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The CHIRP Blog
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 28 - Sep 3)
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday Sep 5: CHIRP Night at the Whistler with Kmieciak and BATH ROOMS
- Sunday Sep 10: CHIRP Radio at the Andersonville Vintage Market
- Tuesday Sep 12: CIHRP DJ Night at The Native
- Wednesday Sep 13: CHIRP Radio Trivia Night at Beermiscuous ("Music in Movies")
- Wednesday Sep 13 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio Partners with the Chicago Underground Film Festival
- Thursday Sep 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Pile to Sleeping Village
- Thursday Sep 14 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio's Innaugural CHIRP Music Film Festvial at the Davis Theatre
- Wednesday Sep 20: CHIRP Radio is a media sponsor for Guitars Over Guns' Band Together Fundraiser
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 21 - Aug 27)
Upcoming Events:
- Wednesday Aug 23: First Time: First Pass at Martyrs'
- Friday Aug 25: CIHRP Radio welcomes Ratboys to Schubas
- Saturday Aug 26: CHIRP Radio at the Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street Stroll
- Sunday Sep 10: CHIRP Radio at the Andersonville Vintage Market
- Tuesday Sep 12: CIHRP DJ Night at The Native
- Wednesday Sep 13: CHIRP Radio Trivia Night at Beermiscuous ("Music in Movies")
- Wednesday Sep 13 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio Partners with the Chicago Underground Film Festival
- Thursday Sep 14: CHIRP Radio welcomes Pile to Sleeping Village
- Thursday Sep 14 - Sunday Sep 17 : CHIRP Radio's Innaugural CHIRP Music Film Festvial at the Davis Theatre
- Wednesday Sep 20: CHIRP Radio is a media sponsor for Guitars Over Guns' Band Together
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTake Two: “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” (Enya Vs. Olivia Jean)
The Original (from the 1988 album Watermark)
This song is a centerpiece of arguably the most successful album from the 1980s-90s “New Age” marketing category. Enya started out creating mood music for BBC documentaries, and the cinematic quality of her work is on full display here.
The core of the song features pizzicato violins and synth washes and arpeggiated runs. Percussion is provided by a spare bassline and strategically placed timpani dramatically leaning on the one of the measure, a pattern well known in Funk music, BTW.
Lopping two chord patterns and impressionistic nautical lyrics make the music hypnotic in its way. You don’t need to be anywhere near water to get to dreaming of adventures on the high seas.
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Blue Valentine
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the 2010 film Blue Valentine.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Cassondra Branderhorst.
Kevin:
Early on in Blue Valentine, the image that came to mind was that of an oscilloscope. What happens when you have a pair of harmonic waves that are just slightly misaligned? Over time, small differences can magnify into huge disconnects, where the two may find themselves moving in opposite directions.
In the Hollywood of yesteryear, the story of Cindy (Michelle Williams in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Dean (Ryan Gosling) would have all the trappings of a romantic comedy. There's the meet-cute (while visiting residents of a senior home), the disparate backgrounds (she's a college student, he's a high-school dropout who works for a moving company), the winsome impromptu first date (where his ukulele serenade wins her over), and even a jealous ex (played in rather creepy fashion by Mike Vogel) to boot.
In Blue Valentine, however, these elements are relayed via a series of flashbacks and comprise only half of the tale. The present day has us checking up on their marriage, five years in... and clearly, the honeymoon has long worn off. Cindy can't fathom why Dean seems content with menial work; he can't understand why the charming disposition she fell in love with no longer seems good enough for her today.
Matters reach a breaking point when Dean -- over Cindy's objections -- plans an evening for the two of them at a hotel with "theme" suites, which in their case is ominously titled "The Future." (Picture the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.) Relations are frosty before they've even arrived. Cindy is exhausted and also on call for her job as a nurse, and there's additional tension in the air after she mentions that she bumped into the aforementioned ex at a liquor store on the way there. The ex's opening salvo: Have you been faithful to your husband? Ouch.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (Aug 14 - Aug 20)
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday Aug 15: CHIRP Radio welcomes The Clientele to Lincoln Hall
- Tuesday Aug 15: CHIRP Music Trivia Night at Beermiscuous
- Saturday Aug 19 - Sunday Aug 20: CHIRP at the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest
- Wednesday Aug 23: First Time: First Pass at Martyrs'
- Friday Aug 25: CIHRP Radio welcomes Ratboys to Schubas
- Tuesday Sep 12: CIHRP DJ Night at The Native
- Thursday Sep 14: CIHRP Radio welcomes Pile to Sleeping Village