RECOMMENDED

Although cult horror filmmaker George Romero might get all the OG zombie cred, it wasn’t until Dan O’Bannon’s 1985 reboot “Return of the Living Dead” that zombies had the insatiable craving for human brains, memorably crying out “braaaaiiins!” as they chased down victims in a comedic, horror/camp neo-classic. This is in direct opposite to the flat-out terror of Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” which initially frightened and shocked audiences back in 1968. Zombie Disco Squad? They are the “Return of the Living Dead” of house music—and I mean that in the best way possible. Think about it. ZDS (Brit Lucas Hunter and German Nat Self) sound like mindless fun, munching indiscriminately through the varied brains of Jesse Rose, Drop the Lime, Groove Armada and Kasper Bjorke with superbly crafted remixes. Hell, they even made Uffie halfway listenable. And as DJs, where so many get deathly serious with their tracks, ZDS’ sets are genius-but-scattershot (and impeccably mixed) selections of banging tech-house, techno and electro house that don’t get bogged down in heady, serious spirals. Read the rest of this entry »

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If the story is true, former Six Finger Satellite John Maclean was pushed back into music by his buddy James Murphy who, after hearing his new sounds, wondered if “John” should change his name to “Juan” (after Detroit techno legend Juan Atkins). John/Juan’s band, The Juan Maclean, would work out just fine as the second-best-known band from team DFA, but change over time, from a band based on instrumental freakouts, to a more dance-floor-friendly outlet fronted by LCD Soundsystem keyboard/vocalist Nancy Whang (the coolest chick in dance music?), relegating the mercurial Maclean to Vince Clark duties. As a band, the Juan Maclean seems a funny middle ground between the disco and techno factions competing for the crown of “still relevant.” This is evidenced on the recently released Juan Maclean DJ Kicks compilation, which has Motor City legends like Rick Wilhite and Theo Parrish rubbing elbows with the skinny-jean sound of Still Going and Shit Robot. For such a temperamental guy, Maclean sure seems to want everyone to get along! Perhaps that’s best, as the Happy Daze BBQ kicks off at 6pm and also includes co-headliner DJ Falcon of the Daft Crew, and talented—and varied—locals, from fidget buzz saws Santiago & Bushido, to Greenskeepers, Dark Wave Disco, Gramaphone’s Michael Serafini, Diz, Justin Long, and quite a few more. And yes, as a BBQ, there will be free summer grill favorites for early attendees. (Duke Shin)

June 4 at Green Dolphin Street, 2200 North Ashland, (773)395-0066, 6pm-4am.

RECOMMENDED

A funny thing happened on the way to this decade. French duo Daft Punk, somehow rescued from “One More Time” last-dance-at-wedding status, became relevant again. And it was awesome. And then their bastard children started making noise, inseminating themselves into Ed Banger Records, evolving their sound by removing the filtered house and disco influences and replacing them with drunken, amped-up audioSparx, ready to intoxicate and sicken all who drank the chemical garbage. I shudder to think that I once wondered if Scott Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett was needed to jump back in time to destroy the wonderful and awesome Daft Punk to simply eliminate their nefarious Ed Banger offspring from being shat into existence. (Ziggy said there was a 89 percent chance that Ed Banger would ruin the face of the electronic music scene of the Aughts). Read the rest of this entry »

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One week after the release of her new album, “Dust,” Ellen Allien visits Smart Bar in one of three exclusive U.S. tour dates. The fashion designer, remixer and BPitch Control label boss followed up 2008′s blissfully minimal “Sool” with familiar tech-house environs, this time injecting melodic synth patterns, haunting vocals and elements of pop and glitch. Currently touring in support of Dust, Ellen brings her DJ skills and a wealth of techno, electro and house gems to the prized North Side booth. This is the official afterparty for the LCD Soundsystem show at the Metro and a pre-party for the Movement festival in Detroit. Get an early start on your Memorial Day weekend and check out this special event with Ellen Allien and capable Smart Bar regulars, Blue J and Tyrell Williams.  (John Alex Colon).

May 26 at Smart Bar, 3730 North Clark, (773)549-0203.

DJ Nate Manic

RECOMMENDED

If you think spiritual community and musical entertainment are a strange coupling, we probably wouldn’t blame you. But the open collective known as Brilliantly Mad has been trying to do just that over the last twelve years, initially through publishing, but evolving over time to private events. But in partnering up with BodElectric (house veteran Soul Foundation’s more eclectic outfit) to throw Synergism, the two groups are hoping to “find balance between the body, mind and spirit of Chicago,” using the talents and energies of musicians and DJs, along with live art, body painting, acro yoga and belly dancing performances and much, much more, starting with an opening Vinyasa yoga session. While this all sounds enlightening, what if you’re merely along for the ride with your yogi, poi-spinning better half? Well, no worries, there. With DJZ , Puffs Baggswelle x Psy-phi, Nag Mani (live), BTMG (live), BRC & RM and Nate Manic tending to the music, there will be deep, uplifting and techy, quirky house, electro house, and late night dubstep sounds until 5am, no matter whose shakra is retrograding your downward dog. Also featured: live video mixing, healers, love guides, art installations and a fashion show. And gift bags for the first 100 RSVPs. Whew! (Duke Shin)

May 8 at Kinetic Playground, 1113 W. Lawrence, (773)769-5483, 8pm-5am. $5 before 10pm with rsvp to rsvp@brilliantlymad.com, $10 after.

Akufen

Montreal-based non-profit electronic arts organization MUTEK has enjoyed tremendous growth in its eleven years of operation. What began as a modest and very small-scale performance showcase aimed at a niche market of experimental-music enthusiasts, new-media artists and audiophiles has grown into a globally recognized tour de force. With tremendous contributions to Canada’s sound and visual arts, MUTEK presents the premier cutting-edge electronic-music and arts festival in North America, respected for its avant-garde programming, innovative visual artistry and its many educational panels and workshops. MUTEK now throws several editions of its festival on multiple continents, operates its own record label and promotes its core roster of artists on tours around the world.

