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The CHIRP Blog
Greg Kantowicz writesThe Gig Poster: Mavis Staples
Who: Mavis Staples
Where: Chicago Auditorium Theatre
Bobby Evers writesAn Interview with Lydia Loveless
By Bobby Evers
Since the release of Somewhere Else, her breakout album from last year, Lydia Loveless has been keeping busy. She’s toured the US and Europe, releasing covers of Prince, Kesha, and Echo and the Bunnymen, and launched a kickstarter campaign for a new Lydia Loveless documentary which began filming earlier this summer. I was able to speak with Lydia over the phone before she played the Green Music Fest in Chicago this past June.
BE: So first, let’s talk about your recent European tour.
LL: Yeah, that was the whole month of May. We did quite a few countries. We did Germany, France, Italy, Spain. We normally just do Scandinavia, and we’ve done Spain once before, but yeah, it was really cool. It was our first 5-piece European tour.
ronharlow writesTop Five Chicago Cubs Walk-Up Songs
by Ron Harlow
The Chicago Cubs have a long list of lasts. Wins and losses aside, they were the last major league baseball team to install lights in their home ballpark. This year, they became the last to install a video replay board. This season also features a subtler addition to the list – the Cubs are the last big league team to fully allow their players to use a walk-up song.
A walk-up song is what’s played over the ballpark’s loudspeakers as the batter walks up to the plate. The home team lets each individual player choose whichever song he wants to hear just before facing a 90-mile-per-hour projectile. It can be any song and for any reason. Over the summer, the walk-up song becomes a part of a player’s identity.
The Cubs experimented with walk-up songs in 2010, but decided to stick with traditional organ music. Today, ownership is intent on modernizing Wrigley Field. The walk-up song is a modern quirk in a sport that’s reluctant to change, and creating a playlist is much less expensive and time-consuming than constructing a video board.
Here are my top five 2015 Cubs walk-up songs:
1. “No Diggity” by Blackstreet
Kyle Schwarber was three years old when this R&B classic was released. Ever since the rookie sensation was called up from the minors in June, I’ve developed a Pavlovian response to “No Diggity.” Schwarber is a phenomenal hitter, so hearing his walk-up song signals my brain that something good is about to happen.
Joy Merten (Into the Void) writesCHIRP Radio welcomes Jenny Hval to Constellation on Thursday Sept. 3rd!
CHIRP Radio welcomes Norwegian artist Jenny Hval to Constellation on Thursday, September 3rd. Jenny Hval is on tour supporting her latest release, the intimate and challenging album Apocalypse, Girl. Her latest work has been synth-based and has pop tinges, but stands firmly in the experimental camp, none of it straightforward and all of it anchored by Hval’s lyrical prowess.
Hval’s work explores religion, feminism and the self, and her live show promises to do more of the same. She and her band have been performing in long, colored wigs as part of their show. Hval told Pitchfork, "It makes me feel so conflicted to wear [the wig], and I believe showing a conflicted person onstage is actually really interesting and emotionally engaging.” Vocalist and composer Briana Marela will open the show.
SKaiser writesThe Week That Was And What Will Be: What’s Happening at CHIRP Radio (8/31/15)
Coming Up This Week:
- Wednesday, September 2nd is the first night of CHIRP's monthly DJ residency at East Room! Sets start at 10:00 PM on the first Wednesday of each month, with a rotating cast of CHIRP DJs. RSVP here | 21+
- CHIRP Radio welcomes Norwegian singer Jenny Hval to Constellation on Thursday, September 3rd at 8:30 PM | RSVP here | $12-$15
New Media:
- Katie Owens interviews Mourn
- Stories of Philanthropy: Sheenita Robinson in Neighbors Creating Neighborhoods