Feb/101
Rad & Bad: February 25, 2010
Today is February 25, 2010 – Here is the Rad & Bad.
Got lots to talk about this week: Katie Couric, the Luck of the Irish, Disney movies, & a few songs I love and hate. Plus, a few surprises along the way.
Also, check me out on the shows I host, “My Indie Life” and “Chicago Rocks.”
Feb/100
Internet TV Weekly Picks: Brainstorm
I’m just gonna come right out and say it: This is my favorite Internet TV series so far. I watched all eight episodes in a row, and then I watched the series for a second time just for the hell of it. Very funny stuff. You can see Robby and Pat discuss the show on this week’s episode of OK, Good Stuff, “RPG”.
Brainstorm (which can be found at brainstormtheshow.com and DailyMotion) is a show about an ad agency called “Yogurt” which is going under due to an inappropriate TV spot leading to the sudden firing of a majority of the employees. The agency needs to nail a pitch for a campaign for “THE” Altoids, & so they bring in the best in the business: Rock Shanz! The main character of the show, Ben (played by Jamie Elman) has a history with Rock as he stole Ben’s ideas & girlfriend at the same exact time. Hilarity ensues. Watch the trailer below, and then head over to brainstormtheshow.com to watch the entire series. It’ll be the best 45 minutes you’ll ever spend on the internet. This show also stars Michael Blaiklock, Todd Grinnell, Peter Holden, Charlotte Newhouse, & Genevieve Jones.
Good stuff, okay?
Feb/100
Indie Music Weekly Picks: Beautiful Small Machines, The Moon & Her Mother
Beautiful Small Machines are an awesome Power Pop / Electronica group who are clearly influenced by the 80’s as well as the future, interestingly enough. They sound like “mandroids on whiskey” so if you’re into that kind of thing, I say give this group a go. The songs I recommend the most are “Robots in Love”, “SuperConductor”, and “Simple Joys” which features Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran!
http://www.myspace.com/beautifulsmallmachines
http://beautifulsmallmachines.com/
The Moon & Her Mother is the interesting moniker of a man named Aaron Wallace – just moved to Chicago, so if you live in the wonderful Windy City, try to make him welcome here. He used to be roomies with Civalias (featured in Episode 3 of MIL) and strangely they both went the alias route – giving themselves awesome false identities with which to go through their musical careers. Wallace’s first album (Self-Titled) is newly released, so what are you waiting for? Get it now!
http://www.myspace.com/themoonandhermother
Authentik Artists | The Moon and Her Mother
Check out both these wonderful artists on My Indie Life, Episode 13!
Feb/100
News: Chicago Roots Collective and MaybeHip.com Presents…
Chicago Roots Collective and MaybeHip.com presents: Jackpot Donnie at Durty Nellie’s! Also playing are How Far to Austin, Murley Shertz, & Greensugar.
The event is March 5th, at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine. Click here for the map.
I can honestly tell you from experience that you can’t have a bad time at one of these shows. The energy that these bands have when they perform is really something special, and they make the audience a part of the show. You don’t want to miss this night of fun! To check out more cool music & to learn about upcoming CRC shows, head over to Chicago Roots Collective.
Two of the bands have had appearances on our show “Chicago Rocks”. See Jackpot Donnie on Episode 5, and How Far to Austin on Episode 3!
Feb/100
Instant Movie Review: Shutter Island
Today on the Instant Movie Review, Pat & Rob talk about the film “Shutter Island”, the psychoanalytic thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio & Mark Ruffalo – directed by Martin Scorsese. In the film, DiCaprio plays a US Federal Marshall who goes with his partner (Ruffalo) to Shutter Island (a home to the criminally insane) to investigate the disappearance of a patient.
Find out what Pat & Rob thought of the film immediately after seeing it in the theaters. Then, come back on Wednesday for an all-new episode of OK, Good Stuff where they will talk about the movie again, now that they’ve had some time to digest what they saw.
Lexi Scherr
Feb/102
Rad & Bad: February 20, 2010
Today is February 20, 2010 – Here is what’s Rad & Bad.
This week a few of my topics are based on things that are going on/just happened. Winter Sports & Valentine’s Day. I am not a fan of the holiday Valentine’s Day, although I do celebrate Anna Howard Shaw Day which falls on February 14th (thanks Liz Lemon). And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the Vancouver Olympics are happening now.
Feb/100
Does It Go With Bacon? – Marshmallows
Every once in a great while all of us ponder those important questions in life. This blog covers one such question: Does it go with bacon?
The epic saga continues with what becomes a two parter. This week we are going to see what bacon tastes with my buddy the marshmallow. Then next week we give the mallow a second chance where is really shines, inside of a melty warm smore. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. The marshmallow by itself has always been an enigma for me. It was always the texture that would get me to eat them, but once I had a couple I questioned my decision to eat any. But when marshmallows aren’t by themselves they tend to make other things taste delicious. So if mallows make things better and bacon makes things better the combo must be delicious, right?
You can see even more bacon combinations here.
Also check out many more fun Maybe Hip shows at MaybeHip.com
Patrick Lothian
Feb/100
Does It Go With Bacon? – Pop-tarts
Every once in a great while all of us ponder those important questions in life. This blog covers one such question: Does it go with bacon?
There are so many different foods in the world. Some are good and some are bad. I have been living my life believing that each of these foods could be better with the help of bacon. From chocolate to pumpkin it has to be tastier with my friend Mr. Bacon. Now that I am getting older I thought it was time to test out this theory. Will you come along with me? great. The first of many challenges comes in the form of a beloved breakfast food Pop-tarts. This first challenge was a little daunting. Who would ever want to mix bacon and Pop-Tarts. Maybe the sugar specs could be bacon bits, but a whole strip of bacon? Well we are all about to find out if bacon goes with Pop-tarts.
You can see even more bacon combinations here.
Also check out many more fun Maybe Hip shows at MaybeHip.com
Patrick Lothian
Feb/102
Pat’s Mixtape: The Lyrics
For my first mix I wanted to focus on the lyrics. A lot of people say that it isn’t the lyrics that they notice first, but with me it is the opposite. I am drawn to the songs that have something to say, whether that be deep, or just well put together. One of our fellow hosts Michael Mac recently tried to convince me that I would like the song “Party in the USA” if it was sung by one of my “indie” artists. You can see him try and convince you that it is a good song on episode 3 of For OR Against. I told him that I didn’t believe this to be true, that it was the extremely poor lyrics that made me not like the song and not the fact that Miley Cyrus was singing. I did get his point that I could just be making my judgment on preconceived ideas and not the quality of the song. Luckily a few days later I was listening to a new artist I found and he did a cover of this song. I was listening and enjoying myself and then a new song came on and I stopped and thought, “Wow these are terrible lyrics”. When he finally got to the chorus I realized what was happening. So to Michael, Ha.
This is why I thought it would be nice to start with a mix of songs that all have, what I believe to be, great lyrics. Hope you enjoy, the explanations of the tracks are after the break.
Feb/103
Chicago Music: Cobalt and the Hired Guns
Cobalt and the Hired guns have stage presents like so many bands wish they could. It is so clear that these guys are loving every moment that they are singing. Their sound is also very unique with the combination of sax, accordion, and a special way to play the drums. Drummer Jesse becomes a one-man percussion section. He has a box, a single drum, a cymbal and anything he can hit these things with including a drum stick, shakers, a tambourine and even sometimes a banana.
Their acoustic set was amazing and was full of the energy of a show. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we do, we think that you will. Below are the first couple videos from Cobalt and the Hired Guns. More coming soon. You can see their Chicago Rocks episode here.
You Left Your Sweater:
