Garage Punk Baffles WGN Morning News, And More In This Week's Chicago Music News
By Justin Freeman in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 12, 2016 3:58PM
Chicago's music scene had some highlights and low points this week: Sinead O’Connor covered “Life on Mars” at the David Bowie memorial show at Metro. The beef between Chicago's rap scene and Spike Lee escalated when Chance the Rapper responded to Lee’s criticism, King Louie responded to Lee mocking when he was shot in the head and nearly killed. And we interviewed Carly Rae Jepsen before she performs at her sold out show at Metro this weekend. But there was a lot more we don't want you to miss, either:
Ty Segall. Photo by Jim Kopeny / Tankboy
WGN Morning News Gets Psyched Out: Prolific garage rocker Ty Segall played two shows at Thalia Hall earlier this week. To promote them he made a live appearance on WGN morning news with his backing band The Muggers and it was very, very strange. News anchor Robin Baumgarten was absolutely flummoxed during it all. It was, uh ... it was something. Words can't really do the appearance justice so check out video of the weirdness below. The weirdest thing? It's not like WGN hasn't seen Segall freak out before.
Indie Metal Band Releases Massive Live Album For Free: Local post-metal darlings, Pelican, released a surprise live album this week. Entitled Live at Empty Bottle December 15, 2015, it captures the raw ferociousness of the band during their performance at the iconic club. A few songs from their set were cut out due to sound quality concerns. That said, songs like “Vestiges” sound thunderous and massive. The album is a name your price download and can be found here. Check out a stream of “Vestiges” below.
DJ Deeon Lets Loose On New Mix: DJ Deeon is a city institution. A pioneer of ghetto house in the mid '90s, Deeon has spent the last several decades as a highly sought after DJ who has performed around the world. This new mix commissioned by Resident Advisor finds Deeon embracing his ghetto house heritage while simultaneously embracing Detroit techno and deep soul cuts. This mix couldn’t have better timing as Resident Avisor is in the middle of a residency here in Chicago, curating a series of shows at Smart Bar this month. Check out a stream of the mix below.
Chicago Rapper Takes Inspiration From Beyonce On New Mixtape: Local rapper, Sasha Go Hard, takes heavy inspiration from Beyonce. Her name is an homage to Beyonce’s I Am… Sasha Fierce album while “Girl Code”, her ode to self reliance and women’s excellence, was released about the same time as “Formation.” This week, Sasha Go Hard dropped her newest mixtape, The Realest I Know. The mixtape is solid throughout, but some of the highlights include “Dear Yaniah,” an introspective and poignant love letter to her daughter, “Stupid in Love” an examination of the uncertainties of relationships, and the aforementioned “Girl Code.” The mixtape is free and you can stream or download it below.
Let’s Have A Bleach Party: Local garage rockers, Bleach Party, have been keeping busy lately. In between playing shows all over the city and touring the Midwest, they’ve been working on their upcoming new album Endless Bender. On Tuesday, they released “Give Up the Ghost,” the album’s first single. The new single is a fuzzy garage rock assault, deftly jolting from raucous grooves to big pop choruses.
Bleach Party is comprised of long standing members of Chicago’s DIY rock scene. Kaylee Preston drums for Rabble Rabble, Meghan MacDuff was the singer for Velocicopter and Richard Giraldi is the editor for Loud Loop Press. Check out a stream of “Give Up the Ghost” below.