to welcome Chicago's own Minor Moon to Lincoln Hall on Friday, April 19th!
At the heart of Minor Moon’s open-ended and knotty country rock songs is an undeniably inviting lightness. While the Chicago-based songwriter and bandleader Sam Cantor writes impressionistic songs about the end of the world, they’re wrapped in such a warm blanket of lush guitars and pastoral twang that they always leave a hopeful spark.
On their latest LP, The Light Up Waltz, Cantor sings of the fantastical in magical traveling bands, swaying bridges, and aquamarine metamorphoses. Still, he’s concerned with fundamentally human questions about who we are and how we reinvent ourselves when everything crumbles around us.
CHIRP WELCOMES: Oneohtrix Point Never
Metro
3730 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60613
Chicago
,
IL
60613
(773)-549-4140
CHIRP is excited to welcome Onohtrix Point Never to Metro on Tuesday, April 23rd!
Daniel Lopatin is a Brooklyn-based musician, composer, and Mercury Prize nominated producer who records and performs as Oneohtrix Point Never. Daniel has released numerous critically acclaimed albums, including his tenth and latest LP, “Again,” in October 2023 — his most expansive work to date.
Lopatin was the Musical Director for The Weeknd’s 2021 Super Bowl Half-Time performance and that year also composed and performed the music for Chanel’s Métiers d’art A/W show. In 2022, he produced Soccer Mommy’s album, “Sometimes, Forever” and was an Executive Producer on The Weeknd’s worldwide #1 charted album, “Dawn FM.” He also performs on a majority of the songs on the album. He has collaborated with numerous artists including James Blake, Ishmael Butler, Charli XCX, Kelsey Lu, Iggy Pop, Rosalia and his production credits include The Weeknd, Anohni, FKA Twigs, David Byrne, Moses Sumney, Nine Inch Nails and MGMT.
CHIRP Welcomes: Owen
Empty Bottle
1035 N. Western Avenue
Chicago
,
IL
60622
(773) 276-3600
21+
On Thursday, April 25th, CHIRP welcomes Owen, the solo project of Mike Kinsella, to the Empty Bottle!
Spanning more than two decades, Kinsella's widely influential songwriting has steadily sharpened and evolved with each new chapter. In his solo vehicle as Owen (in addition to his roles along the way with American Football, Cap'n Jazz, the more recent LIES, and other collaborative ventures), Kinsella’s ability to seamlessly stitch jagged emotional currents into crushingly beautiful songs has remained at the forefront of his art.
This contrast has become more distinct as Owen expanded from unassuming acoustic beginnings into more ornate production, reaching new levels of complexity and clarity by the release of 2020’s The Avalanche.
The Falls of Sioux, Kinsella’s newest Owen full-length, levels up even further. As much as these nine songs represent a type of reinvention, they also feel like the natural next step in Kinsella’s growth, both artistic and personal. Heavy themes are turned over with a gentle hand, and Kinsella inhabits the deeper perspectives that come with hard-earned life experience.
CHIRP Night at the Whistler with The Curls and The God Awful Small Affairs
The Whistler
2421 N. Milwaukee
Chicago
,
IL
60647
(773) 227-3530
21+
On Sunday, April 28th, CHIRP Night at the Whistler returns with The Curls and The God Awful Small Affairs!
Every last Sunday of the month is CHIRP Night at the Whistler — an evening where you can enjoy the music of CHIRP-curated local artists, the Whistler’s take on classic cocktails, and the good feeling of supporting independent radio.
This April, we're excited to welcome Chicago's own The Curls and The God Awful Small Affairs to the Whistler stage. As usual, there is no cover for this 21 and over event, and The God Awful Small Affairs kick it all off around 8:30pm.
CHIRP Welcomes: Land of Talk
Schubas
3159 N. Southport
Chicago
,
IL
60657
(773) 525-2508
18+
On Monday, April 29th, CHIRP welcomes Land of Talk to Schubas!
Indistinct Conversations is Land of Talk’s fourth LP, and the first after the intensely turbulent creation of 2017’s Life After Youth, during which singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell's father had a massive stroke and Powell contemplated giving up music entirely.
