Chicago Base Podcasts

A rather/even more quirky selection than usual this week. I've been exploring a few genres that I'm not really that familiar with. Really listening opens up whole new landscapes of music to explore. Artois woke up briefly (See photo) to have some food but otherwise has slept soundly since 08:30 yesterday Wed) morning!Weekend Tongue - Donora (Pennsylvania, USA)Jake H. met Casey a few hours after she was born. He was disappointed she was a girl and cried. Eighteen years later he got over it, and they started a band with another Jake that played bass. They became Donora and together they make melodic, dance-worthy, garage rock.www.donoramusic.com/www.myspace.com/donoraThe High Road - Sharon Robinson (California, USA)Singer/songwriter/producer Sharon Robinson releases her debut solo album "Everybody Knows" on August 19, 2008. The long-time collaborator of Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Leonard Cohen won a GRAMMY in 1985 for "New Attitude" by Patti Labelle.www.sharonrobinsonmusic.com/www.myspace.com/sharonrobinsonmusicTusuka Bay - Ambiguous Dreams (UK)AD, is a two piece ambient instrumental project, from England (UK). The project began in late 05, when AD's music was produced through a college controlled version of Cubase 1. Taking influence from the sounds of Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill creations and Random Juxtaposition AD's audio output is a a maelstrom of genres, including; Ambient, NU Age, Drum & Bass, Metal and more.www.myspace.com/roubmewsickYou bought song for a dollar - The Go Ahead And (Vermont, USA)Seriously funny music about non-serious, frequently geeky topics, such as foot fetishes, boring people, and forbidden love on the Death Star.The Go Ahead And is a comedy pop band who masquerades as a group of rascally young hooligans; however, all of the wacky musical hijinks perpetrated by The Go Ahead And are actually the product of just one person: Joel Abbott. Joel Abbott's story as a musician begins a few months after he was born, when his parents took him to a stoned fortuneteller at a hippie art fair in Boulder, Colorado, and the fortuneteller said "when this baby grows up he will use music to express himself." True story.www.thegoaheadand.comwww.myspace.com/thegoaheadandWaitress Song - Jen Lowe (Georgia, USA)Jen Lowe is a sincere songwriter who writes straight from the heart. Her lyrics are direct and thoughtful, as she wastes no time getting the heart of the matter. Having been a full time touring percussionist and drummer with many national acts, Jen's sense of the song writing process is strong. She comes to you from Atlanta, GA where she has played and been influenced by great artists such as Angie Aparo, Keni Thomas, Jason Mraz, and Tristan Prettyman. Her stage presence is larger than life as she engages the audience in a story, a witty comment, or just her keen ability to entertain. Jen is pleased to bring to her audience her first record entitled "From The End Of This Hallway." Produced by Tim Acres and mixed by Steve Rizzo, this album will take you in from the first note. Whether on the stage or in the studio, Jen takes you on her journey that will leave remembering her sentiments for a long time. www.myspace.com/jenjenloweBeaumont is alive - Dr Kananga From the two track album (what is an album these days) Post-apocolyptic merry melodiesDr Kananga, conspirateur au sein des Space Jahourt vous a prpar une cuisine lectro qui sent bon le old school base de hip hop, trip hop et un soupson de Jungle. Comme dirait l'autre on ne fait pas de la nouvelle cuisine et mme si certaines plages peuvent sembler lounge c'est pour mieux rebondir aprs. Les beats sont lourds, les samples de cuivres et de violons sont jazzy et les synths fleurent bon la fin des 70s. Le tout est accompagn de ses transitions -Entremets base de zapping tl improbable.Beginner's Luck - Lindalou and Michael Ryge (California, USA)From the album Beginner's Luck which was originally released in 2003. They finally got around to releasing it on Jamendo in April 2008.Wild spirited teenagers surprise themselves decades later with this CD of close harmonies, true stories and adventures reflecting their love for life and each other.They've made old men cry, and young women laugh, and vice versa. Their music, while almost all acoustic, is diverse in styles, from instrumental to A cappella, from story songs and love ballads to quirky autobiographical tales.http://cdbaby.com/cd/llmr