A preview of the Montreal festival’s eleventh edition, “Avant Mutek,” is making a tour stop in Chicago for the first time. Headlining are two fantastic artists known for their engaging live performances and their contributions to the evolution of experimental house music. Legendary Montreal producer/DJ Akufen of Perlon fame and Musique Risqueé mainstay Stephen Beaupré will perform at Green Dolphin Street, along with a diverse lineup of local DJs: Leo123 of Dark Party, Meiotic’s Hernan Sanchez and Fear of Music’s Jeff Pietro. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Pendulum forcefully entered the drum ‘n’ bass scene in 2002 with epic, synth-driven anthems that fused the genre’s darker soundscapes with arena-rock flair. The Australian group channeled its successful sound into live-band efforts and struck gold again as it pushed the genre into festival and concert lineups. This appearance promises sounds from their new album and a return to classic Pendulum DJ sets, with vocal support from MC Verse. L.A. Riots will drop their their oft-lauded approach to club-pop fusion on the Bottom Lounge dance floor and the drum ‘n’ bass deck skills of Chicago’s Stunna and Alfonz de la Mota are sure to keep it filled. (John Alex Colón)

April 3, 8pm, at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W. Lake, (312)666-6775. $15.

RECOMMENDED

There’s something about London duo The Big Pink that is a little lame. The elementary lyrics, the traditional chord progressions or melodies, the big-room choruses—something here is not quite right for a band with such a pristine electro shoegaze surface sound. The band garnered huge buzz before its debut record was released last September on the strength of some early singles, which was deserved, as the first material introduced to the public was especially convincing. “A Brief History of Love,” The Big Pink’s debut proper, has a lot of attractive pieces that don’t exactly come together. A song like “Velvet” works casually, as it can simply ride its own wave of ethereal beauty. But “Dominos,” another single, is painfully silly, and detracts from the record considerably. Of course, you can’t really blame a band just getting started for not making a perfect record. It’s a fine first attempt, one that shows promise for strong moves in the future. A Place to Bury Strangers plays tonight as well, which makes this bill a full-on shoegaze party, with the band’s intensely loud and hazy distortion sure to deafen those unexpecting. Chicago’s industrial dance crew Gatekeeper opens, which should get this crowd to loosen up a bit. Maybe not even stare at their shoes the whole time. Maybe. (Tom Lynch)

March 20 at Metro, 3730 N. Clark, (773)549-0203, at 9pm. $16.

RECOMMENDED

In 2008, Toronto electro-punk duo Crystal Castles released their highly anticipated self-titled debut LP. Many of the tracks had been floating around for years, either in demo form or on sold-out seven-inches, but this official release pushed them into the spotlight. Unfortunately, it also meant anything Ethan Kath and Alice Glass did was made public, which didn’t exactly paint them in the best light, from the feud with artist Trevor Brown to the last-minute cancelation at Dallas’ Granada Theater this year, which led staff to call the duo “pre-madonnas,” to kicking supporting band VEGA off their tour in April, accusing them of theft, to Glass trashing the stage and throwing a punch at security at Barcelona’s Sonar Festival because the sound sucked. Point is: they’re a pretty polarizing pair. You either put their shit aside and enjoy the music or think they’re talentless pricks. I fall into the former category and “Crystal Castles” was one of my favorite albums of 2008. I saw the band live in 2007 and found it to be an intense experience. Though Kath is the brains behind the band, 21-year-old vocalist Glass is the entertainer, completely unpredictable and seemingly batshit crazy. Whether writhing on the floor, diving into the crowd, climbing whatever she can or playing with strobe lights, you can’t take your eyes off her. This’ll definitely be an interesting, albeit slightly creepy, show. Just don’t go if you’re prone to seizures. (Kelley Hecker)

Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie, (773)252-6179. 8:30pm. $50.

RECOMMENDED

Winds of change are at work at Chicago’s favorite dance-floor institution, with new Smart Bar music director and talent buyer Nate Seider, aka Nate Manic, chomping at the bit to flex his creative control over bookings for 2010. While most of Smart Bar’s artist bookings up to this point have been vestiges of previous club boss James Amato, tonight marks the official “Welcome to Smart Bar” party for the recent Newcity cover-boy, featuring one of his personal deck heroes in the legendary John Acquaviva, co-founder (alongside Richie Hawtin) of venerable techno label Plus 8 Records, as well as his current home since 1993 in Definitive Recordings. His “X-Mix-3″ mix released back in 1994 (!K7) was partly responsible for turning Manic on to the sounds of techno and house. Since then, the London, Ontario native and former Detroit mainstay has circled the globe as a DJ, recording and releasing tracks and remixes that change with the times. For this techno/house legend, forays into more electro and progressive-influenced sounds might have reached a cooler reception among techno purists from his Detroit days, but Acquaviva has always looked forward, never content to rest on his laurels, and ever-changing his sound to fit his fancy. But for all those neophyte deck slayers out there who might be tempted to brand Acquaviva a relic of a bygone era, you should know that he championed Serato’s Final Scratch system during its development and helped to unleash the single most revolutionary piece of DJ equipment released this millennium. And then there’s his role in launching a little download site called Beatport.com… It’s been at least a handful of years since Acquaviva performed in Chicago. Take into account the extended three-hour sets from both opener Manic and headliner Acquaviva, and tonight at Smart Bar becomes a night you won’t want to miss. (Duke Shin)

December 11 at Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark, (773)549-0203, 10pm.