This is my blog devoted to the people, places, and things that make Chicago the amazing city that it is, as well as the non-Chicago based people, places, and things that tickle my fancy.
Lollapalooza, one of the most anticipated summer music festivals in Chicago, is beginning to put its feelers out as we inch towards warmer and warmer months. Little info is out right now, but here are the basics:
When: August 7 - 9, 2009 Where: Chicago's favorite playground in the summer, Grant Park Who: Right now only headliners are confirmed. Depeche Mode, concert founder Perry Farrell's reunited band, Jane's Addiction and the Beastie Boys
For more information in the coming months check out Lollapalooza's Web site here.
My boyfriend and I have been together for close to 5 years. He was my handsome, but awkward, next door neighbor my first year of college. We didn't really talk to each other until a chance meeting a year later at a school event. We've been dating pretty much from that moment on.
We've lived together for almost three years now, and while we have our differences, I still say we make a pretty good pair. In lieu of flowers he sends me cute viral videos because he knows my weakness for all things cute (i.e. children, kittens, hedgehogs). He's really funny, smart and just about the most patient and sympathetic person I've ever met.
With all that said, sometimes I wish I could go back to when we were first getting to know each other. When every discovery about him seemed new, exciting and proof positive that we were in fact made for each other ("Wait, you like Ren & Stimpy? I like Ren & Stimpy!"). When you're in the throes of your first relationship, it's easy to make wide sweeping, Sweet Valley High-backed comments like that.
This song by Lykke Li transports me to that time when we weren't living together, when seeing each other involved planning and walking to and from dorms, and, more specifically, my not wanting to say "I love you" first.
Now the excitement is in the comfort I feel in still knowing those facts I learned while eating Harold's Chicken on his twin-XL bed in Pierce and watching DVDs. But oh, those first weeks before we became the Ottitundes.
Editor's Note: The video is kinda odd, but the song itself is sweet. If the gyrating of Swedes is too much for you, you can scroll down and follow the lyrics or read other entries :)
hands down i'm too proud for love but with eyes shut it's you i'm thinking of but how we move from A to B? it can't be up to me 'cause you don't know eye to eye thigh to thigh i let go
i think i'm..
a little bit, a little bit a little bit in love with you but only if you're a little but, a little bit, a little bit in lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me oh
ooo-ooo...
and for you i keep my legs apart and forget about my tainted heart and i will never ever be the first to say it but still I, yes you know I..I..I.. i would do it, push a button pull a trigger, climb a mountain jump off a cliff, 'cause you know baby i love you love you a little bit i would do it, i would say it i would mean it, we could do it it was you and i and if only i..
i think i'm a little bit, a little bit a little bit in love with you but only if you're a little but, a little bit, little bit in lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me
come here, stay with me stroke me by the hair 'cause i would give anything, anything to have you as my man (2X)
a little bit, a little bit a little bit in love with you but only if you're a little but, a little bit, little bit in lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me
My parents are from Nigeria, and to be exact, they're Yoruba. So imagine how my cultural pride swelled when I got this email from Good For Party about their latest event. DJ Osunlande will spin an African and Latin house music set at the green friendly bar Lumen (839 W. Fulton Market). RSVP here or pay $10 at the door from 9pm-2am.
One of my goals for my Single Gal Summer was to attend an outdoor concert. I was back in Kansas City during the muddy debauchery of Pitchfork and couldn't afford the 3-day Lollapalooza fest, but a free concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park is not something to be missed. Especially when it features the many talents of Chicago Native Andrew Bird.
Bird will be performing this Wednesday at 6:30pm. For more info, click here.
I was lucky enough to interview Kid Sister for UR Chicago's upcoming September issue. Her bubbly personality was infectious and I hung up the phone feeling star struck and envious of her lemons into lemonade point of view.
It seems like this weekend is all about Chicago's favorite Kid Sister! Tonight, she'll be hosting a pre-Lollapalooza Black Kids, The Foals, and the Kills performance—with DJs Flosstradamus mixing as well—at the Apple Store downtown (679 N. Michigan Ave.) at 7. I'm sure the place will be packed so get there early!
Also, Kid Sister posted this bulletin on Myspace. I can't go (work, pout) but if you're interested, you should definitely show up with your dancing shoes on:
“Soooooo, have you ever wanted to be a part of one of my crazy, fun shows? Well yall, guess what? Today is ya lucky mf day! I'm looking for GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS and more girls... Reowr, haha! Yes my Chicago mamacitas if you wanna take part in my show happening this Sunday at Lollapalooza (and score FREE lolla tickets) just come on by to the open call happening tomorrow! There's some very liiiiight, light choreography involved so those with dance/theatre backgrounds are encouraged to audition.
Come by n' say chello to yer girl tomorrow, Friday, August 1st at NOON at the Revere Park Field house at 2501 West Irving Park Rd (one block west of Western av). We'll be set up outside, snackin, sippin and yappin about boyyyyys (what else, haha). ;) See you there ma babes!!!
