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The CHIRP Blog
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Q&A With Bath Rooms (Performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on 9/5)
Chicago artist Magic Ian of Bath Rooms is performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on Tuesday, September 5th. We caught up with him to find out a little more about him…
So...What’s going on? Tell us about your current releases and/or upcoming shows (such as CHIRP Night at the Whistler!).
Well of course Bath Rooms will be performing at Chirp Night at the Whistler this coming Tuesday September 5th. Bath Rooms is a relatively new project and the CHIRP show is our only scheduled performance before we head to the studio to cut our first e.p. later in the month. We'll be recording with Glow in the Dark Flowers at Rose Raft studios.
Aside from Bath Rooms, I'm preparing a presentation of classic American folk songs that will include historical context and lyrical analysis. Folk music was once our main way of preserving history, and I think there is still so much to learn from these songs. Look for that October 25th at Cafe Mustache.
How do you go about turning your thoughts, ideas, and feelings into sounds?
Bath Rooms is a largely meditative affair. It's a conversation between me and my instruments. Once I set a loop, or an arpeggiation or a sequence, I'm no longer the only voice in the room. My brain becomes both proactive and reactive.
As the drone grows, words or ideas will start to form in my head. Bath Rooms isn't very lyrical. The words are sparse and deliberate and should be interpreted as a mantra. It's a reflection on the human condition. We are all just droning along in blissful repetition. buzz buzz.
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 28 - Sep 3)
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday Sep 5: CHIRP Night at the Whistler with Kmieciak and BATH ROOMS
- Sunday Sep 10: CHIRP Radio at the Andersonville Vintage Market
- Tuesday Sep 12: CIHRP DJ Night at The Native
- Wednesday Sep 13: CHIRP Radio Trivia Night at Beermiscuous ("Music in Movies")
- Wednesday Sep 13 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio Partners with the Chicago Underground Film Festival
- Thursday Sep 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Pile to Sleeping Village
- Thursday Sep 14 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio's Innaugural CHIRP Music Film Festvial at the Davis Theatre
- Wednesday Sep 20: CHIRP Radio is a media sponsor for Guitars Over Guns' Band Together Fundraiser
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 21 - Aug 27)
Upcoming Events:
- Wednesday Aug 23: First Time: First Pass at Martyrs'
- Friday Aug 25: CIHRP Radio welcomes Ratboys to Schubas
- Saturday Aug 26: CHIRP Radio at the Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street Stroll
- Sunday Sep 10: CHIRP Radio at the Andersonville Vintage Market
- Tuesday Sep 12: CIHRP DJ Night at The Native
- Wednesday Sep 13: CHIRP Radio Trivia Night at Beermiscuous ("Music in Movies")
- Wednesday Sep 13 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio Partners with the Chicago Underground Film Festival
- Thursday Sep 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Pile to Sleeping Village
- Thursday Sep 14 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio's Innaugural CHIRP Music Film Festvial at the Davis Theatre
- Wednesday Sep 20: CHIRP Radio is a media sponsor for Guitars Over Guns' Band Together
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTake Two: “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” (Enya Vs. Olivia Jean)
The Original (from the 1988 album Watermark)
This song is a centerpiece of arguably the most successful album from the 1980s-90s “New Age” marketing category. Enya started out creating mood music for BBC documentaries, and the cinematic quality of her work is on full display here.
The core of the song features pizzicato violins and synth washes and arpeggiated runs. Percussion is provided by a spare bassline and strategically placed timpani dramatically leaning on the one of the measure, a pattern well known in Funk music, BTW.
Lopping two chord patterns and impressionistic nautical lyrics make the music hypnotic in its way. You don’t need to be anywhere near water to get to dreaming of adventures on the high seas.
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Blue Valentine
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the 2010 film Blue Valentine.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Cassondra Branderhorst.
Kevin:
Early on in Blue Valentine, the image that came to mind was that of an oscilloscope. What happens when you have a pair of harmonic waves that are just slightly misaligned? Over time, small differences can magnify into huge disconnects, where the two may find themselves moving in opposite directions.
In the Hollywood of yesteryear, the story of Cindy (Michelle Williams in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Dean (Ryan Gosling) would have all the trappings of a romantic comedy. There's the meet-cute (while visiting residents of a senior home), the disparate backgrounds (she's a college student, he's a high-school dropout who works for a moving company), the winsome impromptu first date (where his ukulele serenade wins her over), and even a jealous ex (played in rather creepy fashion by Mike Vogel) to boot.
In Blue Valentine, however, these elements are relayed via a series of flashbacks and comprise only half of the tale. The present day has us checking up on their marriage, five years in... and clearly, the honeymoon has long worn off. Cindy can't fathom why Dean seems content with menial work; he can't understand why the charming disposition she fell in love with no longer seems good enough for her today.
Matters reach a breaking point when Dean -- over Cindy's objections -- plans an evening for the two of them at a hotel with "theme" suites, which in their case is ominously titled "The Future." (Picture the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.) Relations are frosty before they've even arrived. Cindy is exhausted and also on call for her job as a nurse, and there's additional tension in the air after she mentions that she bumped into the aforementioned ex at a liquor store on the way there. The ex's opening salvo: Have you been faithful to your husband? Ouch.