Review: The Hot Toddies – Smell The Mitten
When I was sick between Thanksgiving and Christmas I remember drinking a bunch of hot toddies. In part because they are supposed to be good for sick people but mostly because they are yummy. Sure it may have not helped at all but that has nothing to do with this review. Whatever you do, don’t (Read more…)
A Cure For The Monday Morning Blues Mix
Ease on into the week with this little mix of songs. A few of them are from some of Polyvinyl’s excellent (recent & upcoming) releases. MP3 | Ida – Lovers Prayers Lovers Prayers MP3 | Able Baker Fox – Stuttering Voices MP3 | Aloha – Body Buzz Light Works MP3 | Low – Breaker Drums (Read more…)
Review: Statehood – Lies And Rhetoric
Since the demise of The Dismemberment Plan in 2003, frontman Travis Morrison has recorded and released two erratic solo albums while bassist Eric Axelson spent some time supplying the low end for Maritime. All well and good but Maritime is really Davey’s band and as much as I love Travis, he just seems a little (Read more…)
Review: Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop – Listening
I recently got a copy of Listening, the first full length from the Chicago indie pop group Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop. Yes, the band has a horribly long (but equally memorable) name, but that isn’t what this is all about. It is about the music. Guitars churn, male/female vocal harmonies abound, (Read more…)
The last one for last year again again
And again… MP3 | American Steel – Love And Logic Destroy The Future MP3 | Richmond Fontaine – I Fell Into Painting Houses In Phoenix, AZ Thirteen Cities MP3 | gui Boratto – Beautiful Life Chromophobia MP3 | Pale Young Gentlemen – Fraulein Pale Young Gentlemen MP3 | Black Dice – Bananas Load Blown MP3 (Read more…)
The last one for last year again
Okay, so there are even a few more records that I really liked (in varying degrees) from 2007. You should (as always) check these out as well. MP3 | Bishop Allen – Rain The Broken String MP3 | Erik Mongrain – Percusien-Fa Fates MP3 | Rogue Wave – Fantasies Asleep At Heaven’s Gate MP3 | (Read more…)
The last one for last year
The holidays are finally over and things are starting to (as much as they can) return to normal around the CYSTSFTS house. After the whirlwind holiday tour that included stops all over Chicagoland and places south as well as Pennsylvania, I’m glad to be home. There is one final housekeeping issue that needs to be (Read more…)
Review: Small Arms Dealer – Patron Saint Of Disappointment
On Patron Saint of Disappointment, Small Arms Dealer dishes out dingy, gruff, and melodic punk rock that isn’t terribly original, but that’s not the point. Sure, the band fell off the Latterman tree into the No Idea camp and broke a leg on the way down, but is that such a bad thing? What Small (Read more…)
Fire Bruce Weber Now!
Hey Illini basketball fans. Are you are fed up with Bruce Weber as I am? I just watched the Illini lose to what looked like a very beatable Ohio State team. Fire Bruce Weber now. Since he led the Illini to the Final Four and the NCAA title game, the program that he inherited from (Read more…)
