CHIRP: Chicago Independent Radio Project

Record Nerd Heaven - A trip to a Library Liquidation Sale
Posted by Dustin D. on September 22, 2008 around 4pm

If you’ve ever seen the movie Ghost World, then you know that hard core record collectors are an interesting breed of individuals. I’d like to think that I have a smidge more social grace than your average Folk & Blues 78′ collector, but maybe I’m kidding myself. Last week, a friend of mine forwarded me a listing for an event at the Chicago Public Library. It was a media liquidation sale; over 10,000 LPs all for $1 each. I stared at the email in disbelief. It wasn’t my birthday for another few months, yet here was exactly what I always pray for! For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve got a pretty bad record habit, and this was akin to throwing me a gigantic bag of cocaine and saying “have at it ya junkie”.

©Columbia

I called to the library to find which branch was holding this event and was told that the sale would begin at 10am at the Harold Washington Library downtown. And thus my journey began…
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Dan Wallace is….
Posted by Dustin D. on September 8, 2008 around 11am

Seeing as my house is on the corner of a fairly busy intersection here in Chicago, I tend to get a LOT of flyers and menus stuck to my door. Most times it’s just another Thai or Pizza place wanting me to order their delivery. Yesterday however I got something slightly out of the ordinary. Tucked nicely into my door frame was a 4×9 card advertising an upcoming CD release show show for an artist named Dan Wallace at Martyrs’.

There was a nifty little press quote that describes Wallace’s music: “If you listen to Dungen, The Shins, The Eels and Zappa, then add this man to your collection of unerring folk pop music.” - Glasswerk National.

Admittedly i’ve never heard of Glasswerk National, but I do like Dungen and the Shins….not sure how Zappa fits into the equation.

As with most things (ok, everything) stuck to my door, I was about to throw this away, when I noticed a hand written note on the back side
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Know your enemy and know yourself
Posted by Dustin D. on August 27, 2008 around 9am

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.” ~Sun Tzu

It’s absolutely no secret that I hate the Counting Crows. And it should come as no surprise that I also hate Adam Duritz, his stupid puffy face and his ridiculous white boy dreads. That being said, a friend recently sent me this:

Which of course led me to search and see if there were MORE idiots willing to emblazon my enemy on their skin.
Turns out there is.
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All ages benefit show for Colleen Malone
Posted by Dustin D. on August 21, 2008 around 11am

It’s always wonderful to see a city band together to help out an individual in need. In the spring of 2008, Colleen Malone was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer and sadly like so many of us, she is without insurance. Her wide array of friends, quickly established a blog to help spread the word and solicit help in any way possible.They also put together a benefit show & bake sale which will take place on Saturday, August 23rd @ AV-aerie

featuring SLICK CONDITIONS (new Chicago band featuring past/present members of Euphone, Wilco, and NERVES)
HEAD OF SKULLS! (playing new material from their upcoming full-length)
and MAKE BELIEVE (promising to be very sweaty, as per usual).

August 23 / Doors at 9 pm
AV-aerie / 2000 W. Fulton (third floor)

Who brought a gun to band practice?
Posted by Dustin D. on August 19, 2008 around 4pm

I have listened to a lot of exceptionally weird music in my day. I’m not saying that to brag in any way, but seriously, in my music collection you’ll find such exceptional gems as Shooby Taylor the Human Horn, Farmers Manual using the hum of refrigerators as their source material, Matmos sampling plastic surgery tools on A Chance To Cut (which is on Matador of all labels), or the Sonic Catering Band, which as their name implies play “music” by contact micing dinner parties.

So in line with my love of absurd music, the photo below makes me wonder at how awesome this band might actually sound…. (more…)

Reg Kehoe and His Marimba Queens
Posted by Dustin D. on August 18, 2008 around 3pm

In the early days of “soundies”, movie makers often found larger-than-life vaudeville style musicians like Roy Smeck to showcase the medium. I’m a gigantic sucker for the musicians of the 30s and 40s as the level of musicianship is of a quality that is rarely seen today. Luckily alongside such amazing record labels as Yazoo, a smattering of archival film preserves this amazing period in music.
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Elastica Setlist
Posted by Dustin D. on August 18, 2008 around 10am

In the mid 90s, amongst a small and relatively cool group of my friends there was this whole anglophile divide between fans of Oasis and fans of Blur. I was most definitely in the Blur camp, as I felt they were much more weird and punky than their middle of the road competitors. Somewhere in all that Brit-Rock fever was the band Elastica who released their self-titled album in 1995. I’ll readily admit that I thought Connection was an incredibly fun and catchy song made even more appealing by the fact that I found Elastica’s lead singer Justine to be incredibly dreamy.

The group played a show in Chicago on June 3rd of 1995, which I sadly did not attend. I did however attend their 2nd show that year, which was on October 31st at the Metro. This was in the days of my overzealous youth, so of course I arrived as soon as doors opened, and staked my front row realty. Near the end of the show, Justine invited the crowd to join the band on stage, and she reached her hand down to help me up. The stage filled quickly and as the band tore into Connection I jumped around like a madman….giddy with the excitement of dancing on stage with Justine. Years later, in a box of old papers, I found that I had snagged the setlist from the stage that night, and I present it to you here.
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The Birth of Buttflower
Posted by Dustin D. on August 11, 2008 around 10am

The final day of the Pitchfork Music Festival 2008, was a hot and sweaty affair filled with an exceptional array of talent. As the day wore on, folks hoping to catch a set by Cut Copy were told that the band had been delayed at the airport. Many immediately filed away in hopes of catching a prime spot for Spoon who were playing at the opposite side of the festival. Those who stayed were treated to an impromptu set by a band comprised of King Khan (of King Khan & the Shrines), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), and Jered from the Ponys on drums. At first the band struggled through perhaps one of the worst renditions of a Bo Diddley song ever played. But as more and more people left the stage area, the band got better and better. At one point they were joined on vocals by Jay Reatard, who tore himself into a fit, flailing about wildly while writing on the ground. After his guest stint, Jay Reatard retreated to the side of the stage, only to emerge later with a bouquet of flowers that a fan had brought up for King Khan. Jay Reatard promptly pulled down his pants and stuck the flowers into his butt before throwing the flowers into the audience. Stage hands wrangled him back behind one of the speakers where they stood guard to make sure he did not make another appearance.

Witness the birth….of Buttflower
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An Alice in Chains Christmas in August
Posted by Dustin D. on August 8, 2008 around 9am

I recently went back to my parents house out in the suburbs and was presented with a giant box filled with items from my childhood. As most people can tell you, it takes quite a while before you can fully “move out” from your parents house if they end up relatively staying in the same area. There’s always old toys, stuffed animals, photos, yearbooks, report cards, you name it.

If there was ever any question at all about where I got my packrat/collector mentality; well there isn’t any more. I fully blame my parents. I’m still going through all the items in the box, but so far I’ve found some pretty amazing stuff, like the script from my 5th grade play where I was the Emperor (of new clothes fame). Better still is my binder filled with newspaper and magazine clippings about Nirvana (cut me some slack…I was a teenager in the 90s after all), and a whole host of other odds and sods.
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He’s wanted dead or alive
Posted by Dustin D. on August 5, 2008 around 1pm

If you should come in contact with Bon Jovi, do not look into his face. He will only rock it.