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The CHIRP Blog
Greg Kantowicz writesOnly Two More Months ‘Till Summer…!
SKaiser writesWhat’s Happening at CHIRP Radio (Week of April 4)
UPCOMING EVENTS
The 2016 CHIRP Record Fair & Other Delights is this Saturday, April 9th! Get your vinyl fix and more at Plumbers Hall (1340 W Washington Blvd) from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM | TICKETS
- CHIRP Radio welcomes Junior Boys to Metro (3730 N Clark St) on Wednesday, April 6th at 8:00 PM | 18+ | $16
- CHIRP Radio welcomes Milk & Bone to Constellation (3111 N Western Ave) on Friday, April 8th at 8:30 PM | 18+ | $12
NEW MEDIA
CHIRP Battle of the Bands 2016: Round Two! Reigning 2015 champion, Modern Vices, fell out in Round One. Who's next? You know the drill. VOTE | Polls close Wednesday, April 6th at 6:00 PM
- The 10th episode of CHIRP Factory session features John Langford and Sally Timms
- First Blood - Eden Robins
- CHIRP's Amanda Roscoe Mayo interviews Eleanor Friedberger
- Clarence Ewing writes about the partnership between New Belgum Brewing and Chicago's Active Trans Alliance
- In Rotation: Bitchin' Bajas and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
- Friday mp3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday D. Boon Edition!
TOP OF THE CHIRP CHARTS
1. Sexy Fights – Too Far Out (self-released)
3. Underworld – Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future (Astralwerks)
3. Massive Attack – Ritual Spirit EP (Melankolic)
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesCHIRP Battle of the Bands 2016: Round Two
There will be no repeat champion in the 2016 CHIRP Battle of the Bands. In Round One's biggest upset, last year's winner Modern Vices fell in a shocker to electronic esoterica masters Bitchin Bajas. The surprise fall of the defending champs wasn't the only unexpected result; industry titans Kanye West and Wilco also bowed out early, taken down decisively by DIY stalwarts Lil Tits and Meat Wave, respectively. There were close matches, too; in the round's narrowest margin, Twin Peaks beat out ShowYouSuck by just four votes.
Who will emerge from the sawmill of democracy that is Round Two? There's only one way to find out. Voting for Round Two closes on Wednesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. Now, get out there and help us crown a new champion.
The Wilco Regional
#8 Seed: Meat Wave
Second Round Song: "Delusion Moon"
How They Won Last Round: Rallied an army of DIY kids to hassle dad rock statesmen Wilco.
#5 Seed: The Kickback
Second Round Song: "Scorched Earth Brouhaha"
How They Won Last Round: Yanked the football away at the last second from nu-emo standardbearer Into It. Over It.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesFriday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday D. Boon Edition
Today we wish a posthumous Happy Birthday to D. Boon, guitarist and lead singer of the Minutemen. The band wasn’t lying with their name - If you don’t like one of their songs, wait literally 90 seconds and you’ll be on to the next one. But you’ll get the same brilliantly melodic anger delivered with all the subtlety of a carjacking.
D. Boon died in a van accident in 1985, way WAY too soon for humanity. Between today’s Day of Action in Chicago, a never-ending Presidential election, political instability at home and abroad, and the continuing struggles between the haves and have-nots, the atmosphere the Minutemen raged against in the 1980s hasn’t gone away. This is the kind of band that would have given the lie to Corporate Pop and its top-down ziplocked smiley-happy Carpool Karaoke nonsense. As it is, we have Double Nickels on The Dime What Makes a Man Start Fires? to point the way.
So light your torch, take your MP3 player, press the "shuffle" button, and share the first 10 songs that play:
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesIn Rotation: Bitchin Bajas & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
On one side of the room is an "Appalachian post-punk solipsist" who has been conjuring his own unique style of American roots music since the early 1990s. On the other side is a group that emerged from the primal psychedelia of the band Cave into a more placid but no less adventurous style of electronica. Two great tastes that taste great together? Absolutely, thanks to a new release on Drag City. Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties, a collaboration between Bitchin Bajas and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, showcases two approaches to music that combine to form intriguing minimalist structures that subtly change form right in front of your ears .
Tracks from Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties can be heard in rotation and by request now on CHIRP Radio.