1. Skeletonwitch – Forever Abomination
-Ohio’s Skeletonwitch maintain their blackened thrash style while mixing in some rock n’ roll influence. Maybe not quite as good as Beyond the Permafrost, but still a great album, and points for getting creative.
2. Alestorm – Back through Time
-Everything about this band is goddamn silly. Back through Time is no exception. The opening track is about time travelling pirates having naval battles with Vikings. Needless to say, I can’t get enough. Alestorm goes so over the top as to provide a much needed reminder: metal is about having fun.
3. Motorhead – The World Is Yours
-Another album of Lemmy Kilmeister doing what he does best. Can’t go wrong with those bone-crushing basslines and gravelly voice.
4. Belphegor – Blood Magick Necromance
-Nice mix of death and black metal, having both the chaotic and evil atmospheric qualities of both, respectively. Sounds a bit too similar like Belphegor’s previous material to be called innovative, but that’s alright; the old material’s great too!
5. Blut aus Nord – 777: The Desanctification
-This will be a tough band (this album especially!) to get into if you’re used to Slipknot or whatever bullshit Hot Topic’s selling these days. Each track is titled Epitome VII – XIII, being the second part in Blut Aus Nord’s 777 trilogy. It’s a concept album so big it had to be broken up into three pieces. That alone is enough to be impressive, and as it turns out, they make some soul shatteringly great tracks as well. Avant-garde black metal with French artistic flair: how could it not work? Sadly, I feel obligated to put it towards the bottom of the top, because it feels incomplete without the other two parts. But seriously, acquire this album upon reading this.

Speedwolf is an up and coming band from Denver, CO.They’ve released their first studio album Ride with Death through Hell’s Headbangers, a somewhat lesser known label even in the metal community, but one definitely worth checking out. As for the sound of Speedwolf, they sound exactly like you might expect them to: fast, dirty, and loud. Prolonged listening will actually cause your speakers to smell like WD40. In the vein of crossover thrash, they exhibit the fast and raw feeling of hardcore punk and couple it with the cacophonous trait of speed metal, resulting in something that sounds like Motorhead upped the volume on their guitars and traded vocalists with Darkthrone during their crust punk phase that their trve kvlt fans don’t like to talk about. Whether you’re fan of old school metal or punk, Speedwolf, being one of the few newer bands that can even come close to pulling off that sound and style, is most certainly worth a listen.

For anyone in the Chicago area, they’ll be at the Red Line Tap on April 6 for $7!

Tycho – Dive
Genre: Electronica / Ambient
Label: Ghostly International
Similar Artists: Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, Helios
“Relaxing, atmospheric, synthetic bliss. A beautiful blend of chill-out and ambient sound.”

Thievery Corporation – Culture of Fear
Genre: Trip-hop / Electronica / Downtempo / Dub-Reggae
Label: ESL Music
Similar Artists: Thunderball, Avatars of Dub,
“The legendary duo returns with their sixth studio album. Groovy tunes with a sprinkle of dub/reggae.”

Amon Tobin – ISAM
Genre: Experimental / Electronica / IDM
Label: Ninja Tune
Similar Artists: Cujo, Xploding Plastix
“An intense adventure of field recordings and warped samples. This will leave your head spinning. Amon Tobin is a true DJ that pushes his music to the most logical extremes.”

Shlohmo – Bad Vibes
Genre: Downtempo / Experimental
Label: Friends of Friends
Similar Artists: Teebs, Samiyam, Shigeto
“Great experimental lo-fi album. Another instrumental album composed of floaty loops, gentle nostalgic melodies, and distorted sample fragments.”

Com Truise – Galactic Melt
Genre: New Wave / Electro
Label: Ghostly International
Similar Artists: Neon Indian, Teeel, Airliner
“Dreamy 80′s-video-game-styled synth, with heavy drone undertones and sharp drops. SO MUCH SYNTH! Listen to this album.”

