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The CHIRP Blog
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesFriday MP3 Shuffle - Happy Birthday Keith Flint Edition
Today we wish a very Happy Birthday to Keith Flint, lead vocalist for the band The Prodigy. This group helped pioneer the Big Beat electronic music sub-genre in the ‘90s with a sound that, like the mighty shark, hasn’t evolved much over time, mainly because it hasn’t had to. Their fundamentally loud, abrasive, scorching sound doesn’t lend itself to mainstream consumption. It's music for raving, and Flint’s Punk-as-@$!*, trouble-in-mind voice is a perfect front for the assault. Let’s wish him a Happy B-Day (and good luck with the band’s new album, The Day Is My Enemy, coming out next week) by taking your MP3 player, pressing the "shuffle" button, and sharing the first 10 songs you hear:
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesIn Rotation: Makaya McCraven
One of Jazz music’s best drummers just released a new album on International Anthem. Makaya McCraven’s record takes a collage approach to this record by combining recordings of various performances around town into a looped, sampled, spliced tougher groove. Working alongside fellow Chicago bright stars like Matt Ulery and Marquis Hill, McCraven shows how improvised music is not just alive and well but thriving in the new century. McCraven’s new album In the Moment is currently in rotation on CHIRP Radio!
SKaiser writesQ&A with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
Greg Ormont from one of the fastest growing emerging groups in the jam and festival scene, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, sat down to answer a few questions with CHIRP Radio. Don't miss them Thursday, March 26 at The Tonic Room. Doors open at 9:00 PM | Show at 10:00 PM
Greg Ormont: Lead Vocals | Rhythm Guitar
Jeremy Schon: Guitar | Vocals
Ben Carrey: Bass | Vocals
Alex Petropulos: Drumagic | Electro-Swag
CHIRP: How are you guys feeling at the Midwestern point of your tour?
Ormont: Exhausted, haha, and incredibly grateful. This month-long tour has felt more like a vacation than usual. We began in the Southeast, spent a weekend in Florida for AURA Music Festival where we played a late night set, and then spent a vacation day in New Orleans on the way to a two-week Colorado run. While out west, we got the chance to hit the hot springs in Steamboat Springs and some of us snowboarded and skied at Snowmass in Aspen. Now we’re trucking through the Midwest for some awesome shows on the way home to Baltimore. All of our shows this month have been explosive, complete with epic sit-ins and packed houses. We’re having a ton of fun.
Amanda Walz writesAmanda Walz on What Makes CHIRP Radio Special
I began volunteering at CHIRP Radio in January 2014 and started my weekly DJ shift in July 2014. I’d been a fan of the station and had known about it from the beginning, but it was time to get involved.
I’ve always been a music lover and was a college radio DJ, like so many of us, way back when. CHIRP is also a pretty cool way to learn new skills or hone some old ones. No previous radio experience is required to volunteer at CHIRP. I’ve written album reviews and promo scripts for the station. I’ve also just begun learning about radio production. What a great resource!
When I was a kid, my friends and I spent most of our free time hanging out at record stores and going to shows. I miss the camaraderie record stores and local live radio provide. Volunteering with CHIRP is a new way of keeping music and people connected.
Growing up in the Detroit area, I had a lot of public radio station options to listen to; from Detroit and Ann Arbor, to Toledo and Windsor. I was introduced to so many artists through local radio. That’s why I love CHIRP’s format and mission. Music brings people together, and that’s what CHIRP is about. From the Record Fair, to live music events, to tabling at street fairs, Chicago music lovers can come together and contribute to a fun community.
(Click here to contribute to CHIRP Radio's Spring fundraising efforts! Whether you become a sustaining member or make a one-time donation, your gift will help us keep local, independent radio thriving in Chicago!)
Ross M: Conceptually Gross writesRediscovering Our Record Collections: Dinosaur Jr.‘s “Bug”
To tell the truth, I have no idea where I picked up this record. In my head it was Mod Lang in Berkeley but I'm not sure in late 1988 I was hip to that little shop. I was doing most of my time loitering in Rasputin's and Amoeba but my brain keeps showing me grabbing this in a smaller shop. I suppose the beauty of memory is how you basically fill in the gaps with whatever and it becomes reality. All I really know is, like so many records bought at the time, I dove in head first based on the cover and label (SST). This was very pre-internet so my research consisted of throwing money at things that looked cool and hoping for the best. This one worked out pretty well.
Background? Sure, I'll tell you a few things. In 1983 (and the tender age of 13) I started smoking a little pot. Also in 1983 I heard Metallica's Kill 'Em All. To say 1983 was a monumental year in my life would be a gross understatement (Bar Mitzvah, anyone?). Merely two years removed from declaring Men At Work's Business As Usual the greatest album of all time, I had found the sound that I would forever chase (listen to "Whiplash" for the perfect distillation of this sound I speak of). Metal would hold my hand through the awkward years but I had a much darker secret...