New Podcasts
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Due to bugs in our publishing system new podcasts are being posted to our blog right here. Thanks for your patience while we work on these issues.
The War on Terror and American Popular Culture Split Reel
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Split Reel, CHIRP’s new show on popular culture and societal attitudes. Read more…
Tegan and Sara Interview
photo by alexcore on flickr.
Indie rockers Tegan and Sara tell us what it’s like to make young queer fans insanely happy, and which rock stars would have made them spazz out when they were teenagers. These progressive, brought-up-on socialized health care Canadians share their views on health care reform in the U.S., and address a common misconception about health care in their homeland. Tegan and Sara’s latest album on Sire records is called Sainthood. They spoke with CHIRP volunteer Sarah Lu before their recent show at the Aragon Ballroom. Read more…
New Library Additons
Every week we add a wide range of music to our library, from the newest local releases to lost gems from the archives. Here’s a list of some of what we’ve recently added.
- J Dilla Donuts (Stones Throw)
J Dilla was a vaunted producer who collaborated with many of the most talented names in hip-hop, including De La Soul, Madlib, ?uestlove, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, and Common. Released three days before Dilla’s untimely death at age 31 from the blood disease TTP, Donuts is far more than the sum of its parts: a producer’s reel of music and beats blending jazz, rock, and electro with classic hip-hop; it is an essential, soulful, and irrepressibly joyful album. - Future of the Left Travels With Myself and Another (4AD)
Future of the Left, a Welsh post-punk band featuring two-thirds of the mighty Mclusky (including singer/guitarist Andrew Falkous), pick up where they left off and get heavier, catchier, and stranger on their second full-length album. Guitars grind, crunch and squeal, keyboard lines hum, the rhythm section pounds and throbs, while the lyrics, equal parts bilious and absurd, are delivered with a melodic throaty shriek; through it all is a compelling power and charisma that few other bands can match. - XTC Skylarking (Virgin)
XTC’s creative and critical zenith, Skylarking distilled the best elements of the pop-punk melodies from their mid-‘70s origin, the rhythmic intricacies of their new wave output and the orchestral and pastoral impulses of their early 80’s releases, even though leader Andy Partridge described producer Todd Rundgren’s recording process as “being forced in a box and having it beaten out of you.” - Icy Demons Miami Ice (Obey Your Brain)
Icy Demons could perhaps best be described as the mutant spawn of Brian Eno and Man Man — gnarled, proggy, lush and groovy all at once. Miami Ice alternates between glass-clinking, air-conditioned sambas, post-rockin’ harmonized vocal pop and general weird awesomeness. - Umberto From the Grave… (Permanent)
Expo ’70 bass/synth player Matt Hill has gone solo. His debut LP under the Umberto moniker is an analog masterpiece heavily influenced by the classic film score work of Goblin, except arguably better. Previously only available as a hyper limited CD-R and cassette via Sonic Meditations, this edition comes to us from Chicago’s own Permanent Records.
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