Why is it that I'm just now seeing the Gnarls Barkley video for "Going On" ? And why can't more music videos and music in general be this good? Ok. Last post of the day... I just really needed to share this video.
(Warning: Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach)
Gnarls Barkley's newest music video for the haunting song, "Who's Going to Save My Soul?" from their latest studio album, The Odd Couple. Is it weird that I felt like I would cry at the end of the video? Maybe because I'm getting out of a similar place, or afraid of being in that place again...
One of the most exciting things I've ever done as a writer was cover the Zune BBQ at Union Park in Chicago a year ago. Microsoft's MP3 offering to a world obsessed with all things Apple had been embraced largely by the hip-hop community and to thank them, Zune created a concert tour across the US. The Chicago leg featured performances by Qualo (Shala Esquire's rap group), Little Brother, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli. It was a night of quality conscientious music mixed with the feel of a neighborhood block party--Robinson's BBQ was on hand and people played basketball in between sets.
Standing in the VIP section with my plus one, we noticed a man standing in front of us, wearing a light-weight sweater despite the Chicago mid-June heat.
Adam, my plus one: That guy's sweater is really nice. Me: Yeah, it is. On-stage announcer: Put your hands together for.... TALIB KWELI!!!!! (man in light weight sweater runs on stage and begins rapping) Adam and Me: OH! MY! GOD!
We were 5 feet away from one of the most renowned rappers for hip-hop heads and all we noticed was his impeccable taste in sweaters.
Pitchfork Music Festival, second only to Lollapalooza in its size and music scope, is happening this weekend. Somewhat sadly, I'm missing it to go back home this weekend. Luckily, a pre-Pitchfork event is being held at Grant Park with a musical sampling jumping from the Balkan inspired to American rock.
As part of the "Music Without Borders" concert series at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the Pitchfork Music Festival Preview Night is definitely something to check out. It's free and nothing beats a concert at the Pritzker Pavilion either; the summer heat and breezes, always good (or at the very least, interesting) music, tons of people dancing, and the skyline looming and sparkling above you...it's, as Kanye would say, "so astounding."
For more information--and to hear the music of those performing tomorrow night--click here and press 7.17.
At last year's Pitchfork Festival, the second biggest summer music festival in Chicago after Lollapalooza, everyone was a buzz about Girl Talk's performance. I had no clue who this Girl Talk (born Greg Gillis) was, but he was on the lips of every musically inclined hipster, editor, and friend I encountered a week after the performance.
Now I can see why. His latest album, Feed the Animals, is available for download here (jumping on the online pay-as-you-wish bandwagon Radiohead spearheaded). I can imagine dancing in Union Park to Girl Talk's furious mash of hip-hop, rap, R&B, juke, 70s and 80s rock/pop just from listening to one of the singles. Mixing Cool Kids, "Gold and Pager," Sinead O'Conner, Avril Lavigne's "Boyfriend," and Rod Stewart's "Young Turks" may sound strange on paper, but believe me, once you hear Girl Talk's mash ups, you wonder why no one has done it before. More divergent in style and genre than your average party DJ, Girl Talk is... bananas.
June has been a slow month for blogging it would appear. I've been busy, moving out of Hyde Park and settling into my new Far North apartment. This week, the weather has been unseasonably cool (not that I mind, I don't have a swarthy man to help me install my air conditioner yet). However, it being the first official day of summer I still encourage everyone---Chicagoans and non-Chicagoans alike---to embrace the sun and celebrate.
I'm ringing in the season with a roof top party at a friend's apartment (with promises of bands and DJs) and dancing the night away at Sonotheque (1444 W. Chicago) to the sounds of Chicago dance-juke DJ phenoms, Flosstradamus. Hopefully you'll be spending the day doing something equally amazing.
It's a pretty dreary day here in Chicago. We're finally getting a spring—we usually just jump from winter to summer. This song and video by English singer Adele, sums up how I'm feeling in all avenues of my life and is a perfect background music for this chilly, gray day.
Now that I consider $3.67 for gas to be cheap (in comparison to $3.99 at the gas station across the street from my apartment), I think its time to get back on the bus and trains. According to NPR, taxi drivers are feeling the crunch as well. The Chicago City Council has passed a ruling, mandating that a $1 surcharge will be added to cab fare to subsidize the costs of gas (only when gas is over $3.50 for seven days straight). However, a group of taxi drivers are suing to have this ruling overturned in favor of a fare increase per mile, citing this to be a long-term solution in the face of the economic and energy crunch.
And the days of seeing three buses back-to-back is hypothetically over. The CTA has unveiled their website, CTA Bus Tracker, which provides people on the go with estimated travel times for bus routes (14 routes are available now with more to come in May). The site has an estimated time arrival section as well as a bus location map, and comes in a text version for mobile devices.
And the purveyor of mass-hipster fashions, Urban Outfitters, offers up their summer mix online. Plenty of electronic blips and whistles, breathy boy voices, and drum machines for all (all tongue-and-cheek snarkiness aside, they have gathered a pretty good mix)!
