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Lady Amelia writesInterview: The Trans Lib Comp (Release Party This Saturday!)
Local artist Jash Huggins (formerly of Evasive Backflip) has spent the last few months compiling music from local artists who identify as trans, non-binary (nb) or gender non-conforming (gnc). This week that effort will be released as the Trans Lib Comp. They recently chatted with CHIRP volunteer and DJ Amelia Hruby about the project and the status of marginalized communities in Chicago's music scene.
Amelia: Can you tell us a little bit about the project as whole?
Jash: The Trans Lib Comp is a collection songs by trans/gnc/nb musicians. All artist are based in, or from, the Chicago area. I'm dubbing a run of 30 cassettes, and throwing a release show with artists appearing on the tape at a local diy spot. All proceeds from the tape, and the show are going to the Trans Liberation Collective. TLC is a local group that organized a very large demonstration earlier this year. They also have free self defense classes and continue to organize. You can reach them at their fb page here: /TransLiberationCollective/
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRadio (Week of May 8)
Upcoming Events
- Wednesday May 8: The next edition of CHIRP Factory Sessions goes live with a performance from Chicago group Air Credits. Don’t miss the premiere of this original performance at 10:00am Central Time!
- Thursday May 11: CHIRP Radio Family Fundraiser at the Logan Square Panera
- Thursday May 11: The CHIRP Radio Book Club meets at Transistor to discuss The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
New Media
- Amanda Dabandons interviews local Hip Hop artist, actor and poet Mykele Deville
- Amanda Dabandons also interviews Crown Larks
- Shawna Kaiser posts pictures of Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood then and now.
- Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society are In Rotation
- Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing discuss the movie The Lost City of Z and the nature of exploration in film
SKaiser writesThen & Now: Uptown
The days of silent movies and mob entourages are far behind but the facade of glamour and decades of performance remain a centerpiece of Uptown. The Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, and Green Mill Jazz Club bring weekly crowds to the doors that today appear remarkably similar to days long gone. Let's keep our fingers crossed for the ongoing stabilization of renovating the iconic Uptown Theatre.
The Uptown Theater is shown above on opening day August 18, 1925. It was said to be "as acre of seats in a magic city."
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: The Lost City of Z
[Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the movie The Lost City of Z. This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.]
Clarence: This week we’re having a look at the story of Percy Fawcett, a military officer and explorer who became a minor celebrity in the UK and US due to a series of expeditions he made to the jungles of Brazil. In 1925, Fawcett and his eldest son disappeared while searching for the Lost City of Z (pronounced “Zed” by the Brits, so I will too), a place Percy was convinced held the remains of an ancient, vibrant civilization of native South Americans.
The movie is based on David Grann’s NY Times best-seller The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. We’re not dealing with an Indiana Jones fantasy here, but a serious interpretation of a historical figure. As such, I feel it misses several marks.
Structurally, the film has some problems. I’d say the overall pacing is “stately” and “measured” (polite ways of saying “dull”). At the same time, the film tries to dramatize more than 20 years of Percy’s life in one 2+ hour film, which results in a lot of narrative fast-forwarding. For example, there are several sequences that show the arduous journeys up river, the explorers barely staving off starvation, disease, and attacks from natives. Then, when they hit their objective, there’s a smash cut to the characters back in England. The editing choices make it seem that it’s a lot easier to get out of the jungle than to get in.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesIn Rotation: Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society
Minimalist Bliss. Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society's new album Simultonality is In Rotation and available by request on CHIRP Radio.