The new album is a dreamier, more acoustic-driven work than prior Land of Talk releases; it was produced with drummer Mark “Bucky” Wheaton and bass player Chris McCarron in Wheaton’s home studio, and has the intimacy of a private document. The songs were created as a therapeutic space where Powell could retreat from the world.
This process included embracing their identity as a non-binary femme, who uses the pronouns she/they. Powell describes the album’s first single, “Weight of That Weekend,” as “a recognition of having been on the receiving end of a lifetime of sexual coercion, assault, boundary violations, and subsequent gaslighting.”
That radical self-acceptance, the ability to speak in one’s own voice, is the hallmark of Indistinct Conversations.
Both Sides Now: A CHIRP Vinyl Listening Bar
Schubas
3159 N. Southport
Chicago
,
IL
60657
(773) 525-2508
21+
Step into a realm where the music takes center stage and vinyl records reign supreme.
Introducing Both Sides Now: A CHIRP Vinyl Listening Bar -- a monthly oasis for music aficionados and introverts alike. Nestled in the cozy upstairs room of Schubas Tavern, this unique event happens every first Wednesday of the month.
Join us upstairs at Schubas! The decks start spinning at 7:30pm.
This month's menu comes from DJ Alex Gilbert: "Scene Change: Moments of Evolution".
Aretha Franklin once said, "Music changes, and I'm gonna change right along with it." But sometimes it's the change itself—in circumstance, in location, in relationship, in life—that helps to make the music what it is. This will be a reflection on several artists, focusing on specific moments in their careers where they embraced (and encouraged) notable changes within their life and their music. These albums are documents of those specific times; like photographs, they're snapshots of one stage in their evolution.
Rickie Lee Jones - Girl at Her Volcano EP (1983)
In 1979 Rickie Lee Jones released her breakout self-titled debut to critical acclaim, following it up in 1981 with Pirates, partially chronicling her difficult break-up with Tom Waits in the wake of her unexpected success. Two years later, Jones self-produced (and drew the cover art for) this EP of mostly jazz and pop standards, featuring both live and studio recordings of songs about relationships and lost love. Obviously there was some personal processing still happening then, as seen by the post-breakup song "Hey, Bub" (the one original track), and the decision to include a cover of Waits' "Rainbow Sleeves," recorded in 1978 when they were still together. Jones needed a change. That would come in the form of her kicking an intense drug habit, then promptly moving to Paris to work on her next full album and get her life back together. Girl at Her Volcano gives us a peek into a moment of immense growth, both artistically and personally, and the result is beautifully bittersweet.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Keyboard Fantasies (1986)
Upon initial release, this self-produced, cassette-only album sold just a handful of copies. At the time, Canadian (though born and raised in Philadelphia) musician and singer Beverly Glenn-Copeland had released two albums of bluesy folk music, and had a job writing songs and performing for children's television programs. Partly in reaction to the restrictions of writing for kids, Keyboard Fantasies went in an intentionally drastic new musical direction. Glenn-Copeland combined his burgeoning passion for new technology (only using a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer and Roland TR-707 drum machine) with his love of the serene Canadian landscape in which it was written. The result is an ethereal new age electronic album that calls to mind the peacefulness of Ontario's woods and lakes, the meditative positivity of Glenn-Copeland's Buddhist practices, and the soulful rhythms of a parent trying to lull their child to sleep. Perhaps the most notable aspect of Keyboard Fantasies is that it didn't gain widespread recognition until 30 years after its first release, only beginning to garner acclaim in late 2015 when an influential Japanese music collector drew attention to it— introducing it to a welcoming new audience. This album was not only created during a period of marked musical change, but has had a huge change in how it's been received over the years, as has Glenn-Copeland himself, coming out as a trans man in the early 2000s. It's exciting to see an artist's career being refreshed and reignited, prompting further evolution for a musician who, now at 80, still has more to offer the world.
