Wesley Willows

Wesley Willows, a set on Flickr.

Some photos I took on a walk in Rockford over Christmas

Hideout's Fifth Annual Christmas Panto

We attended our third Hideout Christmas Panto. As always it stealthily avoids my ability to adequately describe what we saw. The AV Club posted a good interview with Sally Timms about the Brit panto tradition and the liberties taken by The Hideout crew.

I may never fully recover from what I saw that night. I took pictures.

Cleopatra (Jon Langford) and Eunuch (Amy Lombardi)

Yoga Girl

Whole Foods Parking Lot

Mike McGonigal, YETI, and the Lord's songs

Aquarium Drunkard talks to YETI publisher Mike McGonigal about his magazine, his work with Mississippi and Tompkins Square records, his love for African-American Gospel, and the future.

"Earlier this month we caught up with YETI publisher Mike McGonigal, the man behind one of our favorite compilations of the year — the Tompkins Square release This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel on 45RPM, 1957-1982. A continuation of sorts to McGonigal’s initial collaboration with the label, 2009′s Fire In My Bones, the collection is a three-disc aural journey into the various corners of African-American gospel. Among other things, the below touches on YETI‘s beginnings, record hunting, tracking down source material and future reissue plans.

Aquarium Drunkard: How long have you been doing YETI now?

I started YETI around 2000. Now we do two issues a year plus publishing original books by the likes of Luc Sante and Erik Davis. I’d done a ‘zine called Chemical Imbalance from 1984-1993; I started that when I was sixteen years old with money I made mowing lawns in the neighborhood. Within a few years it was getting an international distribution and each issue had a hard vinyl 7” record with unreleased music from the likes of Sonic Youth, Opal, Faust and the Mekons.

AD: How did the project initially get started.

Mike McGonigal: I started to work on YETI in 1999, a year after moving to Seattle to work as a music editor for Amazon. A co-worker helped fund it initially. I spent much of the 1990s as a low-level hack writer, scribbling wherever I could for ten cents a word and also supporting myself as a bookstore clerk, museum guard, bicycle burrito delivery boy and a grant writer for a non-profit arts organization. When I found myself at a “real” job, even though I was often working ten to eleven hours a day at the job, I found I still wanted to do my own fanzine. I really missed that curatorial thing, the satisfaction I got from putting together an entire issue of a magazine myself—just stuff that my friends and I were interested in, no other considerations aside from that.

YETI hasn’t exactly taken off but there’s steady interest, I guess you could say? Initially there were CDs in each issue. With the new YETI, #12, out next week, actually, we’ve returned to that format – each issue will now bt 8” by 8” and have a 7” single with each one (though I might do a full color issue with a DVD inside it as well). This 7” has the last unreleased Fred McDowell tracks from the initial recording session he had with Alan Lomax, and Grouper covering Dead Moon, and a killer cover of a Duane Eddy song done on a boom box in the early ‘90s by Tiki Men. It’s a perfect little record I feel so honored to be able to release it!" 

Read it all

saki Closed Tomorrow (12/29)

saki will be closed tomorrow (Thursday, December 29th) for our yearly inventory. We will re-open on Friday. Thanks!!!

Photo by Liz Clayton 2011

Coverage of Yo La Tengo's annual slew of Hannukah shows. Entry on Night 5 12/14 written by Antietam's Tim Harris. Tara Key (Antietam) joined Yo La Tengo on Night 5 & 6 this year! Some awesome pictures by our friend Liz Clayton as well.

saki Holiday Hours /Spend It At saki

In case you were wondering, we are open today for a few more hours (until 4pm) for all your last-minute shopping needs!!! We will, however, be closed tomorrow (Christmas Day) as well as Monday, December 26th. Also, remember we honor all gift cards as part of our 'Spend It At saki' program, if you're looking to swap your card to get store credit here at the shop!

The Handsome Family- Stupid Bells

The Handsome Family put up their holiday track Stupid Bells to download for free on their Facebook Band Profile! If you've already had a little much of the upcoming weekend, this is probably something refreshing to hear. Thanks for spreading the holiday "cheer" Handsome Family!

