Archive | February, 2011

Blue Skies For Black Hearts are “Embracing the Modern Age” with Sci-Fi Films and Free Downloads

28 Feb

How many bands do you know that double as sci-fi starlets? So far, we only know of one. Blue Skies For Black Hearts is the Portland-based project of producer Pat Kearns and are the subject of a new sci-fi film directed by Jon Griffith and written by bassist Kelly Simmon, who describes the film as “sort of in the vein of Help, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park and Purple Rain all packed into a Monkees episode. Blue Skies saves the future of rock n roll from conspiring evil professors, robots and druids, all with an underlying theme of evolution, monkeys, robots and swamp creatures.” The band will share some videos spliced from the film in the future, and the full movie itself will be unveiled at their Portland CD release show (4/23 @ Mission Theater) For now curious fans can check out the trailer for Embracing the Modern Age and snag a sneak peek at a track from the corresponding album:

 


Upcoming Shows: The Weekday Edition

28 Feb

Freebies, regular Reviewsic favorites like Chaperone and The Island of Misfist Toys and big names like Asobi Seksu will be gracing our fair city according to this week’s edition of the upcoming shows list. Click “Read More” to see all the deets in full and get yourself out there to enjoy some great live music.

Oh no, did we forget something? That’s okay, just because we didn’t list your event doesn’t mean its not happening. But next time, give us a heads up! Bands, venues and promoters: Email us details about your upcoming shows- be they in a concert hall or a coffee shop- we want to let people know about them. Send show details to: Reviewsic@yahoo.com

 

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Free Download from Brooklyn’s Man The Change

27 Feb

Brooklyn, NY punk-rockers Man The Change are excited to announce their newest release, Weather The Storm, is now up for free download at their Bandcamp page. In conjunction, Man The Change have also started a Kickstarter project to fuel the pre-order for the Weather The Storm vinyl LP. For a cool $10 you can pre-order the record and help the band reach their goal.

Crisscrossing through multiple layers of the punk genre like a couple of girls playing double-dutch, Brooklynites Man the Change tackle their first full-length Weather The Storm with an energy that only exists in bands that truly love what they’re doing.Hooky and riff ridden, Man the Change encompasses the melodic qualities of pop-punk while pairing them with nitty-gritty vocals that growl and grind their way through every verse. A more poppy pick up from the band’s two previous EP’s,Weather The Storm is an impressive leap into mature songwriting. Hooky melodies that occasionally delve into the bop of skate rock may be the added enrichment to this new release, but the band still stands by their meat and potatoes with the gruff vocals and aggressive percussion delivered in these eight tracks. Weather The Storm is a taste of the other side for listeners; hardcore kids can wean themselves off aggression and into melody, while the more poppy at heart can test the waters of something a little heavier. Whatever your poison, chances are Man the Change will hit the spot.

 

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead’s Conrad Keely Talks Comics

26 Feb

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead singer Conrad Keely is also a talented comic artist. His lovely artwork adorns the band’s website and a variety of their album packaging, including their new release Tao of the Dead. In the exclusive video above, Keely talks about the epic album cover, steampunk, and the imaginary universe that’s home to the music and the accompanying comic art.

Save the Clocktower Release “Carousel” Tonight at The Hideout

26 Feb

Walking into my first listen of Save the Clocktower’s Carousel with zero idea who the band was or what they were about I was extremely surprised by what I heard. Granted, phrases such as “chill blend of pop and electronica” featured in their press release should have tipped me off to what the band’s sound may have been like, but those six simple words really don’t do much to describe the niche Save the Clocktower has carved for itself.
If you can imagine a band of cyborgs playing covers of early 90’s shoegaze, you can kind of imagine what this Chicago trio sounds like. Carousel is made of deep, droning vocals from a front man that could either be sleepy or sad- possibly both. The mournful voice brings Ian Curtis to mind while the instrumentals are a more mechanical sounding version of when the 1980’s discovered how to use keyboard and synth in their pop music. Some tracks feel a little more modern, such as “You Got Me”, which is more akin to the brand of synth-pop demonstrated by Shangrala, a few years back in their record, This is How We Communicate. While Carousel is by no means a bad record, I have to say that Save the Clocktower disappointed me slightly with the Folk Implosion-like tease of opening track “Drip”, whose wonderfully bizarre folk-synth intro isn’t replicated anywhere else in the record.
Small disappointment aside, Carousel is an extremely interesting piece of recording. The three Midwesterners have managed to tip toe across the high wire dividing minimalist shoegaze and a complexly tech heavy sound- two styles that are supposed to be distinctly separate- and instead of falling off the wire like anyone who knows the two genres would expect them to, Save the Clocktower manages to whip out some Cirque De Soleil style acrobatics as they flip between sleepy syncopations and pulsing dance rhythms. Carousel certainly isn’t like anything you own in your record collection to date and most likely is nothing like anything you’ve ever dreamt of owning, but it is definitely a new release worth hearing for yourself.
Save the Clocktower will be celebrating the release of Carousel tonight at The Hide Out:

Save the Clocktower
ODE
Curtis Evans
The Hideout
Show at  8:30 21+ $8 adv/$10 at the door

CANASTA? More like CA-NASTY!

