Disappears @ Lincoln Hall in April (more by Zach Pollack)

Chicago's Disappears recently finished off a spring North American tour with Lotus Plaza, and have announced a hometown show at the Empty Bottle on July 20. Tickets go on sale this Friday (May 11), at 10AM CST. The band will head to Europe in late-June for a short string of dates, including some with the Lee Ranaldo Band (who they share a drummer with).

The Lee Ranaldo Band are currently on tour with M. Ward, a run that hits the Vic on May 22. Tickets are still available for the Chicago show.

All 2012 tour dates and videos for both acts, below...

Continue reading "Disappears announce hometown show @ the Empty Bottle; the Lee Ranaldo Band play the Vic this month w/ M. Ward"

photos by Zach Pollack

Disappears / Lotus Plaza @ Lincoln Hall last night

Last night (Friday, April 13), Disappears and Lotus Plaza (aka Lockett Pundt of Deerhunter) kicked off their spring North American tour with a packed show at Lincoln Hall. Their Kranky label mates Implodes (who we unfortunately missed) got things started. Continue on for a set of pictures from last night...

Continue reading "Disappears & Lotus Plaza kicked off their tour @ LH (pics)"

by Andrew Sacher

Lockett Pundt with Deerhunter at Bonnaroo 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Lotus Plaza (aka Deerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt) just released his sophomore LP, Spooky Action at a Distance, earlier this month via Kranky, and is about to kick off a tour in support of it. As I wrote on BrooklynVegan, it's a huge step up from his debut and:

The songs are driven by looping beats that either seemingly or literally don't falter throughout the entirety of each song, notably popping out with the drum rolls of "Strangers" or the krautpunk backbone of "Remember Our Days." The album sounds largest with its centerpiece, "Monoliths," which gives "Desire Lines" a run for its money as Lockett's best song yet. It opens with two quick verses and then spends more than half the song with crashing cymbals and the repeated line, "And one of these days, I hope I come around," ending in "One of these days, I'll come around." The album's most surprising moment comes on its closing track, "Black Buzz," an acoustic ballad with Lockett's vocals intimately foregrounded, and the one track on the album that makes Lotus Plaza actually seem like a solo project.

All dates and more at BrooklynVegan.

Korallreven

today in Chicago
* Bullet Hell, Vertonen, James Connolly @ The Burlington
* Chapter 24, Blind Shake, The Larroquettes @ Empty Bottle
* Chicago Sounds in the '80s @ Museum of Contemporary Art
* Korallreven, Young Magic, How To Dress Well (DJ set) @ Schubas
* St. Bagu, Old Black and Blue Eyes, Samantha, Arbogast, Blast Off @ Double Door
* Mountains for Clouds, I Know Everything, Artificial Heroes, It's Just Vanity @ Township

Korallreven (members of The Radio Dept.) make their Chicago debut tonight at Schubas, with support from Young Magic and How To Dress Well (DJ set).

Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis speak with Frankie Knuckles, Chris Connelly, and Santiago Durango at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Disappears have a new video for "Replicate." Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

Disappears @ Cake Shop in July (NYC) (more by BBG)

As mentioned, Disappears are set to release their new LP, Pre Language, on March 1st via Kranky. The band have some upcoming West Coast dates with The Fresh & Onlys and then will hop the pond in late-March for a two-week European run. They'll return stateside in mid-April, kicking off a spring North American tour with Lotus Plaza (aka Lockett Pundt of Deerhunter) here in their hometown of Chicago at Lincoln Hall on April 13th. The tour, lasting through the end of April, will bring Disappears to the East Coast and then down to Texas for a performance at Austin Psych Fest 2012 (which Lotus Plaza also plays). Tickets for the Chicago show go on sale tomorrow (1/20), at noon CST.

All 2012 tour dates, song streams, and some videos, below..

Continue reading "Disappears announce tour w/ Lotus Plaza (LH included)"

DOWNLOAD: Disappears - "Replicate" (MP3)

Disappears are set to release their new LP, Pre Language, on March 1st via Kranky. The album marks the first studio material that new-ish drummer Steve Shelly is featured on. Like Guider, Pre Language was recorded at Sonic Youth's Echo Canyon West Studio in Hoboken, NJ and mixed with John Congleton. Download its lead single, "Replicate," at the top of this post and check out the tracklisting below.

The band have some upcoming shows with The Fresh & Onlys, though no hometown gig to speak of. Fellow Chicagoans E+ on the other hand, featuring Disappears members Damon J Carruesco and Jonathan Van Herik, have two local shows. They'll play Beat Kitchen on January 18th with Summer Girlfriends, Pearls, Magic City and then headline Schubas on February 1st with support from Wimps. Stream some demos via their Facebook and stay tuned for a proper record. You can also catch Disappears frontman Brian Case on January 25th, when he plays a DJ Set at the Hideout as part of their Soup & Bread series.