Hyde Park Art Center's Creative Move 3: Moving Mountains, Friday - Saturday
I've been talking about this 24-hour party at Hyde Park Art Center (5020 S. Cornell) for the past week now, and if you haven't done any exploring yourself, you're probably wondering what this shindig entails. Well, let me tell you about it... stud.
Fire dancing! Pushing mountains! Interactive art! Improv! DJs! Dance! Music! Art! Brunch! A cafe grand opening! Japanese drumming! Multiple performances! and tons more.
(Kelly Kaczynski's Olympus Manger, Scene II, the inspiration for this year's Creative Move theme, "Moving Mountains")
(From Disinhibition: Black Art and Blue Humor: Tamasha Williamson, It Is...Ain't It? The African-American Vernacular and the King's English: Validation v. Degradation [Articulate], 2007, graphite on paper)
Hip-Hop Live + Reel, continues Friday - Sunday
Yesterday, hip-hop heads and film enthusiasts alike gathered at the Museum of Contemporary Art (220 E. Chicago) for the beginning of their four-day series Hip-Hop Live + Reel. Continuing until Sunday evening, Hip-Hop has something for everyone: performances from Chicago's only all Latina theater group Teatro Luna, documentary screenings, poetry slams and much more. Click here for more details.
(photo credit: Henry Chalfant, a documentarian whose film From Mambo to Hip-Hop: A South Bronx Tale, screened Thursday)
Chicago has brought me a lot of good friends, many of whom are unbelievably talented. Below is a profile of one of them, Sola Akintunde, better known as Shala Esquire.
A Google search of Shala Esquire produces over 1,800 hits – very impressive, especially considering most of these links are actually about him, profiling his talent and work in the music and art worlds. Esquire embodies the can-do spirit indie culture and the Internet has instilled in the newest generation of creative souls.
Born Olusola Akintunde to Nigerian immigrant parents on Chicago’s North Side, Esquire benefited from the diversity surrounding his Winthrop Towers home. His parents provided the young Esquire with an unique view that placed him in two opposing worlds—as a black Chicagoan and as a Nigerian. His foot firmly planted in both, Esquire learned how to see life’s bigger picture at a young age. Growing up in a lower income family, he used his imagination to entertain himself, making toys, games and getting lost in a world of his own creation.
He would later learn the value of blurring the boundaries between these two worlds and using his imagination to make music. In high school, Esquire met the three friends who would later turn their love of beating on tables and rapping in the lunchroom into the dynamic rap group Qualo. Qualo put out their first CD, “Movementality,” in 2000 on the streets and online. Out of Qualo came The Movement Worldwide, Inc, a management and multimedia production company Esquire built to “create a vehicle that could consistently showcase artists and Chicago talent.” The collective includes a wide array of talented DJs and hip-hop acts including Million Dolla Mano, Hollywood Holt, Chuck Inglish of the Cool Kids and Low B. of DJ duo Hollertonix, selling more than 200,000 mixtapes, compilations, and albums in less than two years. In 2006, Esquire could add another feather to his cap: Qualo inked a joint venture deal with Universal Music Group.
In his eight years of work, Esquire has proven he is truly a renaissance man of the new order: a multimedia producer, rapper, songwriter, and artist (creator of the edgy and observant Seven Spoon comics which has developed a fan base of over 20,000 readers). Poised to rub elbows with the Diddys and the Russell Simmons of the world, Esquire represents the new generation of lifestyle and cultural moguls, showing the wide reach of the Internet as he continues to bring his genre bending music and whip-smart art to people across the world.
Listen or download his song Audacity of Hope by clicking this link.
Lupe Fiasco's newest video for his single, "Paris, Tokyo." This was actually one of my least favorite songs on his album, The Cool, but I always appreciate Fiasco for taking his music above and beyond the current call of ring tone rappers.
Ring tone rapper (i.e. Souljah Boy): Can this song be a ring tone? Music Exec: Does it have a lyrics of little value outside of dropping it like its hot and an annoyingly catchy chorus? Ring tone rapper: Yeah... Music Exec: Son, you got yourself a Verizon-worthy hit!
...here's a link to the review I did for UR Chicago's blog on Vampire Weekend's performance at the Metro. It was truly an amazing performance and has definitely made a fan out of me.
Erykah Badu and the Roots will be performing at the Chicago Theater May 30th. Her new CD, New Amerykah, Part 1: 4th World War, is an amazing listen and the Roots are a venerable band that continue to have success and influence in music after 15 years. Their newest album, Rising Down, comes out April 28th.
Watch the video for their 1999 collaboration, "You Got Me."
And when I was on the bus earlier this week I overheard a guy say that Stevie Wonder would be performing at this year's Taste of Chicago. If this bit of early morning commuting gossip is true, it might be worth dealing with the insanity that is the Taste.
A writer caught up in a love affair with the city of Chicago, this is my blog devoted to: the people, places, and things that make Chicago the amazing city that it is, as well as the non-Chicago based people, places, and things that tickle my fancy.
(Image courtesy of Consequence of Sound)
(photo credit: The Village Voice)
Listen or download his song Audacity of Hope by clicking this link.