Sam Prekop - Sam Prekop (1999)
Local musician Sam Prekop may still be best known for his tenure with Chicago post-rock mainstays The Sea and Cake. He put out four albums with them in the 90s before releasing his self-titled solo debut in 1999. This is an album that couldn't have been made at any other time, blending the jazz-leaning indie rock of TSAC with breezy hints of Brazilian pop and mellow arrangements that foreshadow Prekop's decidedly more ambient solo work yet to come. It's a reminder that change (in this case, striking out on your own) can be fruitful. And I have to mention the players— it's a who's who of local heavy hitters: Prekop's TSAC bandmate Archer Prewitt, Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground), Joshua Abrams (Town & Country, Natural Information Society), Rob Mazurek (Chicago Underground, Exploding Star Orchestra), and Jim O'Rourke on production. Prekop has made a lot of great records over the past several decades, but this one holds up as one of his finest.
Joni Mitchell - Shine (2007)
A singer-songwriter with a longer and more acclaimed career than most, Joni Mitchell got her start in the 1960s, performing in small Canadian nightclubs and coffee shops. She achieved widespread fame starting in the late 60s with a series of iconic folk albums, embraced jazz and an expanding roster of collaborators throughout the 70s, explored more pop-oriented and electronic sounds during the 80s, and experienced a resurgence in the 90s, releasing celebrated albums that called back to her early work. In 2002, Mitchell officially retired from music, frustrated about the state of the industry, which is why her release of 2007's Shine was such a surprise. Her first album of original music in a decade (and her last to date), Shine provided an outlet for a restless soul to say her piece about the environment, the war in Iraq, and to find a bit of solace in a tumultuous world. With Joni Mitchell's recent resurgence back into the spotlight, it seems only appropriate to revisit this lush, late masterpiece from an artist who's been a true changemaker over the past half a century.
CHIRP Welcomes: CSS
Lincoln Hall
2424 N Lincoln Avenue
Chicago
,
IL
60614
(773) 525-2501
18+
CHIRP is thrilled to welcome Brazilian indie rockers CSS back to Lincoln Hall for the first time in eleven years on Wednesday, May 8th!
When the members of CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy) slowly started drifting away from the project in 2014, it wasn’t due to a lack of passion. Rather, they decided to pursue other projects because the band had become a job—an ironic twist considering its members started the group to get out of the monotony of day jobs.
Fast forward 20 years and the band is bringing its vaunted live show back on the road—a decade after they decided that playing shows nine months out of the year wasn’t sustainable.
Armed with a revived live show, CSS is bringing their signature hits back to venues across the world, getting back on the road because there’s nothing better than globetrotting and partying in new cities with your best friends.
CHIRP WELCOMES: Miirrors
Chop Shop
2033 W. North Avenue
Chicago
,
IL
60647
773-537-4440
18+
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On Saturday, May 11th, CHIRP welcomes Miirrors to Chop Shop!
Motion and Picture, the band's 2023 debut album, was a work-in-progress for many years -- 22 years to be exact. Yet for band leaders Brian McSweeney and Shawn Rios, the decades spent collaborating and perfecting their sound were well worth it creatively.
The two met serendipitously. Strangers, Rios and McSweeney sat near each other on the same plane headed to Atlanta 22 years ago. McSweeney was listening to music on a Sony Discman and shared a Sigur Rós song with Rios.
He said, “‘Hey man, listen to this.’ And that was literally the first thing he ever said to me. And I did,” Rios recalled.
After exchanging information, the two kept in touch throughout the years -- whether in line at shows or through the city’s eclectic music scene -- until McSweeney moved back to Chicago in 2014. As their friendship grew over time (and after the two eventually left their previous bands), their time making music together became a reality.
CHIRP Welcomes: Chastity Belt
Lincoln Hall
2424 N Lincoln Avenue
Chicago
,
IL
60614
(773) 525-2501
18+
CHIRP is happy to welcome Chastity Belt to Lincoln Hall on Sunday, May 12th!
Chastity Belt’s energy is like a circuit, circling around the silly and the sincere. Tongue-in-cheek shit-shooting and existential rumination feed into each other infinitely.
Theirs is a long-term relationship, and that loop sustains them. That’s a creative thesis in and of itself, but isn’t that also just the mark of a true-blue friendship?
The band talks a lot about intention these days—how to be more present with each other. The four piece is nine years deep in this, after all. It seems now, more than ever, that circuit is a movement of intentionality, one that creates a space inside which they can be themselves, among themselves.
It’s a space where the euphoria of making music with your best friends is protected from the outside world’s churning expectations. It’s a kind of safe zone for the band to occupy as their best selves: a group of friends who love each other.
