Since this is on the Chicago reader page I am sure its getting viewed, but incase any of my friends don’t check the reader I will blog about it here. This reporter does a great job of outlining the problems with Daley and the reasons we should stand up against him. A must read.
read more | digg story
While not the most accessible night of music at the bottle , it was well attended. Most of the people that where there knew what they were in for and they loved every minute of it. Even those dragged in by friends were mostly converted by the end of the night. Considering that each band that played mostly played one “song”, the time flew by, leaving us all wanting more.
First up was Good Stuff House, which contains members of another great Chicago band Zelienople . They didn’t ease us into the water at all, starting with a caterwaul of guitar noise and drum set smashing. The 3 of them, Matt Christensen and Mike Weis (Zelionople) and Scott Tuma (Souled American, Boxhead Ensemble, et al.), took us through the depths of raw noise first, slowly allowing us to emerge into a soft sublime jazz drone toward the end of their set. You could see the concentration and feel the communication between them, each note and beat picked for a specific reason to create the most perfect musical space.
The first time I saw “White/Light“:http://www.myspace.com/whitelightdrone was at one of those monday free nights at the bottle. They were second of 3 and I completely forgot what the other 2 bands were that night. I had read alot about drone musics at the time, and even tried to listen to records by Boris and SunO))) not really understanding them. After that set I realized 2 things 1) drone/metal was a hipster way of saying they listened to low-frequency ambient music and 2) this music was something that needs to be experienced live. Sitting in the bottle the crushing volume and low-frequency rumble almost made me faint. I would buy their record if I could play it in my house loud enough to do it justice. Matt Clark and Jeremy Lemos used guitar, small pump organ, keyboards and multiple pedal effects to resubmerge us. Their set was the mirror image of Good Stuff House, starting with a light drone on the pump organ eventually climaxing to full guitar/keyboard/effect noise. They have a record coming out with lichens . Hopefully a record release show at the bottle will follow. That would be a show not to be missed.
The final performance of the night was something I had been waiting for all year. After seeing Rhys Chathams “Essentialist” at the wire fest (which accoording to a friend was Rhys’s first time performing in Chicago) I started to consume his whole back catalog. I knew of the man, minmalmist composing god in the realms of Glenn Branca , but never got around to listening to his stuff. For this show he was performing his Guitar Trio the same way he did at Max’s Kansas City in 1979, except with 9 guitarists instead of 3. I had a hard time convincing my co-workers the greatness of a composition that consists of one chord (E) played for over 40minutes. There is more to it then that though, there is the volume that allows the listener to hear many overtones and a heavy sense of rhythm and dynamics that draw you in. The first run through the piece was subdued but still intense. John McIntyre’s drumming was limited to mostly high-hat hits for the duration and the dynamics were primarily driven by the guitars and bass (which included a whos-who of Chicago musicians; Rob Lowe, Ben & Adam Vida, Doug McCombs, Jeff Parker, and Josh Abrams). At the conclusion, Rhys approaches the microphone and asks the crowd if they would like to hear one more song. When we answer loudly “Yes” he gets as giddy as a school girl, responding “Oh, I hoped you would say that!”. He then turns to Ben Vida and asks what key the song is in, jokingly answering his own question “B flat, right?”. The ensemble launches back into the piece again, this time accompanied by the original slides that were shown at the 1979 performance. The slides are grainy black and white photos, one of which adorns the cover of An Angel moves to fast to See . During this take the drums are powerful and the guitars have kicked it up a notch. Even though I knew what was coming I still stood with my mouth agape, the power of the piece lifting me off the floor and giving me a strange sense of vertigo. We managed to get them back on stage for an encore that consisted of a piece called “just intonation” in which everybody randomly retuned their guitar, thus completely focusing the piece on rhythm. A fitting desert for the thanksgiving sized feast that was Guitar Trio Hero’s.