A frantic week since ... er... last week's show with the summer Podcrawl in London on Friday, being social at the weekend and a crazy but necessary trip to Glasgow (pictured) yesterday, it's no wonder that I feel a bit more "odd" than usual. Glasgow seemed to me to be changing ... into a showcase for innovative architecture but at the cost of losing its distinctive look and feel. In a few years every major city will have copied the styles of buildings and at that point they will look fresh and Glasgow will look tired with none of its traditional buildings remaining to save the day. Depressing.No use for hate - Trick Seventeen (Germany)From the self titled album from German pop/punk, melodic emo rockers Trick Seventeen. The album MAY be called Might as Well but it makes not a jot of difference. You can get it free from Jamendo at the click of a mouse from :www.jamendo.com/album/4903?refuid=117934www.myspace.com/trickseventeenThe past quite a few hours have been strange and exhausting. I did something that I argue fiercely against yesterday. One of the projects I am working on at the moment is not making the progress that it should be so I went on a day trip for a meeting with someone who may well be able to help. The only problem is that Kate was scheduled to be in Glasgow, Scotland from her base in Inverness, almost 200 miles of tortuous Scottish roads away. I'm in Suffolk, another 450 miles and 7 hours driving away. I'm reluctant to admit that I did the obvious thing, drove over to Stansted Airport and caught a one hour flight to Glasgow horribly early in the morning and came back in the evening. 21 hours non-stop travel and work with two climbs to 36,000 feet and the descents have taken their toll. (Bedding track - Peter Greenstone Somewhere over Greenland)Broken Symmetries - Peter Greenstone (Texas, USA)Peter Greenstone is an independent musician, a singer/songwriter producing his own sound from his home studio in Austin, Texas. Freely stepping across and often defying genres, Peter mixes acoustic and synthetic sounds and tones to create an atmosphere in his music that is sometimes surreal, sometimes haunting, sometimes whimsical, but always personal. You can buy his album of the same name (Broken Symmetries) or any individual track through his site. www.petergreenstone.com/Calleso - Triplexity (mostly France, I think!)Triplexity is Nikila, SaReGaMa and Hamelin Brengnier.The word Triplexity is combined of two words: triplex and complexity. Triplexity is a virtual band, its members never met each other face to face, all the collaborations came to live thru the Internet. Every member comes from a different musical background, together, they blend their knowledge and inspiration and give life to their unique music with a fresh new sound.http://triplexity.blogspot.com/Sound quality in MP3 recordings like SnCBenefit of getting better quality originals such as the FLAC files that Triplexity are producing. Much better form of compression. Explained by Saregama at:http://saregama3.blogspot.com Les Soldats - Tribuman and the Jammin' Orchestra (from Jamendo)I played their track First Riddim' back in October last year high time for another. The electric piano through the wah-wah pedal reminds me rather strongly of one of the bands I worked with. While it's nice to hear a familiar sound and these days it triggers a smile, I'm, even more pleased that it quickly turns into something quite different and presents and worthwhile challenge to expectations.www.patchworkproduction.fr/tribuman.htmlPlease Pass the Schnapps - Copper Box (Wisconsin, USA)I played "Need a little squeeze from Copper Box a couple of weeks ago and suggested that we needed to hear another track soon. This is the one I was thinking of. (From the PMN)www.copperboxsite.com/www.myspace.com/copperboxbandTic-toc - Manny (Luxembourg)From Manny's Sideshow album. Recorded at Chez Manny by Luxembourg resident Scotsman Gordon Furguson aka Manny.www.sideshowmanny.comCome Clean - The Mexicolas (Birmingham, UK)Been played by both Pete Cogle at PC Podcast and now by Colin Gazeley over at The Ourobourous Podcast and now at long last, here. They are:Jamie Evans - Vocals / Guitars / Keyboards Tim Trotter - Drums / Percussion Del Carter - Basswww.themexicolas.comwww.myspace.com/mexicolasMessage from The Grumbler and New Song - Yael NaimBimbo's 365, San Francisco, next Tuesday 24th.www.myspace.com/yaelnaimwww.yaelweb.com/

