taste of chicago: music lineup announced!

hundreds of thousands of hungry people are sure to flock to downtown chicago for the 30th annual taste of chicago. the free street festival starts on friday june 25 and culminates in an independence day celebration on july 4th.

the event is known primarily as a (usually costly) showcase for local restaurants, but it also brings in a variety of music to play in grant park. check out the lineup for the petrillo music shell, which is sure to be filled to the brim with people...

friday 6.25 - rob base, slick rick, doug e. fresh; salt-n-pepa, bell biv devoe
saturday 6.26 - gavin rossdale, opening act TBA
sunday 6.27 - emily osment, allstar weekend
monday 6.28 - broadway in chicago
tuesday 6.29 - los lobos, los lonely boys
wednesday 6.30 - mat kearney, brett dennen
thursday 7.1 - trey songz, teairra mari
friday 7.2 - rob thomas
saturday 7.3 - steve miller band
sunday 7.4 - passion pit, robert randolph and the family band, carney

check out more information about the festival here. being a classic rock head, i'm really looking forward to the steve miller band performing on july 3.

expect plenty of updates here as more information for chicago's huge supply of summer street festivals is announced...

stream nax_acid's anatomy 01 mix!

i've activated a fairtilizer account to store mixes. if you haven't listened yet, you can stream and download nax_acid's initial contribution to smilecoldanatomy's fledgling mix series here:

you can get all the info and tracklist at the original blog post here.

i'll hopefully be able to present anatomy 02 soon. be patient...

foods for thoughts

here's a few interesting articles on music for your saturday pleasure:

playing favourites: ben klock
resident advisor chats up ben klock, one of the resident dj's at berlin's infamous berghain club, about some of his favorite records. included are oldies like maurizio and green velvet, as well as newer stuff by dvs1 and a track from marcel dettmann's upcoming album.

monolake in full
check out this lengthy and very informative interview with robert henke (monolake). points of discussion include, but are not limited to: ableton live (the music software program whose development henke played a crucial role in), henke's moving away from a 4/4 techno aesthetic and appreciation of the recent dubstep explosion, and the influence of torsten profrock (t++) on the monolake project.

180 grams
a short but interesting blog article about the importance of vinyl record weight, and thus thickness.

okay, that's all for now. will hopefully have some more reviews soon as well as another contribution or two to the infantile anatomy mix series...

techno power!

here's 3 sets and 8 hours worth of for your sunday evening...

sandwell district - live @ planet rose, nijmegen - 14-02-2009
four hours of sandwell district in action. i'm not sure who is playing in this, although i'd guess that function and/or regis, the founders of the sandwell imprint, may have been involved. i think these guys do live+dj sets, which would make sense: we've got what sounds like standard dj mixing blended with those immediately-familiar, bleeping, polyrhythmic loops the label is known for. deep, aggressive, intense... very nice. and if you don't know already, edm archivist extraordinaire r_co is responsible for this download link. go check out his soundcloud for plenty of other great sets.

speedy j live @ some old nazi bunker in norway 01
another set from last year; i believe speedy j uses a 'digital dj' setup, with 2 computers and 2 midi controllers in place of turntables (sorta like richie hawtin), and here the question of supposed 'authenticity' with such a setup does not apply, because this is some serious shit. lots of loops strung together into three hours of faceless, super-rhythmic, driving techno (although it seems like the download only yields a 2+ hour recording). that bunker must have been dripping from this set...

RA201: 19.454.18.5.25.5.18
anonymous dj/producer(s?) for the win! grab this while it's hot, because resident advisor likes to 'archive' podcasts within a few weeks of their release. this is 'only' 70 minutes long, but i love the concept: ambient beginning with a discussion about the future, techno with the occasional dubby breather, and then an excellent peverelist track followed by a spacey outro to end it. i don't know much about this numbered figure besides the fact that he's associated with the horizontal ground label... check out the RA interview and the forum discussion for an almost-complete tracklist.

what's going on this week?

some interesting upcoming events as chicago continues to get teased by warm weather...

wednesday - aeroplane & orchard lounge @ smartbar
belgian disco/house duo aeroplane make their first chicago appearance at smartbar later tonight. supporting acts include local dj darlings orchard lounge, and kid color.

thursday - orchard lounge @ adler planetarium: 'adler after dark' series
here's something neat: after their supporting slot at smartbar the night before, orchard lounge will provide a 'space disco' soundtrack for the monthly 'adler after dark' program at the planetarium. the 21+ festivities run from 6 to 10pm, with complete access to the planetarium as well as a cash bar and full cafe. check out the adler's website for more information about this event.

friday - matthew dear & gui boratto @ spybar
an interesting double-headliner bill at spybar this friday. smilecoldanatomy favorite matthew dear will be playing a dj set, while kompakt heavy-hitter gui boratto will bring his intense and emotional live set. ladies get free cover all night, and guys get free cover before midnight (and reduced after), by saying the password 'pure' at the door.

saturday - phil stone and john johr @ lokal
wicker park's lokal has turned into another cozy home for dance music in chicago, particularly with the 'lokal yokals' regular event. this month sees phil stone supporting detroit dj john johr. no cover and drink specials all night.

temperatures in chicago are supposed to flirt with 80 degrees for a few days this week - enjoy it while you can!