Ghost Media

Lollapalooza Part Deux?

From the Chicago Tribune:

The promoters of Lollapalooza are going into competition with themselves by staging a three-day music festival in New Jersey next summer the weekend after Lollapalooza plays Grant Park.

C3 Presents, the Texas-based company that brought Lollapalooza to the Chicago lakefront in 2005, announced Tuesday that it would partner with Festival Republic, the company behind several huge European festivals, to stage the Vineland Music Festival in Vineland, N.J., on Aug. 8-10, 2008. The festival will be held on a 550-acre private farm within an hour’s driving distance of New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Lollapalooza is scheduled to return for its fourth year at Grant Park on Aug. 1-3.....C3 now annually books three major summer festivals: Lollapalooza, Vineland and the Austin City Limits Festival in Texas. Jones said he had no additional festival plans in the works for 2008.

"Selling Out Isn't Possible"--Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes Takes on His Critics

Of Montreal, the oddball popsters of "Let's go to Outback tonight" infamy, have never been shy about lending their music to commercials.  Now singer Kevin Barnes is taking the time to explain the decisions in a 1000+ word essay over at Stereogum .  He mounts a spirited defense of the financial necessity of doing such things, but for my part, I believe they firmly crossed the line when they changed the words to and existing song (easily their biggest hit) and rerecorded it for Outback. 

Licensing your art=fine

Altering your art for commercial interests=lame

The Self-Tuning Guitar

So....when is the band going to drink their beers?  Gibson has announced the very first self-tuning guitar ....which is pretty cool, outside of the fact that they are calling it the "Robot Guitar".  It even can switch to one of five alternate tunings with the flick of a switch.  More commentary on the guitar here.

Schuba's Announces January's Tommorrow Never Knows Festival

Without fail, the musical highlight of every January in Chicago is the Tomorrow Never Knows Festival at Schubas.  The program is always full of the finest emerging pop bands from around the country, and this year looks to be no exception.  While John Vanderslice, The M's, Bobby Conn, or The Walkmen seem to dilute the festival's traditional focus on "newer" artists, the lineup still manages to hold its own.  Our friends over at No Dessert For You report the schedule as follows:

Wednesday, 1/16: John Vanderslice, The M’s, Young Galaxy

Thursday, 1/17: Bobby Conn, NOMO, Hylozyoists

Friday, 1/18: Cloud Cult, Illinois, Wax Fang

Saturday, 1/19: White Williams, Omehga Watts, Ecstatic Sunshine

Sunday, 1/20: The Walkmen, White Rabbits, White Denim

Ghost Media Hard Hitting Analysis:  Six (6) of the fifteen (15) artists start with the letter "W".  Three (3) of the artists begin with the word "White".  Like, weird.

Live Preview: Oucho Sparks Thursday at Portage Park Theater

I can't claim to know much about the band Oucho Sparks , but anytime a show promises "flying saucers, spark machines, dance troupes [editor's comment--note the plural] and a marching band", you've got my interest.  Hell, I may go just to see what exactly a spark machine is.  The show is at the recently resurrected Portage Theater, and tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door. (flying saucers ain't cheap....)  Residents of 60641 (i.e. the uber-hip Ghost Media Corporate World Headquarters) get in for only a buck.

Listen to "Mercedes 300d" by Oucho Sparks

Centerfold: The Folding Electric Guitar

A Swedish company called DeVillain has introduced one of the cooler things I've seen in a while....an electric guitar that folds completely in half  , for easy traveling. The strings don't have to be removed, and allegedly when the guitar is unfurled it will be as in-tune as it was before folding.  From the company's press release:

Behind the development of the folding guitar, patent applied for in Europe, Japan and USA, is SAS airline pilot Fredrik Johansson. He is a devoted guitarist but couldn't take his instrument with him on flights around the world. During the last ten years, Fredrik has been working on the development of a folding guitar that could easily be taken on a plane. The resulting product not only solves the problem he was experiencing but also that of all the other guitarists who are fed up carrying their cumbersome guitar cases on buses, subways, bikes.

Office on Daytrotter

Daytrotter has an extensive interview with Chicago's indie darlings Office today along with a four song session , which includes a new track called "Molly" penned by guitarist Tom Smith.