Update: Chicago Music Venues Safe for Now
Event Promoters ordinance goes back to the drawing board

Clipse photo by Nolan Wells

Local interest story? Perhaps, but the implications may be far broader reaching than that, so listen up. The respected venues and stages that form the cornerstone of the vibrant music and theater communities of the fine city of Chicago-- the city Pitchfork has called home for years now-- are in jeopardy thanks to an unfortunate piece of impending legislation.

The proposed "Event Promoters" ordinance (or Chapter 4-157 of Title IV of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago, if you're fancy) goes before Chicago's City Council TOMORROW, May 14, 2008, at 10 a.m. central time. Simply put, if this thing passes, it will make putting on shows a fiscal and bureaucratic hell for the venues Chicagoans have come to love.

How's that, you ask? A few bullet points [via Save Chicago Culture]:

* The ordinance requires any event promoter to have a license from the city of Chicago and liability insurance of $300,000.
* The definition of "event promoter" is so loosely defined it could apply to a band that books its own shows or a theater company that's in town for a one-week run.
* The "event promoter" will pay $500 - $2000 depending on expected audience size.
* To get the license, applicant must be at least 21, get fingerprinted, submit to a background check, and jump over several other hurdles.
* This ordinance seems targeted towards smaller venues, since those with 500+ permanent seats are exempt.
* Police must be notified at least seven days in advance of event.

At the very least, the "Event Promoters" ordinance will likely result in increased ticket prices for live music (and theater) fans, while curbing variety and severely stymieing gig possibilities for emerging acts. At worst, it could well spell the end for absolutely essential Chicago venues like the Empty Bottle, Schubas, Metro, the Hideout, and others, plus pave the way for similar legislation elsewhere.

Let it be said that the folks behind this ordinance are well-intentioned-- it's meant to snuff out irresponsible promoters, in part as a response to the E2 disaster of 2003, during which 21 people were suffocated or trampled to death when panic broke out at the South Side nightclub. But by imposing these unreasonable restrictions on such a loosely-defined and far-reaching body of promoters-- most of which have run countless events for years now without incident-- the city of Chicago is basically saying "fuck you" to the music and theater cultures it so often claims to cultivate.

So here's where you come in. If you live in Chicago, find your alderman and write him or her at once. If you have friends in Chicago, pass this along. If you want to further inform yourself (and get a headache), waddle through the legalese in the "Event Promoter" ordinance draft here. And for additional info, check out efforts from both the Chicago Music Commission and Save Chicago Culture to stop the ordinance from becoming law in its present, seriously flawed form.

Again, the "Event Promoters" ordinance will be voted on TOMORROW MORNING, so the time to act is now.

***UPDATE: Good news! According to a Chicago Music Commission statement [via Jim DeRogatis' Chicago Sun-Times blog], the "Event Promoters" ordinance is going back to the drawing board following public outcry. It will not be voted on tomorrow as originally planned, and folks hope this will allow more time to fine-tune the proposed ordinance into something a little more amenable to Chicago's music and theater scenes. Keep abreast of the situation via the links above.

CocoRosie Unleash New Digital Single

Packing synthetic beats and all the auto-tune of a T-Pain cut, and described in a press release as "a suicide story that takes place in a tender and elated moment of innocence," what else could it be but a new CocoRosie single?

And indeed it is. At this very instant, you can download "God Has a Voice, She Speaks Through Me", the latest jam from the sisters Casady, thanks to the folks at Touch and Go. A video for the new tune will hit the internet May 26, and for your collection of things, there will be a 7" picture disc come July 8.

Though they've reportedly been busy at work on the follow-up to last year's The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, CocoRosie are presently in Europe, rocking shows and such through the rest of the month. [MORE...]

Girl Talk Throws Taco Bell Party in Pittsburgh

Photo by Jason Bergman

You always get a little more at a Girl Talk show: 200 jams instead of 12, everybody's sweat on your body instead of just your own, really drunk instead of just kinda. And a lucky bunch at a hometown Girl Talk gig last Friday got all that plus some hangover-eradicating eats courtesy of Mr. Gregg Gillis.

On May 9 at Mr. Small's, during his first Pittsburgh area appearance since last summer, the party-rocker cashed in his $500 winnings from that Taco Bell "Feed the Beat" contest and passed the proverbial poblano on to the ravenous crowd.

Gillis explains: "I went to the Edgewood Town Center Taco Bell the week prior and explained what I wanted to do. The manager didn't believe me about the contest at first, but once I showed the actual Taco Bell Bucks, she was pumped on the idea. She even offered to drive all of the food in her pick-up truck to the show. We pre-ordered 133 beef burritos, 133 bean burritos, and 133 spicy chicken soft tacos."

No Crunchwrap Supreme? It is clearly the mash-up of Taco Bell menu items.

