Still Corners

     Still Corners I only recall seeing one other time.  The gifts the universe leaves for you does so with a reminder that it almost did not happen, nor was it obliged to.  My friends Sarah and William they had an extra ticket and went out of their way to tell me to come on down.  Never do I forget the kindness, for I feel unworthy of it. Creatures of An Hour, I have never stopped listening to. Its something that always orbits back in my ipod, or I always look for the CD to play it in the car.  My favorite aunt even liked a track that I played while taking her to visit us in my house, I think it was Cuckoo,  or Endless Summer....yet for music so sweet it also has the relentless and steady forward engine of a train, and this heartbeat helps the sweetness sound great.  You are not lost in a fog, you are being driven in a convertible with the gentle wind blowing your hair back. ...I just jumped ahead. It would be so indulgent to continue this image further, but I would just be sounding like a car commercial. 
  Just play anything from Still Corners and the happiest memories or moods will effortlessly conjure themselves.  And if you can drive to it, you can dance to it. I'm into just about all of Creatures of An Hour.  When I think about Still Corners, Creatures is what instantly comes to mind. I bought it from them at their show at Schubas.  That was the show that Sarah and William got me inside of, and I think it was 8 years ago.  So when they played some from that album, I certainly was way happy. The first time seeing them, I was barely getting to know them. Now since knowing of them, they are pillars in the internal, mental shrine to music. The second time around at Beat Kichen....I was already sold.  I met up with my friend Steve this time. Miraculously I made their whole part of the show. Beat Kitchen was not going to fuck around.  At this point beyond Creatures, I knew nothing. Did not pursue it. I let it drift.  Steve's enthusiasm brought the show to my radar and now there we are, on the threshold of seeing Still Corners live.

 I am behind when it comes to Still Corners.  I will slowly familiarize with Dead Blue because I like Lost Boys. That was not their latest and not what I think they were touring for. Slow Air is their newest. I'm sure it was Black Lagoon I was dancing to. There's a video to it to binge on.  There she is driving a convertible and then on a beach. Ohhh....So there is where I got those images from.  So Black Lagoon establishes this beat, this pace that it never blinks from, an easy runners pace.  Its sweet enough and dark enough.  Its black enough for Sarah and William. I can see this in Shimmer and Bittersweet. Its synth pop bass gives the guitar the right habitat to thrive. 
   I remember how enthusiastic was their performance.  They were all into it, drummer, guitarist, and Ms Tessa. Attention and applause was shown for them for peak moments. When the guitarist was wailing away the way people play air guitar.  That's his stolen moment and the crowd reacted.  Him and the drummer were that machine Tessa drove with her whispery voice. 
  Four albums, but...I'm taking my time and let the memory of the show imprint with the two CDs that I have.  If I had it, I would have bought all the fucking merch....shirts, CDs. I was fortunate to have enough to bring something back. 

   Tessa Murray's angelic pretty whisper voice holds her place well between the drummer and guitarist....she also plays keyboard.  Tessa was so nice afterwards talking to everyone at the merch table and taking pictures with them for a good while afterwards.  That reminds me of why I am so fucking into them.  It brings me back to the first album.  Looking back I believe they also played The Trip.  Dead Blue is what I will be thinking about and playing.  Slowly songs from there sink in beyond Lost Boys.  Textures marked with sound are these fascinating paths I take, familiar and new. As it dawns on me how awesome The Fixer is, Dreamhorse grabs you.  The delayed reaction works well for me as I am now overwhelmed by two great tracks. For me they are like Bel Canto, the way they without intending to, being this goth music candy. Bel Canto is a goth club favorite and I think this can be for Still Corners sending the bat friendly signals.
   For music that sounds so chill, sweet and rhythmic, live its not meek. Its powerful, the bass gently surrounds....but still you are compelled to dance.   Music sounds clean not awash in fuzz that only the musicians can navigate.  I was watching the drummer and guitarist playing off each other. The theater of seeing that made the show for me too. When they are sold, taken in by their own performance, that fire resonated with the audience. There were them moments when you know it was just him and the drummer and the crowd reacted.  At this point, now I don't remember exactly which songs I heard. But theirs is a show that is an awesome thing to see live.  Their shyest songs really come to life as the coolest fucking thing.  Zig

