This Television Program Has Been On The Air For A Very Long Time.

Well, the day is upon us.

The Art of Vinyl

Photo by Ofer Springer via synthgear.com
http://www.phys.huji.ac.il/~springer/DigitalNeedle/

The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University has an upcoming exhibit about the art of the vinyl record. The exhibit will showcase 41 artists using vinyl as both subject and medium.

What's that? You live in Chicago? So maybe you can't go see the exhibit, but you can check out the exhibit's online companion, the B-Side, featuring links, photos, and videos, including the always captivating "How Vinyl Records Are Made" as well as images (like the one above) of the surface of a record magnified x 1,000. Enjoy.

The Coolest Thing at Oshkosh

The coolest of many, many cool things we saw was this lunatic doing helicopter aerobatics, including full rolls, loops, and upside down maneuvers.

Don't try this at home, folks. Really.

No Modern Home Is Complete Without...

A framed Samhain "Season of the Dead" tour poster.

Seen directly as you walk in my front door.

Naysayers beware: even my wife said it was cool. And it IS. So there.

Under a P-51 Wing at Oshkosh

Waiting for the airshow to start and watching the planes take off at the world's busiest airport.

The Handsome Family on BBC

For the next couple days, you can hear the Handsome Family's interview with Marc Riley on BBC6 Music!



They stopped by the visit Marc on their town around the UK. The link will expire soon, so make sure to listen HERE now!

Darth Vader Calls Applecare Re: iPhone 4 Issues

Thanks to my favorite Mac blog, cultofmac.com, for the original post.

This Is Happening on vinyl!

Ok, kids. It actually HAS happened now. LCD Soundsystem's This is Happening is coming out on vinyl this Tuesday. This is the first time that Mr. Murphy's third (and probably final) album has been released on wax in the states. So come get 'em. We know you've been waiting.

Supplies!!!

saki is proud to announce that we will now be carrying a wide array of supplies for musicians, including guitar strings, drum sticks, cords, picks, and a lot more!!! no more trips to guitar center -- just come to saki!!!

HA!

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This weekend is going to rule.

Saturday: Mark Kozelek @ Old Town School of Folk

Sunday: Zelienople (4pm) & Michael Vallera (5pm) @ saki

Somebody's Excited About Tron

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed

Basketball jerseys, dudes, & Pitchfork Festival 2010. Fashion. Statement.

http://thefastertimes.com/tv/2010/07/20/nba-jerseys-of-pitchfork/

Dear Minnesotans: Did you know about You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Ministries? They hate the gays!:

Seriously. It's 2010. C'mon humanity, stop letting us down. If god was going to do anything, don't you think he/she/it would've done it by now? Seriously. Sunday school is for kids. As in children. With diapers.

http://minnesotaindependent.com/58393/gop-linked-punk-rock-ministry-says-executing-gays-is-moral

You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit ministry that brings its hard rock gospel into public schools, has been deepening its long-running ties to the Republican Party of Minnesota. Long a cause célèbre for Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has twice lent her name to the group’s fundraising efforts, You Can Run (YCR) had a booth at the GOP convention in April, and the group’s frontman, Bradlee Dean, reports that gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer recently accepted an invitation to visit with him at Dean’s home. But recent controversial statements by Dean — that Muslim countries calling for the execution of gays and lesbians are “more moral than even the American Christians” — have drawn the ire of some both within and outside the party.

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America,” Dean said on YCR’s May 15 radio show on AM 1280 the Patriot. “This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.

In Tall Buildings In-Store 7/24!

Our Pitchfork Table!

Well, it's Thrill Jockey and Hometapes really, but those are our backs right under the Thrill Jockey sign...

More to come.

Lilly's Transcendent RBI

In the Tribune, Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly discusses his first RBI of the season while batting 0 for 26 .000.

Lilly called it an "out-of-body" experience.

I don't know why I swung at the first pitches I swung at, and then I don't know why I laid off the ones I did," he said. "Fortunately it worked out."

