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The CHIRP Blog
Lily Y writesTake Two: “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” (Tame Impala Vs. Rihanna)
Feel like a brand new person (but you make the same old mistakes)
I don’t care I’m in love (stop before it’s too late)
Feel like a brand new person (but you make the same old mistakes)
I finally know what is love (you don’t have what it takes)
The Original: The final track off of Tame Impala’s psychedelic-pop 2016 album Currents is a relaxing, yet haunting, synth filled ballad about self-doubt, lack of inhibition, and spur of the moment ideas. At 6 minutes long, vocalist Kevin Parker’s hypnotizing voice perfectly suits the song and results into an electrifying confrontation about a changing mindset, and accepting any future changes that will happen.
The Other Version: More like a note-for-note remake, rather than a cover, Rihanna’s version on her 2016 album ANTI retitled "Same Ol’ Mistakes" adds nothing new or exciting to the song. Rather than adding her own pop-reggae flair that we normally see in her albums, Rihanna focuses on Tame Impala’s psychedelic aspects by almost imitating an airy, ethereal tone much like Parker’s voice.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesAround the Web: Books About Music | Jackie Shane
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Josh Friedberg has put together a list of 10 Conversation-Shifting Contemporary Books About Music (PopMatters)
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The Story of Jackie Shane, Re-Emerging After Four Decades Away from Music (New York Times)
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRADIO (Week of October 16)
Special Announcements
- SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21st, 12:00PM CST. IT’S TIME!!! CHIRP Radio flips the switch on its broadcast signal and brings transmitting over the airwaves at 107.1FM! Check out our broadcast page and join us for the events marking this occasion!
Upcoming Events
- Sunday Oct. 22: Classic Album Sundays returns to experience The Strokes’ Is This It?
New Media
- First Time: First Catch featuring Micki Lesueur, Steve Krakow, Dan Shapiro, Wes Needham, Natalie Grace, and Marites Velasquez
- Mike Nikolich reviews the latest from Chicago Afrobeat Project
- Clarence Ewing and Kevin Fullam discuss the YouTube video The Fall of the Simpsons and the new age of TV
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: The Fall of The Simpsons and the New Criticism
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the YouTube video essay The Fall of The Simpsons.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.
Clarence:
This time around, Kevin, I’d like to chat about something that’s not a movie or a TV show, but a critique of a TV show. A show that was, in the minds of many in our generation, THE TV show…The Simpsons.
The critique is a YouTube video called “The Fall of The Simpsons: How It Happened.” It’s a half-hour essay by someone named Super Eyepatch Wolf that tries to explain why The Simpsons, now entering its 29th season, has fallen so far from grace in terms of quality.
I think the video makes a lot of sense. The creator and narrator laid out his argument in a sober, systematic fashion. First, he provided a form of proof that the show is, in fact, not as good as it used to be. He then goes into the history of the show’s creative staff and what they did to make this show work, followed by an analysis of what makes something funny, which I found particularly interesting.
Mike Nikolich writesAlbum Review: Chicago Afrobeat Project Mashes Music Styles on Latest LP
by Mike Nikolich
As a teenager, I began listening to African stations via shortwave radio, a hobby I still enjoy today. Through this medium, I discovered West African artists like King Sunny Ade, Malian guitar virtuoso Ali Farka Touré and Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti.
Throughout the late 1980’s and 1990’s, my wife and I were regulars at the legendary Equator Club, near Broadway and Lawrence, and we had the chance to see many of these wonderful artists up close and personal.
I still love music from Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Zaire, and regularly play artists from these countries on my Friday afternoon show from noon to 3 pm. When the award-winning Chicago Afrobeat Project announced its latest LP, What Goes Up, I jumped at the chance to review it.