Exploded View is coming

  I saw her as Anika at Empty Bottle way back in 2011. That just feels so long ago.  Her deep chalky voice that can almost replace James Earl Jones and stoic performance I found absolutely fascinating. Sadness Hides The Sun I recorded on my camera. What Anika says in the title of this song I would say about every song I encounter from her.  I liked Anika because she was this Noir soundtrack that never fucking quits. With shadows cast in words and music. Its easy to follow what she says and move to the music behind her. This was one of them shows that I found myself visiting again in my memory a lot. Her music was deep, the words powerful, and all together bassy and movement inducing. You wanna dance to this shit and put your hips into it, because its fucking sexy.  Anika branded her mark.  The only relic I took home was this poster from the wall. I don't often see them dated down to the year. I did not buy any merch. More than likely I was too broke. Without taking something home I got YouTube videos of Anika. So some distance comes with the familiarity. The Noir never left with Exploded View. And they are coming to Empty Bottle this November.

 Only with a brightest sun will you cast the darkest shadows. That is Exploded View, bringing the clouds at 3pm. Exploded View seems to have come from the Blade Runner universe.  As far as fictional dystopian worlds....yeah, I would say more Blade Runner than Mad Max....no, not even with Charlize Theron. This is Blade Runner/Brazil day or night an urban future world forever dark and in slow decline. Brightest Sun, harshest Sun. Anyway, here I am trying to go on about this band and look where an unleashed mind brings back while your out looking for the music that seems to suit best.

 My experience with Exploded View begins with Anika and continues like its an old and weathered Soul Train. Anika rides this train with a Vulcan steeled indecipherable poker face. She's a chill hand that holds the reins over shit. Its wondrous to see it live.  Sadness is one of those that hit you like its Ian Curtis telling you himself.  And his voice had that nervous mechanical quality to it. The stoic Anika  under the surface.....you know how Obama had his Anger Translator.  You just wanna see what that look like. We wait the Vulcan to betray any expression. That is part of it, her near mechanical delivery and yet every track is it's own self sustaining legend.  She makes it work and I am glad she is coming back. Masters Of War she owns it with her own muscle.  I can hear all of them in a row, I don't feel over saturated, or over exposed to the artist. I can YouTube binge on Anika like you wouldn't believe.  So this binge will naturally bring me to her work with Exploded View, her new band and self titled debut album on Sacred Bones Records. And where do I start....its like getting on a moving merry-go-round. Orlando is steady, powerful and disciplined.....and that video for it in the beginning...wow. Lost Illusions broods and simmers with a purpose over Anika's indifferent wails.

  No More Parties In The Attic so far even before seeing them live is a highly anticipated favorite of mine.  After binging on her videos, a signature emerges, becomes recognizable.  Every song has her stamp but they all have their own reasons to be someones favorite.  Each track holds its own like they are the only one worth hearing.  This show at Empty Bottle in early November....I hope I make it to this.
Zig

CrashPop!

 Windy City CrashPop Festival...This is the second year they have this.  They will have this again at Chop Shop on North Ave on Saturday 29th September.  It will start early...at 5pm. Just how many more nights are we gonna over work Cory for this? So that brings in Lightfoils and Panda Riot. I think he organized this whole event. I think there is new work coming from Lightfoils. I believe by this fall the Panda's tour will be behind them, and they will be home in Chicago.  I am happy to know they are staying.  Astrobrite has always been and only now am I exploring, and as I trip over, more music still.  2007 is when I became aware of the Pandas, them and Star.  They was good.....Scott Cortez played guitar, only I was too busy thinking how pretty Ms Shannon is. Star was an early contemporary of the Pandas, often playing the same gigs, but certainly it began to look good for Star. I noticed them opening for good touring bands. They were local and they were around during a very impressible time for me.  Scott Cortez was behind it but I was too busy staring at Shannon.  So now, I'm going over Astrobrite, and its a YouTube fucking rabbit sink hole... but, a bigger picture emerges from the fractions you collect.  You come out of this sink hole having survived a few cave ins but now I see Scott Cortez and now I'm kinda star struck...Leopold star struck. New Canyons is another very active Chicago band that I've taken for granted. Until one night at Smart Bar, pow! Now I get it.  Its thoughtful and slow vibe thinly veils a rolling avalanche of bass, synth and driving guitars.  Whimsical is another I am looking forward to seeing live. The lead singer I see all the time at Shimmer, the monthly Shoegaze night held at Slippery Slope. This is the first time seeing her on stage. Chicago is a real hub, and I'm stupid lucky to be waking on the park bench where all this shit happens and begins to happen. Even as we lump all these bands in a single shoegaze event. Lets say you go down every collapsing YouTube rabbit hole, each feeds into another...you come out of it, eventually. Your vision in the fog becomes sharper.  It just blows me away that I can be so close to this music.  Its a hyper local thing. It affects how I see them and write about them. New Canyons have been around for ever and only lately are they hitting me. Where the fuck have I been.