For those without Facebook, take a listen just below!

Handsome Family- Stupid Bells by carrottoprecords

New Podcast Episode!

The latest Today and Other Days podcast is up and ready for listening.

This month, we take a break from the usual format with a more traditional Holiday Special episode.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays

Epitonic saki Session w/ Murder By Death on New Year's Eve!

Well, our New Year's plans just changed a little... instead of closing at 4pm (like we just announced yesterday) we'll actually be staying open a little later. No, this isn't a lame attempt to eek a few more bucks out of payroll... we've got an in-store with MURDER BY DEATH!

Yup! Bloomington, Indiana's, Murder By Death will be playing an Epitonic saki Session for us at 4pm on December, 31st! If you're not familiar, MBD has been pretty much shattering the lines between country, folk, rock & punk for the past 10 years and they are without a doubt one of the best live bands currently out there!

This is the best early New Year's Eve party you're likely to hear about, so don't miss it!

December 31st - 4pm - FREE - BYOB!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Murder By Death songs:

"Brother"

New Releases @ saki 12/20/11!

Just this one...

Year One: The Festival 3LP comp. & book featuring bands from the inaugural (& Whistler Records curated) Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival in '09. It's a mammoth collection of songs, interviews & photos of Chicago's top indie acts such as WHITE MYSTERY, THE SCOTLAND YARD GOSPEL CHOIR, JIM BECKER (CALIFONE), MAZES & IN TALL BUILDINGS. Ltd to 500!

...but don't forget that we have a small section of Christmas music still available as well as a sale on Rock Candy By Helen pendants! We also gave some good gift giving suggestions on AV Club Chicago's new Listomania feature!

saki Christmas Mansion WrapUp

Wow. I think everyone here agrees that Saturday night's saki After Hours was our most ambitious and successful event yet. We had a great turnout. Great food. Great music. So...much...fun! We assume those of you who attended will agree, especially the folks who didn't want to leave.

We first need to alphabetically thank:
Ami Saraiya & The Outcome
A.V. Club
Blue Ribbon Glee Club
Cellar Rat Wine
Epitonic
Goose Island Brewing
Grape Juice Records
I Am Logan Square
Matt, our Freak Out Room specialist & formerly secret weapon
Provenance Food and Wine

and all of you who brought cookies, brownies, ugly sweaters, and more Christmas cheer and enthusiasm that any small Logan Square gathering space should be allowed to have in one night.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. More after the jump.

Cinchel Accompanies the Sun at saki

Friday night, glitch drone artist Cinchel @cinchel finished our evening of music of the spheres with a 20 minute set accompanying video of the Sun from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory. It was rad.

Here's a 4 min video clip shot on my SLR. A bit shaky, but you get the idea I hope.

I also shot a few low light pictures.


The whole set of my photos is available here.

Cinchel posted the video he used plus his live recording of accompaniment. Dig it.
Sun/Requiem from cinchel on Vimeo.

saki After Hours: A Christmas Mansion with Ami Saraiya & the Outcome and Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man

saki is proud to announce the latest in its After Hours series: A Christmas Mansion Holiday Party. The time when all is bright, merry, and joyous, when movies and television remind us of the true meaning of the season. And we all warm a little in our hearts even as the biting freeze of a winter's day relentlessly attacks us like falling icicles from a shaken tree. On Saturday, December 17th, you can add one more bringer-of-good-tidings to that list of nostalgia driven entertainment when you come to enjoy saki's Christmas Mansion Party with performances by Ami Saraiya & the Outcome and Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man. If ever you wished that life could be more like it is in the movies, let us be your Christmas Genie. Below is a list of exactly what you won't want to miss.

The Party:
- sweater contest
- egg nog, snacks, other tastes of the season
- cookie exchange (bring your own cookies and share with others)
- Christmas Freak Out Room (you'll have to come here and find out)
- sing alongs
- games and other small forms of entertainment

The Performances:
Ami Saraiya and the Outcome will be performing for the release of a brand new record on that day, just in time for Christmas!


Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man will, of course, make their customary After Hours appearance. However, they are currently holed up in the DC/DI Department of Records and Record Keeping working on their own recordings and will be beaming in via "in person" with a Special Christmas Message.


Blue Ribbon Glee Club will be providing a capella versions of both punk rock tunes & holiday charmers to keep you singing along and moshing (don't knock over our fancy mansion-things).


Okay, just one more bit of exciting news: Epitonic will be recording all three performances! We love them!
Be sure to RSVP on facebook!

Solar Fox accompanies the Universe at saki

Last night, Solar Fox opened our most cosmic in-store so far. Here's a video taste shot on my SLR. Apologies for the darkness, but it was...dark in there for obvious reasons.

Here's one of the still photos.
Check out the rest of the photo set here.

Camera captures photons moving through space

Speechless....Camera captures light particles moving through space at a trillion frames per second.

We have built an imaging solution that allows us to visualize propagation of light. The effective exposure time of each frame is two trillionths of a second and the resultant visualization depicts the movement of light at roughly half a trillion frames per second. Direct recording of reflected or scattered light at such a frame rate with sufficient brightness is nearly impossible. We use an indirect 'stroboscopic' method that records millions of repeated measurements by careful scanning in time and viewpoints. Then we rearrange the data to create a 'movie' of a nanosecond long event.

More info available on the MIT Media Lab page.  

The Sun by @cinchel

sun from cinchel on Vimeo.

See cincel perform live accompaniment to Solar Dynamic Observatory video tonight at saki 6pm! Free!

We also get a like-minded performance by Steve Krakow's (Plastic Crime Wave) alter ego, Solar Fox!

Weegee Squirrel IPA

Weegee's Lounge has a special tap this weekend - the Weegee Squirrel IPA (12%abv), a Rye IPA brewed using Weegee's own home grown hops. All proceeds go to the Chicago Police Memorial Fund, to help Operation Santa, and make Christmas a little bit better for police families.

Wee Hairy Beasties gifts & Rock Candy By Helen sale!

Here's a late addition to your favorite little rascal's holiday wishlist: we now carry Wee Hairy Beasties youth T's, baby onesies & button sets! We're also running a sale on our Rock Candy By Helen pendants (featuring the artwork of Jon Langford) & Wee Hairy Beasties Holidays Gone Crazy CD through December! RCBH pendants are $20 (normally $24) & the CD is $8.25 (normally $11)! Don't miss the chance to grab some awesome gifts at a great price!

JD McPherson on NPR's 5 Artists You Should Know!

Woah! This is cool. One of favorites, JD McPherson was featured on NPR's 5 Artists You Should Know In 2011... Congrats, JD & Hi-Style! You can buy JD's latest record, Signs & Signifiers at saki!

CTD Press Update 12/13/11!

CTD Press Update 12/13/2011
Now Available Exclusively/Semi-Exclusively from CTD:

FEATURED:

Jacaszek
“Glimmer”
Ghostly International: gi147

NPR FIRST LISTEN:
“The music of Jacaszek drifts along the fringes of classical, electro-ambient music and experimental jazz — and ultimately transcends them all. There's nothing quite like it r.”
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/27/142705348/first-listen-jacaszek-glimmer?ps=mh_fl

FOXY DIGITALIS - 9/10:
“As astounding as Treny was, Glimmer is equally as brilliant. Jacaszek has truly created another masterpiece.”
http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=22196#more-22196

IMPOSE:
“...if the track "Dare-gale" is any indication, Glimmer could make a good companion to Hecker's Ravedeath, 1972 that came out earlier this year.”
http://www.imposemagazine.com/bytes/week-in-pop-cormans-crystal-stilts-jacaszek

DUSTED:
“... a largely successful effort...Jacaszek’s wedding of disparate styles pays off in Glimmer‘s evocation of certain moods and expert shifts from mode to mode.”
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6834

TINY MIX TAPES:
“Certainly, one of the most blatant and appealing characteristics of Treny was how outwardly emotional it was and how inspired it felt. Therefore, it can only be a positive that Jacaszek appears to have taken a similar approach with Glimmer.”
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/jacaszek-release-ominous-new-album-glimmer-naturally-signs-label-ghost-its-name

EXCLAIM:
“Part ambient, part avant-garde, part baroque, this is some intriguing stuff.”
http://exclaim.ca/News/jacaszek_to_glimmer_on_new_lp

This Weekend @ saki!

