We're happy to be nominated in four categories for the Reader's 2024 Best of Chicago poll. Find them all here and cast your ballot by December 31!
We're happy to be nominated in four categories for the Reader's 2024 Best of Chicago poll. Find them all here and cast your ballot by December 31!
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Summer is always a busy time for CHIRP, and this summer is even busier than usual, with the planned launch of the web version of our new radio station!
As we move toward our late-summer launch, you’ll be seeing us out and about around the city.
We’re excited about an upcoming CHIRP benefit show generously planned by Chicago’s soulful rockers The Right Now. They’re playing a show with Love in October and Jenny Gillespie on Saturday, June 27th at Martyrs’, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit CHIRP! Showtime is 10PM, and tickets are $8.
Summer is a great time to see music outdoors, and we’re really looking forward to the new Monday night live music series at Millennium Park. Every week is a winner – including CHIRP favorites like the Sea and Cake, and a long-awaited return by the Feelies!
CHIRP will have a table at the Old Town School’s Folk & Roots Fest July 11th and 12th, so be sure to stop by and pick up great new CHIRPradio.org swag.
And of course we’ll be back at the Pitchfork Music Festival July 17-19 with our record fair under the big tent on the Union Park tennis courts.
Hope to see you at one or more of these cool events.
I just found a couple of interesting new things in the twin worlds of indie/web comics and music.
First, a indie publisher called Poseur Ink will very shortly be releasing an anthology of comics about music called Side B. Contributors include Chicago’s own Jeffrey Brown (who designed CHIRP’s Record Fair poster and t-shirt — contact us for more info on how to get one!), as well as Mitch Clem and Box Brown.
Side B, as you may imagine, is a follow up to their 2007 release Side A.
Meanwhile, I Love Tapes is a new web comic about a band. It’s a collaboration between Ned Hugar, who’s also a contributor to Side B, and Frank Gibson, who contributed to Side A. And in addition to the satire of the indie rock scene, Frank and Ned periodically post streaming mixes. How fun is that?
(Incidentally, Frank writes another comic called Tiny Kitten Teeth, in collaboration with Becky Dreistadt. It’s not about music, but go check it out anyway. The art reminds me of what you might see if you wandered through the art section of a thrift store while on psychedelic drugs.)
Joyce is one of those Brazilian musicians whose work you discover and think to yourself, how did I not know about this? Not only is her back catalog from the 70’s and onward a goldmine, she even grows better with time. She’s constantly releasing fresh material like 2001’s Gafiera Moderna (you need this).
Well, the kind people at Far Out Recordings have really done it this time. They somehow dug up Joyce’s “lost” acid folk album from 1976 that was never released, dubbed Visions Of Dawn (Paris ’76 Project). Generally, when “ultra obscure” material is reissued, its accessibility corresponds with its obscurity. Not this album. It’s one of Joyce’s most precious works, start to finish, and features her best instrument: voice.
Led by the sharp lyrics and gorgeous, expressive voice and guitar of Joyce the trio is completed by the expert musicianship of her close friends Nana Vasconcelos (percussion) and Mauricio Maestro (electric bass, vocals, guitar and producer) who were both crucial in creating this masterpiece.
The album is softer than her dancefloor classics you may know of, like Samba De Gago or Aldeia De Ogum (beautifully sampled for the backing of Aloe Blacc’s Bailar). Most of the vocal treatment is sans lyric and leads each composition as another instrument. The album opens with a folkier version of her classic song Banana but all others are completely new, to my knowledge. The mood is soothing throughout and when you finally arrive at the undulating breathwork on Chegada, you start to realize that something very special happened during those sessions in Paris in 1976.
For the local Chicagoans, Joyce’s Visions of Dawn is available at Dusty Groove. And if you want to catch up on all the Joyce classics, Mr. Bongo’s The Essential Joyce: 1970 – 1996 lives up to its title.
Did you realize the CHIRP Record Fair & Other Delights is just days away — April 18th and 19th?!? There’s so much that’s new and exciting about this year’s fair. We can hardly contain ourselves!
First off, we’re thrilled about our new location – Plumbers’ Hall at 1340 W. Washington. We’re also pleased as punch that graphic novelist extraordinaire Jeffrey Brown designed this year’s logo, immortalized on limited edition t-shirts and posters…paying tribute to the fair’s new home. Check it out on the Record Fair page.
We’re also excited that we have tons of new dealers this year, in addition to lots of longtime favorites. Dealers will be selling new and used vinyl, CDs, posters, publications, crafts, and more. Some of our favorite local nonprofits will be representing too.
What else? Well, we’ll have great music – live acts including Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Dreamend, Ceiling Stars, and more, as well as lots of celebrity DJs. And Reggie’s will be providing food to strengthen your shopping stamina.
And finally, this year we’re doing something we’ve wanted to do for ages — having an after-party on Sunday night at Reggie’s Rock Club featuring tons of CHIRP DJs like the Smashing Time crew, Dr. Drase, and Michael Ardaiolo — shop all day, dance all night…from 7PM onward!
$5 regular admission or $3 with your record fair ticket.
Fair hours are:
Saturday, April 18 – 10AM*-5PM $7 regular admission, $5 with flyer, ad, or a receipt from any independent record store dated April 18 – show your support for Record Store Day!
*Special pre-admission Saturday from 8-10AM for $25
Sunday, April 19 – 10AM-5PM $7 regular admission, $5 with flyer or ad
Join us on Friday April 10th, as CHIRP launches our new monthly residency at The Atlantic!
For our first outing, DJs Steven Chesney and John Carrigan will be manning the decks.
Goodie Friday with CHIRP DJs Steven Chesney and John Carrigan
Friday April 10th
10pm-2am
@ The Atlantic
The Atlantic, an Irish Pub is located at 5062 N Lincoln Ave.
No Cover!
We’ll be at The Atlantic every 2nd Friday of the month.
Help us kick off the inaugural event with a bang!