  There will be more bands for this event. I just mentioned who I am most familiar with. So this thing is happening again 29th September, a Saturday, at Chop Shop. It starts early at 5pm.  I'm just glad the bathrooms are ok.  Its real fortunate for us to have a once monthly shoegaze night  at Slippery Slope, and to even see some of the musicians that play the music is really fucking cool.

I post the pictures of the bands I saw. By some set of miracles they all call Chicago home.  There are a lot of great fucking bands from Chicago that do not stay. Fielded, Angel Olsen, Cross Record,...ok I'm drawing a blank after that, but you all get the fucking point. I just wanted to stick them names up there some how. Its an uphill thing for a band to exist here. This is the culture that most defines a place, and yet exists so precariously.  I'm glad Panda Riot toured the West. It fascinates that they can be the touring band. When they play here its from their newest Infinity Maps. I wonder if they play from the other albums on their tour....anyway that's just me imagining seeing them that one time in that rare tour. For others out there its gonna be that one iconic performance that makes them a fan. And they gotta soak up all they can from one single performance, or maybe three over the span of years. Anyway....rambling on. I am totally looking forward to seeing this, Saturday 29th Sept.
Zig 

sister crystals

  I miss Sister Crystals, they were...or are this sweet Chicago dream pop, shoegaze band that I once saw with the Pandas...at the Pandas. I guess I use the past tense because I have not seen them as of late. This band hit the spot, right away. They were first called Magic City, and soon after they renamed themselves Sister Crystals. Its ever so fortunate of me to have a few downloads of them and vinyl. So I'm not completely depending on Youtube videos. Well, there are a few songs that I've only seen on Youtube. There was a span of let's say three years in which all these dream pop, shoegaze bands, local bands were circulating actively and often appearing together along with the middle outside act. Pale Dian played quite a few times here under their old name Black Stone Rangers, played with the Crystals,Videotape, and the Pandas. Just to be safe let me throw in Lightfoils. So, Crystals I have seen in the context of a wider network. And indeed it influences how you see a band in front of you. There is a wider constellation to include them in....or not. With me, it was the wider network that brought them to my attention. There is always a forward drive to their swirling guitars. Their songs have these long moments when its just the guitars playing. They are often like the long exclamation point to the last word that Lauren sings. Hard To Imagine is just like this. Lauren's voice has space to sound alone, and then the swirling storm of guitars takes over.  And the swirl of guitars have this way of answering back and continuing on from Lauren, and building and building from that echo until. You Won't Let Go does this and builds on and on like a stoner Warpaint jam session. So this is one of those bands that I would see a lot before I ever had anything tangible to play. Now I do, and here and there I see some of their Youtube videos or just listening to the downloaded LP and EP. I do miss them.
Zig

