The Chicago Independent Radio Project is working to secure a broadcast license for a new community radio station in Chicago that is committed to local, independent programming, and generally furthering the causes of localism, diversity, and independence in broadcasting. We are working to convince Congress and the FCC to remove existing barriers to the granting of low power FM radio licenses in urban areas, including Chicago. We hope you'll join the fight.
Our man Mike Scales has gotten us some killer interviews for the CHIRP site, so it was no surprise that he has a pretty awesome list of favorites for 2008. In his own words “Give me an inch and my Top 10 of 2008 turns into a Top 15. What can I say, Anticon had a great year!”
Here’s his list, in no particular order:
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Part two of our month long collection of “best of” lists finds Caitlin loving the new Vivian Girls, Calexico, Bonnie Prince Billy and more…
Read on to see her full list
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2008, the year that was….and technically still is! Throughout the month of December, CHIRP will be posting our favorites from 2008 each and every weekday for your nostalgic pleasure. It may even lead you to find some new favorites before the year is done.
First up is a list of top ten records from our mega talented head engineer Chris Siuty
Read on to see his picks
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Local band Canasta recently released an album of remixes, and it’s available to download free on their web site.
I ran across an interesting tidbit thanks to the folks at Nylvi.com
Apparently Robert Wyatt (who happens to be one of my favorite artists) is being reworked by Hot Chip on their new EP. To make things even better…it’s available for FREE!!
The 63 year old avant-pop/folk legend and founder of Soft Machine first teamed up with Hot Chip when they remixed one of Wyatt’s singles - This Summer Night. Now he’s returning the favor by adding vocals to the Hot Chip tracks Made In The Dark, Whistle For Will and We’re Looking For A Lot Of Love.
The download-only EP will also feature a Geese remix of One Pure Thought and will be available from hotchip.co.uk as of December 15th.
The year was 1992, and I was a mere 14 years old (yes, apparently I can’t stop waxing nostalgic about the early 90s.) My favorite band at the time was of course Nirvana and they were set to play at that year’s award show which has since become one of the most infamous moments in both MTV and the Video Music Awards history. Kurt Cobain was adamant that the band play the song Rape Me, but censors and show officials were staunchly opposed. As a concession, the band decided to play Lithium instead, but in Kurt’s fashion of bucking authority, he had the band play a few opening chords to Rape Me before launching into the song. At the end of their set, bassist Krist Novoselic threw his bass guitar up in the air, but instead of catching it, the bass crashed down onto his head, nearly knocking him unconscious.
These days Krist Novoselic can be found blogging (along with Duff McKagan) for Seattle Weekly, and to commemorate his 1 year anniversary writing for the site, Novoselic gives a firsthand account of that eventful day in 1992.
Deli Chicago is the latest in delimagazine’s spotlight on music scenes around the country. With open blogs for New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco amongst others, the windy city finally gets its due. Deli focuses on independent artists ranging from indie pop to hip hop to roots music, and they do their homework, digging to represent acts that still operate on the basement show side of things. It offers links to a plethora of artist’s websites to sample music and it looks like they will eventually incorporate streaming music as well. With content as diverse as artist spotlights, gear reviews and even an advice column, this could prove to be a valuable resource for musicians and non-musicians alike. People are invited to submit their own music and write about their favorite bands around town. The only major fault that I noticed was there was no events calendar, but we do have the Reader for that.
For years, audiophile nerds alike have obsessed over what makes up the opening chord to the Beatle’s song A Hard Day’s Night. To the lay listener it sounds a little odd but to the astute listeners out there it was a source of frustration as the chord is impossible to reproduce on guitars alone.
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Building a radio station is hard work! That’s why we decided to organize a little seasonal outing for all our volunteers. Our record fair coordinator Mary Nisi cooked up a plan to visit a corn maze out near DeKalb. Since none of us really dressed for the weather and there was apparently SNOW in Malta, IL and 40 MPH winds, we we nixed the maze idea. Thus, we hatched an alternative plan to go to DREAM REAPERS, a haunted house in lovely Melrose Park (a township presided over by Mayor Serpico). At least half of us had never been to a haunted house, so we had that going for us. We had some time to kill before the reaping and an apparent need for chicken items slathered in TMI™ sauce, so we went to the local Hooters. And it was awesome! I think our group single handedly made our server’s quota of blended drink sales for the week. Of course we demanded a photo for the CHIRP website. Just look at that talent.
Then we got through the so, so, so cold line at DREAM REAPERS and got another group photo in front of a green screen (see hilariously awful Photoshop job below). The haunted house was quite scary and had this tunnel that blew our minds (it was like being in ‘Nam). We couldnt let it go. Then we piled into Seville’s bitchin’ van and the Dr Drase Mobile, respectively, and came back to the city. Good times had by all!
Check out our photos below
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It was 15 years ago this week (10/23/93) that I went to my very first concert. Where a lot of my friends have exceptionally embarrassing “first concerts,” i am pretty proud of mine: Nirvana and Mudhoney; Not a bad way to start things off.
I remember my friend’s mom’s new boyfriend took us, and we got to the Aragon exceptionally early. When the show started the crowd swelled to the front, and as I had never experienced a concert before, I had no idea about moshing or crowd surfing or any of the push and shove that inevitably happens. I was just a 15-year-old enthralled by seeing his favorite band in the entire world. Why did all these punks have to keep pushing me?
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Photos by John Schroeder | ©2007-2008 CHIRP