If you didn't vote early, vote today! Find your polling place here. And if you're not registered, you can do it on site with two forms of ID including one showing your current address.
The CHIRP Blog
Shawn Campbell writesSupport CHIRP today - get a limited edition thank-you gift!
CHIRP is a listener-supported radio station, and during our spring fundraiser from March 18-29, we hope you'll show your support for the station by making a tax-deductible gift. Your generosity makes a real difference in the life of the station!
And you won't come away empty handed. In addition to the satisfaction of knowing you've supported a cause you believe in (along with 365 per year of great, commercial-free, independent music curated by DJs who really know their stuff), you also will score the following thank-you gifts when you give at these levels:
A pair of pocket notebooks with a healthy, refreshing design by local artist Jessica Deahl!
A cool t-shirt (standard or fitted style) with the Jessica Deahl artwork + the CHIRP Membercard with great 2-for-1 deals around the city!
The return of the CHIRP Festival Blanket, now with our broadcast logo, just in time for summer festival season + the CHIRP Membercard with great 2-for-1 deals around the city!!
Give $365 and get all these gifts! Or go to $500 and get all the gifts as well as a personal station tour! All of these items are limited edition, available only through 6pm on Friday, March 29th. Support CHIRP today and grab something cool for yourself!
SKaiser writes@CHIRPRadio (week of March 4)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Thursday, March 7th | 7:00 PM | Join the CHIRP Music Book Club at Roscoe Books (2142 W Roscoe St). The event is BYOB and discussion will focus on They Can't kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
- Saturday, March 9th | 9:00 PM | CHIRP Radio is happy to welcome The Moses Gun for a 21+ show at Gman Tavern (3740 N Clark St)
NEW MEDIA
- First Time: First Fall with Allyssa Bujdoso
- Adrian Galvin of Yoke Lore chats with Features Director Sarah Brooks on tour at the Vic during their last show with LP
TOP OF THE CHIRP CHARTS
1. Ladytron – Ladytron (!K7)
2. Various Artists – Damaged Goods (1988-2018) (Damaged Goods)
3. Chaka Khan – Hello Happiness (Island)
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRadio (Week of February 25)
Upcoming Events
- Monday, February 25th: THe Music Box Theatre presents a special screening of Rock 'n' Roll High School!
- Wednesday, February 27th: It's CHIRP Night at The Whister featuring Glitter Moneyyy and Jen and The Dots
- Wednesday, February 27th: CHIRP Radio Presents an evening with Miss Alex White at East Room
- Thursday, February 28th: CHIRP Radio Presents Juiia Holter at Thalia Hall
New Media
- Marites Velazquez talks with The Just Luckies
- First Time - First Fall with Noah Maria
- Mick Reed chats with Kyle Thomas of King Tuff
- First Time - First Fall with Joey Garfield
- Jessi D sits down with Iverson
- First Time - First Fall with Meghan McDonough
- Jessi D talks with the minds behind FEMIfest
- First Time - First Fall with Amara Enyia
- Clarence and Kevin discuss their favorite movies of 2018 on The Fourth Wall
- Kyle Sanders reviews each of the 2019 Acadmy Award nominees for Best Picture
KSanders writesThe 2019 Academy Awards: Reviewing the Best Picture Nominees
written by Kyle Sanders
I don't know about you, but the lead up to the 91st Annual Academy Awards ceremony has been just as tumultuous as any political election.
First, there was the much-ballyhooed idea of including a "Best Popular Film" award--not that it would have been part of this year's awards, but used in 2020--that caused an uproar, followed by the invite then dis-invite for comedian Kevin Hart to serve as host, causing more protest that eventually led Hart to throw in the towel.
Then the Academy announced it would only allow two of the Best Original Song nominees to perform, which quickly got nixed. Then the Academy thought it a good idea to remove some of the categories and air the acceptance speeches sometime later during the broadcast.
Needless to say, the bigwigs behind the Academy Awards made some pretty airheaded decisions. The Best Picture nominees though are far from foolish choices. Sure, six of the eight films involve real persons presented in based-on-a-true-story fashion, but like any other year, the Academy has included a little bit of the good, the bad, and the WTF. Here's a rundown of this year's Best Picture hopefuls:
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: The Best Movies of 2018
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the Best Movies of 2018.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.
Kevin:
I think I can best characterize my favorite cinema of 2018 in two words: Quiet Desperation. Here's my Top 10. What are yours?
1) Leave No Trace -- Ben Foster plays a PTSD-stricken vet who lives with his teenage daughter in the woods outside of Portland, until he's forced to vacate and falls into the hands of social services. One of the rare films that truly has no villains; almost everyone the pair meets is trying to help and do right by them in some way, but Foster's unspoken past won't let him re-integrate with society. His daughter (Thomasin McKenzie in a brilliant performance), however, isn't bound by those same constraints, and doesn't understand why they can't be part of a community.
2) The Rider -- Chinese director Chloé Zhao turned her camera on the world of horse farming and rodeo riding in South Dakota, and essentially posed the question, "What if you knew you were put on Earth to do one thing... and then were no longer able to do it?" Enter rodeo rider Brady, who has just suffered a severe injury at the start of the film, and finds himself facing this very dilemma. When I first saw the film, I was astounded at the level of authenticity, and then I learned that Zhao's cast was comprised entirely of non-actors. Brady Jandreau really is a horse trainer, and the people playing his father and sister are in fact his real family.
3) Roma -- Another first-time actor, Yalitza Aparicio, stars as a maid for a well-to-do family in 1970s Mexico, during a time of political unrest. "Quiet desperation" is the name of the game for many of the films on this list, and especially so for Aparacio's Cleo, whose navigation through socioeconomic spheres brings to mind a (much) less-stuffy version of British "upstairs/downstairs" tales like Gosford Park. Shot in B&W by Alfonso Cuarón, who also wrote the screenplay -- it's a semi-autobiographical depiction of his own upbringing.