May CHIRP DJ Night at the Native!
The Native
2417 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago
,
IL
60647
(872) 206-5526
21+
Every 2nd Tuesday of the month is CHIRP DJ Night at the Native! This May, CHIRP DJ Ninja spins her favorites at The Native on 05/14 from 9pm to close!
There is no cover for this event, and a portion of the bar proceeds helps support CHIRP Radio
/ / The 2nd CHIRP Music Film Festival
Davis Theater
4614 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago
,
IL
60625
(773) 769-3999
All Ages
CHIRP is proud to present the return of its music film festival! Featuring seven music documentaries and concert films, the second CHIRP Music Film Festival has something for every kind of music lover!
The fest takes place at the historic Davis Theater.
This year, by request, we now have festival passes available at an early bird rate of $50 only through April 20.
Tickets and festival passes available here.
Schedule and event details below!
Friday, May 17
8:00 PM - Melomaniac, Dir: Katlin Schneider; 2023 (70 mins.)
Starting in the 1980s, Aadam Jacobs has recorded audio of every live show he’s attended in Chicago. Since then, Jacobs has built an impressive archive of more than 30,000 performances, recording early sets from such bands as The Flaming Lips, Nirvana, and Sonic Youth. Melomaniac explores the impact of one man’s passion and obsession for Chicago’s music scene, with interviews from local music icon Jon Langford and Portlandia star Fred Armisen, to conversations with the owners of longstanding Chicago venues like The Metro.
Saturday, May 18th
1:00 PM - Joan Baez: I Am a Noise, Dir: Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle, Karen O’Connor; 2023 (113 mins.)
Memories can bring “diamonds and rust,” and in this deep and meditative documentary, Joan Baez has an entire storage unit full of them! Using unreleased home movies, artwork, diaries, therapy tapes, and audio recordings, I Am a Noise takes an honest look back at the sixty-year career of the Queen of Folk. Not only surveying her career as a folk singer and Civil Rights activist, but also her personal battles with panic attacks and familial abuse.
4:00 PM - Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, Dir: Sophie Fiennes; 2017 (115 mins.)
Don’t expect a proper retrospective from an artist who once boasted “I only move forwards, never backwards, darling!” Part biographical documentary and part concert film, Bloodlight and Bami captures two worlds of the iconoclastic singer: devoted Jamaican daughter and multifaceted artist. Weaved in between are live performances that are—like Jones herself—visually thrilling and audibly rousing. Pull up to the bumper, baby—you won’t want to miss this film!
8:00 PM - Urgh! A Music War, Dir: Derek Burbidge; 1981 (96 mins.)
In the early 80s some just wanted their MTV, while others craved an all-out war. Urgh! A Music War isn’t exactly a “Battle of the Bands” competition as much as it is a time capsule smorgasbord of every influential genre of the decade—Punk, New Wave, Techno—splattered together in a series of live acts from across the US and Europe. Featuring unforgettable performances from The Cramps, Devo, The Go-Go’s, Gary Numan, Oingo Boingo, The Police and MANY others, this concert film will have you out of your seat and moshing down the aisles. Live it…’cause you can’t stop it!
Sunday, May 19
1:00 PM - Little Richard: I Am Everything, Dir: Lisa Cortes; 2023 (101 mins.)
Good golly, Miss Molly! It’s hard to believe that the “Architect of Rock and Roll” has never been the subject of an extensive documentary before…until now. One of Rock’s most influential figures, Little Richard used charismatic showmanship with frenetic piano playing to become one of the first crossover black (and queer-oriented) artists who played a key role in the formation of several music genres like soul and funk. Little Richard left behind an overwhelming legacy, and Lisa Cortes unpacks it all right here in a film the LA Times described as “embracing, ear-pleasing, and fizzy.”
4:00 PM - 20 Feet from Stardom, Dir: Morgan Neville; 2013 (91 mins.)
Before giving us honest accounts profiling the lives of Fred Rogers and Anthony Bourdain, Morgan Neville shined a spotlight on a subject frequently left in the dark: the backup singer. Using archival footage and new interviews, the Oscar-winning 20 Feet from Stardom shares the behind-the-scenes experiences of some of music’s underrated vocalists, including Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, and Darlene Love. It’s a long-overdue tribute to an often-overlooked profession.