A rum ol' mix of styles and tastes this week which I hope conspire to suit your mood. Do you find that your musical taste changes with your mood? Does your mood change with the music? Let me know, by a comment at the bottom of these notes, email or by the MyCHingo voice message system.I've was photographing for a client in Aldeburgh (right), on the Suffolk coast, on Monday. It felt like grabbing the only chance to enjoy the town on a sunny day and yet in a relatively peaceful state before the "Hooray Henry brigade arrives for the summer.Armens dit - Bzd'h (Mulhouse, France)From their new album Les Illumins.IBzd'H, l'alliance de la guitare et du violon caricature comme : "DU FER DANS LA SOIE" Un savant mlange pour du Rock puisqu"il daigne enfin se marier aux prsents des musiques Celtiques. La noce des nergies libre un fracassant bouquet Avec plus de 400 concerts leur actif ils ont partag l'affiche avec : STATUS QUO, EV, SALLY BAT DES AILES, LES WAMPAS, MAROUSSE, ALDEBERT, LES FILS DE TEPU, MERZHIN, BLACK BOMB A C"est ensuite l'enchanement de Festivals et de concerts rputs En Juillet 2005 ils ralisent un fabuleux concert au MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL. OCTOBRE 2007 : la sortie de leur nouvel album LES ILLUMINES TELECHARGEMENTS GRATUITS. Note: the link may generate pop-up ads for French supermarkets! www.bezedh.comAngels of Mercy - Mike Link/Harvey Taylor (Milwaukee, USA)Normally I'm less than happy with crossover music (regardless of where it is crossing from or to) however, sometimes it just seems to work.A fascinating mix of styles in this track form Milwaukee-based studio duo (Mike Link on keys, etc, and Harvey Taylor on trumpet), with guest artists (Holly Haebig on flute, Tom Plutshack on guitars).. groove-based tunes with trumpet improvisations, etc, fusing a jazz/blues approach to contemporary electronica...World music influences combine for an eclectic mix.www.cdbaby.com/cd/linktaylorI've been distracted this morning by news that daughter Jessie's hotel room in Ibiza was burgled while she was at work last night.Lost her treasured laptop and iPod. Hotel security appears not to be all that it might be - experiments showed that a few keys open more than the expected number of room doors.Ballarine - David (Montpellier, France)From his album Experimental released through Jamendo right at the end of last year.www.myspace.com/davidchapelThree chords - Jimmie Bratcher (Missouri, USA)If you've been listening for a long time, you've heard Jimmie every week for the past two and a half years. Happy is the show theme. Here's another more bluesy track.www.jimmiebratcher.comFun Tashlikh - Faren Khan (Paris, France)Faren Khan is a group of cosmopolitan musicians, as surprising as they are atypical. They have found each other in France, some of them in exile from their native Spain and United States, others closer to their Mediterranean and Eastern European roots.In the image of the legendary Faren Khan - the mysterious bandit who once wandered the land from Belarus to Hungary and Romania on the back of his fierce swine, the group leads you through its remarkable and eccentric universe.Amidst traditional melodies from the Balkans and Mediterranean, we hear influences of American jazz, the Middle East and India. A nomadic path for the most nomadic of music.Klezmer music.www.myspace.com/farenkhanNote from Kimowww.sellaband.com/kimo-watanabe/Talkers - Entire Cities (Ontario, Canada)Entire Cities are riding high on the success of their latest album, Deep River, the product of ten musicians using banjos, violins, flutes, pianos, minimoogs, singing saws, trombones, whatever else they saw fit to bring their work to life. The result is a heady mix of country, indie, gospel and rock. SIMON BORER -Guitar, Vox, RUHEE DEWJI -Flute, Horns, Vox, TAMARA LINDEMAN -Banjo, Vox, BRENDAN HOWLETT -Bass, Trumpet, PAUL McCRADY -Vox, Keys, Glock and PAUL WEADICK -Drums, VoxLong distance members:JOSH LYON -Keys, Accordion, Vox, STEFANIE BRUCE -Singins Saw, Autoharp and DAVID MISSIO -Guitar14 Jun Cadillac Lounge - NXNE Toronto, Ontario21 Jun Skeleton Park Music Festival Kingston, Ontario29 Jun Sneaky Dee's - Wavelength w. Hot Panda Toronto, OntarioAvailable now at Soundscapes in Toronto, Brian's Record Option and Made 4 You in Kingston and online at Zunior.comwww.entirecities.cawww.myspace.com/entirecitiesPodcrawl on Friday. "Oh dear, dear, dear ..."Yep - Nikila (Grenoble, France)Passion pour la montagne et l'art sous toutes formesFrom the album #1 (Jamendo)http://nikilart.blogspot.com/