We've got big plans at saki this weekend! I know we say that a lot but for real, people! We have an in-store with our twitter buddy, @Cinchel & Steve Krakow's (Plastic Crimewave) solo project, Solar Fox on Friday night, followed by our saki After Hours "A Christmas Mansion" holiday party on Saturday. The Christmas party is a lot like our big Halloween celebration if you were lucky enough to make it... our hosts Bob Dey's Tank Engine Man will deliver a special holiday message with performances by Ami Saraiya & The Outcome (celebrating the release of their new 7"), and our local favorites the Blue Ribbon Glee Club spreading some drunken punk-ass holiday cheer. There will also be an ugly sweater contest, holiday cookie exchange, snacks, drinks, games & a special "Christmas Freakout" room that you do not want to miss! As if that weren't enough, we'll follow it up with an Epitonic saki Session on Sunday with A Tundra & one of my personal favorite new discoveries of 2011, Pillars & Tongues! So get your tents ready and just camp out at saki this weekend. We'll keep you good and entertained, and probably a little tipsy if you're so inclined... see you this weekend!

AMG Loves 1966

Without a doubt one of the best years in popular music. See what the all-knowing All Music Guide staff had to say about '66.

Also, if you haven't yet, get the 2011 Vagrants compilation from Light In The Attic. "I Can't Make  A Friend" was just the tip of the iceberg. More.

Closing Early Tomorrow (12/14)

Just a heads-up: saki will be closing at 6:30 tomorrow for our annual holiday party. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience. Thanks!

New Releases @ saki 12/13/11!

Captain Beefheart "Doc At The Radar Station" & "Ice Cream For Crow" (re-issues) LP
Miles Davis "Dark Magus" (re-issue) LP
Low "I Could Live In Hope" (re-issue) LP
Mungolian Jetset "Schlungs" LP
The Birthday Party "Prayers On Fire" / "Hee-Haw" / "Junkyard" (re-issues) LP
The Saints "Eternally Yours" (re-issue) LP
Ty Segall "Singles 2007-2010" LP
Stone Breath / Mike Seed w/ The Language Of Light "The Aetheric Lamp" LP

Julia & Wilderness Refuge Pumpjack

I fully support the huge box of Kraft Mac n Cheese, dancing lunchlady thing, and multiplying pieces of toast in Video II. 

Josh Hoyt, Fighting the Good Fight the Chicago Way

Richard Mertens wrote an amazing piece about my Chicago History Book Club mate, Josh Hoyt. Josh has been fighting for the rights of the disenfranchised, both here in Chicago but also in Latin America, for his entire adult life. Most recently, he has been working on improving immigrant rights through community organizing. His main goal has been to unite the disparate groups across Chicago and Illinois so that they may speak to politicians & the electorate with one larger voice.

“We can’t have a democracy where 11 million people are frozen in third-class status and with their families vulnerable to being deported any moment,” he says. “We benefit from their work. They clean our floors, serve our tables, and yet we won’t invite them to the table of our democracy. The only way immigrants have become full members of our democracy is to fight to get to the table.” (emphasis mine)

Read the rest in University of Chicago Magazine
Illustration by Mark Bender

Xela - Exorcism

Stream John Twells' superb final album as Xela:

Xela - Exorcism by _type

"Recitation" is particularly gorgeous.

AV Club Chicago: Listomania!

Duuudes (et dudettes), AV Club Chicago has a new feature where record store jerks (oops, I mean clerks) tell you what records to buy based on a monthly theme. This month's theme is "What records to buy your cool uncle (mom, brother, cousin, etc.) for Christmas."