All 2012 dates and Pre Language's tracklisting, below..

Continue reading "a new Disappears MP3 & LP details; check out E+"

Disappears @ A.V. Fest in September (more by Matt Ziegler)

We've had a great year for music here at Do312. To commemorate our first full year at Do312, we devised the Da Top 41 list of bands from right here in Chicago. How did we decide on this list? Through a complicated mathematical formula that took weeks of calculations and countless sticks of chalk. We took each band on our site weighted the total number of "likes" for their events, the amount of followers the band has on Do312, and who/what we thought was awesome. We then plugged the variables into a cryptic equation only known to music industry folk... What came next? Well... with those criteria, we created a definitive and by no means, completely arbitrary list of Chicago bands.

The Black Keys @ Aragon Ballroom - NYE 2011 (more by Joshua Mellin)

Though it's not even time for Thanksgiving yet, Chicago's New Years Eve concerts are already starting to take form.

We've previously announced that:

Alkaline Trio are playing Metro.

Disappears, Bare Mutants, and Outer Minds are playing the Empty Bottle.

The Hood Internet are playing Lincoln Hall.

Cage The Elephant, Sleeper Agent, and Company of Thieves are playing the Aragon.

Big Gigantic are playing the Vic.

Here's a few new options:

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are playing Schubas.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow (11/4), at noon CST.

Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Cracker, and Camper Van Beethoven are playing the House of Blues.
Tickets are still available.

Rusko, Sinden, and Switch are playing the Congress Theatre.
Tickets are still available.

Disappears @ A.V. Fest (more by Matt Ziegler)

We're happy to say that according to Sonic Youth's blog, Chicago's own Disappears (who they now share a drummer with) are at work on a new album due out in 2012!

The upcoming record to be released on Kranky Records will be Disappears' first LP with Steve Shelley. Basic tracks were recorded in Hoboken, NJ with Aaron Mullan engineering.

Also in the works, is a collaborative LP with friends White/Light who made a soundboard recording of their House of Blues - Lollapalooza aftershow, opening for Arctic Monkeys. Look out for that in 2012 as well.

Could there be a better way to spend New Year's?

photos by Matt Ziegler, words by Zach Pollack

Hum @ A.V. Fest

Saturday (9/10) afternoon, the A.V. Club's inaugural A.V. Fest kicked off in a block party style setup, steps from Hideout.

I arrived about halfway through Chicago-based band Like Pioneers' set and enjoyed what I heard of their careful mix of indie and roots rock. The small, early crowd was mostly milling about grabbing lunch from the gourmet food trucks inside of the fest, and actively searching for a shady spot to park it. It wasn't until Maritime started to play around 2:30PM, that the festival grounds became hoppin'.

Maritime was formed in 2003 out of the ashes of two beloved bands: The Dismemberment Plan and The Promise Ring, but rather than just repeating their past, the group bring forth some infectious indie pop with a slight dance-y tinge to it. With only six bands on each day, A.V. Fest is able to both stack the lineup full of amazing acts, and give each band a full hour or more on stage. Toting 4LPs and 1EP to their name, Maritime were able to make great use of the large chunk of time they had been given. The crowd grew larger and larger as their set went on, and everyone watching appeared to be very into it (myself included).

Up next was the Clem Snide frontman Eef Barzelay playing a set of mostly Journey covers, fashioned in his own way. To preface this very strange sounding happening, note that Barzelay previously covered Journey's 1983 power ballad "Faithfully" for A.V. Club's 'Undercover' series. Though I can't say I was really interested in the Journey aspect of things, his smooth voice really carried the performance through for me. He played some of his own songs too, all on a ukulele.

In a major turn of mood, genre, and mostly volume, Chicago's Disappears, who also played Lollapalooza this summer, were next (complete with semi-recent addition Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth on drums to help fill out their massive sound). They blend shoegaze and garage rock like no other, featuring the shouting vocal stylings of frontman Brian Case (ex-90 Day Men/The Ponys). Their face-melting, tight-as-could-be set went by so quickly that I didn't even realize an hour or so had passed. The band's most recent LP Guider, came out this past January via Chicago's Kranky Records. Stay tuned for what these guys have in store for the future. They are not a band to miss.

The Thermals

Hutch, Kathy, and Westin, formally known as The Thermals began their knock out set at 7PM last night. They began by playing their awesome 2010 record Personal Life from start to finish, then hitting the crowd with a few b-sides, followed by some older tracks. The power trio cranked out every ounce of energy they had in order to make their set memorable and exciting. The musicianship of all three members really shone through, especially when just about the entire crowd was moving to their songs. Before jumping into their last song of the set, frontman Hutch Harris told the crowd how psyched they were to play right before Hum, and shortly after, that's exactly what we got.

