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The CHIRP Blog
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRadio (Week of April 9)
Upcoming Events
- Wednesday April 11: CHIRP Radio presents First Time: First Try at Martyr's
- Friday April 13: CHIRP Radio welcomes Bette LaVette to the Old Town School of Folk Music
- Saturday April 14: The 16th Annual CHIRP Record Fair and Other Dlights happens at Plumbers Hall!
New Media
- First Time: First Strike - Lawrence Peters
- First Time: First Strike - Clarence Browley
- Jessi D. takes a look at Frontwoman Fest
Top of the CHIRP Charts
1. Wye Oak – The Louder I Call the Faster I Run (Merge)
2. Alice Bag – Blueprint (Don Giovanni)
3. FACS – Negative Houses (Trouble in Mind)
Click here to see the complete list of 50 albums that made this week’s charts as well as new music recently added to CHIRP’s library.
SKaiser writes@CHIRPRadio (Week of April 2)
NEW MEDIA
- Bex of Nashville based Ruby Boots joined Features interviewer Max Carter in the CHIRP studios
- Kurt Conley writes Music as Memory: Getting Witchy with Tori Amos
- YFEE Plans Deeply Personal Performance at CHIRP Night at the Whistler by Mike Nikolich
- The Fourth Wall: Revolutionary Road with Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Revolutionary Road
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the 2008 movie Revolutionary Road.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.
Kevin:
The honeymoon is over. Now what?
Throughout much of Hollywood's history, it seems that marriage (especially the wedding) has been utilized as a feel-good capper on many a love story. It's practically a requisite for any traditional rom-com film, right? These tales are usually told from a female perspective*, where the heroine sets out to nab her beau, and the pair ride off into the scripted sunset, either just pre- or post-altar festivities.
[*though certainly not always -- but interestingly, similarly-styled relationship films with male leads (say, High Fidelity) are seldom referred to as romantic comedies.]
I've often wondered how much of an impact these messages have on our own desire to get hitched? The pressure comes from all sides in American culture: mass media, religion... hell, even the tax code subtlety encourages it. But for decades, scant attention was paid to the discarded husks of marriages gone wrong. And with a divorce rate estimated at around 50%, we have no shortage of fractured homes in the good ol' United States.
Celluloid has caught up in recent decades, with tales about the nightmare of child-custody battles (Kramer vs. Kramer), to the insanity of knockdown, drag-out enmity (War of the Roses). But I'm not sure that any film has done a better job of illustrating the Descent Into Marital Despair that's featured in Revolutionary Road.
Mike Nikolich writesYFEE Plans Deeply Personal Performance at CHIRP Night at The Whistler
The Whistler audience is in for a treat March 28, when YFEE takes the stage at CHIRP Night at the Whistler. Sharing the stage with experimental noise-rockers Mermaid N.V., the Chicago hip-hop/electronic artist will spin tales of relationships, intrigue, sci-fi, astronomy and maybe a conspiracy theory or two.
“I’ve been singing and writing lyrics and poetry since I was seven years old,” YFEE says. “I love to play with meanings and give room in my lyrics for things to mean more than one thing at the same time.”
A graduate of Northwestern, YFEE studied Film and Astrophysics. Her passion for both subjects is evident in her videos and lyrics, and YFEE isn’t afraid to wear her emotions on her sleeve, either.
“I always want my songs to come from a deep, emotional place,” YFEE says. “I try to express feelings that are very personal and universal to all human beings.”
theironkurtain writesMusic as Memory: Getting Witchy with Tori Amos
by Kurt Conley
May 30th, 1996, Benedum Center, Pittsburgh, PA
September 12th, 1996, Warner Theater, Erie, PA
When I think about certain musicians, I tend to think of them in relationship terms. Things can start hot and heavy when I discover a new artist, and all I can do is think about them, wanting to consume everything they have to offer. Eventually, things cool off and maybe I stop seeing them. Or we fall into a comfortable routine. Or maybe I just ghost on them altogether.
This is my roundabout way of saying my long term relationship with Tori Amos is a complicated one. It started out carefree and fun in the early '90s. I first discovered her on Canadian television. Erie county is relatively close to Canada, and that allowed for us to pick up Toronto’s City TV station. It was my go-to channel for the many years we didn’t have cable. There were a few programs in particular that would show music videos, and that’s where I saw the video for “Cornflake Girl,” one of Amos’ biggest hits.