Become a Member

Now Playing

Current DJ: Sarah Spencer

Squid Boy Racers from Bright Green Field (Warp) Add to Collection

Listen Live

Requests? 773-DJ-SONGS or dj@chirpradio.org

The CHIRP Blog

Alanna Miller writesComing Attractions: “Found” by John Glacier

by Alanna Miller

If you, like many of us, celebrated Doechii’s 2024 release Alligator Bites Never Heal for its crystal clear, verbose delivery, then you should check out Ms. John Glacier.

Glacier, like Doechii, is a voracious and contemplative writer. Her lyrics are sophisticated and poetic, unrelenting and wise. Her rapping resembles a stream of consciousness, lines just seeming to tumble out of her like a faucet left on for too long.

Glacier, unlike Ms. Doechii, is a Londoner from Hackney and raps over British electronica beats to compose a delicious trip hop sound in the single “Found,” off her upcoming album, Like a Ribbon, the third full-length record in the artist’s collection.

“Found” is an introspective, cerebral song. Intelligent lyrics combine with UK electronica to form a sound that is just as good as a backing soundtrack to your day as it is deserving of a focused listen. The delicate keys overtop scratchy electronic samples creates a sound that I envision accompanying a techy, glitchy robot ballet.

A patient, confident drum beat grounds the song and keeps things danceable. Kwes Darko, best known for his work with Sampa the Great and slowthai, produced and mixed Like a Ribbon. This is Darko’s second collaboration with Glacier, having also produced Glacier’s EP of the same name, released in 2024 (Just one track, “Tripsteady,” appears on the EP but not the new LP).

The lyrics are somewhat predictable for an artist feeling the pressure of a third album release. In “Found,” Glacier humbly relishes her newfound success and fame while recognizing that a meteoric rise does not beget a problem-free life.

The song opens with, “Whole world at my feet/ Me when I step out,” situating the track within the context of her boundless potential. The lyric, “The gone days are gone/ If they’re not, then we get ‘round it,” somewhat tests the limits of that good fortune and hints that not everything is rosy for Glacier.

But with the line, “Anyhow, any means, how I get founded,” Glacier assures us that she’s not just an artist with hype, but a performer with the mental fortitude to tolerate the bullsh*t that accompanies her rising profile.

The positivity in Glacier’s poetry pairs well with the uplifting piano performance. Perhaps the most touching part of the song is when Glacier raps, “You found me and I think I’ve found you,” a tender moment when her voice breaks in an otherwise steady vocal delivery.

But my favorite lyric of the song is when she says, “Green grass where the grass never knew/ We dance and we laugh at the moon.” It recalls the scene in Dazed and Confused when Matthew McConaughey and his entourage of high school seniors gather at their football stadium for one last late-night hurrah on the field, surrounded by turf and moonlight. You know it.

That’s when McConaughey blessed the zeitgeist with the line, “You just gotta keep livin man, L-I-V-I-N.” It’s totally corny but resonant nonetheless. Send Like A Ribbon to your valentine if you want to move them; the album comes to us on February 14th this year. 

Share February 14, 2025 https://chrp.at/5lGM Share on Facebook Tweet This!

Categorized: Post Mix

Topics: john glacier

DJ M-Dash writesChicago’s 6kitty Fuses Raging Love of Gear, Songwriting, Innovative Music

by Andy Frye

Chicago-based alternative dream poppers 6kitty released their second album, Under Pins, in mid-December. On February 15, they will play a sold-out show at Schubas with Chicago music scene veterans The Vulgar Boatmen.

The trio, made up of drummer Alex Karan, lead vocalist-guitarist Donna Dee, and bass player Stephanie Harte, got together after years of playing in different bands, mainly as a creative balance to day jobs, family life, as well as a raging love for creative music.

Bassist Harte, who also shares some lead vocal duties, said that forming 6kitty as a new band seemed like a natural fit for the three alternative musical compatriots.

“In the past, we have all played together in different variations of bands,” Harte says, “so when Donna and I started the 6kitty project, we reached out to Alex to join, and the band easily snapped into place.”

And while each of 6kitty’s members will admit to a hint of a “shoegazey” sound on both the new album and their 2022 debut album, Tux, they draw on a wide variety of influences from different decades.

Keep Reading…

Share February 11, 2025 https://chrp.at/5lvl Share on Facebook Tweet This!

Categorized: Interviews

Topics: 6kitty

Noah Haynes writesThe Original Song Category at the 2025 Oscars Sucks…Right?

The Oscarsby Noah Haynes

As a fan of both music and movies, I appreciate when the two mediums can join together to elevate a piece of art. “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun? Beautiful. “Moon River” in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s? A classic.  Jason Segel’s performance of “Man or Muppet” from the 2011 Muppets reboot? ...Also a highpoint for cinema. 

Even last year we saw a boon of creativity with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. It was a year of pink, plastic, and super-fun songs that culminated in a well-deserved win for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For.”

Unfortunately though, the Best Original Song category tends to follow a series of highs and lows, and this year’s not looking too good. Despite that, let’s try to find some positives among the negatives and give each nominee a fair shake.

Keep Reading…

Share February 11, 2025 https://chrp.at/5lu0 Share on Facebook Tweet This!

Categorized: Movies

CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Feb 10 - Feb 16)

Upcoming Events:

Keep Reading…

Share February 11, 2025 https://chrp.at/5lxc Share on Facebook Tweet This!

Categorized: CHIRP Radio News and Info.

Alanna Miller writesComing Attractions: “Julie” by Horsegirl

by Alanna Miller

Anthony Bourdain famously described Chicago as “a big, brash, broad-shouldered motherf*ckin’ city.” With their sophomore record, Phonetics On and On, hometown heroes Horsegirl embody that toughness. After all, they recorded the album last January at Wilco’s The Loft studio during some of the coldest weeks of the year…with the heat off. Trying to avoid sound interference, the trio played through the bitter frost, bundled in layers and sitting on top of their hands between takes. 

But while Horsegirl’s new record was certainly produced under some rock n’ roll circumstances, its sound is far softer and more gentle than their lauded debut, Versions of Modern Performance. If that album was Horsegirl’s teenaged, “look at me,” attention-grabbing first LP (and I mean literally…they were teenagers when this album was released), then Phonetics On and On is their self-assured, rock solid follow up. 

“Julie,” one of three singles off the new album, says the most lyrically out of the tracks released thus far. Even so, the song features more than a few “Da, da, da ,da’s.” (The other two singles, ‘2468’ and ‘Switch Over’ utilize many more “La, da, da, da, da’s” and “Oh hoo ooh ooh la da da da’s.”) Maybe that’s what they meant by "Phonetics On and On?" Nonetheless, what Horsegirl doesn’t always express lyrically, they say musically.

Keep Reading…

Share February 7, 2025 https://chrp.at/5kZL Share on Facebook Tweet This!

Categorized: Post Mix

Topics: horsegirl

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. »»