The keen eye may also note that saki is one of the stores letting you know what to buy, along with our friends at Reckless, Laurie's, Dave's & Permanent! Read this month's Listomania here and look forward to February's list around Valentine's Day!

Bucktown Holiday Art Show

In case you hadn't noticed, we at saki, we love music and musicians, art and artists. This weekend marks the 13th Annual Bucktown Holiday Art Show, December 10-11 Noon-5, at the Holstein Park Fieldhouse, 2200 N. Oakley, Chicago.

Our very own Simon Gallo, former intern who recently made good and graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago and then found a job...doing art!, is a featured artist this year. Simon saith:

Art lovers and holiday shoppers convene to browse and shop for one-of-a-kind gifts and original works of art. 

Come out and support me! and shop from 100 artists displaying and selling their creative works.   

Check out some of my new work at : pipsqueek.carbonmade.com

The 13th Annual Bucktown Holiday ArtShow is held at Holstein Park Fieldhouse, 2200 N. Oakley Ave. in Chicago on December 10-11, 2011 from noon to 5pm each day.

bucktownpromotions.com/about.html

If you're reading this, then we don't need to tell you about the value of The Arts in our culture. We'd argue that they've never been more important. Go buy some art for yourself or a loved one. Support people who can't find funding right now even if they are on fire. Hope to see you there!

EVERYONE: STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND READ THIS URGENT MESSAGE ABOUT WHY YOU SHOULD BOYCOTT AMAZON.COM

OK, so I know we all get all shitty and hectic during the Xmas season? Why? Aside from being a trumped up holiday based (loosely) around religion and (more importantly) around commerce, it's just a stressful time to get out, go shopping, buy gifts for those who will ultimately not appreciate them, etc.. When I was young, Christmas was about Santa Claus and family. Now that I'm much older, I see that it's only about money. What a shitty holiday!

Apparently concerned that it's not already doing enough to undermine local physical retailers across the country, Amazon.com announced it will pay customers $5 to go into a local store, scan an item, walk out, and buy the same item on Amazon. Please don't do this cheap, sad thing.

Everyone should boycott Amazon.com for this reason alone - permanently, if not just for the holiday season. This undermines the ability of local businesses to contribute to local economies. Sure, the arguments stating "my life is busy, and I'm all about convenience during the holidays", or that "I want to save as much as possible", will be made, but I offer this:

Savings/convenience are temperamental. Those aren't things that are assigned permanently to any goods. The fact that most will opt for savings/convenience will only result in the same thing that happened to our parents' generation. Tons of local shops will shut their doors, and all that will be left is the Amazons of the world, which will have a wrecking effect on local economies. Ready for extravagant property taxes? What about a higher sales tax? What about extra fees because the city / town you live in can't seem to generate enough tax revenue from the sales of goods in their own city / town in order to provide services for the city / town? What about the fact that Amazon pays zero sales tax? Yeah, I know - crazy, but for the majority of us, we barely stop to consider the hand that feeds us, and how much it is ruining our lives.

It's coming. Oh, I believe it to be true. Amazon (and the like) has made us culturally lazy, and mentally, it's made us feel that this laziness is some sort of reward for "frugality".

Oh, and seriously, FUCK this guy. I hope his Xmas stocking is filled with dog shit and molded oranges.

New Releases @ saki 12/6/11!

