I had some friends in town from California who are touring with thier band. Its called Antioquia and they have been touring the country since the beginning of this month to promote the release of thier new album. I absolutely love the title: “Gringolandia.” Lucky me, they made a stop here in Chicago!!! I met them through some mutual friends who are equally as much lovers of music and dance as i am. This group invented their own type of music; no one else plays what they do, so it was a privilege for me to be a part of thier show last night. The music they play is called afrocolombian progress rock… Yeah, thats a mouthful! Whats so funny about them is that all the members in the band are “gringos.” For those of you who don’t know, the word ”gringo” is a word used by Spanish and Portuguese people used in Latin America and abroad to denote foreign non-native speakers of Spanish, especially English speakers from the U.S. But man can they play! They even use traditional instruments straight from Colombia, like the shekere which is exemplary of Colombia’s African influences. I recommend downloading “Puya,” its my fave. Its almost hard to describe, i guess you just have to see it for yourself.
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olblog08
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luckystarz030
This week is a week of live music in Logan Square. The Notwist and Yelle will be playing at the Logan Square Auditorium. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/arts/chi-concerts-best-1017oct17,0,4515326.story
The notwist plays Friday at the auditorium. They are a German indie band that plays minimalist and electronic music.The use acoustics, chimes, guitars and more. This music sounds different and seems like it has potential of making it far. This is a song by them called, Where in this World. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8w2oVZ6Sio. Admission to the show is fifteen dollars.
Yelle played tonight at 7 P.M in the Logan Auditorium. She is a pop singer from France. She raps about boys, sex, and all the other insights of a girl’s life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36e9kZcRWGI. The link is one of her videos, A Cause des Garcons. Her inspiration is Madonna and she is basing her songs sounding like Madonnas. Her videos are known for her charm. The cost for her show was twenty dollars. The photo below is of Yelle:

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lauren
With all of the random questions and ideas that have come up since starting this blog, I feel like I’ve gotten off track in what was my original intent – discovering the process of recording an album and what exactly comes along in doing just that.
As an emerging artist, it might be obvious to begin playing as many live shows as possible and write as many songs as possible, but when it comes time to professionally making an album, finding a good recording studio might appear to be a little more difficult… but it’s actually not. Most active local musicians typically have some general knowledge of the recording options within their own specific city.
(If you’re interested in locating Chicago’s or any other specific city, check out this site.)
Studios can be found all over the country, but in Chicago… they’re every where. And I do mean almost literally everywhere. Each studio is different – they have different prices, offer different equipment, the atmospheres differ, and some produce higher quality recordings than others. The best way (and really, one of the only ways) to find a studio that best fits your need though is to simply contact and visit various studios.
Here are just a few located near DePaul:
The Boiler Room
Handwritten Recording
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lauren
The other day, I was reading Greg Kot’s latest blog post (at the time) and began to wonder if, when vinvyls were made, the process to record and produce is the same as that of creating a CD. And then I began to wonder if that in itself is a really dumb question… but either way, I was going to figure it out.
Of course, it has appeared to be among one of the more difficult things to figure out (or does that really exist?). After failing at the art of “googling” information and instead turning to local musicians for the answer… and the good news is, my question was only half dumb.
The process of actually recording is no different. Sure, some advancements may have been made throughout the years, but it’s essentially the same. However, the process of actually producing a complete vinyl is way different… Check it out.
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lauren
Back in the day when MTV used to actually feature shows about music, I was obsessed… and I do mean obsessed. Back in the height of the Hanson days, I used to literally sit and watch the channel in hopes of a glimpse of my soon-to-be husband, Zac Hanson.
Clearly, the days of the music focused MTV network are long gone, but the channel used to show artists recording their albums in the studio and you could always see the engineer/producer working in the control room (pictured below) – you know, that room with all of the buttons and knobs and whatnot.
This always, always, always intrigued me… and maybe it’s just because I like to push random buttons, but either way, I’ve always been curious to know what exactly the purpose and function of this room is.
Well, in general, the control room gives the engineer/producer the ability to manipulate the recording and, in the words of Angel Bluff Studio’s Cary Carpenter (located in Colorado), make you sound like a star (see video clip below).
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lauren
In looking at listings of recording studios in Chicago, it’s become very clear that there appears to be an endless list of them… and although I don’t have the ability to look into all 2,000+ that the Yahoo! yellow pages lists alone, the studios I have been able to investigate a little further appear to all follow what is considered the general set up of a recording studio:
- control room-considered the “heart” of the recording studio, containing the mixing desk, effects, recorders, computers, and monitors that are need to produce a finished master tape recording
- live room (or studio)-soundproofed room where a full band can play/record
- lounge
- vocal booth
- drum room (typically provided by larger studios only)
The Paragon Recording Studio is one of the larger recording studios within the cities with clients such as The Eagles and Frank Zappa, but the studio, as you can see, exhibits the general set up of a recording studio… one that is a little on the lavish side, but nonetheless a typical recording studio.
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lauren
I’ve spent a good majority of the past eight years of my life being dead convinced that my taste in music is invariably better than that of anyone else–yet in that time, I have eventually come to realize this is a notion out of narcissism rather than actual enlightenment (or whatever you might prefer to call it). And by that, I mean I know next to nothing about music or the music industry except for the fact that Ben Folds dominates it… or should. I mean, he drinks Stella and performs with smiley faces and the three headed dog from Harry Potter (check it out). Sure, it’s random, but it’s pretty badass.
Therefore, for this blog, I’ve set a goal to change that and learn more about the industry and how it operates. More specifically, I want to learn about how recording studios function and what exactly goes into recording a record.
As I have recently come to discover, Chicago has a lot of recording studios. And I do mean a lot such as Gravity Studios and Engine Music Studios to name a few, so I’m hoping to spend the next few weeks getting to know them a little better.
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aritchie01921
Hey guys-
I have decided to use my blog as a means to pass along various recent happenings in Lincoln Park. Being close to some peeps that are on the up-and-up with Alderman Vi Daley, I will hopefully be able to get some dirt on what’s going up and down in the ‘hood.
With the number of crimes escalating, Ms. Daley has finally answered the cries of Armitage Avenue residents and put in a blue light camera on the corner of Armitage and Seminary.
For an updated list of crimes, articles, press releases, street closures, etc., all sorted by your address , check out http://chicago.everyblock.com
Until next time!




