Ear Relevant: 7.27 - 8.10

Been awhile since I've done one of these. I've bought an absurd amount of records lately (well, for me at least. It's been a particularly diverse group of records too. 

First off, things started with getting a little buzzed and heading over to Permanent. Picked up 60s French pop star Claudine Longet's self-titled debut, the reggae-filled soundtrack to "The Harder They Come" featuring plenty of Jimmy Cliff, soulman Syl Johnson's Dresses Too Short (my first Numero LP), and Ray Manzarek's hypersynth version of Carmina Burana produced by Phillip Glass. Yes, that's just as weird as it sounds.

The next week there was a release show for Vamos and Ego, two mainstays in Chicago's punk / garage / DIY scene. They each had LPs out on Maximum Pelt so I got both of them; each have some rad album art. The show was at the Empty Bottle and I forgot my ear plugs like a stupid fucking idiot. Think it was worth it though. Made sure to bring the plugs the following night for Twin Hits (Twin Peaks + Today's Hits), Heavy Times, and the Lemons. No music purchased that night.

Ron Currie Jr. - 'Everything Matters!'

I had high hopes for this book especially after how much I gushed about God is Dead. I don't know, even though I finished this book within 36 hours, I wasn't as blown away as I expected to be.

On the plus side, there was plenty of Literary Chicago, since one of the main characters plays for the Cubs.

"Partying means drinking. It also means playing records by Lou Reed and Chicago, which I thought was a city but is also a band it turns out. Uncle Rodney explained this to me. It's a band and a city and when I'm older he'll take me to Chicago to see Chicago play, he says."

"Chicago is not the ideal place to go to when you've recently lost your mind and plan to curl up in the bottom of a bottle and wait for the feeling of having your insides ripped repeatedly from your body to subside."

"...except this time you were not a toddler but a twenty-year-old man, lying on a bench near the Dearborn Street bridge, staring straight up to where the stars would have been were they not  obscured by the megawatt towers..."

(more random links)

First and foremost, for the seven of you that will read this, please donate to the Rockaway Renegades, a volunteer group  my cousin is helping out with in New York for post-Hurricane Sandy relief. 

Pitchfork interviewed Patrick Stickles, frontman for Titus Andronicus. I really haven't gotten into their new album but dude is fascinating.

Nick Offerman gives advice to people that can't grow facial hair like we can:




For the NSFW segment of the week, music video for Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra song "Do It With a Rockstar." Hairy armpits, glitter fights, lotsa makin' out. Directed by Thee Wayne Coyne:



To end on a more somber note, Robert Loerzel discusses Chicago violence in 2012. 

Edit: OK, should end on a more positive note. Try this tranquil drawing exercise: Silk.