Winter, eat your heart out.

Austin’s annual South by Southwest music festival has been slowly releasing its list of bands traveling to the Lone Star state this Spring and, yes, Chicago is represented.

On tap to play the 2012 edition are sunny pop rockers Gold Motel, dancehall DJ Chrissy Murderbot, acoustic folker Musikanto, lo-fi ambient poppers U.S. Girls, and Chicago – by way of Philadelphia – dream poppers Mahogany.

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Who doesn’t love an impromptu concert by a popular indie band? Nobody, that’s who. So when A.V. Club Chicago broke the news late Tuesday that Toronto super collective Broken Social Scene would perform a free show somewhere in town, naturally, it piqued our interest. All principle members including frontman Kevin Drew, guitarist Andrew Whiteman, bassist Brendan Canning, drummer Justin Peroff, guitarist Sam Goldberg, singer Lisa Lobsinger and horn section appeared on an especially erected stage under an “occasionally perfect” Heineken billboard directly across from Wrigley Field. Drew professed his love for Chicago, mentioning that the band spend nine months working on Forgiveness Rock Record here in town with Tortoise/The Sea and Cake’s John McEntire. The group ripped through seven songs in total (Cause = Time, Texico Bitches, 7/4 Shoreline, Anthems of a 17-year-old Girl, KC Accidental, World Sick and Ibi Dreams of Pavement). Our friends over at Gonzo Chicago have an excellent wrap-up of the night below. If you want more video, XRT has a few to quench your thirst. Enjoy!

The hood Internet

When they’re not busy photoshopping tacos into classic album covers, Aaron Brink and Steve Reidell are busy infusing hip-hop jams with indie pop and rock tunes.

Chicago duo The Hood Internet is back with Trillwave 2, which is now available for stream or download via Soundcloud.

The 25-track album finds musical connections between artists such as Das Racist and Cults, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah and Destroyer, as well as M.I.A. and Sufjan Stevens. The end result is an overall collection of slow-burning grooves.

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If you were looking for a soundtrack to Snowmageddon 2011, look no further than Chicago krautrockers Shapers.

The usually aggressive rock quartet has remixed the gentle sounds of Broken Social Scene’s “All to All,” from BSS’s 2010 album Forgiveness Rock Record and gave it the ultimate dance beat.

Finally, there’s a jam worthy of turning up the heat, stripping down to short shorts and frightening that howling wind with your finest dance moves.

And for those who need a Shapers fix, the band will perform at Coach House Sounds Alumni Market at The Hideout this Saturday, February 5. The market will include homemade art followed by a good, old-fashioned rock show including appearances by Roommate, DJ Anthony Cozzi (of Radar Eyes and CoCoComa) and Brian Costello who will perform a live reading. The market is free from 5 to 8 p.m. The concert begins at 9 p.m. and costs $10.

Seeing how our staff has distinct tastes and opinions on music, it would be nearly impossible for us to determine a 10 Albums of 2010 list as a single entity without excessive bloodshed. Therefore in the next two weeks, we’ll be posting multiple Top 10 Albums of 2010 lists as determined by Loud Loop Press editors and contributors. Today, Associate Editor Audrey Leon takes us to school with her list for Top 10 Albums of 2010.

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Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene | Photo by Audrey Leon

Toronto indie rock super collective Broken Social Scene’s latest Chicago stop set out to prove that sometimes you don’t have to choose between quality and quantity.

“My band will never make it in Vegas,” Broken Social Scene leader Kevin Drew quipped about the slapdash production going on around him. At any one point five to 14 musicians were on stage with Drew and many would run on- and off-stage between songs, changing instruments or waiting for a chance to appear on stage again.

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PRIMUS

Well hello, October! Nice to see you again. There’s no turning back now Chicago. 2011 is a mere three months away. Pretty crazy, right? Luckily for us, this means that the fall concert calendar is heating up, which you can tell by our massive edition of Weekend Diversions.

This weekend, we’re highlighting Primus at the Congress Theatre, The Hold Steady at the Vic, Local H at the Beat Kitchen and everything in between.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

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