Nine Inch Nails fan @ Lollapalooza 2012 (more by James Richards IV)

The official Lollapalooza 2013 lineup has been announced, even though you already got a good peek at it when it leaked in full last week. The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, New Order, Queens of the Stone Age, Kendrick Lamar, Phoenix, The National, Baroness, and MANY more are slated to perform in Grant Park from August 2-4.

Three-day passes are long gone, but single-day tickets go on sale this Wednesday (4/3) at 10AM CST.

Check out the full Lollapalooza 2013 lineups-by-day below...

Continue reading "Lollapalooza 2013 lineup announced (The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, New Order, Queens of the Stone Age & many more)"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Mykki Blanco - Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss (ZIP)

Mykki Blanco in Brooklyn in 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

As mentioned on BrooklynVegan, NYC rapper Mykki Blanco is playing a hometown show this month before heading over to Europe for a few shows over there. But before that, Mykki will play a Chicago show this Thursday (1/10) at Beauty Bar with Teen Witch and DJ set by Supreme Cuts. The show starts at 9 PM and is free with RSVP before 10 PM. The show flyer is below.

Mykki's debut mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss, came out last year via UNO NYC with production by Brenmar, Gobby, Flosstradamus, Gatekeeper, and others, plus a guest spot by Le1f. It's an awesomely wacked out mixtape that gets dark, trippy, and abrasive, often all at once. And whether it's with an ounce of sarcasm or not, Mykki balances the weirdness with some party rap cliches (like the repeated "we fuckin' this club up" in "Riot"). Mykki's shows only have more energy than the recordings, so things should get pretty wild at Beauty Bar on Thursday. You can download the mixtape for free above or stream it in its entirety, along with that show flyer and a list of all dates, below.

Continue reading "Mykki Blanco playing Beauty Bar this week (dates & mixtape download)"

Lucero @ BV-SXSW 2012 (more by Tim Griffin)

As discussed, the 2013 edition of Tomorrow Never Knows is set to take place from January 16-20 at Lincoln Hall, Schubas, Metro, Hideout, Smart Bar, and the Vic Theatre. A second round of acts have now been added to the festival; some playing brand new shows and some as support for previously announced headliners.

One of the new shows happens at Metro on January 19, and it'll be headlined by Lucero. Tickets for that one go on sale this Friday (11/23) at noon CST. Another new one is Bear in Heaven, Hooray For Earth, Supreme Cuts, and one more act TBA at Schubas on January 16. Tickets for that show also go on sale this Friday at noon.

January 19th's Freelance Whales show at Lincoln Hall, with Snowmine, now also features Hundred Waters on the bill. Advance tickets are still available; five-day passes are also still available.

Check out a TNK 2013 official mixtape below...

Continue reading "Lucero, Bear in Heaven, Hooray For Earth & more acts added to Tomorrow Never Knows 2013"

As mentioned earlier today, the 2012 edition of Neon Marshmallow is set to take place at The Burlington from November 15-18. The festival lineup has arrived tonight, and includes Pelican/Chord member and solo artist Trevor de Brauw, Thurston Moore, Greg Fox's Guardian Alien, MV & EE, Running, Julian Lynch, and many more acts. Festival passes are on sale now, and come with MP3s from Windbreaker, Ryley Walker, and more. Of course, you could take your chances and pay per-day at the door but we don't recommend it (and there might not be room for walk-ups).

Scope the full festival schedule-by-day below...

Continue reading "Trevor de Brauw, Thurston Moore, Guardian Alien & more to perform at Neon Marshmallow 2012"

Alt-J @ Glasslands in August (BKLYN) (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

today in Chicago
* Alt-J, JBM @ Empty Bottle
* Angus Stone @ Park West
* Bloc Party, Ceremony @ The Riv
* Django Django, YAWN @ Schubas
* The Weeknd @ Congress Theater
* Tim Kinsella, Litesalive @ Heaven Gallery
* Mono, Chris Brokaw, Tal @ Subterranean
* Melvins (Lite), Tweak Bird @ Double Door
* Dirty Dozen Brass Band, B.S. Brass Band @ SPACE
* The Arrivals, Sweet Cobra, Damp Hay, 97-Shiki @ Township
* Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Dam-Funk, Bodyguard @ Metro
* Sun Foot, Sally Timms, John Niekrasz Trio @ The Burlington
* John Cale, Zola Jesus @ Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements
* Silversun Pickups, School of Seven Bells, Atlas Genius @ Aragon Ballroom
* Typical Cats, Chance the Rapper, Maxilla Blue, Lady Daisey & Batsauce, Maker @ Bottom Lounge

Between Bloc Party, Alt-J, Ariel Pink, and more, a ton of big tours are coming through Chicago tonight. It's Friday, go out there and see something.

"Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements is this weekend." The Weeknd plays the Congress Theater tonight.

Supreme Cuts and Haleek Maul have a new video for "M00N" from their collaborative album, Chrome Lips. Check it out below.

Follow @bvChicago on Twitter, "Like" us on Facebook.

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"

Micachu & The Shapes @ Terminal 5 (NYC) (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The Adventures in Modern Music Festival is set to take place for the 10th year in a row, at the Empty Bottle from October 3-7. The "five-day celebration of outsider sounds" features eclectic lineups from top to bottom, with acts from all over the world.

The series kicks off on October 3 with performances by L.A. production duo Nguzunguzu, the godfather of home recording R. Stevie Moore, Sao Paulo Underground, and Christina Vantzou.

Dark ambient duo Demdike Stare, black metal upstarts Vattnet Viskar, Demdike Stare's Modern Love labelmate Andy Stott, and Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society will all be performing at the Bottle on October 4.

October 5 features locals Supreme Cuts (who recently released their debut LP), London-based psychedelic outfit Shit and Shine, Duane Pitre, and Tatsuya Nakatani & Vanessa Skantze.

Chicago footwork king Traxman, French minimalist Sylvain Chauveau, Norwegian ambient artist Biosphere (who recently collaborated with Lustmord), and Hallock Hill will take over the venue on October 6.

The series ends in a big way on October 7, with a show featuring Micachu & The Shapes, Holy Other, Lee Noble, and Joseph Van Wissem. Holy Other was set to make his Chicago debut at the Congress Theater on Friday night (9/7) with Amon Tobin, but that show got canceled. This will now serve as his Chicago debut, on his very first tour. Holy Other just welcomed his great debut LP, Held, via Tri Angle. You can stream the album via Spotify.

Tickets for each individual AIMM show go on sale TODAY (9/8) at noon CST. There won't be any festival passes for sale.

Full lineups-by-day for AIMM and some song streams are below...

Continue reading "Adventures in Modern Music 2012 at the Empty Bottle (Micachu & The Shapes, Holy Other, Traxman, Biosphere, Vattnet Viskar, Nguzunguzu, R. Stevie Moore & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Supreme Cuts - "Sherm" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Supreme Cuts - "Gully" (feat. Haleek Maul) (MP3)

Supreme Cuts @ The Dustbowl in April (more by Tyler Trykowski)

Chicago footwork duo Supreme Cuts are getting ready to release their debut LP, Whispers in the Dark, on July 10 via Dovecote Records. Download the album's lead single "Sherm" at the top of this post and listen to a few other LP tracks below.

They're also working on a new mixtape, Chrome Lips, due out later this summer via Dovecoat/Mishka. The tape's lead track "Gully," which is available for download at the top of this post, features Brooklyn rapper Haleek Maul and is a good mix of their space-y production and his tight rhymes.

The duo will hit the road with Poliça in August for a few dates (all are listed below) and before that happens, they'll also play a number of Chicago shows. First up, on June 4, is Teengirl Fantasy's show at the Bottle. Then they'll play the Redmoon Theater on July 14 with The-Drum and Mister Lies, and open up for Gold Panda at the Bottom Lounge on July 27.

All Supreme Cuts dates are listed below, along with some song streams.

Continue reading "Supreme Cuts releasing 'Whispers in the Dark,' touring w/ Polica, playing the Bottle w/ Teengirl Fantasy"

French producer Onra (aka Arnaud Bernard) is here. He'll be kicking off a set of North American dates with a show at the Beauty Bar tonight at 9PM, with support from Supreme Cuts (DJs), Doc Ill & Raj Mahal of Push Beats, and DJ Moppy & RTST of Cutz On Cuts. Admission is FREE before 10PM and $3 thereafter.

Onra is gearing up for the release of his new EP, Deep in the Night, due out on June 12 via Fool's Gold. The first taste of album, a track titled "L.O.V.E.," has arrived and reminds me of SBTRKT's "Sanctuary" with a bit more boogie in its step. Take a listen to that and a few other tracks at the bottom of this post. The EP also features a guest spot from Slum Village's T3 on the album opener "After Hours." Catch a very affordable (free if you can help it) and bound-to-be-interesting performance from Bernard at Beauty Bar tonight.

