CHIRP: Chicago Independent Radio Project

A music festival you can attend in your pajamas!
Posted by Tony TB on May 5, 2008 around 8pm

I suppose it was only a matter of time until someone combined the MMPORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game, for you non-geeks) with music festivals. That’s right! To attend the New Music West festival in Vancouver in a scant 9 days, you’ll just need an Internet connection and a Windows-based PC (take THAT, Mac fans). I’m thinking it’ll be something like World of Warcraft with indie rock t-shirts.

So, if you’ve been avoiding Lollapalooza for fear of heatstroke, or germs or what have you, the good folks at Virtual Vancouver have your solution.

Read more here…

Indie music, meet indie web comics
Posted by Tony TB on April 16, 2008 around 8am

Ok, it’s redundant – web comics are by nature independent – but they do share a lot in common with independent music. These are cartoonists who channel their creative urges into self-published work, and gain popularity mostly via networking and word-of-mouth. And it’s probably not surprising that a number of them have an interest in independent music which shows up in their comics.
(more…)

The Hi-Fi Test: Vinyl vs. CD
Posted by Tony TB on April 6, 2008 around 7pm

This week Chicago Public Radio’s Sound Opinions talked about the differences in sound quality between vinyl and CD. It’s something I’ve heard before: hardcore audio enthusiasts say that vinyl’s analog sound is warmer and richer than a CD’s digital recording. But can you really tell the difference?

First, a brief explanation of the difference. Analog means that the actual sound wave is reproduced exactly in the recording medium – the grooves on the record are reproductions of the original sound wave. Digital means that the wave is translated into numbers, which are then used to recreate the wave. The advantage of digital is that it doesn’t break down; it takes quite a few smudges on a CD to affect the sound, whereas every piece of dust on your record will affect that sound wave. The disadvantage is that whereas analog is an exact reproduction of the sound wave, digital recreates the sound wave, and so looses some detail. The detail lost is supposed to be so fine as to be imperceptible.
(more…)

A vinyl story: how I found, and almost lost, the Flying Lizards
Posted by Tony TB on March 29, 2008 around 2pm

Collecting vinyl is an addiction. You’re on vacation, you walk past a record store: you have to go in. I was always searching for some pretty obscure stuff, and you never knew where it might turn up. Is it really practical to buy a record I’d have to carry back from Montreal to Providence to Chicago? Who cares! It’s the Flying Lizards! This is not an every day find! I may never see this again.
(more…)

Escape from winter with music
Posted by Tony TB on March 10, 2008 around 9am

Although the weather outside may say otherwise (as I write this, it’s snowing,) spring is on its way, and the weather IS slowly getting better.

So try to forget this terrible Chicago winter and all its icy, slushy, snowy grossness.

It’s time for an escape! Make yourself a rum drink, crank up the heat, turn on all the lights, and put on some hot-weather tunes. Here are ten favorites to get you heated and in the mood for spring:
(more…)