MUSEYON GUIDES » Chicago http://www.museyon.com/blog A Curated Guide to Your Obsessions Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:08:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Museyon’s Guide to…Pitchfork Festival http://www.museyon.com/blog/2010/07/06/museyons-guide-to-pitchfork-festival/ http://www.museyon.com/blog/2010/07/06/museyons-guide-to-pitchfork-festival/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:10:43 +0000 Kellas http://www.museyon.com/blog/?p=5464 Pitchfork-Music-Festival-2010
Normally, Pitchfork is a highly critical website devoted to rating the indie music scene one album at a time but for one weekend every summer, they turn their hometown of Chicago into the personification of their online self with the Pitchfork Festival- three days of music and comedy from some of the highest rated bands to grace their pages. Taking place from Friday July 16th to Sunday July 18th, Pitchfork Festival will rock Chicago’s Union Park with indie elite both old and new from headliner LCD Soundsystem to airy Brooklyn songstress Sharon van Etten.

Think what you may about Pitchfork’s sometimes mean spirited album reviews, the tone of the festival is completely opposite with ticket prices kept purposefully bargain basement and the comforts of their patrons on the forefront of planning. This is the reason why the $90 three-day passes sold-out almost immediately and the $40 day passes for Saturday and Sunday soon followed. If you haven’t bought tickets yet, the incredibly fine Friday line-up is still for sale, it is also the only day of the festival you will get to see comedy on stage (we highly recommend the hilarious Eugene Mirman).
 
Festival Tips:
Unlike some of the mammoth European festivals, Pitchfork is rather small. There is no camping and curfew is at 10pm each night.
 
To get to the festival, this year they are encouraging people to cycle and providing shelter to keep your bike safe. For those not so inclined, the Ashland Green Line stop is only steps away.
 
Avoid the huge lines that is will call and print your tickets beforehand or have them mailed to you but beware, a ticket ending-up lost in the mail won’t be accepted as an excuse.

]]> http://www.museyon.com/blog/2010/07/06/museyons-guide-to-pitchfork-festival/feed/ 1 One Week Only: Wesley Willis’ Joy Ride http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/12/04/one-week-only-wesley-willis-joy-ride/ http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/12/04/one-week-only-wesley-willis-joy-ride/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:19:31 +0000 Heather C http://www.museyon.com/blog/?p=2329 WesleyWillis
Woah! Well our weekend viewing schedule just got a little more jam-packed. The folks over at Pitchfork.TV are hosting rock doc (or should we say rock-you-mentry) ‘Wesley Willis’ Joy Ride’ for ONE WEEK ONLY, and we’ve got it here, too. The film tells the story of a Willis, the obese and schizophrenic “savant-garde” musician, and frontman of the Wesley Willis Fiasco. In his art–mostly pen-and-ink drawings of Chicago cityscapes–and in his music, Willis set out to chase away the demons that interrupted his “Harmony Joy Rides”. Thanks, Pitchfork!
 

 
image by Silverfuture/Flickr

]]> http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/12/04/one-week-only-wesley-willis-joy-ride/feed/ 0 OUT NOW! Music + Travel Worldwide: 12 Cities / 12 Scenes http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/11/04/out-now-music-travel-worldwide-12-cities-12-scenes/ http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/11/04/out-now-music-travel-worldwide-12-cities-12-scenes/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:31:26 +0000 Heather C http://www.museyon.com/blog/?p=2120 Music+Travel Worldwide
In Music+Travel Worldwide our expert guides take a musical tour around the globe. Check out our sound sampler before you buy the book…
 
Jazz Land: Chicago by Peter Margasak
Jazz
Hometown Hero: Ken Vandermark and the Ken Vandermark 5
 

 
Click to hear 11 more…

 
Bring the Noise, Bring the Punk: Dublin by James Hendicott
Celtic Punk
Hometown Hero: Blood or Whiskey, “They Say No”
 

 
New Rap City: Paris by Miles Marshall Lewis
Muslim Hip-Hop
Hometown Hero: Booba, “Mon Son”
 

 
Techno Color: Berlin by Siobhan O’Leary
Techno
Hometown Hero: Ellen Allien Apparat, “Way Out”
 

 
Jailhouse Rock: Moscow +St. Petersburg by Alina Simone
Chanson
Hometown Hero: Yanka Dyagileva, “Na Cherniy Den’”
 

 
Classical Studies: Istanbul by Alexandra Ivanoff
Classical
Hometown Hero: Fazil Say, “Black Earth”
 

 
Swing Shifts: Addis Ababa by Mikael Awake
Ethiopop
Hometown Hero: Mulatu Astatke, “Yekermo Sew” (with the Heliocentrics)
 

 
Passage to Indipop: Mumbai by Shamik Bag
Indipop
 
Hometown Hero: A.R. Rahman, “O Saya” (with MIA)

 
Experimental Methods: Beijing by Nick Frisch
Experimental
Hometown Hero: Carsick Cars, “Mogu, Mogu”
 

CARSICK CARS – 蘑菇 蘑菇 MOGU MOGU (Music Video) from Maybe Mars / 兵马司 on Vimeo.


