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The CHIRP Blog
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 30 - Sep 5)
Upcoming Events:
- All August: CHIRP Radio is giving away 3-day passes to the 2021 Pitchfork Music Festival
- Saturday September 4: CHIRP Radio presents the Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street Stroll
- Friday Spetember 10 - Sunday September 12: It's the 2021 Pitchfork Music Festival, featuring the CHIRP Radio Record Fair and Other Delights
- Thursday September 23: CHIRP Radio welcomes Young Man in a Hurry to Lincoln Hall
On the Podcast:
- Features Co-Director Mick R. talks with Annihilus
Top of the CHIRP Charts for the week of 8/23/21:
Naked Raygun – Over the Overlords (Wax Trax!)
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 23 - Aug 29)
Upcoming Events:
- Thursday August 26: CHIRP Radio welcomes Ohmme to Thalia Hall
- All August: CHIRP Radio is giving away 3-day passes to the 2021 Pitchfork Music Festival
- Saturday September 4: CHIRP Radio presents the Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street Stroll
- Friday Spetember 10 - Sunday September 12: It's the 2021 Pitchfork Music Festival, featuring the CHIRP Radio Record Fair and Other Delights
- Thursday September 23: CHIRP Radio welcomes Young Man in a Hurry to Lincoln Hall
On the Podcast:
- Matty G talks with Chicago artist Frankii Davis
On the Blog:
- Features Co-Director Mick talks to Karaboudjan
- Clarence Ewing compares and contrasts two versions of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
Top of the CHIRP Charts for the week of 8/16/21:
Naked Raygun – Over the Overlords (Wax Trax!)
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTake Two: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (Peggy Seeger Vs. Roberta Flack)
There is a chance that you have come across a song (or two, or so many more) that you enjoy and did not realize that it's either been covered by someone else or is a cover itself. We hope that this series allows you to appreciate both the original and the covers they have inspired, and to seek out and enjoy new music in the process.
The Original: 1957 single (also appears on the compilation The Folkways Years 1955-1992: Songs of Love and Politics)
The original version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was written by Scottish singer and activist Ewan MacColl. The song’s subject matter was a bit of a departure for him, as he was mainly known for his political and protest songs. The vocalist is Peggy Seeger, who would often perform the song with MacColl in England. The two would eventually marry, once MacColl got divorced from the woman to whom he was then wed.
The song is made up of Seeger’s voice and MacColl’s arpeggioed guitar lines, evoking a rustic mood with that certain woozy, hallucinogenic feel that separates it from traditional folk tunes. It’s the kind of arrangement that was right in line with the folksy style that was just becoming popular among listeners.
Pop music’s acoustic-based titans (The Kingston Trio; Peter, Paul & Mary; etc.) were just getting started, and their styles (derived from what musicians like MacColl and Seeger were doing) would become essential sounds of the 1960s. Current musicians like Mike and Cara Gangloff, whose music has even more of a psychedelic-pastoral edge, can also trace their roots to songs like this.
DJ Mick writesThe CHIRP Radio Interview: Karaboudjan
by CHIRP Radio DJ and Features Co-Director Mick R (Listen to his most recent shows here / Read his blog here)
Multi-instrumentalist Karaboudjan, aka Billy Kim, is preparing to drop his first solo album, IMAGO.
Billy always knew he wanted to be a musician and was inspired by his parent's amateur performances in his home as a child. His career has progressed through a number of different permutations over the years, starting out in the progressive post-hardcore band The Prisoner's Dilemma, and eventually land a gig working with, and touring alongside, the magnificently vibey Tycho.
Now Billy is poised to make a statement all his own with IMAGO, a dreamy and transportive pop record that he fittingly wrote and recorded at night while his roommates were asleep. Check out our exclusive interview with Billy and get some insights into the sonic, psychedelic landscape he has cultivated before the IMAGO drops this September.
Give us an outline of how you went from touring with Tycho to recording and releasing a solo record?
I moved out of Anaheim, CA when I started touring with Tycho back in 2016. When we weren't on the road I would stay with my friends who lived in Union City, NJ where I did the majority of the writing for IMAGO in 2017.
This was the first time in my life where I had an opportunity to completely focus on music without the burden of balancing a job.
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 16 - Aug 22)
Upcoming Events:
- Thursday August 26: CHIRP Radio welcomes Ohmme to Thalia Hall
- All August: CHIRP Radio is giving away 3-day passes to the 2021 Pitchfork Music Festival
- Friday Spetember 10 - Sunday September 12: It's the 2021 Pitchfork Music Festival, featuring the CHIRP Radio Record Fair and Other Delights
On the Podcast:
- Features Co-Director Mick chats with Gabacho
On the Blog:
- Features Co-Director Mick talks to Chicago rapper L.H.
Top of the CHIRP Charts for the week of 8/9/21:
Durand Jones & The Indications – Private Space (Dead Oceans)