Deadbeat – Drawn & Quartered
Genre: Dub Techno, Minimal Dub
Label: BLKRTZ
Similar Artists: Resoe, MLZ, Pulshar
“One of my personal favorites. Only five tracks, but do not underestimate. They are powerfully deep, and persuasively hypnotic.”

Shigeto – Full Circle Remixes
Genre: IDM / Hip-Hop / Downtempo / Experimental
Label: Ghostly International
Similar Artists: Shlohmo, Teebs, Samiyam
“My favorite remixed album of 2011. A great collaboration, filled with worldly field recordings.”

Four Tet – FabricLive.59
Genre: House / 2-Step / Garage
Label: Fabric Records
Similar Artists: Burial, Caribou, Crazy Bald Heads
“My favorite mix of 2011. Upbeat, playful, and buzzing! An essential Fabric mix that truly embraces London and UK garage.”

Onra – Chinoiseries Pt. 2
Genre: Hip-Hop / Downtempo
Label: All City
Similar Artists: Quetzal, TOKiMONSTA, AFTA-1, J Dilla
“32 flowing hip-hop sketches fashioned from Chinese and Southeast Asian vinyl. The beats just don’t stop.”

Bibio – Mind Bokeh
Genre: Electronica
Label: Warp Records
Similar Artists: Four Tet, Kona Triangle, Caribou
“A surprising album that successfully combines both electronic textures and strong pop structures.”

Emika – Emika
Genre: Dubstep / Trip-hop
Label: Ninja Tune
Similar Artists: Pinch, Nedry, Massive Attack
“An exploration of dubstep and trip hop form, Emika creates a more darker, and seductive sound with unique vocals, synth, and silence.”

Honorable Mentions:

• Dominik Eulberg – Diorama

• Gold Panda – Companion

• Moby – Destroyed

YAWN

One of the best kept secrets of the Chicagoland alternative scene YAWN recently released their new L.P. Open Season and have begun touring in support of the album. Thankfully enough, they were able to take time out of their hectic schedule and answer a few questions about the current state of their band.

By: Richard A. O’Neill

Listen to YAWN and other top picks with DJ O’Neilllll on Fridays at 12PM

Q: After the release of your excellent self titled E.P. back in 2010 YAWN seemed to drop off of the Chicago music scene.  What were you guys up to during this time and what finally prompted you to finally get back to recording?

A: We were doing just that, recording. We went on a few small tours, but really kept in all fall and winter writing and recording the new material.

Q: What is your recording process like? Is your band more of a, ‘block out the world and record for 16 hours’ or, ‘our music develops organically’ or where in between or perhaps something completely different.

A: Its a little bit of everything. We had that ‘block out the world’ sort of mentality going into mixing, but the process in which we record is also our writing process. A beat/sample/chord progression is recorded, we play it on the speakers and elaborate on it or jam out to it. That way we immediately have it as a jumping off point and start exploring other instruments or ideas. Sometimes its all of us, sometimes just two. Its kinda neat in that way. And ideas can certainly be molded or shaped outside the studio, just going about our day… in an organic way. I guess our main ethos is “try anything” – we’ll record any and all ideas and decide later what works and what doesn’t.

Q: Your latest album is more of a developed sound than what you have produced before. Do you contribute anything to this new found edge? New musical influences, better equipment, clearer heads gained through age?

A: Yes, all of those things, as well as getting familiar with recording on our own. The EP was a crash course in learning the DIY recording process. We got more technically proficient, learned a lot about recording methods, and bought better equipment. I think we are also just honing in on what we want our sound to be, you know, having a distinct vision for a song… and now we’re capable of getting that vision across… making it sound like it does in our heads.

Q: How is touring treating the band so far?