Bitch Magnet "S/T" (3 LP set)
Bleached "Searching Through The Past" 7''
The Black Keys "El Camino" CD
WIlliam Fowler Collins "The Resurrection Unseen" LP
Free Agents "S/T" LP (re-issue)
Group Inerane "Gutars From Agadez #4" 7''
Guided By Voices "Doughnut For A Snowman" 7''
The Howling Hex "Wilson Semiconductors" LP/CD
Jacaszek "Glimmer" LP/CD
The Jesus Lizard "Club" (Live) LP
Lake Gravel "Selector Dub" 7''
LFO "Frequencies" LP (re-issue)
The Locust "Peel Sessions" LP
Part Chimp / Torche "Split" LP
Pete Shelley "Sky Yen" LP (re-issue)
Sally Smmit & Her Musicians "Hangahar" LP (re-issue)
Strange Men In Sheds With Spanners "S/T" (re-issue)
Sweet Exorcist "RetroActivity" 2xCD (compilation)
Talking Heads "Chronology" DVD
Throbbing Gristle "Greatest Hits'' LP/CD (remasters)
V/A "Polyvinyl: A Brief History..." DVD
Wives "Roy Tapes" LP

Happy Krampus Day!

If you're not familiar with Krampus, he's a holiday figure who comes with St Nicholas on December 5th to punish, beat, and warn bad children, while St. Nicholas gives gifts to the good ones. In Austria and other Alpine Countries, people wear actual ram horns that their families have been wearing for generations and fur outfits and insane makeup and they wander the streets with chains trying to whip people, hide in bushes throwing chestnuts at women (if they hit them, the women are forever infertile), or actually kidnap children and bring them outside of the country until the next day. A friend of mine who was in the Wienersängerknabe (Vienna Boys Choir) was put in a sack and thrown in a pool when he was 12 or so. Fun times had by all! Here are some photos for your perusing. There are infinite classic Krampus items from Austria and southern Germany if you do a little web surfing. I mean, cmon y'all, buy me this.

Didn't get my shit together to start my women's Krampus league in time this year, but if anyone wants in, we'll have practice days once a month. Get ready for December 5th 2012!

here are a bunch of krampuses in a police escorted parade but they usually just wander around and hide alone scaring the shit out of children.

 

Bad Music Video

or worse performance art?



Maybe we'll see this on the revived and way-better-than-you-thought-it-would-be Beavis & Butt-Head. The episode practically writes itself. Matter of fact, it might even strike a familiar chord.

Butt-Head: Hey Beavis. I bet when we get that reward money, we can like, see that movie about stiffies, and we can like, pay for our own tattoos. 
Beavis: Yeah! Then we'll be cool. 
Butt-Head: I'll get a tattoo of a butt. 
Beavis: I'll get a tattoo of a butt *on* my butt! 
Butt-Head: Oh yeah? 
Beavis: Yeah! 
Butt-Head: Well I'll get a tattoo of a butt that has a butt-shaped tattoo on it, and I'll get it right on my butt! That would be cool. 
Beavis: [briefly pauses] Yeah, me too. 

saki Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for sakistore.blogspot.com 

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at pkmonaghan@gmail.com. 

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The Hideout's Christmas Panto

Every year I talk about how awesome this is, and every year you ignore me to your own unhappy detriment. By popular demand, Sally Timms and pals are putting on the Fifth Annual Hideout Christmas Panto. This year's theme is Egyptian/Cosmic, with our beloved Jonboy Langford playing...

Cleopatra, Queen of DeNial “Oh No I’m not” and the Hidden Treasures of the Mummy’s Tomb. In the role of a lifetime, Pantomime Dame Jon Langford channels his inner Liz Taylor to star as the mesmerizing Queen Cleopatra. Featuring Tim Tuten as King Tuten K Moon, the Boy King, Gnat Ward as Queen Woadicea of the Ancient Britons, Mike Bulington as The Mummy, Callie Roach as Indiana Hump and a swarthy mass of yet uncast Hideout regulars as Julius Geezer, Mark Apathy, Lord Curmudgeon and other Ridiculous Romans, Smelly Early Britons and Senile Soothe Sayers.

Yep. So put on a smile, have some drinks, hiss at the villains, cheer the heroes, and take part in the long English tradition of (holiday) cross-dressing.* The first year, they built a full-on PIRATE SHIP on stage!

So what else do I gotta say to persuade you? GO.

At the first one, Jon's mum confided in me that her son seemed "to enjoy it a bit much." You can take the boy out of England, but you can't take the England out of the boy, I reckon.