Our "Best in Show" Morning

We spent the morning with Dr. Kelly Ballantyne



at Furnetic, a part of UI's College of Veterinary Medicine.* **


Our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Caine, has thunderphobia that we have seen drastically worsen over the last three stormy months. All of the illegal-in-name-only city fireworks haven't helped, and his phobia has generalized to other areas of his life. This has made his and our life together a lot less joyous. We were interviewed for 45 minutes by the two veterinarians and a tech...

Biking to Pitchfork?

The Chicago Reader has a
Biker Village at P4K this year. Visit it for free, safe bike parking aaaaand free chain lube - awwwww, yeeeeeeeah. Then stop over to the Chirp Record Fair and check out our table! See you there!

Royal Headache

Royal Headache are an Australian garage band which could warrant comparisons to Eddy Current Suppression Ring... if they sounded anything alike besides Australian accents. They sound more like an Aussie King Khan & BBQ Show.

Either way, this recording showcases the band's amazing raw energy and incredible hooks despite the fact that it's, um, a shitty bootleg.



Check it out here.



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Giant Spanish Bugs Invade Millennium Park!

In a U.S. premiere, the spectacular Catalan street theater company, Sarruga, transforms the Chase Promenade into a fantasy world, bringing their giant ants, spiders and praying mantises to interact with the public in a larger-than-life show full of light, music and movement. In Insects, Spain's Sarruga turns these normally minuscule animals into giants, 

inverting roles and making humans ten times smaller than the insects.

Friday, July 16 at 9:00pm

Saturday, July 17 at 10:00pm

Sunday, July 18 at 3:00pm


Millennium Park

Chase Promenade Central


Millennium Park

Millennium Park has been doing a great job this summer, presenting free music and other events for every taste. The Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays have been a personal favorite, catching the likes of Caribou and Budos Band this past Monday, The Books, The Thermals, Great Lake Swimmers, Disappears, and an overly-packed She & Him. A few events to look forward to coming up include:

•  Monday, 19. July- 12pm- High Places (Edible Audible Picnic Series) 
•  Monday, 19. July- 6:30pm- Kid Sister w/ Kononos No 1 (Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays) 
•  Wednesday, 21. July- 8:15pm- BBC Planet Earth- Re-edited with a live orchestra, scored and conducted by 5-time Academy Award Winner George Fenton 
•  Sunday, 25. July- 12pm- Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

iOS4 Sludge

This post has been percolating for a while, and I finally got motivated to flesh it out after posting a comment over at my favorite mac blog, Cult of Mac.

I am lucky enough to have an iPhone 4, antenna faults and all. The screen beautiful. The processor zippy. The folders much needed. The camera fast and flash a welcome addition. Being an Apple fanboy, before I landed this delightful, if clunky, piece of machinery, I had loaded iOS4 onto my iPhone 3GS. Aside from the folders shrinking my eleven pages of apps down to three, I quickly found out that this was a huge mistake.

saki spotted in wild

Sometimes helper, but always helpful, NinaB sent along this photo of an increasingly less rare saki sighting out among the general public, this one courtesy of a lady friend who won it in one of our opening week raffles.

Stream: Best Coast

The Guardian Music Blog is streaming the new Best Coast album, Crazy For You, in it's entirety. Take advantage and listen to this one as soon as possible. You'll want to get in as many listens as possible before summer ends!

Now In Stock!

We just received a big ol' shipment of hip-hop, mostly on vinyl! Here's a quick rundown:


Freeway & Jake One - Stimulus Package

Jedi Mind Tricks - History of Violence

Talib Kweli & Madlib - Liberation

Dilated Peoples - Spit It Clearly

9th Wonder & Buckshot - Chemistry

9th Wonder & Buckshot - Formula

Skyzoo - Salvation

Ghostface Killah - Baby 12"

Perceptionists - Black Dialogue

Elzhi - Preface

Mr. Dibbs - The 30th Song

Black Milk - Tronic

Peanut Butter Wolf - My Vinyl Weighs A Ton

Oh No - Dr. No's Oxperiment

Oh No - Exodus into Unheard Rhythms

J Dilla - Donuts

Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Vol. 2

Jaylib - Champion Sound


...and that's not even everything. Come in and check em' out!

