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Entries associated with the tag "Thrill Jockey Records":April 16th - 4:18 p.m.
Thursday evening visual artist Rose Lazar and her husband, artist and musician Robert A.A. Lowe (Lichens, Singer), present a one-night show of work from their recent book-and-music project Gyromancy, the third in Thrill Jockey's series book/CD combos. The event runs from 6 to 9 PM at the Hejfina Boutique. The book is a four-by-six-inch paperback limited to 1,000 copies, and it includes a three-inch CD of music by Lowe called "Psygning Off." The 15-minute piece is the perfect accompaniment to the couple's simple ink drawings, which run the gamut from abstract geometrical doodles to mushrooms and raindrops, among other things, all rendered with an appealing mix of the whimsical and the psychedelic. Lowe and Lazar each get half of the book, and some of Lazar's images include bits of text, reflecting her work making letterpress greeting cards under the name the Great Lakes Goods. The music, made with a synthesizer, has a similarly childlike simplicity and playfulness--with swirls of cascading music-box tones that evoke a horrible magic show and flanged-out long tones that sound like meteors hurtling through space, it's like a fantastical redux of early Tangerine Dream. Today's playlist: Volapük, Where Is Tamashii? (Orkhêstra) November 29th - 12:52 p.m.
Today Thrill Jockey Records announced the specific lineups for each of the two nights of its upcoming 15th anniversary celebration at the Logan Square Auditorium; sadly, both Angela Desveaux and Freakwater have dropped off the bill. A limited number of single-night tickets are now being hawked for 25 bucks. I also have it on good authority that Tortoise is one of the surprise guests, although I don’t know which night they’ll be playing--life’s full of gambles.
June 7th - 4:06 p.m.
On Friday the Chicago City Arts Gallery opens a new group exhibition called “The Music Show.” I’m only familiar with two of the artists: local photographer Lauren Deutsch, also executive director of the Jazz Institute of Chicago, who's long been chronicling jazz performances in the city, snapping some of the most beautiful shots of musicians I’ve ever seen. And trumpeter Bill Dixon, one of the most original individuals jazz has ever produced, who's also an accomplished visual artist. Also in the show are Ann Ponce, James Conley, and Beatriz Ledesma. There’s an opening reception on Friday from 4:30-8:30 and pianist Fred Simon will give a solo performance at 7 PM. But the real highlight of the exhibit might arrive when the show closes on July 11. Dixon will give his first ever performance in the city, joined by reedist Ken Vandermark, bassist Josh Abrams, and percussionist Michael Zerang. Ticket information hasn’t been announced yet, but this will be a special event. Even better, Dixon has also been confirmed for this year’s Chicago Jazz Festival, where he’ll perform with Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra.
August 28th - 7:10 p.m.
Last week Thrill Jockey released A Lazarus Taxon, a three-CD box set by Tortoise that collects a big chunk of remixes (both by and of the band), various Japan-only bonus tracks, compilation tracks, and rare singles. There’s also a DVD of music videos, an appearance on Chic-A-Go-Go, and some fascinating live footage, including performances at the Deutsches Jazz Festival in 1999 with the Chicago Underground Trio and Fred Anderson. The third disc of the set reissues the long-out-of print 1994 remix album, Rhythms, Resolutions, and Clusters, appended with a previously unissued remix by Mike Watt that was lost in the mail when it came time to release the original record.
Bands that have been around as long as Tortoise, especially local ones, can be easy to take for granted. And when their early accomplishments are absorbed by other musicians, with time they might not seem as interesting or important. But Tortoise's reputation as humorless or pretentious has never been deserved--any group that tries to be progressive gets called that. It's true that a few of the remixes, as well as a fair number of the bonus tracks, are dispensable (can’t that be said of most bonus tracks?), but one of the things I like about some of these singles and compilation tracks is how the band reworked specific songs into new tunes. “Why We Fight,” a 1995 single on Soul Static Sound, borrowed material from the Duophonic 12-inch “Cliff Dweller Society,” while “Source of Uncertainty,” a track from the Mo Wax compilation Headz 2, was a different mix of “Why We Fight.” Rhythms, Resolutions, and Clusters was pretty radical for its time: a rock band, albeit a stylistically expansive one that didn’t “rock” in a conventional manner, releasing an entire remix album of material from its eponymous debut. While dance music producers had been remixing music for decades, usually to enhance its club- or radio-friendliness, Tortoise were one of the first rock bands to embrace the remix as compositional terrain. Bang the Head Slowly: Uncomfortable, Unemotional, Isolating Metal at a Snail’s Pace, Monica Kendrick’s review of an Earth show last year at the Empty Bottle, will be included in the forthcoming Da Capo Best Music Writing 2006. It's also available in the Reader's paid archives. The Like Young, the local husband-and-wife pop-rock duo of drummer Amanda and singer-guitarist Joe Ziemba, has just announced that its upcoming tour will be its last. According to a post on their website by Joe, “We're no longer interested in being a part of an industry which, with a few exceptions, is often cold, cynical and senseless. The financial, mental, and physical strains are constant. The resulting victories are few.” What turns out to be the band’s final album, Last Secrets, was released by Polyvinyl Records in May. Their final Chicago gig, on Friday, September 1, at the Hideout, kicks off the tour, which ends in Houston on September 16. |
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