After watching stagehands load massive amps and gear, the reunited Hum took to the stage at 8:30PM. The Champaign band have been pretty quiet for 10 years, but Chicago is spoiled. Hum returned at the beginning of 2009 for a couple of reunion shows at Double Door and then again in 2010 to play a free Memorial Day show in Millennium Park - a big treat for Chicagoians then, and now (let's keep the yearly tradition going!). Formed in 1989, Hum bring 90s alternative rock and post-hardcore to the table and are still good at it. The band sounded full and tight, while the massive crowd ate up every note that poured out of the speakers. No word on if the band will do a full reunion tour like Pavement and Sunday fest headliners Archers of Loaf, (review coming soon), but they did play High Dive one night before A.V Fest, and they'll be playing at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin in November.

Hum's two Illinois show setlists and more pictures from most of Saturday, below...

Continue reading "A.V. Fest Day 1 in pics & review (Hum, The Thermals, Disappears, Eef Barzelay, Maritime & more)"

Before playing on Sunday (8/7) of Lollapalooza 2011, Chicago's Disappears opened for the Arctic Monkeys on Saturday (8/6) at the House of Blues.

Their friend Jeremy Lemos (of White/Light) recorded their set straight from the mixing board. Stream it directly below via the SoundCloud widget.

Disappears - House of Blues 8/6 soundboard recording

After wrapping their current tour with Obits, as mentioned, Disappears will play the A.V. Fest on Saturday, September 9th.

Disappears @ Lollapalooza 2011 (via)

Chicago psych-rockers Disappears recently played Lollapalooza, an aftershow at the House of Blues with the Arctic Monkeys, and now Daytrotter has posted a four-song session they did with the band.

No stranger to live sessions, the group chose to play two songs off of their most recent record (and my favorite) Guider, an unreleased track, plus a cut from 2010's Lux. Check out the session HERE.

Disappears are playing on Saturday (9/10) of the A.V. Fest.

Obits @ Swan Dive in Austin, TX - BV SXSW 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

We recently announced that Obits have booked a string of August dates featuring Chicago's own amazing Disappears. Their short run kicks off exactly two weeks from today in Vancouver, BC.

In the meantime, you can catch Disappears twice this weekend! They'll be playing on Saturday (8/6) of Lollapalooza, from 12:45 - 1:30PM on the Bud Light Stage. Later on in the evening, the band will open up for the Arctic Monkeys at the House of Blues.

As it seems, Obits are also starting to slowly announce a fall tour of sorts. Within the few select dates that have been announced so far, is an October 21st performance at Subterranean. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, at 10AM CST.

You can view all 2011 tour dates below..

Continue reading "Obits announce date @ Subterranean, touring w/ Disappears after Lolla, and some more (alone) this fall"

Disappears

Even though the Chicago-based band, Disappears just released their LP Guider back in January; they now return bearing new music!

Live At Echo Canyon is a five-song cassette, and will be the band's first recordings featuring new drummer Steve Shelley.

From the aboriginal ooze of self-released 7″ singles and Live Over the Rainbo, Chicago's Disappears have quickly risen to become one of our fair city's most acclaimed bands on the further strength of well-loved full-lengths Lux and Guider. If all of this over the course of less than three years isn't enough for you, behold our latest offering: Live At Echo Canyon, a five-song stunner replete with everything that is good and right about a gnarled, hard-hitting, ear-busting Disappears live show. Recorded at Echo Canyon in Hoboken, the band storms through four newly minted originals and caps it off with a gnarled cover of Suicide's "Radiation." [Plustapes]

Starting May 19th, they'll tour through Europe before heading out on back to back U.S. tours with The Psychic Paramount, and Obits.

Head below to view all 2011 tour dates.

Continue reading "Disappears released 'Live At Echo Canyon', heading out on tour (2011 dates)"

today in Chicago
* Afrika Bambaataa @ The Mid
* Neil Young, Bert Jansch @ The Chicago Theatre
* Disappears, The Eternals, Wumme @ Empty Bottle
* Broken Water @ Permanent Records (Free In-store)
* The Felice Brothers, Shovels & Rope @ Lincoln Hall
* La Dispute, Defeater, Native, Former Thieves @ Beat Kitchen
* Yelle, French Horn Rebellion, Moneypenny @ Bottom Lounge
* Young Man, Run Forever, Frank & Jesse, Delmar & the Dedications @ Strangelight

What else?

Wanda Jackson & Jack White @ MHOW (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

today in Chicago
* Ron Sexsmith, Caitlin Rose @ Schubas
* Disappears @ Museum of Contemporary Art
* Wanda Jackson, Dex Romweber Duo @ Lincoln Hall
* Fujiya & Miyagi, Shit Robot, My Gold Mask @ The Mid
* Cult of Youth, Bloodyminded, Socially Retarded, Population @ Abbey Pub

Check out some footage that Giant System Chicago shot of Disappears playing the opening track "Superstition" from their recently released LP Guider below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"