KANGA at Reggies

  So unfortunately, I missed Amelia Arsenic. It would have been very nice to have seen her and Kanga. So, I hope she will come back.  Ms Kanga I recall seeing last year at Cold Waves. She played G Man Tavern right next door to Metro and it was no cover. Hell, no one at the door checked my ID. It was a Sunday night.  I went with a slight headache that I took care of with Motrin and...I took care of it. The very night of the massacre in Vegas is when I saw this.  That sounded wrong, allow me to explain.  You always remember where you were when something of that tremendous terrible weight occurs. I was coming back from seeing Kanga with a long gone headache as my only trouble and I turn on NPR, they were reporting it. And it was as if they were doing so as it was happening or shortly there after. I drove home in a shock. This could have happened easily where I went, and the thought of that  was unsettling. The weight of guilt, feeling unworthy of the good fortune kept me from just switching to music during the drive home. It felt like seeing the wrong side of the hand of an angry God at work...helpless. And so its difficult at least for me to disconnect these separate moments. Kanga at Cold Waves and Vegas. I just can't. It feels cruel to seem oblivious. There is a time and place to write and dwell on this, and here  I feel it is safe to do so. Let me tell where it is not cool. If I was doing a straight review of her show then for a magazine....hell no! I would strictly concentrate on the show. But this here is my space and this is where I can't ignore shit.  And I feel bad for bringing this up, here where the express purpose is to go on and on about the fucking bands I see. Yet this is where my mind brings me. Hmmm, and now I lock it up, here, never to mention it again...I had to put it somewhere and now I gotta move on.
  A signature move of Ms Kanga during her live shows is bending backwards like a possessed Linda Blair. I fucking love seeing that. What's cool is how the intensity manifests on her. With her it's bending backwards and hearing her say "I'm On Fire!!...I don't belong her anymore!!" and sweating, and rolling around. With other performers its how controlled they are as you are taken by the music, dancing and all that. Not Kanga, she gets herself all disheveled and its part of what makes her shows great. Her songs are resonant both in words and music. Songs that come with that easily and genuinely combustible kindling. Its that dance floor friendly industrial and her lyrics you can hear clearly without having to read them.  Her songs are distinct from each other.  I can't say that about HIDE. Her songs are difficult to distinguish. To enjoy a HIDE concert, is almost to like it as a whole without knowing which end is up. I still like HIDE, even after saying all that. I would go see her show tomorrow. But right now we are going on about Ms Kanga, here.

  So she is performing from her self-titled CD. Her picture on it, she looks relaxed with otherworldly eyes.....ahhhhhh. I have to say, she is an otherworldly beauty.  No seriously, if them eyes were any wider I would get visits from Men In Black over seeing seeing her shows. No, I'm not referring to the bloody movie. Her songs easily distinguishable from each other, their separate reasons for you to like them. Vital Signs is different from Going Red and so on( and they are both great songs). I hope I see more work coming from her in the future.
Zig

Zigtebra/Midnight Opera

 
  This is who I saw with Zigtebra.  Midnight Opera are a glam rock four piece from Dallas, TX. That is the premise from which I will start....you feel good from hearing them. As I research more seriously the always present low-fi, minimal Zigtebra. They are a sibling duo from Chicago, in Pilsen. Emily Rose and Joe they are siblings that barely met when they were in their twenties. She plays keyboard and he plays guitar. Their story is interesting. They write love songs, heartbreak songs....they don't sound that way to me, and that is fascinating. I should have seen them more times than this. Their name I see all the time. Emily Rose is a big fan of Cafe Jumping Bean, a real cafe in Pilsen, on 18th street. They are from the art/music scene there. They like the DIY venues there, playing in houses where age is not a barrier, the feeling of community from paying at the door to these DIY scenes.  There is this cable access show called Chic-A-Go-Go and they played for this show. It seems to be a show for kids and they introduce really cool bands to these kids in this show. Children are sincere when it comes to what they like or not. They will warm to you or be viciously indifferent. To see Zigtebra play to these kids without seeming to want to pander to them really broke the ice with me. They are on a self-booked tour of the country and when they come back to Chicago I will see them as a fan.
  I once got a download from them. I've seen them live one other time for sure. And as I research for real now, they are what I would call glam, in part because they dress the part.   So it took me this long to finally get to know Zigtebra. They are a shot of sweetness, genuine wonder, and happiness, this bouncy house of euphoria. Just saw the video for Paradise and I got a sugar high just from watching it. If it was any longer I would have been hit with mad diabetes with all them donuts they eat. This is not saying that I dislike the band. They are feeling warmer to me the longer I listen to them. 