A: Touring has been a rollercoaster of emotions for us. Its fun playing shows, and getting into it with a different crowd every night, but its the crappy van problems and all the expenses that are weighing us down. This is what you get when you’re a broke band with a lemon for a vehicle. You really learn the cold business side of being a band.. it’s discouraging sometimes.

Q: Are you looking forward to being back in Chicago?

A: To be quite honest with you…. no. hahahha. We’ve spent a lot of time in Chicago. We kinda wanna get out of the city, and go elsewhere for a bit.

Q: Have anything to say about what type of audiences you find in Chicago? If so, any notable differences between us, ‘Berliners by the Lake’ than say the audiences you would find on the East or West coasts?

A: Its hard to compare. Chicago tends to be a tough town to play, but it seems we have a really close following of friends and fans. They come out and pack the venues when we play, and thats great. The scene here is scattered around. NYC and Philly have better laws on bars letting in 18 year olds in, so you see the venues packed every night.

Q: Hunter S. Thompson once said that you don’t go looking for acid but that it finds you when the time is ready. I only bring this up because you recently gained some interesting press focused on your song Acid. Like other current alternative bands such as WAVVES, Animal Collective, and the Smith Westerns; YAWN seems to be riding a new wave of psychedelic music which differs from the Acid-Rockers of the late ‘60s who promoted peace, love, and unity, and all that fun stuff. Why do you think that this new era of psychedelic music is more focused on feelings of vulnerability and childlike innocence rather than proclaiming a new age of Aquarius?

A: This is an excellent question. It seems to come from exterior forces, social, political and state of the world. In the 60′s the pop culture explosion joined people together. There was no internet, cell phones, twitters, so people just got together. Communally exchanging… everything really. So when acid came to them, it touched everyone… if there was enough to go around. So the music celebrated that. Today, we are wired. The internet changed us, through social networking we are really just becoming less social. This isolation, on top of the feeling of insignificance when you see how big the world is makes for a more introspective experience… for us anyway. When we took acid and wrote that song, it was just Adam and me, and we were huddled in our basement over our instruments. It’s fun to really explore your own emotions and moods… something we definitely do not need drugs to do but hey, being sober can get kinda boring sometimes!

Q: Any plans after the band is finished touring?

A: We’ve gotten a head start on some new material, so we’re definitely gonna record when we get back from tour. Who knows maybe there’ll be another YAWN release within a years time.

12/17 – Chicago – The Subbterranean w/Carbon Tigers, Treehous, Rites (Popstache 1 Year Anniversary)

Download their Self-titled EP here.

Catch YAWN as they tour the West Coast with the Kooks!

12/2 – Seattle – Showbox @ The Market

12/5 – Portland – Doug Fir

12/4 – Vancouver -Commodore Ballroom

12/7 – Los Angeles – The Music Box

12/8 – Los Angeles – The Music Box

12/13 – San Francisco – The Filmore

December

12/2 @ The Hideout – White Mystery, Rabble Rabble, Cell Phones

12/3 @ The Hideout – Mannequin Men, Vee Dee, Nicholas Rouley (comic)

12/4 @ Empty Bottle – Missing Monuments, Tyler John Tyler, Rich Crook (Solo)

12/6 @ Lincoln Hall – YACHT, Extreme Animals, Cains & Abels, Kid Color

12/7 @ Schubas – Kimya Dawson, Pablo Das  Cancelled, two shows on March 25th @ Old Town School of Folk

12/10 @ Empty Bottle - 3 Year  Anniversary Party of Windy City Soul Club

12/14 @ The Metro – Joy Formidable, Bad Veins

12/15 @ The Hideout – The Alabama Shakes, The Lawrence Peters Outfit

12/17 @ Empty Bottle – Sea and Cake, Luke Roberts, Brokeback

12/22 @ Lincoln Hall – Santah, In Tall Buildings, Elephant Gun, The Island of Misfit Toys

12/28 & 12/29 @ Schubas - Waco Brothers, Semi Twang, The Yellow Hammers, Sanctified Grumblers

12/30 @ Empty Bottle – Detroit Cobras, The Runnies, Ramma Lamma

12/30 @ Lincoln Hall – Hood Internet, Team Bayside High, Driftless Pony Club

12/31 @ Schubas – JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound

12/31 @ Empty Bottle – Disappears, Bare Mutants, Outer Minds

The geniuses at The Hideout have come up with what will probably be the best thing you could do in the freezing month of January.