All Onra dates are listed below, along with some song streams and album info.

Continue reading "Onra is here, kicking off a tour @ Beauty Bar tonight --------- (song streams, dates)"

by Parker Langvardt

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan @ Schubas on 5/18/2012

With two hand-painted clouds made of cardboard on the front of the stage, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan guitarist John Ancheta and keyboardist Brendan Swanson began making atmospheric sounds with their instruments, accompanied by booming recordings of thunder. Drummer Alaska B and the band's lighting tech Alana Ruth were also on stage when vocalists Ruby Kato Attwood and Ange Loft walked through the crowd carrying a black and white paper dragon over their heads. Attwood wore a compact, paper headdress with a sort of royal appearance, while Loft had more of a wig-like headdress with many long black strands that draped down past her waist like flat dreadlocks.

The thunder led into "Queens," from their debut self-titled album, with deep, swirling organ. The vocalists started off slightly timid - it was the first show of the first Yamantaka // Sonic Titan tour, after all - but they became more confident as the suspense built toward the first rolling drum fill and guitar riff. By the time they hit the pulsing bridge, everything had fallen perfectly into place. The second song they played (not from the album) was a slow, psychedelic piece with light organ and distorted bass. The heavy "Reverse Crystal // Murder of a Spider" was followed by drumming and syncopated chanting. Loft took off her headdress at some point, and Attwood danced fluidly with a large paper fan in hand. "Hoshi Neko," the closest Yamantaka // Sonic Titan has gotten to writing a pop song, led into feedback, noise, and dissonant, atonal melodies reminiscent of an Indonesian Gamelan orchestra and jazz keyboardist Sun Ra. It eventually merged into the fast, pulsing "A Star Over Pureland," highlighted by high-pitched primal vocals. They closed with "Crystal Fortress Over The Sea of Trees," which could be considered a companion to "A Star Over Pureland" with its noisy sections that include chiming Asian arpeggios, wordless vocal melodies, and more wild organ.

The dance-oriented openers weren't entirely appropriate, but each put on a good performance in their own right. Supreme Cuts used drum pads and a sampler/sequencer to create smooth, upbeat songs with minor vocal samples. Eight Bit Tiger was a little farther off-base from the headliner, using guitars and keyboards to create funk and synth-pop that got the crowd dancing. Seeing the audience shrink a bit after Eight Bit Tiger, I couldn't help but wonder if there was really no experimental rock band in town that could have benefited Yamantaka // Sonic Titan at least a little bit more.

Check out my interview with Ruby Kato Attwood of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan HERE, and some videos from the show below.

Continue reading "Yamantaka // Sonic Titan played Schubas (review, videos)"

As seen on BrooklynVegan, Gold Panda (aka Derwin Schlecker) put out a new single, "Mountain" b/w "Financial District," digitally via Ghostly in the US. Take a listen to both tracks at the bottom of this post. Purchase the MP3s and/or preorder a 7" vinyl, which will be available on June 12, at the Ghostly webstore.

Gold Panda's upcoming tour schedule consists of a bunch of European festivals and a small number of North American dates. One of those North American dates is a performance at the Bottom Lounge on July 27. Supreme Cuts will act as main support for the Chicago show, and tickets go on sale this Saturday (May 19), at 10AM CST.

All 2012 tour dates and a stream of his new 7" below...

Continue reading "Gold Panda released a new 7", playing Bottom Lounge on tour (dates)"

photos by Tyler Trykowski

Pictureplane @ The Dustbowl on 4/27/2012

On Friday night (April 27), Pictureplane, Alphabets, Supreme Cuts, The-Drum, and Abyss played a show at The Dustbowl (which was moved there from Q4/Multi Kulti). Some shots of Pictureplane and Supreme Cuts' sets below...

Continue reading "Pictureplane, Supreme Cuts & others @ The Dustbowl (pics)"

The FADER/Captain Morgan's new concert series Step Into the Black visits Chicago's Enclave on Wednesday night (April 25), with a FREE party featuring Jhené Aiko and DJ sets from Supreme Cuts. RSVP for entry.

Aiko, who is signed to No I.D.'s Artium Recordings, released her debut mixtape, Sailing Soul(s), in March of 2011. One of the tape's tracks, "Stranger," was recently featured on a Night Bus mix by CFCF. She has also been featured on a few tracks that fall under the Black Hippy umbrella, including Schoolboy Q's "Sex Drive," Ab-Soul's "Terrorist Threats," and Kendrick Lamar's "Growing Apart (To Get Closer)." Her debut LP, Souled Out, is expected to hit stores soon. Take a listen for yourself below, and catch her live on Wednesday night.

