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Part of what’s set to make the Loops and Variations series an interesting idea is the contrast between electronic productions and the outdoor venue. Despite Pritzker Pavilion’s futuristic, shiny bouffant, it’s still an outdoor venue, offering as much space to sprawl out on the grass as in proper seats. Three distinct acts kick off the summer series, with Louisville-based Casino Versus Japan dispensing the easiest-to-palate take on electronica. Chris Clark, a Warp Records affiliate, will work in more frantic dance terms at this outdoor gig. But it’s the Jan Jelinek and Andrew Pekler collaboration that’s bound to be the most intellectually stimulating—and least likely to get folks on their feet, swaying through the Chicago evening. Read the rest of this entry »

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On their new album, the Persian-inspired trio formed by lead singer Azam Ali, multi-instrumentalist Loga Ramin Torkian and electronic musician Carmen Rizzo sought inspiration from the current turmoil in the Middle East.  Their third album, “Sumud” translates from the Arabic as “Steadfastness.”

The music carries their signature sound—a blend of traditional Middle Eastern instruments with Rizzo’s electronic textures that serve as a canvas for Ali’s heartfelt, often mournful vocals. The music is accessible even to those who have no clue of what the words are saying. Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who attended the Pitchfork Music Festival may remember the cheerful, intoxicating music of Baths, otherwise known as Will Wiesenfield. Baths is Wiesenfeld’s day job, generating buoyant and crisp beats worthy of dancing, while Geotic is very appropriately the night job, as the sound is much more demure and dark.

During the Pitchfork Music Festival, we asked Wiesenfeld to explain his style to people who hadn’t heard it. “I have a sentence!” he exclaimed, laughing at his ready explanation. “I say it’s songwriting from an electronic perspective, in that I’m incorporating very standard things like verse-chorus-verse and human subject matter and that sort of thing, but that the palette of sound is much different than a normal song.” That palette varies between Baths and Geotic, but with the latter, the sound is undeniably ambient. Read the rest of this entry »

By Tom Lynch

A band named after a galaxy would sound like this.

M83—abbreviation for the Messier 83 intermediate galaxy—the (mostly) solo project from France’s Anthony Gonzalez, has been upwardly gazing, when not strictly gazing at its shoes, since 2001. Gonzalez and then M83 partner Nicolas Fromageau released their self-titled debut, but it wasn’t until 2003’s “Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts” that the band gained serious attention, as the album’s overwhelming offering of half ambient/half punishing electronica showed signs of genius. With “Before the Dawn Heals Us,” Gonzalez’s next effort, the promise was delivered, as he kept his electronic roots and introduced more melody and, yes, more vocals, soft and whispery if not absent altogether. The album’s monstrous scope, a colossal undertaking of soft light and symphonic warmth, was breathtaking.
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Thanks to the rise of the Internet and mp3 technology, music is now more accessible than ever. Delivery can be instantaneous, and in many cases free, allowing people a new way to access music that they might never have heard before. Enter birdandwhale.com, a Web site that is dedicated to the personal musical tastes of Brad Loving, a local Chicago DJ who performs regularly throughout the city.
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RECOMMENDED

Atmospheric, edgy and often beautiful, Denmark’s Mew has been compared to Sigur Ros, Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine, but the ambient-rock band successfully dodges any sense of derivativeness with “And the Glass Handed Kites,” its first record to be released in the U.S., a muscular, forceful and haunting album full of wailing highs and somber, intimate lows. The darkness is ever-present even from a glance at the record’s artwork, and while some parts of the album are bracing, even difficult, it’s balanced by the moments of insane loveliness that creep in at the most unexpected of times. Exploring a very original sound altogether, Mew is part rock, part glam, part electronic and synth-driven pop. “And the Glass Handed Kites” is staggering and hypnotic, a whole mountain of fear, love and anger. Sometimes they just do it better overseas. Read the rest of this entry »

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Of the numerous legendary Chicago club nights, Atmospheric Audio Chair set radically different standards than its house and techno counterparts. AAC developed a dwelling for lovers of ambient fare, from Aphex to Fila Brazilia, and proved successful enough to boast the regular attendance of downtempo tastemaker Mixmaster Morris. Founding DJs Miles Maeda, Josh Werner and Tom Pazen, who have become noteworthy staples and stars of Chicago’s club scene, will be dusting off the Chair like it’s the mid-nineties all over again. Whether it’s the classic breakbeat and filter-sweep ambience of yore, or the crackle, snap, bassline of today’s offerings, this is one reunion for which I’ll check the “Yes, I will attend” box. Read the rest of this entry »

Although Alex and Adam are powerhouses when they perform, the boys of Kill Memory Crash are decidedly demure offstage, possibly the result of a self-imposed exile from the mainstream. They don’t much care though (calling themselves “enemies of corporate America”) as their main priority is to maintain a sound that is uniquely their own.

The ride started over a decade ago in techno-mecca Detroit when the duo was performing at raves and warehouse parties. “We do come from that whole rave-24-hours-a-day scene,” says Alex, “and that gluttonous lifestyle will always be a part of who we are.” While they are now based out of Chicago, their releases garner international praise and headlining gigs. Creating what they call “Frankenstein Electronic,” their tunes turn techno on its head with infusions of industrial, rock, IDM and ambient that make them hard to categorize. They don’t do this with the intention of being musical outcasts, but simply because, as Alex explains, “we have no allegiance to any genre and pick the bones of music history as we see fit.”

Though their early career only boasted limited vinyl runs, people started to catch on with 2003′s “When The Blood Turns Black,” their first major release with Ghostly International. Critics called the album everything from “[A] mind-control worm,” to “The glitchy sound of the machines gone bad,” making heads (and ears) turn. The success of the release prompted a slew of offers that tested and further defined KMC’s anti-mainstream standpoint, including a doomed gig DJing with iPods at an Apple store. The second store appearance was cancelled when the duo showed up the first day smelling of cigarettes and booze. Even with companies like Acura knocking, Alex and Adam are wary. As they say, “We don’t want our song in a tampon commercial with Kate Moss jumping around in an angel costume.”

All this puts KMC in a precarious position of wanting to spread their sound and still stick to an extreme anti-mainstream ethic. So where does the band who believes in staying underground go next? According to Adam: “nowhere fast.” (Dani Deahl)

Kill Memory Crash performs with The Hacker at Spy Bar, 646 North Franklin, (312)587-8779 on June 23 from 10pm-4am.