Daft Punk and Justice are 2 flavors that go great together.

I finally listened to the conceptual mash-up album from dk darkly that merges selections from the Daft Punk and Justice catalogs together to create something exciting and new. Since this is less mixing chocolate with peanut butter and instead more mixing 2 imported chocolates I expected that the result would be pleasant but I wasn't prepared for how this mixture enhances the strengths of both bands and blends them to create something subtly refreshing and slightly unexpected.

And hot-diggity-dawg if this ain't a great way to power through a Friday and get amped for the weekend!

[h/t Kottke]

Heathcliff, it's me!

With Wuthering Heights entering many conversations recently, driven by its latest cinematic adaption, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of my favorite cover songs of all time. 

From 1992's Freedom Of Choice compilation, I offer for your listening pleasure the most excellent cover of Kate Bush's "Wurthering Heights" by White Flag (featuring The Muffs' Ronnie Barnett on bass for this tune!). While there had always been punk covers of pop songs, we hadn't quite entered the era where every pop song got the punk treatment. And while I adore Ms. Bush's version, White Flag's interpretation is the one I still find myself singing out loud at top volume as I wander the apartment or sit in my car.

Chicago's local music scene is in trouble, but there's hope.

The crowd at Double Door for The Sounds in 2009.

I see Double Door is pivoting their plans and looking to recreate the venue in a smaller space, with an interim plan to keep the brand alive by booking stuff at The Gallery Cabaret (which I personally think is a great opportunity). Double Door has always meant a lot to me, and the original venue crew was very good to me when it came to my becoming more integrated into the Chicago live music scene as a whole. But one thing Double Door owner Sean Mulroney said in a recent interview with Block Club Chicago really clarified what I've been worried about when it comes to live music venues in Chicago:

That building [the Wilson Theater] would have been incredible. But the world’s changed. If you look at live music venues and so forth, I don’t know that that expenditure is justifiable in this economic climate.

The recent changes in the realities of post-pandemic touring has led to most established bands choosing to play much larger venues at greatly increased ticket prices, meaning many of the smaller and mid-sized venues are fighting for their lives. And without those venues it's harder and harder for local and regional bands to make the leap to the more profitable, larger venues. The roots of the live music ecosystem are being starved, and I'm honestly not sure what to do about it.

But I do think something like taking over a struggling venue using a trusted brand name backed by folks with long experience might be an excellent step in the right direction. Water those roots, we need them!

INXS is already in the hall of fame in my heart.

Photo via the official INXS Facebook page

One of my bigger regrets is skipping the INXS show at Rosemont Horizon I had a ticket to in the very early '90s. I was supposed to go with a friends and a girl I had been dating, but by the time the show rolled around I was off at college and already dating someone else and didn't want to make things awkward by returning home for the show. Of course now I know that was a huge mistake and I should've just kept the ticket and dealt with the awkwardness. I never did get to see them play live.

Anyhoo, I see INXS has made it onto the list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees this year, so this story popped back in my head, and I wish the band all the luck in the world since they certainly more than deserve their place in that particular pantheon. I mean, even if the below song was the only thing they'd ever written, it would've secured their spot. But INXS literally has dozens of classics. I kinda hope this nomination means a younger generation might delve deeper than the mega-hits and final headlines to discover what an amazing and unique group of musicians INXS was in that first decade and a half they were around.

A novel idea to try out.

I mean maybe this will help? I think even those of us that used to this regularly have forgotten about its benefits...

A while ago I made the conscious decision to start my days by reading at least a couple pages of the current book I'm making my way through. Before looking at my phone or firing up a podcast, I read. Actual paper.

It's made a real difference. In general, my brain feels quieter and more focused after I've been reading any physical print material for any stretch of time. And I do think it does make a difference that it's just paper and ink and brain (and hopefully a well-lit room). And my days start off feeling calmer and more manageable before the inevitable whirlwind of responsibilities and outside stimuli being their constant attack. But it makes getting through the maelstrom just a little bit easier. And it feels good to read!

Try it out. Even if you've grown up using screens and this sounds like a real backwards approach, I think you might find you like it. And who knows, maybe you'll start reading throughout the rest of the day too! I know I did.  

The Killers meet The Smiths? In Chicago?!

Every once in a while there is a Chicago and that seems to break big without me ever being aware of their existence. It doesn't happen often, but it's always a shock to get that email about a slick, huge, super-duper professional-sounding release from a band that looks like each member has their own stylist and then read the line "Chicago-based" without having a single clue who they are! This just reinforces that even in a world where I have an inordinate amount of knowledge, I still have some glaringly embarassing blind spots!

