All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, the feature film written and directed by Califone frontman Tim Rutili, will make its festival debut next week at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The first of five screenings at the festival takes place Tuesday, January 26 at 9:00 p.m and will include a live soundtrack performed by the band.
The film features a soundtrack provided by Califone, and the members of the band act in the film as well. The soundtrack was released last October marking the group's first on the Dead Oceans label. Califone will spend most of February on the road in support of Wilco. On March 9 and 10 the band will play at Lincoln Hall, with a showing the film and live soundtrack slated for the 9th.
Three reasons to see We Love You at the Subterranean tonight...
1. Because last time we checked in on Chicago lofi indie-rock outfit We Love You, they were a band to watch in 2010. Tonight, you can head to the Subterranean to watch them live and in person!
2. Because We Love You is an honest band. In a recent interview with Chicagoflame-inferno.com, singer-guitarist Derek Bish and drummer Matt Clamme describe their gritty-yet-organic sound....
Derek Bish: Yeah, it's a little sloppy.
Matt Clamme: Well, Derek's generally pretty sloppy and I don't really know how to play drums, so there you go.
Derek Bish: But [bassist] Nick and [guitarist] Zack both know how to play really, really well.
3. Because the show's not only We Love You, but a number of kick ass groups will also make an appearance including Chicago one-man indie pop project The Tinycakes, Grand Rapids' frantic garage rockers The Little Village and an acoustic performance from Chicago folk-rock sextet Zach Pietrini and the Broken Bones.
For up-and-coming Hip-Hop artist J. Smith, gigs in his local suburb of Palos Hill, IL were hard to come by, and clubs in downtown Chicago were weary of booking an unfamiliar name.
So Smith did what any new artist who's looking for attention would do: He recorded his first live performance and captured how it all came together in a five-part Youtube documentary titled DEMO.
DEMO was transformed into a documentary by lead director/co-producer and local music video director Ichiro Hino. According to the DEMO press release, Hino, "focuses on capturing interview footage from the performers and crew that would intertwine with the session."
Additionally, artists from Chicago-based arts and entertainment company Final Fight Family including Que, The Avantist and Está Vivo helped enhance the performance by integrating a wide variety of sounds and samples that ranged from pop, rock and folk music into Smith's Hip-Hop style.
DEMO was filmed at the Music Garage, a major music rehearsal/studio space located on Chicago's west side. Production credits include set designer Christine Pierce, assistant director/director of photography Desiree Agngarayngay, co-director Anthony Balcaitis and live sound engineers Yuki Tasaka & Vinnie Ippolito.
Below is DEMO Part One. You can view all five parts, behind the scenes footage, audio clips and a photo gallery from the project right now on Flavors.me/fffdemo.
Sadhu Sadhu are another solid experimental psych band in what seems an ever expanding universe oozing its way onto the Chicago music scene. More Cave than Mako Sica (to name just a couple examples), Sadhu Sadhu's Live At The Hideout features deep bass grooves and soaring, twisting guitar lines. Although the band says they've been compared to Acid Mothers Temple and Can, there is more than a hint at the loopy, droney side of Yo La Tengo at play in their music as well.
It's hard to go into great detail about this release as it is a pretty lo-fi live recording that was released as a cassette and CD-R in 2009. What I can say is that Sadhu Sadhu is not afraid of finding a groove and sticking with it until your head is bobbing almost unconsciously. Specifically the first song on side two, which steadfastly rides a bass line not unlike Yo La Tengo's "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind" and clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, shows Sadhu Sadhu's dedication to staying the course and wrenching every hypnotic second out of a groove.
Additionally, they definitely tow the rock line of Krautrock. What's impressive about Live At The Hideout is that the songs grab you right away. Sadhu Sadhu never tries to get cute or noodle away as is the temptation and often the nature of psychedelic music. Editing and pacing can plague young bands at times over fascinated with experimentation. But there is a confidence here and the songs are just that: songs. The guitars may be contorting and full of feedback, but there's always an underlying melodic line, and the vocals are rather straight forward. The drums and bass keep everything grooving right along, devoid of filler.
For your standard guitar, bass and drum trio, these guys do deliver a thick and full sound evident even on this recording. Word from their myspace page says they are working on a studio recording. It should be exciting to hear what they can bring in a bit more polished recording because live Sadhu Sadhu already sound like a band in pretty good command of what they want to do.
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Catch Sadhu Sadhu at Psych Fest on Friday, January 22, at The Hideout. Tickets are available right now on Ticketweb.com for only $10!
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[caption id="attachment_5350" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="The Singleman Affair"][/caption]Three reasons to head to The Whistler tonight...
1. Because nothing says Tuesday night like local psychedelic folk rock. Tonight the Whistler features two such acts in The Singleman Affair and Angel Olsen. The Singleman Affair offers a delicate sound that traverses between the acoustic, minimal '60s folk of their cited influence Tim Buckley to more Jefferson Airplane-esque psychedelia, which is enhanced during live performances by a number of additional instruments including pan flute, wurlitzer and sitar.
2. Because also appearing at the Whistler tonight is singer-songwriter Angel Olsen. She utilizes guitar and accordion in her minimalist, psych-folk offerings, but it's her shimmering, haunting vocals that really set her apart from the crowd. And if this Youtube video from her Myspace is any indication, maybe she also has a future career in directing short art house films?
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBTvyaXYPQ
3. Because the Whistler, located at 2421 N. Milwaukee, is one of the more understated Chicago music venues, but there's always something cool going down there. Oh, and did I mention that there's never a cover? Yeah, well there isn't.
9:30 PM. Tuesday, 1/16. The Whistler. 21+. Free.By Richard Giraldi\comments
Introducing Monday Night Quick Fix! A brand new series that will run every Monday evening to showcase the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.
If you've been keeping tabs on the Smashing Pumpkins' (and we use this band name loosely) new 44-song track-by-track release album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, then you know only one track has been released so far. Well today Billy Corgan and Co. (Co. in this case refers to the only other known member 19 year-old Mike Byrne) have released song number two, "Widow Wake My Mind."
You can currently hear "Widow Wake My Mind" on the band's official Myspace page. But according to Pitchfork.com, the song will only be up on their Myspace until tomorrow, and then it becomes available for download at Smashingpumpkins.com. So check out the track, and feel free to let us know what you think of it in the comments. By Richard Giraldi\1 comment
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, the feature film written and directed by Califone frontman Tim Rutili, will make its festival debut next week at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The first of five screenings at the festival takes place Tuesday, January 26 at 9:00 p.m and will include a live soundtrack performed by the band.
The film features a soundtrack provided by Califone, and the members of the band act in the film as well. The soundtrack was released last October marking the group's first on the Dead Oceans label. Califone will spend most of February on the road in support of Wilco. On March 9 and 10 the band will play at Lincoln Hall, with a showing the film and live soundtrack slated for the 9th.
Three reasons to see 
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Introducing Monday Night Quick Fix! A brand new series that will run every Monday evening to showcase the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.
If you've been keeping tabs on the Smashing Pumpkins' (and we use this band name loosely) new 4