  They seem to be just that right soundtrack to these little moments you may want to recall with more storytelling detail. Wonder is given its glam confidence to stride. Midnight Opera are from Dallas, Texas. They for me perfectly combine and balance what is cool with what is sweet with open-veins sincerity.  There is a little bit of Anna Calvi in the guitar. Hell, we got Anna Calvi melange being taken by all. The singers are Teddy Waggy and Nicole Marxen-Myers.You gotta see how they synchronize dance to Stars Grow Cold, Older Hands Prevail.  Its endearing to see them sync their movements like when Casket Girls did it. They are playful with this coolness, without being sloppy. They got this way of disarming with their playfulness, sweetness and still be as cool as fucking sunglasses. In terms of what they sound like....they sound like or remind me of Anna Calvi, ....oh already said that in the previous paragraph....the difference is this playfulness...shit, I said that too, well in case y'all were not listening. I've had the CD The Mesmerist since seeing them and the lyrics add a tango like passion to their cool/sweetness. Stars Grow Cold fucking hits you. The other songs will be just as intense. The shirt I bought from them is beautiful. No..no....not just another black shirt. You gotta see the artwork on this thing. Alright, I want this posted before September.
Zig

Fauvely/Casual Hex

  Fauvely while still owning her hmmm sad, thoughtful side, she can fucking snap your neck with some righteous anger.  She once told some motherfuckers in the back to shut the fuck up....well Sophie didn't say it like that, but she did call them out for being loud in her own fucking show. This was at the now defunct Quenchers, on Fullerton and Western. The place was known for all the different kind of beers....if you are into that....and it was a great music venue. Fauvely shows were intimate for quieter, smaller spaces. But, now, she's played the fucking Bottle a few times. I get happy when I see her getting written up.  I've seen her on Chicago Tribune.  And...I think I've read shit during her Videotape days, well the band as a whole. Her Chicago history stretches back. Her upcoming work will take us to Savannah, where she is from. Yeah, I assume Georgia. I say sad girl as a sort of net that includes Cross Record, Angel Olsen.... "blues" has long been taken.  And you can't call everything shoegaze just because they were once in a shoegaze band.  And there is a something beyond sadness and vulnerability expressed with Fauvely. Yeah...the others too. Can we just stick to....thanks.  Fauvely is....thoughtful and self-critical. The world as described in her music seems to begin in the mind. It begins with what's wrong with her and not with the world in reaction to her.  They make these vulnerable moments into triumphs, journeys that we can admit to take because they were brave enough to say the words of their own journeys that blow up as universal. 
  I've been missing show after mother fucking show, bursting in like the Kool-aide guy, all late about it.  All showered and rosy, and feeling stupid, I want to leave before anyone notices. But they fucking notice.  The last gig I missed was at The Owl.  This one at Hideout was a must, and I made it.  She played "Watch Me Over Complicate This" and the crowd was balls deep into it. The way it was played on stage, it was clear to me this was an audience of fans that knew what was before them.  And its my favorite performance of this song.  It was all guitars and no drummer and it worked so well, it renewed my enthusiasm for it.  I was happy to have the audience share in this.  Often times you don't know if a crowd was won over.  I've been in shows in which they don't betray any collective feeling. But this one night at Hideout, we all got it. Fauvely is awesome, and they let her know it. I think that was the first time I've been to such a show for Fauvely. 
  It was later when Alice her friend and former member of Fauvely took the stage with her new band, the neo psychedelic Casual Hex.  Before joining Casual Hex she had her own solo project Dorsia, and that was fucking cool too. I love how subtle and effortless they just put me in that set of Mad Men.  I felt the pull of that period even with Dorsia. And now I feel genuinely warm to her new band.  This was my second time seeing them.  Its plain to see their psychedelic roots, they are still a modern youthful band. I am really getting into their three song Demo.  Casual Hex for me is a natural extension for what Alice was already inclined to do. Dorsia already sounded very psych to me even as she was also minimal. She was great in Fauvely too, playing violin.  I'm glad I saw them early shows, because it allows you to enjoy a more total picture of the music.  I get to enjoy better all the bands knowing this back history.  When Sophie brought in Alice I did not see Dorsia or Casual Hex coming out of this. I am happy to see a more complete picture. When you see Star Wars....any of the fucking movies, you see them in the context of that wider story.  Oh look! Here we have a picture of Ms Alice during her Fauvely days!! Anyway...I feel happy and fortunate that I get to witness all this and so that always compels me to document it, or else I see it disappear.
Zig