World Cup Update - the carnival is over

The final weekend of the biggest single sport tournament was both hot and cold. The 3rd/4th place game between defeated semi-finalists Germany and Uruguay was one of the best matches of the competition, with flowing attacking football from 2 teams with nothing to lose and playing for pride. The Germans ran out 3-2 winners thanks in part to Golden boot winner Thomas Muller. The Final was meant to be a match of true footballing prowess, but the Spanish and Dutch contrived to serve up a match of "anti-football", as it was hailed by Dutch legend Johann Cruyff, with niggly fouls aplenty, making it tough for the referee to keep control. No goals in regular time lead to a tense extra 30 minutes, including the sending off of Dutch defender Johnny Heitenga, with Spain's "white ghost", Andres Iniesta, putting his name into the history books with a fine strike 5 minutes from time, lifting Spain to their first ever World Cup triumph. In truth, Spain were a lot of people's pick before the tournament, and their stylish play, and consummate defending left no-one doubting they thoroughly deserved their championship. Here's to Brazil in 2014!

...

Five Fiery Dragons

When once there was a home for Creeps, who crept lightly from behind, that was a time when all things were not good. The Creeps jumped and assaulted and made lies from the tops to the bottoms of things. That was also the time when small people listened to the Creeps; the Smalls were afraid and needed to hear something that made them think different. The Creeps obliged, as they often do, and used tricks and manipulations to get their way.

"Come here, your father would want it this way." "Give it to me, you don't really want it anymore anyway."

Some of the Smalls broke away and crushed the others. Those that were crushed would never be the same.

Later, the Crushers came back, but did not feel bad. The Crushed were ground finely by this.

Later still, the Crushers said "Sorry," but it was too late. The Crushed were already dust in the wind; scattered and left with no identity.

But now, grain by grain, the Crushed are searching for themselves. As they find each piece, they see new things that they didn't know were there before. "Perhaps we did our part in our own crushing. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned," they think.

Of course, when sweeping up the scattered grains, it is difficult to scoop the grain alone and dirts from the road are brought along, too. Sometimes the dirt is a piece of nature saying "Hello," and sometimes it is the Dirts from trash and unnatural things; things which take a man to the wrong counters and show him the wrong merchandise which he is just fragile enough to think he needs. There are mistakes and there is sifting and some days the answers become clearer and other days they slap a man in the face as he ignores them.

In the end, the Crushers and the Crushed will rejoin. The days will be bright. The Creeps will have no home in this world.

All is well that ends well and everything eventually ends. Which means that if things are not well, the "not wellness" will eventually end; thus, everything will turn out well in the end because the end of "not well" brings "well," even if it takes some time and the outcome is not what was expected.

Anyone tired of the "me" factor?

Not often I'll post 2 things in a week, let alone one day, but the whole Lebron-apolooza has left me feeling that there's a new breed of folks out there. People these days aren't about getting the job done anonymously as part of a collective group or wanting to be a team player. It's all about how much "me" you can get in the spotlight. Mr. James REALLY thinks that his hour-long "special" last night was a worthwhile, charitable exercise (all ad money went to the Boys & Girls Clubs) and showed him in a humble light. Are you sure? Was it any of your millions being given to charity? How much of your new "I'm going there to win a championship" money is going that charity route too...? Lebron is the perfect example of "look at me, look what I think, look at my opinion on matters", and his little show just ended up showing the hypocrisy of his decision. He could, of course, have made this announcement days ago though his agent with no bells and whistles. But then no-one would get to tune in for his thoughts on the matter. And with a resounding "fuck you" to him, and those like him, I say this - no-one cares what you THINK just what you do. And what you did was shaft millions of people in Cleveland who have bought into the Lebron brand, and give a lame reason for making your decision, one which every expert I've heard/read on the matter in the past week or so thinks is wrong (they have all said Chicago was his best chance to win). So we're left with a fairly typical person of our times - one who was all about them and not much else....of course, that's MY opinion, another one no-one cares about, nor should...