"Some friends of mine waited outside and distributed the goods. We got rid of all of the food pretty quick. I actually forgot to put any off to side for myself, so I didn't get any Taco Bell that night."

All of the generosity and none of the heartburn! You win, sir. Here's a video of Girl Talk making the big announcement to the crowd:

In that spirit, we'd gladly offer you more details regarding Gillis' new album, tentatively titled Wild Peace IV: Feed the Animals, Raise the Dead, but we don't have any. We do, however, have Girl Talk's current itinerary, which we humbly present with just a click. [MORE...]

Cee-Lo + Jack Black = "Kung Fu Fighting"
Cee-Lo + Paul Oakenfold = Bourne Conspiracy video game song

Now this is more like it. Following the announcement that Cee-Lo co-penned a song for Jennifer Hudson for the forthcoming Sex and the City: The Movie soundtrack comes word of the Gnarled One's musical involvement in a film about "a lazy, irreverent slacker panda, Po, who must somehow become a kung fu master in order to save the Valley of Peace from a villainous snow leopard, Tai Lung," according to a press release.

In case you didn't guess, the movie in question is the animated Kung Fu Panda, and Cee-Lo contributes a cover of Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" to the soundtrack. But that's not all: Cee-Lo's "Kung Fu Fighting" is a duet with Po himself, aka Jack Black. The song is updated as a "neo-funk/electronica cover," with new lyrics and production from the Underdogs (Beyonce, Chris Brown).

Interscope will release the Cee-Lo/Black "Kung Fu Fighting" as a digital single on May 27, and the full Kung Fu Panda soundtrack will follow on June 3.

In addition to Black, Kung Fu Panda features the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, and Jackie Chan. The movie hits theaters on June 6.

Continuing the collaboration/synergy theme, Cee-Lo also recently worked with superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold on the song and video for "Falling" from the video game The Bourne Conspiracy. Check that out here. [MORE...]

DJ Spooky Mixes the Avant Garde on Sound Unbound
Joyce, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Stein, Duchamp tangle with Aphex Twin, Sun Ra, Cage, Reich

Photo by Tamar Levine

Much as Trojan Records did last fall, the folks at the Sub Rosa label have once again let Paul "DJ Spooky" Miller into their vaults for his follow-up to 2004's Rhythm Science mix and accompanying book. This time out, That Subliminal Kid is calling his premium pastiche Sound Unbound: Excerpts and Allegories From the Sub Rosa Audio Archives Vol. 2.

The set mixes recordings from Sub Rosa's vast audio archives-- from the likes of Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, William S. Burroughs, Marcel Duchamp, Allen Ginsberg, Jean Cocteau, and others-- with avant garde jazz, compositional music, and electronica courtesy of everyone from Aphex Twin to Steve Reich to Sun Ra.

Exhaustive in its scope and absolutely epic in its tracklisting, Sound Unbound arrived in CD format in North America today (May 13) via Sub Rosa. The mix will also accompany Miller's latest book, Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture, which features an introduction by Reich and arrives May 31 thanks to the MIT Press.

Spooky has a number of appearances on the way, though only one is purely musical: his June 7 appearance at Birmingham, England's Zero1 Global Festival, where he'll perform his Terra Nova: The Antarctic Suite about the titular continent's changing landscape. [MORE...]

Shearwater's Meiburg Officially Leaves Okkervil River
Okkervil River add dates all the way in November

Photo by Kathryn Yu

In an interview with Pitchfork news in late March, Shearwater frontman and Okkervil River keyboardist Jonathan Meiburg spoke of his commitment to Will Sheff's ramshackle crew. "I was just working on [Okkervil River music] last week," he told us, though he also added that "they and I agree that I'd be an idiot if I passed up a bunch of Shearwater stuff to do more Okkervil touring with them."

Meiburg's no idiot, and with Matador's June 3 release of the new Shearwater album Rook and the band's current tour coming hard and fast, he's opted to step down from Okkervil entirely to focus all his energies on Shearwater. Yesterday, Shearwater's publicist released the following statement:

Jonathan Meiburg, frontman for Shearwater, has announced that he is leaving Okkervil River to focus exclusively on Shearwater. Meiburg says the split is "completely amicable," and that Shearwater has grown to the point that it excludes his further participation in Okkervil. "This is just a logical extension of the way things have been going since Palo Santo," Meiburg adds. "Shearwater's increasingly demanding schedule has meant that I've performed with Okkervil less and less over the past two years, and with Rook coming out in June, we all felt that it would be best if I completely disengaged from Okkervil rather than stretch myself too thin."

Shearwater and Okkervil have a number of tour dates with quite a few fine bands scheduled over the coming months. Okkervil just announced a bunch of November dates in the UK-- now that's long-term planning. [MORE...]