7:30 PM - It's Different In Chicago, Dir: David Weathersby; 2021 (86 mins.)
House and Hip-Hop music are as essential to Chicago’s culture as deep-dish and ‘Da Bears. Filmmaker David Weathersby chronicles the history of both music scenes, exploring how their rocky relationship complements yet competes. This fascinating documentary takes an in-depth look at how such a sociocultural dynamic stands as a testament to the city’s diversity and its cultural influence on music.
CHIRP at the Uptown Wellness Festival
XMarket
804 W. Montrose
Chicago
,
IL
60640
All Ages
The Uptown Wellness Festival takes place Saturday, May 18th, and CHIRP will be there!
The day will include classes, speakers, performers, and vendors from the health and wellness industry.
Schedule
11:15am Cacao Ceremony Chicago opening ceremony
12:00pm Health and Healing with Mushrooms with "Mushroom Man" Chef Adam Graham
1:00pm Dance Meditation and Performace with ReIDance
2:00pm Mind the Mind with Shivangi Agarwal
3:00pm Francine Brown, massage and Reiki specialist
4:00pm Farah Zala, Cannabis consultant
5:00 pm DJ Thomas Frick
CHIRP Welcomes: Mount Kimbie
Lincoln Hall
2424 N Lincoln Avenue
Chicago
,
IL
60614
(773) 525-2501
18+
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CHIRP is excited to welcome Mount Kimbie to Lincoln Hall on Saturday, May 25th!
Mount Kimbie just keep evolving; they can’t do anything else:
First they were young stars of the London electronic underground, turning the breakout success of a pair of EPs into a lasting album statement, 2010’s Crooks & Lovers.
Later they were Warp-signed shapeshifters, changing coordinates across a pair of albums, between electronic duo and band, and between a rich constellation of influences.
At each moment they could have stuck with a formula they knew worked. Instead they explored and experimented, looking for the next spark of inspiration and the freshest ideas.
Both Sides Now: A CHIRP Vinyl Listening Bar
Schubas
3159 N. Southport
Chicago
,
IL
60657
(773) 525-2508
21+
Step into a realm where the music takes center stage and vinyl records reign supreme.
Introducing Both Sides Now: A CHIRP Vinyl Listening Bar -- a monthly oasis for music aficionados and introverts alike. Nestled in the cozy upstairs room of Schubas Tavern, this unique event happens every first Wednesday of the month.
Join us upstairs at Schubas! The decks start spinning at 7:30pm.
This month's menu comes from DJ Paul Anderson: "We’re Here, We’re Queer: Queer Artists of the 21st Century".
Fever Ray - Radical Romantics (2023)
Karin Dreijer (they/them) deconstructs gender and love, then attempts to put them all back together again through masterful usage of vocal modulations and synths on one of CHIRP’s top ten albums of 2023.
Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of this landmark record, Chicago’s Laura Jane Grace (she/her) releases her angst, fear, and rage in a glorious blaze that puts cis punk to shame.
Shamir - Heterosexuality (2022)
Don’t let the title fool you, Shamir (he/him) presents this electrifying record that uses lo-fi indie rock, R&B, and a dynamic voice to explore the margins of language, labels, and beyond.
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters (2004)
Still just as sleazy, fabulous, and daring as when it first hit the airwaves twenty years ago, this debut from the Scissor Sisters puts the glam back in glam rock.
June CHIRP DJ Night at the Native!
The Native
2417 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago
,
IL
60647
(872) 206-5526
21+
Every 2nd Tuesday of the month is CHIRP DJ Night at the Native! This June, CHIRP DJ Jessi D spins her favorites at The Native on 06/11 from 9pm to close!
There is no cover for this event, and a portion of the bar proceeds helps support CHIRP Radio.
July CHIRP DJ Night at the Native!
The Native
2417 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago
,
IL
60647
(872) 206-5526
21+
Every 2nd Tuesday of the month is CHIRP DJ Night at the Native! This July, CHIRP DJ Shelby spins her favorites at The Native on 07/09 from 9pm to close!
There is no cover for this event, and a portion of the bar proceeds helps support CHIRP Radio.