Continue reading "Jhene Aiko & Supreme Cuts are playing a FADER party"

Pictureplane @ 285 Kent in Brooklyn (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Knuckle Rumbler are hosting a "secret" loft show on April 27, with the great bill of Pictureplane, Alphabets, Supreme Cuts, The-Drum, and Abyss (of Pushbeats). You can get inside the loft space, which is located somewhere in the West Town/Wicker Park area at 1000 N. Milwaukee Ave., by RSVPing for the FREE event.

UPDATE: The show is at Q4/Multi Kulti and is no longer free ($10 @ door). Your RSVP will only provide the venue info. Doors are at 9PM.

UPDATE #2: The show has been moved to The Dustbowl (3214 W. Augusta Blvd.). Doors are at 10PM.

The Association of Writers & Writing Programs, a national, nonprofit literary organization for teachers and writers, will kick off the 2012 edition of their annual Chicago conference on Wednesday, February 29.

Presentations, readings, lectures, panel discussions, forums, and more will take place at both The Hilton and Palmer House hotels. Registration is officially sold out.

There are also a number of off-site, open to the public events happening at places like the Empty Bottle, The Hideout, Lincoln Hall, the Stop Smiling storefront, and the Double Door.

The Empty Bottle have FREE (with RSVP) events on both Wednesday and Thursday night. One in particular we'd like to highlight is the venue's Wednesday night late show, which features a reading and musical performance by James Greer (ex-Guided By Voices) and a set by the Mutts.

The Hideout have both an early and late reading on Friday night.

The Double Door have a reading on Friday night.

Lincoln Hall are hosting a literature party on Friday night, featuring author/musician Tim Kinsella.

Stop Smiling and Melville House Publishing are having a party at the Stop Smiling storefront (1371 N. Milwaukee Ave.) on Friday night. The event boasts a number of readings and will also have music from The-Drum (who just played our Vita Hill show), Supreme Cuts, and DJ Pariguayo.

The traveling Red Bull Music Academy hits Chicago tomorrow (2/10), for an all-building event at Metro/Smart Bar, starting at 10PM.

Frankie Knuckles, who will speak on House music at the MCA in March, will headline the show with support from: Michael Serafini, DJ Spin, Charlie Glitch, DJ Rashard, Rampage, DJ Slugo, Maddjazz, and DJ Deeon. Cheaper advance tickets are on sale now or you can pay a bit more at the door.

Tomorrow's big kick-off event aside, The RBMA will also be throwing four additional shows downstairs at Smart Bar throughout the next month..

02-16 Fort Knox Five, Intel, Maker and DJ Merk 1.
02-23 Nguzunguzu, Supreme Cuts (Live), Bizzies, Sparkletone and Jake Guidry.
03-01 Lunice, Ruckus, DJ The Tornado and Jeff Pietro.
03-08 Ana Sia, Lobounce, DJ Belly and Tylr.

Some Frankie Knuckles videos, below..

Continue reading "Red Bull Music Academy arrives in Chicago tomorrow"

SBTRKT @ PS1 Warm Up (more by Vincent Cornelli)

today in Chicago
* Jazz Fest (Day 2)
* Psalm One @ Hideout
* James Zabiela @ Sound-Bar
* North Coast Music Festival (Day 1)
* Madi Diaz, Keegan Dewitt @ SPACE
* Wolfgang Gartiner, SBTRKT, DJ Thibault @ The Mid
* Rabble Rabble, Mutts, The Way It Is @ Ultra Lounge
* STS9, Big Gigantic, Up Until Now @ Congress Theater
* The Hood Internet, Midnight Conspiracy @ Bottom Lounge
* Paper Thick Walls, Dastardly, Sleeping in the Aviary @ Schubas
* Bruce Lamont, Man's Gin, Bitchin Baja, Mystreater @ Empty Bottle
* JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, Soul Summit DJs @ Double Door
* The Sonnets, Gidgets Ga Ga, The Demerits, The Skis @ Abbey Pub
* The Shams Band, Chaperone, Go Long Mule, Musikanto, Johnny Rumble @ Logan Square Auditorium

SBTRKT plays North Coast Music Fest today and then the Mid.

Full NCMF schedule is HERE.

Chicago's own Supreme Cuts played Brooklyn last night, and shared an exclusive mixtape with BrooklynVegan. Check it out HERE.

Fitz & the Tantrums played Leno. Footage below..

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Friday?"