Which brings us to Brigitte Calls Me Baby, a group so slick I initially approached them with caution, thinking they might be some industry baby or whose "connections" to Chicago were tenuous at best. But a quick glance through their concert history proves they definitely cut their teeth in smaller Chicago venues, moving up the food chain in a natural manner—which means I have no excuse for having missed these cats before now.* Especially when the band in question manages to cross the drama of The Smiths with the galloping danciness of early Killers, merging a bit of theater with funkier rock and/or muscle in a way thatI found irresistable. They are of a dying breed of rock band that have no fear of gloss but still manage to make songs sound like they came from a few human's bouncing ideas off each other and not a conglomerate of sonic technicians grafting disparate parts together in search of "a hit."

Brigitte Calls Me Baby's sophomore effort Irreversible is out in early march and if you're looking for something bright, shiny and fun you should have this high on your list of new releases to check out. You can stream "Slumber Party" (and click through to pre-order) below to get a taste of what to expect. My praise of this stuff doesn't come lightly, and while I'm slightly red in the face for being so late to this party I am so glad I finally accepted the invite!

*O.K., I'm being hard on myself. I no longer go to 4-6 concerts a week, and since the pandemic my "ears to the ground" approach has been somewhat hindered by that. Though a glance through old emails proves I've definitely been sent plenty of press releases about the band, but none of them included links to downloadable music, so I ended up not digging any deeper. MY MISTAKE!

The Blue Line.

The train I was on this morning lurched to a stop just before 9 a.m., almost throwing a few folks standing in my car to the floor. Shortly afterward, a stunned-sounding conductor announced, "We'll be standing here for a moment. Someone fell on the tracks in front of the train." It was rush hour and people were in a hurry so someone on our car pried a door open and most folks followed him out, but I stayed on the car with a few other people, figuring we'd start pulling forward soon. About ten minutes later all the doors opened and we were told to exit, walking along the narrow pathway next to the train until we met a gate that a CTA employee held open for us.

I've been on many trains who were stopped for a "sick passenger" and anyone who rides the CTA on a regular basis knows that's usually code for either someone acting erratically, or for an accident on the tracks. But this was the first time I've ever heard an employee just say that someone fell on the tracks.

I walked the remaining 10 blocks from that stop to my office, hoping the person involved was O.K., while hearing the compounding wail of multiple sirens make their way towards the station as I walked along.

I haven't been able to shake the sound of that conductor's voice all day.

Van Der Bye.

I know he was first in many people's hearts for his roles in Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues, but quite honestly I thought James van Der Beek's most hilarious role was playing "James Van Der Beek" in the TV series Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23. Talk about a postmodern wink and a smile. Followed up by his hilarious send up of Jason Mewes in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The man was a seriously comedic talent in both those productions.

But Van Der Beek's finest role that showed his range as an actor was as as Sean Bateman (Patrick Bateman's little brother in the Bret Easton Ellis expanded universe) in The Rules of Attraction. If you've never seen that film, strap yourself in for a distinctly early aught ride through various levels hilarity, depravity, ennui and dark depression that also contains one of the most heartbreaking uses of a Henry Nilsson song I've ever experienced.

Van Der Beek passed away yesterday at a far-too-young age—I literally gasped when someone shared the breaking news with us in a meeting—and I'm realizing this has hit me harder than I would have ever thought it would. 

New addition of Quick Spins for this Bandcamp Friday!

I wrote up a few recent releases for folks to check out over at Third Coast Review, taking advantage of Bandcamp Friday in hopes some of these artists gain a few new listeners. Wouldn't you like to be in that cohort too?

(Regular readers will already recognize a few of the artists above, but make sure you check all of 'em out!)

The winter blahs arrived early this year.

I mean, come on!
Even our underground and indoor subway stations are encased in ice. 

Listen, we Chicago folk are a hardy bunch, but this winter is starting to fray on everyone’s nerves. The deep freeze doesn’t usually settle in until February or so, but this year it arrived around the holidays and hasn’t really let up since then. The rare days where to sun is actually visible or the temperature is above 20º F are aberrations we get excited about, but for the most part the city has just been encased in a grey, frozen envelope and that does get hard to live in.

I was born here but grew up both down south and on the east coast before landing back in Illinois near the end of high school, and there’s a part of me that always thought I’d eventually move out west into climes that are warmer year-round. These days that seems less and less likely, through there are seriously periods of time—and this is one of them—where I wonder why I don’t care enough about my mental health to move somewhere sunnier and warmer. This questioning of my own sanity has only grown stronger in recent years as I found more solace in long outdoor walks and realized just how important both nature and sunshine have become to my wellbeing.

I did pick up a treadmill last year, so I am lucky enough to be able to keep moving throughout the day, even as long outdoor journeys have become less pleasant and more arduous. And I suppose I could buy a sun lamp to help offset the constant cloud cover sapping my internal battery. So, it’s not like I don’t have options! But man oh man, I am really missing the hour or so I could just wander off to the nearby forest preserve and get lost in sun-dappled greenery right now.