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by Amelia Hruby
With St. Patrick's Day a week away and the remnants of the third snowiest February in Chicago history still on the sidewalks, we imbibing Chicagoans surely have whiskey on the brain. In honor of the upcoming holiday and the one time each year the Chicago River is as green as a bottle of Jameson, we've dug through our archives for our favorite songs about whiskey. There's a track here for your first shot, the height of the party and that nice little cry you might have after. Cheers!
Primitive Beck at his best. This track is off his first cassette and showcases Beck's early minimal-folk aesthetic with a twangy accordion thrown in for good measure. It sings like a ballad, so you'll be joining in with the chorus by the final verse: "Whiskey be your lover, but who's gonna be your man?"
Meteorological spring began four days ago, but in Chicago, winter stubbornly remains. While we wait for the last holdouts of frost and snow to retreat, let's check out five songs from one of the sunniest subgenres of the past 40 years. Predominantly found in Los Angeles and select points north during the early 1980s, the Paisley Underground found bands revisiting the acid-streaked sounds of the late '60s with the brashness and insistence of the snottiest '70s punks. The result is a sound well-suited for this restless time of year, and the sunny days that will, eventually, follow.
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 February 2015.
1) Jimmy Kimmel Gives Us The Mash-Ups We Never Knew We Needed
On February's four Mondays, Jimmy Kimmel turned the musical spot on his show into #MashUpMonday, inviting bands from opposite ends of the musical spectrum in for a little collaboration. The pairings ranged from complimentary (If you gave them enough beard, modern-day Weezer could easily pass for their counterparts in Z.Z. Top) to genuinely surprising (Kenny G. and Warren G.? Which one's supposed to be the nostalgia act here?). my personal favorite? The team-up between legendary new-wave funk maestro Morris Day and the ladies of Haim, which succeeded in reminding everyone that a) Morris Day is way cooler than Prince would have you believe, and b) it is impossible to hear "Jungle Love" and not dance.
Chicagoans go to the polls next week, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is feeling fine. The latest Chicago Tribune poll shows the mayor with a commanding 25-point lead over his nearest challenger, Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia. Despite a turbulent four years, Emanuel needs just five more percentage points to avoid a spring run-off and guarantee his second term as mayor. For as polarizing as Emanuel remains, he's yet to inspire the same kind of musical protests (or promotions) like those of his predecessors. We dug through the archives and found five songs about Chicago mayors that capture the conflicts and complexities leading the Second City.
Valentine's Day is this Saturday, one of the few days left in this Spotify'd world when the humble mixtape (or CD) still gets a chance to shine. Whether you're cooking up a romantic playlist for a partner or celebrating schadenfreude with some anti-love tunes, your mix isn't complete without one thing: some smooth Chicago soul. On this week's Top Five, we've got five songs from the city's soul heyday that would make any potential crush pull off their headphones and take notice. As a courtesy, we've also included some mix placement suggestions intended to maximize romantic impact. You're welcome in advance.