25 Feb

Canasta is a veteran Chicago band who has survived a handful of musicians. This necessarily isn’t a bad thing; it speaks truth in their new release,The Fakeout… Opening track, Becoming You, states: “This time it’s awfully clear to me / that this will be my final chance.” Sorry Canasta, but this will not be my last chance to listen to the entire record. The Decemberists should book up Canasta before it’s too late. The opening arrangements inBecoming You keep you locked on a journey through constant harmony. With chromatic changes and perfectly placed string solos  leading the listener to an ever compelling choral outro. Then… Mexico City slaps you in the head. A perfect soundtrack. Hear a peak:

Free Download: Mexico City

I had the luxury of sitting down with Canasta band-members, Matt Priest and Ryan Tracy. After Matt ordered a delicious “fried salami” dish, we discussed the Chicago music scene. For any new Chicago musicians, there is much to learn from your elder peers.  Matt explained, “No matter how hard you’re working on your craft, someone else in Chicago is working just as hard as you are.” Ain’t that the truth! Don’t ever expect someone to do the grunge work for you. After the interview, Ryan and Matt literally met fellow band members to flier Chicago. A band that works together, stays, and plays well together. Canasta is one that plays with heart, and keeps your ears tuned together until the end.

Free Download: Reading the Map Upside Down

I sincerely hope to see this lineup stick together and hit the road. They are a band to keep in your auditory rotation and one to see live over and over again. Canasta releases The Fakeout… this Saturday, February 26th at Old Town School of Folk Music [4544 N. Lincoln Ave]. This concert is a triple-record-release show with Canasta, REGO, and Sewing Pattern. The concert starts at 7:30. Tickets are available now for $13 (members) and $15 (general public).

By: Otis Thompson


The Weekend in Shows

25 Feb

Catch a free show over at the Empty Bottle Friday night, a number of CD release shows at venues across the city and maybe a dance part or two- all happening this weekend in Chicago’s music scene. Ain’t it grand?

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Post a Tweet, Get a Free Track from Penguins Kill Polar Bears

24 Feb
Starting today, Penguins Kill Polar Bears are giving their fans a chance to get their brand new single “Wish With Worry” just by tweeting about it. It’s the second single from their upcoming Sophomore EP Vessels & Veins, out March 22 on Dromedary Records.
The process is as easy as 1,2,3:
2. Type in your email addres and click either ‘Post to Twitter’ or ‘Post to Facebook’
3. Voila! A download link will appear in your inbox, and you will be helping to promote some hopeful musician’s from the  U.K.

Catch a Live Chat with Hightide Hotel Tonight at 8pm CST on Yowie.com

24 Feb


Talking Shop with Mexico City’s Chikita Violenta (TRE3S Out Now on Arts and Crafts)

24 Feb

Back in January Mexico City quartet Chikita Violenta put out their first album on Toronto label Arts and Crafts to the praise of most everyone who happened upon the full-length. TRE3S may be the band’s first release with the Canadians, but it certainly isn’t their first trip to the rodeo. Touting two previous records, the third time was definitely charm for these four as they bring to mind the attributes that had everyone abuzz when Broken Social Scene first began making records. Filled with broad fills of epic lo-fi pop, swooning vocals and guitars that seem to be clamoring over one another to be heard, TRE3S possesses a vivacious personality. Thudding drums, sludgy guitar and a hint of the psychedelic lace opener “Roni” as it shifts into the type of catchy melody Chikita Violenta’s noise pop inclination has allowed them to craft so well. Some titles on TRE3S act as adjectives as well as identifiers, such as “Holiday”, which lives up to its namesake with a breezy, nearly wordless sound tinged in breathy do-do’s while others, like “Tired” do the opposite with its click-clacking percussion and commanding guitar. At times the abundant studio effects and swooshing textures of TRE3S are overwhelming, feeling less calculated and more gratuitous, but the band reels things back in with the poppy track “Supercycle” and closer “My Connection”, which is blissfully devoid of any digital alternations, opting instead for vocal harmonies and the hearty thump of a kick drum. We have to give Chikita Violentica points for song placement with TRE3S, because just as they began to lose us, they whipped out just the right sounds to win back our affections and leave us wanting more.
TRE3S is made available from Arts and Crafts here and new fans can sample a few tracks via the band’s facebook page.

The band recently talked with Reviewsic via email about TRE3S, their influences and how they feel they’ve grown since putting out their first record.

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