The Occidental Brothers Dance Band International (who kicked off World Music Fest 2011) have announced that they'll be playing their first hometown gig of 2012 at the Old Town School of Folk Music on February 24th.

OBDBI is lead by Nathaniel Braddock (who is also an instructor at Old Town) and includes Greg Ward on alto saxophone, Joshua Ramos on bass, Makaya McCraven on drums, and Congolese singer Samba Mapangala. Their most recent record, Odo Sanbra, was self-released in 2009 and can now be purchased in both CD and digital formats via Thrill Jockey. Fellow Chicagoan Andrew Bird guests on their track "Masanga," which is an instrumental duet with Ward.

The Old Town gig is the group's only announced 2012 date, thus far. Tickets are still available.

Some videos, below..

Continue reading "Occidental Brothers Dance Band International are playing @ the Old Town School of Folk"

As mentioned, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are kicking off a two-night-stay at Schubas, TONIGHT (12/30). Support will come from Green Room Rockers and DJRC, with My Mans warming up the crowd on New Year's Eve. Both nights are now sold out, flyer below.

If you weren't able to grab tickets, catch Brooks and co. opening for JJ Grey & Mofro at the Vic on January 14th. Tickets are still available.

Uptown Sound keyboard player Andy Rosenstein also fronts Clip Art, who have an upcoming January residency at Schubas. They'll begin on the 9th of the month and play three more times throughout January. Stream some music via their Facebook.

All Uptown Sound / Clip Art dates, and some videos, below..

Continue reading "JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound @ Schubas TONIGHT (and NYE), opening for JJ Grey @ the Vic & other stuff"

Mercury Prize-winning tabla player, producer, and composer Talvin Singh teamed up with sitar player Niladri Kumar earlier this year, to release their debut album Together via World Village. Aside from contributing to Bjork's sophomore album Debut, working with Sun Ra, and supporting Massive Attack, Singh is also known for his innovative "tablatronic" style which blends his Indian traditions with modern electronica. Kumar brings his years of classical training to the table as well as a new instrument, the zitar (part sitar, part guitar). The joining of these two virtuosos yielded the fantastic Together, which can be purchased from the World Village store.

The duo will make their way to Chicago for an April 17th performance at the Empty Bottle! Tickets will be posted shortly.

Some videos, below..

Continue reading "Talvin Singh & Niladri Kumar are coming to the Empty Bottle"

Spectralina

Spectralina is the audio-visual collaboration of Selina Trepp and Dan Bitney (of Tortoise). Trepp is an award-winning multimedia artist, whose exhibits mainly consist of live video and sound performances. With Bitney handling percussion duties, the duo create trance-y electronic jams that are largely improv-based. Spectralina will be performing at the Museum of Contemporary Art on February 28th, as part of their Face the Strange series. Check out a short clip of one of their performances from 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, below.

As mentioned, Tortoise will play a hometown gig at the Empty Bottle on January 24th. Tickets are still available.

All 2012 Tortoise dates, and the Spectralina clip, below..

Continue reading "Spectralina are playing the MCA; tix still available for Tortoise @ the Empty Bottle"

Minneapolis band Howler are getting ready to release their debut LP, America Give Up, on January 17th via Rough Trade. The album's lead single "Back Of Your Neck" is in video form, below.

As BrooklynVegan mentioned this morning, the band will head to NYC for a week of album release shows, starting the day the LP hits stores. After that, they'll hop the pond for some winter dates, returning stateside in March for a North American headlining tour which hits Schubas on the 8th of the month (support TBA).

All 2011/12 tour dates, and some videos, below..

Continue reading "Howler will make a stop at Schubas on tour in 2012"

AraabMuzik @ Moogfest 2011 in October (more by Diana Wong)

today in Chicago
* Common @ F.Y.E.
* Waco Brothers, Semi-Twang @ Schubas
* Katastrofist, Grant Hart, Shalini @ Martyrs
* Alex Chilton Birthday Bash @ Empty Bottle
* DJ Esquire, Manny Muscles @ Beauty Bar
* No Love For Linus, The Locals @ Lincoln Hall
* Lil Tits, Bad Bad Meow @ Panchos (Free Show)
* Flosstradamus, AraabMuzik, Zebo, Prob Cause, BBU @ The Mid
* Charlie Glitch, Maddjazz, Rampage, Rob Threezy, Arrow Dynamic @ Subterranean
* Mustard Plug, Flatfoot 56, The Crombies, We Are The Union, Downtown Struts @ Metro
* Seppuku Survivor, Trigger Fish, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, We Drive Yeah! @ Reggie's
* DKV Trio, The Space Invading Steppers (DJ Set), Fort Wellington Soundsystem (DJ Set) @ Hideout

The Waco Brothers are also playing Schubas tomorrow night (12/29).

Freddie Gibbs has a new video for "Menace II Society." Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Polica @ Schubas (more by Josh Darr)

You know we love Polica around here, our first-ever BVChicago Presents show headliners who return to Chicago to play Schubas again on 1/14 as part of Tomorrow Never Knows. When Polica was in NYC to play one of our BrooklynVegan CMJ parties, we also cornered the band for one of our Sony Bloggie Green Room Sessions which you can now watch with the full set of their tour dates below....

Continue reading "watch Polica perform 'Happy Be Fine' (a BV Sony Bloggie Green Room Session) ---- video & tour dates"

Anvil @ Giants Stadium in 2009 (more by Bao Nguyen)

Anvil recently announced that they'll be touring North America once again, in 2012. The band will reach Chicago's Reggie's on Feburary 23rd to share the bill with Admiral of Black, Beak, and Ironfinger. Tickets are on sale now.

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

Continue reading "Anvil - 2012 tour dates"

J.R. Robinson

J.R. Robinson is a Chicago-based sound artist who works under the name Wrekmeister Harmonies. He has exhibited his ambient tonefields in numerous international institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the J.Paul Getty Museum, the Guggenheim, and the Centre Pompidou. For the MCA's Face the Strange series, Robinson screens and conducts a live score to his video You've Always Meant So Much To Me. Inspired by minimalist and structuralist filmmakers, Robinson's video is a highly meditative and starkly beautiful work that juxtaposes various locations in Tasmania, Detroit, Joshua Tree and Brooklyn. Sonically, this version of Wrekmeister Harmonies explores the darkest corners of ambient black metal. The renowned artists joining Robinson for this performance include Jef Whitehead (Leviathan), Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza), Sanford Parker (Minsk), Stavros Giannopolous (The Atlas Moth) and Mark Solotroff (Anatomy of Habit) as well as a string section and harpist. [MCA]

Continue reading "Wrekmeister Harmonies to play the MCA tonight"

Sage Francis

Providence rapper Sage Francis is getting ready to kick off a three-date Midwest tour in February, which hits the Bottom Lounge on the 18th of the month. Label mates Kristoff Krane and Metermaids from his own Strange Famous Records are also included on the bill. Tickets are still available for the Chicago show.

Francis' fourth solo album Li(f)e came out in 2010 via ANTI- Records. In a recent interview with One Thirty BPM, he dished on what we can expect from SFR in 2012:

I'm working on a mixtape as well as an official album for 2012. Same with B. Dolan. We expect a collaborative album from Prolyphic and Buddy Peace. Cecil Otter is still working on his follow up album to Rebel Yellow which he says should be ready by next year. There are a couple other tricks up our sleeves as well, some crazy videos in the works, but nothing I can divulge at the moment. I expect next year to be very busy for us as far as music and shows are concerned.

Continue reading "Sage Francis - 2012 Midwest tour"