The pure psychedelia is sure to entertain you to no end. Be sure to catch WMXM favorites CAVE and Rabble Rabble! Remember, you heard them first here.

Friday, January 20

CAVE
Bil Vermette
Velcro Lewis Group
Killer Moon
Strychnine

Saturday, January 21

Dark Fog
Classic Crimewave Sound
Rabble Rabble
Verma
Red Plastic Buddha

Emika, released in October 2011 by Ninja Tune.

Berlin-based electronic artist Emika recently opened at the sold-out Amon Tobin concert at Congress Theater, Chicago on October 21st, 2011. Her performance was darkly seductive, yet delicately atmospheric, as she explored bass-heavy textures of electronic sound along with her voice and synthesizer. Although her set ended somewhat abruptly, she included many songs from her self-titled album, Emika, released in Oct 2011 by Ninja Tune label. Below is Emika’s interview with WMXM’s DJ Maxwell Stern …

Where are you from and where are you based these days?

Czech Republic/England, I’ve lived in Berlin for 4 years.

What instruments/equipment do you play / use ?

Voice, piano, digital sequencers, MAX/MSP, Waldorf Synths, Korg Electribes, computers, some analog synths. 

Your sound has been described as “trip-hop”, “electronica”, “dubstep”, and “pop”, as well as “post-dubstep” and “post-triphop”. Are elements of your sound based on these styles? / How would you describe your music?

Sure, I use synthesis, the art of tragedy, voice, song arrangements, grooves and bass lines. The music I make is called Subvox.

How did you become involved in the music you play now? / Who are your greatest influences?

Rachmaninov. Chopin. Shostakovich. Maria Callas. Marcel Dettmann. Mala. Pinch. Mahler. Berghain 

What’s it been like working with Ninja Tune label? And how much creative control do you have over your own music?

I have creative control as I am the composer and performer of my music.  I have worked with Ninja for over three years now and we are like family. We take good care of each other and have a lot of trust and respect flowing between us.  

What has been the biggest challenge for you so far as an artist?

Existing in a world of ‘producers’ and boring dance music. 

You tend to utilize heavy silence and heavy bass in your music, with sharp, ghostly vocals. It seems as if this has been your approach with your newest self-titled album. Can you tell me what image your songs (for instance “Professional Loving” or “Double Edge”) are trying to convey or discuss your songwriting process?

Professional Loving is about an observation of the music technology industry I worked in for several years in Germany. Every one working together happily, and expressing love for the work and business, but this to me, seemed like a very unique form of love which is very different from love I know outside of office hours. That song has a hollow distorted sound and vibe. The lyrics are a delicate illustration on top of the music which embodies how I felt sometimes in a professional German world.

Double Edge, is about the fights between ignorance and bliss, justice and peace, jealousy and revenge, being hurt and being freed.

The Long Goodbye, is about all the great people I have met, and was never given the opportunity to become close to. Life unfolds, and life takes away. Some people you meet, and the relationship becomes about saying goodbye, rather then becoming close friends.

Pretend is about having a one night stand.

What have you been working on since your latest album release (other than touring)?

Developing the art of singing, making love to my voice every day, I am 25, and I am finally very comfortable in my skin and can there fore reach new places with my body as my instrument. 

Have you been working with any other notable electronic artists?

That’s top secret

Do you have any other interests or talents you would like to share? What do you like to do away from music?