 
Art Rock Confidential: Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane by Mel Campbell
Art Rock
Hometown Hero: Deloris, “Playing the Spaces”
 

 
The Digital Domain: Buenos Aires by Eve Hyman
Cumbia
Hometown Hero: Chancha Via Circuito
 

Chancha Via Circuito – ZZK Records from ZZK Records on Vimeo.


 
Folk Lure: Los Angeles by Jessica Hundley
Calicountry
Hometown Hero: Devendra Banhart, “Brindo”
 

Devendra Banhart – Brindo from Rômulo Martinz on Vimeo.


 

]]> http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/11/04/out-now-music-travel-worldwide-12-cities-12-scenes/feed/ 0 Meet Museyon: Peter Margasak http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/09/30/meet-museyon-peter-margasak/ http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/09/30/meet-museyon-peter-margasak/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:13:59 +0000 Heather C http://www.museyon.com/blog/?p=1650 Peter Margasak

On today’s episode of Meet Museyon let’s all give a warm welcome to Peter Margasak, our man in Chicago. He’s the guy behind the Chicago Reader’s music-minded Post No Bills blog, and a “brutally honest” critic with an encyclopedic knowledge of music. In Music+Travel Worldwide, he’s your guide to the ins and outs of the city’s legendary jazz scene. Find out more about Peter, and his Windy City travel tips, after the jump…

 

Home base: Chicago

Day job: Staff writer, Chicago Reader

Last band you saw live: A Hawk and a Hacksaw

 


 

Museyon Guides: How would you describe the Chicago sound?
Peter Margasak: What’s great about the Chicago sound is that there isn’t one. Too many styles and approaches are represented here for any single sound to define the city’s music.

 

MG: Any insider tips for people visiting Chicago?
PM: At the risk of looking boosterish, I’d say picking up the Chicago Reader would provide a good overview of what’s happening here on any given week. Beyond that I think there’s always something worthwhile–whether it’s music, film, or visual art–at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E.Washington St., Chicago), and it’s all free.

 

MG: What’s your idea of one perfect night out in Chicago?

PM: I’m pretty fond of having dinner at Cafe Lula (2537 N Kedzie Blvd, Chicago; 773-489-9554), although I often feel so full and content afterward that doing something else might spoil the perfection of the meal.

 

MG: How do you find new music?
PM: The Internet is pretty indispensible along with a handful of specialty mags.

 

MG: For people just getting into jazz music – where should they begin?
PM: Hard question, but I think Ben Ratliff’s book “Jazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings,” is pretty spot-on. (Hear a sample from album No. 77, John Coltrane’s ‘Interstellar Space’, below.)

 


 

MG: Is there an artist, album or venue that you wish more people knew about?
PM: I feel like much of the music I enjoy is scarcely known–the list would fill a book in itself. I do think Chicago’s Hungry Brain (2319 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago; 773-935-2118) is a great hang for jazz shows. People listen attentively, but the atmosphere is laid back.

 

The Hungry Brain

The Hungry Brain

 

MG: What other music scenes would you like to see Museyon visit?
PM: Oslo, Norway. Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 

Photos: Portrait cortesy of Peter Margasak, Hungry Brain by Md2545/Flickr

]]> http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/09/30/meet-museyon-peter-margasak/feed/ 1 Jazz Land: Chicago http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/04/01/jazz-land-chicago/ http://www.museyon.com/blog/2009/04/01/jazz-land-chicago/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:43:28 +0000 Heather C http://www.museyon.com/blog/?p=571 chicagoJazz may have been born in New Orleans, but Chicago is its home. Join Museyon Guide Peter Margasak on a tour of the Windy City and trace the evolution of Chicago jazz from its 1920s heyday to its revival in the mid ’90s. Meet hometown heroes from experimental innovator Sun Ra to contemporary flautist Nicole Mitchell, discover essential albums and find out where to go to see the best live music.

 

photo: iStock

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