Read more about Rhys Chatham here
Rhys @ myspace here and here for The Essentialist, his 5 piece metal band
Flickr set for the night here
I know that a lot of ppl have bad days at work. Just a few weeks ago I had a reaction completely lost to a faulty roundbottom and an overly ambitious stirbar, and I thought how terrrible and was pissed at myself for days. Maybe you had your boss reem you out for missing a dead line, maybe you bothced that call. That all pails in comparison to yesterday.
It played out like a horror film. At 9:30am I get this email.
“All AVR meeting 1pm”
First thing I do is tell my boss, who doesnt regularly check her email so that she can plan out her day. We disscuss that “hmmm, meeting in 3 hrs, wonder what it could be”. In our minds maybe a change in reporting structure, maybe some news on the series we are working on or something else relatively heavy but not life changing. SIlly me, I go spelunking. I walk down the hall and talk to my good friend Todd, see if there is anything going on his project that may constitute this meeting. He hits me with “Dave’s been let go”, and it starts. Much like 28 days later, you start to think “Well it’s one person its an isolated case”. Todd and I talk for a bit, we discuss that this sucks and that we wonder who else, but only lightly.
One friend gone, but the world still looks ok.
I walk to the biology labs, not in search of more gossip but for actual work reasons. I don’t find the person I am looking for but I do find some biologists huddled, talking. I say have you heard and they list off 5 names none of which are the person I know.
6 friends gone, this is seriously fucked.
We talk for a bit and then I decided I have to bring this information back. I go to my boss and tell her what I have found out. Its like trying to tell someone a close relative has died. Her face turns white.
Denial.
Another co-worker passes through. We drop the news on him. More “your shiting me”. More denial. I say “this is what I have heard” One of the victims walks by.
Us: “How are you?”
Him: “Fine fine”
He leaves, we go “no way your information has got to be off”. I agree, its just to crazy, nonsensical even.
The rest of the day you walk into ppl in the hall and the common “hello” response is “i’m still here”. There is a sense of a black cloud that is roaming the halls, devouring ppl at will. You are afraid to go and talk to ppl you havent seen yet for fear that they me tagged as well. At this point we have no idea how high the number will go. When will the beast be full? Is it already and we just dont know it? Is it merely taking a coffee break?
A second confirmation on the earlier names come through, along with is a small piece of wellbeing that beast has finished. Those that have been let go all know by now. There is no work getting done today.
I felt like I was on borrowed time. The discussion turns to the monsters logic and its raison d’existence. We are all zombies. We are all scientists, but our logic gates are in full feedback loop, “Does not compute”. Now that we know that the carnage is mostly done here what about other places. You dont want to call your friends in other buildings, even though you hope that missed it too you know that the chances are slim. The reports from over their are even more grim. Whole areas are wiped out, not just a few select ppl like here.
Its only 11:15. The last hour moved slower then a trans atlantic ice flow. Much like said ice flow, the information captured in that hour was more then one could fully comprehend.
I want to set the clocks ahead. Get it to 1pm and get it over with.
More hours pass. No more bad news, no real progress on the logic front.
Lots of cussing.
Lots of “whoaa” and sighing.
You avoid the confirmed vicims for fear of the unknown, and for respect of the dead. You have no idea what to say anyway, and they may not want to see the cruel reminder of what they had just hours ago.
Unlike even a cheap horror film, there was not even a semblance of logic. The beast’s creation was discussed no further than “lack of interests in a few theraputic areas”, its killing menatliy was not discussed at all. The victims were not slackers, not only upper management, not only worker bees. Not only the aged, not only the young.
200 in all. Its hard not to classify. Survivors and victims only separated by what seems dumb luck. While in there presence you are almost ashamed to still have a job, but also very thankful to not have to go home and break the news.
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State :: Plan calls for pricier parking along busy streets
Mixed feelings about this one. First off, when did my hood (edgewater) become as trendy as logan square or hyde park. Second, they do mention that money from the meters would go toward better designated crosswalks and bike lanes. I am all about the bike lanes. My concern is that with meters rates increasing ppl will just park in the neighborhood streets, making it harder to find street parking near our apartment.
ugh…