I don’t do anything away from music.  I go record shopping, clubbing, dancing.  I drink a lot of coffee and sit in nice bars in Berlin while writing lyrics, and there is a couple of places I can play piano out of hours.  I hang out a lot in the city, Berlin is one big living room. 

Do you have any advice, tips, or “behind-the-scene” information for young, aspiring electronic artists?

Think about composing and what is means to be a composer.  F**k production.  F**k the radio, F**k pop music.  

Composition, story telling, giving energy to the art community within electronic music, that’s key.  Everything else is not worth bothering with, unless you want to be a model or a star.  The world needs more musicians and more art and more attention to details.

Take your time.  Make something unique, bring something special to the clubs, if you make something that sounds like something else, throw it away. 

Make music for the people, not for yourself, give, give, give.  Being an artist is about giving.

Making music is like having a conversation, you want to say the same thing every day? or do you want to discuss something fresh?

Free All Ages Show @ Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel

MANNEQUIN MEN & RABBLE RABBLE
By WMXM 88.9 FM  |  View on Facebook

When: Nov 5, 2011 (8:00pm - 11:00pm)

Where: Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
555 N Sheridan Rd, Lake Forest, Illinois, United States

» View map

Special Guest: ANIMAL CITY

ALL AGES!

Join WMXM 88.9 FM for a night of the edgiest psych/punk rock sound that transforms a 1800s Gothic style chapel into a gritty night in Chicago's underground. Mannequin Men is raved as the loudest and most out of control Windy City groups. The band will be previewing songs from their newest self-titled effort, due out on Addenda on November 8th. They are supported by Rabble Rabble, a wild group from Chicago's budding Logan Square.

www.wmxm.org
www.facebook.com/mannequinmen
www.rabblerabbleband.com
http://sophomoreloungerecords.com/animalcity.html... See full description

Join WMXM 88.9 FM for a night of the edgiest psych/punk rock sound that transforms a 1800s Gothic style chapel into a gritty night in Chicago’s underground. Mannequin Men is raved as the loudest and most out of control Windy City groups. The band will be previewing songs from their newest self-titled effort, due out on Addenda on November 8th. They are supported by Rabble Rabble, a wild group from Chicago’s budding Logan Square.

Mannequin Men

“If the Replacements had met Peter Sellers on the floor of a dive bar somewhere in the Midwest, they may have drunkenly thought up the Mannequin Men.
Four punker-types with a penchant for getting wild at house parties and spending their free time in a CCR cover band… Formed in late 2003, founding members Kevin Richard, Seth Bohn, and Ethan D’ercole (And then bassist Rick Berger) began the group as an excuse to hang out together, and write songs in their dingy practice space they wished they were hearing more of elsewhere… They began playing all over the great city of Chicago and some scattered Midwest gigs, sharing stages with The Black Lips, The Circle Jerks, No Age, and the like, leaving a trail of spilt drinks and sweat stains behind them…

Quicker to smile than sneer, amidst the barn burning rockers, they also have soft spots in their collective hearts for sweet melodies and hooks as big as anchors. Sitting somewhere between the Wipers’ razor sharp punk, and choruses stripped and ripped from all those British invasion tunes that warped the minds of impressionable youth all around the globe in that era they call the ‘60’s’…”  - Facebook.com/MannequinMen

New Self-Titled Album out November 8^th, 2011 on Addenda

Rabble Rabble

“When they describe the music of RABBLE RABBLE as ‘scorching,’ you better not take it for granted, because before you know it you will be face down in the dirt wondering what just the hell just hit you.”- styrofoamdrone.com

“A noisy yet “together” pop sensibility, [a]n experimental maturity.” – History In A Minor Key

Here’s where it’s at:

Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel

Lake Forest College

555 N Sheridan Rd

Lake Forest, IL 60045

This video is for the “Boots Electric Theme”, and this also happens to be probably the best/most hilarious (also slightly inappropriate, haha) music video I have seen this year. Enjoy!