David Byrne is coming to my office!

Ok, it's not the real David Byrne, it's some guy named David Byrne from our Swiss office. But I'm still enjoying hearing the chatter about it and pretending. Maybe he leads a double life as a Swiss client service representative . . .

St. Vincent

Annie Clark of St. Vincent talks about being a woman in rock, and why it's so not a big deal.

Oh yes, I will be going to this.

Piracy costs everyone

Gaper's Block on: 7 crimes that cost you less than downloading music.

Ramona Falls

Brent Knopf, keyboardist for Menomena, has a new solo project called Ramona Falls that has a debut album, Intuit, coming out this week. It's streaming in full now! So far, the album sounds great. If that's not enough, Ramona Falls is touring this fall, with a stop at the Chopin Theatre on September 11 and Menomena drummer Danny Seim tagging along to support with some bass action. I will be there.

Musical Docs

One of the more interesting press releases I've seen in awhile:

N.E.D. (an acronym for No Evidence of Disease) is a rock band with a purpose: composed entirely of six musically talented gynecologic cancer surgeons hailing from all four corners of the U.S. The doctors are full time, practicing surgeons, researchers, and professors who moonlight as musicians in hopes that their music can improve the quality of life of patients and anyone potentially touched by women's cancers.

New York-based Motema Music spearheaded the production and recording of their album which will be released on September 8th to coincide with the first annual Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Linkin Park, Ziggy Marley) worked closely with the band to create these first-class recordings. The music and lyrics are original, written by members of the band who worked together primarily through video conference.

Sonically, N.E.D.’s EP blends a wide range of folk, arena, and indie rock, and demonstrates pure female vocals likened to Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary and Christine McVie. Lyrically, the music brings a fresh and sympathetic approach to issues of life and death faced by cancer victims and their families. Net proceeds from the sale of the CD will be donated to the N.E.D. Cancer Foundation in association with the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF) to support public education about gynecologic cancers and to fund promising research projects and programs.

And check out the badass picture of the band! Where do they find the time?

Potbellies

Good news for the hipster male who has put on a few pounds lately- hipster potbellies are in! Ladies, continue to keep it in check, as always.

Schubas #2

Looks like the owners of Schubas, brothers Mike and Chris Schuba, are opening a new mid-size venue called Lincoln Hall this fall. The new club will be at 2424 N. Lincoln (formerly Three Penny Cinema), a decidedly un-indie neighborhood. It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of acts they bring in, and what effect its opening will have on the neighborhood. While the article does point out there are a lot of similarly sized venues already (Double Door, Logan Square Auditorium), it's undeniable that most of the bands that start at Schubas eventually outgrow it, so it should be easy for them to keep booking the same bands at the larger venue. What that means for other venues is another story, though really, Double Door and Logan Square Auditorium aren't exactly ideal spaces for sound anyway. Seeing as Schubas is my favorite venue in the city, this should be a good thing for the city's music scene.

Reefer Duberland Part II?

Very cryptic after-party announcement on the part of the Metro. Some special show is playing on Sunday, August 9 at midnight, and three symbols are apparently the clue to who. Pitchfork has the details on the supposed supergroup. Tickets go on sale Thursday, August 6 at 10am.

I remember the last time some sort of cryptic show was announced that ended up being a supergroup of sorts. I won't fall for that again!

Bird

So, I tried to get tickets to Andrew Bird's surprise show at Schubas happening next Friday in advance of his Lollapalooza set. Unfortunately, tickets sold out . . . in under one minute. Damn you, Bird!

That's ok, though. I saw him at the Hideout, I guess it's time for other fans to get a chance.

Polka Dots

MIA: like mother, like son.

Pitchfork Redux

I can't deny that my engagement in the Pitchfork Music Festival has evolved over the past five incarnations of the festival. Where as back in 2005 I found myself running all over the park to catch every band and stand as close as possible, with each passing year I find myself wanting to spend more time lounging on a blanket between stages and checking out the craft and poster fair. (I never understood who would bypass all the great music for crafts five years ago; now I see). I used to race to the park each morning to get there in time for the first band at noon; now I saunter in around 3 or 4pm.