World Cup Update - time for a new champion

A thrilling pair of semi-finals this week folks! Holland showed that an organized team can break down any solid defending eventually with their steadfast dismantling of Uruguay. Highlight of the game has to be the opening goal by the Dutch skipper, Giovanni van Bronckhurst, who rifled one of the finest WC goals ever! Despite a good fight, the Uruguayans couldn't grapple back into the game and lost 3-2. The Dutch now go on to a 3rd final and face 1st time finalists, and a lot of people's pre-tournament faves, Spain, who did just enough to beat a talented young German team 1-0 behind a great headed goal by Barcalona's Carles Puyol. Should be a great final on Sunday, and we are guaranteed a first time winner, so PLENTY of added extra incentive....GO HOLLAND!

"Yeah thats not what I was looking for at all."

Brilliant. Read the whole thing - here.

Left Field

This is What English Sounds like to Italian Ears

Prisencolinensinainciusol. I showed this video to my comrades in the CTD warehouse about a year back and, it's much more than a mouthful of a song title. Italian hybrid of Elvis and Gainsbourg, Adriano Celentano, penned the gibberish proto-rap lyrics to sound like English diction. The song dates back to '72, and man, is it a gem.

Why Proofreaders & Editors Are Important

www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6622I420100703

Time Again for Caitlin's Tiger Beat Moment of the Week!

OMG! I was pleased to hear that kranky records was going to release another record by Michigan by way of Portland Benoit Pioulard. When I heard 2008's "Temper" I immediately melted into a deep pool of blue-eyed gooey-ness. I have a major musical crush on this guy. His next record, "Landed" has already been dubbed his best record as of yet by the folks here in the CTD office. And while his name isn't actually Benoit, but Thomas.. his moniker conjures up my dreams of a brooding existential frenchman.. and that's just as good, right?

Here he is contemplating in a field some where:Actually he looks a little lost...ah well. "Landed" will be out on kranky on October 12th.

Spotlight on: Calgary, AB Canada

So the spotlight's on the music in Calgary, AB Canada for me right now. One of my specialties: meeting random people. The past few months, an uncanny number of them seem to be from Calgary, and I can't get enough of the music they're sharing. Some bands to look into (click band names for their myspaces!):



Azeda Booth- Dreamy ethereal vocals over catchy kit beats equal music perfect for just about any mood. After pestering one of the members over and over again where I could buy their music, he just kept saying "download it. download it. download it." So here's where you download it. Also, check out this lovely video for their song "Kensington"



Hunter-Gatherer- Was described to me before seeing them live as feeling like you're falling into the fields of a prairie. lo-fi rock recordings, and some talented musicians.



Gobble Gobble- So I don't think they're technically from calgary...But they are Canadian (Edmonton? Vancouver?), and if you want an incredibly high-energy man man-esque live show (complete with costumes and amazing props), PLEASE catch this band on their self-described "mobile rave infini-tour 2010" (for all the dates: http://blogs.myspace.com/leatherjowels) They hit chicago on halloween! this band will be guaranteed to have the costumes of the year.



Other Calgary bands to check out:

• Friendo- Drummer of aforementioned Azeda Booth as well as the biggest band out of Calgary at the moment (I'd say), Women. Their press release describes their sound as “’90’s experimental rock, ’70’s punk and ’60’s pop.” Sweet.


• Fist City- kickass twin sisters + their band.


• Bikeland- If you want a louder, more garage rock type feel, Bikeland is where you wanna listen.


• Silver Dapple- actually from montreal. really into these two songs. unfortunately there's still only two songs.

World Cup Update - 4 games left!

As expected, the level of intensity was cranked up a notch for the quarter final stages. Tournament favorites, Brazil, showed that you need to be able to defend against good teams...by not marking the shortest man on the field at a set play and letting him score with his head and suffering an unexpected lost to a talented Holland side! Congratulations to the Dutch for a great performance. Same goes to the Germans, who annihilated the Argentinian defence, and ran out easy 4-0 winners. It was like watching a hot knife ease through butter! We also need to thank the Argies for making England's performance in the previous round look a LOT better, and for not starting a punch-up at the end of the game! The 2 other ties provided the most edge of the seat action, with Spain and Paraguay trading saved penalties before Spain wrapped up a semi-final place with a goal that hit the post 3 TIMES on the way to the net! The most amazing game had to be the Uruguay-Ghana match, with all of Africa pinning it's hopes on a talented Ghanaian side. Tied at the end of regulation 1-1, the extra time built to a frantic crescendo, with Uruguay's star forward acting as goalkeeper in the dying seconds to deny Ghana a goal. With the last kick of the game to be a penalty, the Ghana striker missed, hitting the bar! The ensuing penalty shootout saw the striker redeem himself, only to see 2 countrymen miss and his team go out on penalty kicks, capped by one of the coolest penalty kicks you will ever see under pressure. Possibly one of the cruelest twists in a teams fortunes I have seen. At least the Ghanaian team arrived home to a heroes welcome despite their loss. After the so-called South American dominance, it is the European teams that have shown the better lasting power, leaving Uruguay to fly the Latin flag. The sensible money now has to be on the young German team, although both Spain and Holland will have something to say about that. If you want to root for someone, root for the Dutch...great team to watch and they are LONG overdue a World Cup trophy.....

