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The CHIRP Blog
Mike Bennett writesFriday MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Dave Davies Edition
Being the brother of a legend can’t be easy, and the relationship between Dave and Ray Davies has always been perilous, but birthday boy Dave has carved his own deserved niche in rock history. Indeed, Ray has taken great pains to point out how essential Dave’s dirty, feedback laden playing was to putting The Kinks on the map, and, in so doing, sending rock into harder and louder territory. Dave also has been one of the great backup singers in rock history and has penned some fine Kinks tunes (such as “Death of a Clown”). Dave’s solo career has been pretty solid too. He has recovered decently from his stroke from a few years ago, but it remains to be seen if that will prevent any hope for a Kinks reunion. Let’s celebrate Mr. Davies by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesOn Tape: Material Issue, “Diane” (Live at MTV Spring Break 1991)
Welcome to On Tape, CHIRP's weekly exploration of Chicago music in films, videos, and beyond. Each week, our editors will reach back into the archives for the interviews, music videos, live concert appearances, and found footage of the city's most important musical icons. This week: Material Issue.
Mike Bennett writesFriday MP3 Shuffle—“Happy Birthday Tricky!” Edition
(originally published in 2012)
Let’s pay tribute to an artist who has melded genres and wielded considerable influence over the past 20 years, Tricky. Adrian Thaws was part of a crew that evolved into the innovative band Massive Attack. He rapped on Massive Attack’s first album, and then leaped into producing Martina Topley-Bird before striking out on his own with a series of acclaimed solo albums. Since Tricky digs being eclectic, I’m sure he’d dig being honored for his birthday with folks grabbing their iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesOn Tape: Smith Westerns, Live at Amoeba (2011)
Welcome to On Tape, CHIRP's weekly exploration of Chicago music in films, videos, and beyond. Each week, our editors will reach back into the archives for the interviews, music videos, live concert appearances, and found footage of the city's most important musical icons. This week: Smith Westerns.
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesTop Five Music Stories: January 2015
At the end of every month, we here at the Top Five take stock of the music news that mattered most to us during the preceding 30-odd days. Without further preamble, here are our five favorite stories from January 2015.
1) They Might Be Giants and Jens Lekman Write One Song A Week for a Year (Sadly, Not Together).
What began its existence as "a regular phone call to Brooklyn" is back for the internet age: They Might Be Giants have officially resurrected Dial-A-Song, their old-school song distribution service and perhaps the finest use of answering machine technology ever produced. To celebrate, they're releasing a new song every week for 2015, releasing tracks on Tuesdays via the website above and (for old time's sake) a toll-free telephone call to (844) 387-6962. It's the same idea that drives Jens Lekman's Postcard project, which finds the singer penning weekly pop correspondences from Sweden while taking breaks from work on his new album. Whether you're a fan of oddball pop or looking to correct a Swedish wistfulness deficiency, you now have something to set your calendars by.