Nordgarden in session at the BarnIn these occasional shows artists drop by to have a bit of a chat about what they are doing, what makes them tick and, of course, to play a few tunes live for us.The guest at The Barn for this session is Terje Nordgarden who is really living the life of an artist with something to say. He tours almost continuously with loyal followings developing in Italy, Poland, Holland and the UK, not to mention his native Norway.We were delighted to have Terje stay over with us for a couple of nights(between Springsteen concerts!). We also fitted in a gig at the Winelight Club and a short radio session for the BBC. I've not previously seen a producer behind the glass shout out and applaud after a song, live on air. Terje plays three songs from his excellent current album The Path of Love:Up the HillsideThe Path of LoveSo far awayFind out more about Nordgarden at: www.myspace.com/nordgardenRecording engineer: Jeremy Gugenheim.Show in/out: Lil Diddley Vamp - DJOC http://oregonchad.com

Some people have suggested that the show is eclectic. Listening to this week's selection, I think they could be right. Music from Canada, Texas, London, Germany, New York and Norway.Les fantmes David Jalbert (Canada)Auteur-compositeur-interprte.David Jalbert nat le 5 mai 1980 Rivire des Prairies et passe la majeure partie de sa vie Mascouche dans Lanaudire. Ds sa tendre enfance, la musique est omniprsente au foyer; son pre, un guitariste passionn,www.davidjalbert.ca/She Walks On Water - Love = Action (Texas, USA)Love = Action is the current solo project of singer/songwriter Jacoby Jennings. The sound of the music is a collision of organic and electronic instruments but the constant is the honesty that flows through every song. Rather reminds me of The Blue Nile. www.myspace.com/loveisactionOn and On - Naama Hillman (London, UK)Naama Hillman played the Winelight Club in Norwich on Friday a very subtle, restrained, acoustic and moving set for which I offer my thanks. Nominated for an Indie Music Award recentlyOn and On is from her 2004 album Living room. She has a new five track acoustic EP (In Between the Lights) available right now for free download from her site and a new album on the way. That's something to look forward to. www.naamahillman.comMusik Macht - akustikfilm (Germany)From nature's sample board to urban voices and echoes. akustikfilm collects soundscapes on this planet and transforms them into musical film. All music by akustikfilm is licensed under creative commons (by-nc-nd)Note from Erika of Serpentone whose song Get Free I played a couple of weeks ago "thank you for that exposure on your wonderfully eclectic podcast! Much appreciated." 'Ere who you calling eclectic?"Quit Quittin' - Andy Mullen (New York, USA)Acoustic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andy Mullen is here to put the "song" back in "songwriter," the "blue" back in "bluegrass," and the "alcohol" back in "alcoholic."His new album, "The Toenail Jar" is available for a free digital download at his website. http://andymullenmusic.com/Lovely note from Mune of Butumbaba (Sin Capitan on last weeks show) pointing out my inability to read the bleedin obvious. Of course MAJIKONVINAZION (which I even mis-spelt on the SnC shownotes isnt unpronoucable at all! It means magical combination yes, of course it does!www.butumbaba.com.arThe Bumber Sticker Song - Last November (Georgia, US)They released their debut album, All the Gory Details, with Atlanta's Southern Tracks Records, founded by the late, legendary music publisher Bill Lowery. For years, the Label has developed a solid reputation of discovering and developing new talent. The album is a compilation of honest, thought-provoking lyrics that echo passionately through the voice of lead singer Luke Pilgrim. Last Novembers 2nd album Over the Top or Under the Weather is produced by Steven Haigler at the renowned Southern Tracks Studio in Atlanta, home to such artists as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Train, The Bravery, and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (who recorded their 2007 milestone CD, Magic, at the studio) and mastered by Rodney Mills.www.lastnovember.comFrom CorrientesHi Peter :) Thanks for playing A Big Dose of Ideas and Vibe :)It was very cool that you reversed the vocals in Vibe to see what I was saying! lol... We actually are playing out about once or twice a month in NYC, Brooklyn, and Long Island. Hope you enjoy the rest of the week! ttysoon, -IvetteOh Brother - Nordgarden (Hamar, Norway)From his current album The Path of Love. Live Session at the Barn with Nordgarden will probably go up onto this feed at the weekend.Benefit of subscribing you get it as soon as it is released.www.myspace.com/nordgardenSorry Simon - Jonny Dongel (New York, USA)Jonny Dongel was born in Bristol England in 1973 to an English mother and Irish father. He lived in Bristol until his late teens. After "Sodding Up" his A-levels and any chance at a proper future he moved to London where he spent a decade as a working class hero in nearly every pub and restaurant. From his album The fifth of nowherehttp://jonnydongel.com/