Happy 4th!

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Documerica

via



"Between 1971 and 1977, the Environmental Protection Agency payed freelance photographers $150 dollars a day to document, in a very broad sense, the environment. Now, after almost forty years, thousands of the photographs are available here, with many more of the nearly 17,000 available through the National Archives’ Archival Research Catalog (warning: the ARC can be cumbersome.)"



Don't you think the government should give photographers money more often? I do.

Bitter Tears at saki June 26, 2010

Yes, I will need extra years of therapy to get over this last song of theirs.

Apologies for the back of my head at the beginning, but Alan was hidden behind a speaker.

Space Fears

People go in and out, or over and under, or over or under. They are walking in space where things go on infinitely into the future. When the future scares them, they go into shock of the world; they are shocked by the world. They get sad and wish they didn't have to suffer so much. Then they wonder why they are suffering. "Before, I was not this way, but now I am consumed by it." This is what makes them fear the simple days and moments. Then they develop what may be called a fear of consciousness.

Fortunately, though, life does not need to be this way. A man can look inside his mind, between the folds and snapping electricity, to where his ideas of the world are. There he will find the secrets to his misery; the ones that say "You are miserable. Sorry," but which are not telling the truth. This man can look past the lies and into the eyeballs of truth, which are always blinking and breaking their gaze. But they have nice things to say when you can catch them. "Don't worry. You are doing this and you can stop. Just learn a little more."

There can be a complacency in not knowing yourself or the world, but once you learn who you are and what is happening around you, the only freedom from pain is to know more. Perhaps then you can get to a point where things are good again, and you can remain there. But when it starts to become familiar and new things creep into your mind and new events twist your beliefs, you will have to move on again. A knowing man is a drifter, traveling from one safe place in the mind to the next. But that might be too silly of a metaphor to use.

Hey, Hey, They're The Gories

Last year I drove approximately 1,500 miles to see The Gories reunite (their first show since disbanding in 1993). They were paired with their one-time Crypt labelmates The Oblivians at Detroit's Majestic Theater. It was well worth 15+ hours in the car. Seriously.

Turns out this year I won't have to travel quite as far:

Friday, October 22nd

The Gories

w/ White Mystery

The Empty Bottle

Tickets

Considering how popular the style these guys (basically) pioneered has become in recent years, I would expect this show to sell out. So, get tickets and get excited... THEY'RE THE FREAKIN' GORIES!

COTW: Le Révélateur "Motion Flares"

The love affair with analog synthesizers continues as Root Strata dishes out some cosmic threads of magnetic tape courtesy of Montreal's Roger Tellier-Craig. In general I have to admit I'm not completely sold on this recent outpouring of noodle-y synth babble, but Le Rév really got his hooks into me with a whimsical approach to a genre that can sometimes be more monotonous than meditative. Or maybe hanging out with Joel for 2+ years has turned me into a softie. Either way, I appreciate an artist who uses his skill and wit to craft a recording of joyful curiosity. Like going surfing, seeing the waves are blown-out, and then realizing you've got acres of grass to work with and a kite in the trunk. Catch him live in San Francisco this summer at On Land 2010 (he's playing September 4 with The Alps, Zelienople, Xela, and more). Limited to 200 dubbed cassettes with good-lookin' offset printed covers. Root Strata mailorder only (via our friends at Thrill Jockey).