That's not to say the festival doesn't have anything to offer me anymore. There's a lot to love about lounging around to great music, running into everyone you know and eating tasty festival food. But the youthful exuberance that kept me standing on my feet for 10 hours is long gone, and more and more it seems the bands that play at Pitchfork just played Schubas or the Metro a few months prior, where I could actually see them (the product of living in a major music destination, I realize).

Or maybe part of it is that bands don't make their festival appearances special, at least relative to their usual performances. The Flaming Lips don't count; sure, launching balloons and confetti and running over the crowd in a hamster ball set them apart from the rest of the performances, but considering I saw that hamster ball routine debut five years ago at Coachella, it's clearly not a special performance made for us Pitchfork goers; it's just what they do. Remember when Go! Team brought all the kids from the park's pool up on stage to dance, a small slice of local African-American children shaking it in front of a sea of white hipsters? Now that's a unique and memorable performance you can't get at the Metro. Go big, or go home, I say.

And I always have my perennial complaint that Pithfork fails to bring female artists. Sure, there were Vivian Girls and Kim of Matt and Kim, both relegated to the B stage, and Kathy Foster of the Thermals rocked it out as always. Maybe they thought an all-male band called "Women" was a good enough substitute. But how about some more acts where women are front and center? St. Vincent? Camera Obscura? Bat for Lashes? All three of these artists got "Best New Music" accolades this year, but none were to be seen on the stage.

I realize a lot of people have the same complaint when it comes to hip hop or electronic music conspicuously missing at the festival. Which is why I say, bring back the DJ tent!

Still, I had a good time this past weekend and enjoyed a lot of music. I wished it would have been just five degrees warmer, but the cooler weather did make for a more comfortable viewing experience. I biked to the festival for the first time; never have I gotten to Union Park so quickly, or escaped so easily.

Most of my highlights were on Sunday. The Walkmen tore it up; The Thermals played the most random covers; M83 sounded amazing and was one of the few bands to get people dancing; Grizzly Bear was as adorable as ever, celebrating Chris Bear's birthday with his family in tow (though I'm still not totally sold on the new album). I left the Flaming Lips early after Wayne kept wasting time snarkily talking about how he got to pick from the top 25 "Write the Night" songs, which apparently were the same ones they always play live anyway (per Coyne), stopping by the B stage to catch some incredibly fun African calypso from The Very Best (and the only Michael Jackson tribute of the weekend, apparently requested of them by the Pitchfork folk).

Still, with all my complaints, it's hard to go wrong with a weekend of music, food and fun for the cheapest festival price around.

I still need to throw in my two cents about this weekend's Pitchfork Festival along with everyone else . . . so expect something tomorrow, as today just got past me between working and recovering from the weekend ;)

Beastie Boys

People.com, my apparent music source of late, reports that Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys was diagnosed with cancer. Though they expect a full recovery, they are canceling their upcoming tour- which includes a stop at this year's Lollapalooza.


UPDATE: Yeah Yeah Yeahs to replace them- that was quick!

Rock and Roll McDonalds

Are you as displeased as the rest of us that the Sears Tower will be renamed "Willis Tower"? What if it was the Wesley Willis Tower? The Chicago Reader Decider blog does a compare and contrast of the two Willises.

And there's a website.

We all saw it coming. The Jackson Three.

Yikes.

SHELebration

Tonight at Millenium Park's Pritzker Pavillion, in tandem with the park's 5th anniversary the City is putting on a tribute to Shel Silverstein. There will be related music by Will Oldham, Bobby Bare Sr. and Bobby Bare Jr., Jon Langford and Sally Timms, and more. There will also be performances and readings from Shel's books.

Barb

A popular WLUW DJ, Barb Wire (a.k.a. Barbara Unruh), passed away last week from cancer at 49. The Tribune has a nice article about her.

The Boy Who Cried Freebird

Gaper's Block points to this Tribune article about the history of jerks shouting "Freebird" at shows, and it's origins in Chicago.

T-Mo

Not that I've listened to any music Travis Morrison has made since the Dismemberment Plan broke up, but Pitchfork points out that his website indicates he is retiring from music, relaxing in Brooklyn and inviting people to add him on Facebook, which I promptly have done (we'll see if he actually accepts). When did he move to Brooklyn?