The Faint Start Their Own Label to Release New Album
Split from Saddle Creek, announce summer tour

Man, what took you guys so long? Fasciinatiion is the first new album from Nebraskan new wavers the Faint since 2004's Wet From Birth. According to a press release, it was "written, recorded, produced, art directed and released entirely on their own," with the proceedings put to tape in the band's recently built Enamel studio. The disc will arrive August 5 from the band's own, blank.wav. (Yes, they've split with longtime home Saddle Creek.)

Oh, so that's what took you guys so long.

For a blast from the past that may yet have some bearing on your future dance parties, check out our interview with bassist Joel Petersen from March 2007 for a little insight into the making of the LP.

The Faint have lined up a monthlong North American around the time of Fasciinatiion's release. Those dates kick off July 27 in Des Moines. [MORE...]

Leonard Cohen, Morrissey, Sigur Ros Do Benicassim
With Spiritualized, Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Chip, Gnarls Barkley, Justice, New Pornographers, My Morning Jacket, Raconteurs, Battles, Black Lips, the National

Benicàssim: it's not just for big reunions, troubled frontmen, and bands named after road parts anymore! Remember way the hell back in December, we told you that this year's Festival Internacional de Benicàssim would feature My Bloody Valentine, Babyshambles and the Rumble Strips when it went off July 17-20 in Benicàssim, Spain? And it will, still, barring incident. But now, we've got a whole lot more of the full lineup, and it runs the gamut from greatly awesome to awesomely great to, well, Mika.

As we now know, Leonard Cohen, Morrissey, Death Cab for Cutie, Sigur Ros, Spiritualized, Hot Chip, Gnarls Barkley, Justice, Battles, Black Lips, the New Pornographers, the Raconteurs, My Morning Jacket, the National, El Guincho, José González, These New Puritans, Fujiya & Miyagi, Booka Shade, the Futureheads, Erol Alkan, American Music Club, Supermayer, Roisin Murphy, the Kills, Siouxsie Sioux, Richard Hawley, Yelle, Tiefschwarz, Ewan Pearson, Micah P. Hinson, Nada Surf, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Metronomy, Tricky, Bracken, the Glimmers, Heavy Trash, the Ting Tings, Eef Barzelay, and Joakim will all take the stage at Benicàssim. So even if you've got no love for Loveless-- wait, what's wrong with you?

Photos: ATP vs. Pitchfork [Sunday]

Photos by Shannon McClean Above: Of Montreal

ATP vs. Pitchfork ended with a bang on Sunday, May 11, with performances from the likes of Of Montreal, the Hold Steady, Jens Lekman, Caribou, No Age, Harmonia, A Place to Bury Strangers, Wooden Shjips, and Marissa Nadler. And we've got shots of all of 'em, available for your viewing pleasure below.

For the Friday portion of our photopalooza, head here, and for Saturday, here.

Thanks to All Tomorrow's Parties! See you in Chicago in July!

THE HOLD STEADY



OF MONTREAL




JENS LEKMAN



NO AGE

CARIBOU


[MORE...]

T.V. Eye: May 12-18, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, May 12:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: N.E.R.D.
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Jaymay

Tuesday, May 13:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Death Cab for Cutie
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Duffy
FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Wednesday, May 14:

NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: Kate Nash
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Black Keys
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Joe Jackson

Thursday, May 15:

ABC: The View: Robyn
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: MGMT
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Against Me!

Friday, May 16:

Syndicated: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Justin Timberlake, Duffy
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: Kathleen Edwards
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kate Nash

Saturday, May 17:

PBS: Austin City Limits: Damien Marley (rerun)
FOX: Fearless Music TV: Dragons of Zynth

Arcade Fire Scoring Donnie Darko Dude's New Movie

Photo by Chris Drabick 

Two things writer/director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) wants you to know:

1. He has nothing to do with that Donnie Darko sequel people have been talking about.

2. He is currently editing his new movie The Box, a thriller starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. "We're starting to work with a very famous band who is honoring us with being the first filmmakers they've ever scored a film with."

One thing Kelly doesn't want you to know:

1. Who that band is.

Well, thank goodness for the website of producer/engineer Markus Dravs, who has worked with Brian Eno, Coldplay, Björk, Depeche Mode, and others.

Under the heading "currently working on," it says, ".... having finished Coldplay's forthcoming album VivaLaVida - now off to Canada to work with Arcade Fire on a Sound-track for the forth coming Richard Kelly film....."

Sweet! This is gonna rule.

Thanks to Jonah Moulin for the tip!

King Khan Turns Summer Supreme With Tour

King Khan and the Shrines will bring their "psychedelic soul big band explosion" to venues across North America this summer in support of their first Vice album, The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines. The immodestly named career-so-far retrospective comes out June 17, and the tour begins 10 days later at NYC's Seaport Music Festival.

The band's other festival appearance is a July 20 set at the Pitchfork Music Festival. [MORE...]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)