THE FRAY’S FOURTH ALBUM HELIOS SET FOR FEBRUARY 25 RELEASE ON EPIC RECORDS; PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE NOW “LETTERMAN” PERFORMANCE FEBRAURY 24

Click here to check out The Fray's recent live performance as part of Esquire's Live Sessions, where their rendition of "How to Save a Life" segued into a rock version of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball":

Helios, the fourth album from critically acclaimed foursome The Fray, will be released February 25 on Epic Records. The album was produced by Stuart Price (The Killers, Madonna, Keane) and Isaac Slade (piano, vocals). The new music has received early critical acclaim—Billboard named it “one of the most highly anticipated releases of the season”, describing the band as “more aggressive and more optimistic than ever before.” 

Pre-order for the album is available now. The band will continue to tour in the new year, dates forthcoming.

The band premiered the lead single “Love Don’t Die,” produced by Ryan Tedder (Adele, One Republic), on the “Today Show.” A flurry of TV performances followed the release as the band performed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” rang in the New Year as part the global TV celebration  “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2014,” and recently performed on the outdoor stage at “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Additionally, a performance will air on “The Late Show with David Letterman” February 24.

Most recently, the band performed alongside Pussy Riot as part of Amnesty International’s Bring Human Rights Home show at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY. Guitarist Joe King explained the importance of the evening, “To me, [Pussy Riot] made me realize how apathetic I can get as an American,” King said. “You can get real critical or not do anything about what you think should change and just let things happen. They’re doing the opposite. They’re going public... It’s inspiring to see that. I think that, if anything, it motivates. It should motivate people to do something.”

The Fray is Slade, Joe King (guitar, vocals), Dave Welsh (guitar), and Ben Wysocki (drums). The Denver-based group formed in 2002 after high school friends Slade and King bumped into each other at a local guitar shop. The Fray achieved national success with their 2005 debut, featuring the hit singles “Over My Head (Cable Car)” and “How to Save a Life,” which went double-platinum. The band also earned a 2010 Grammy nomination for their self-titled release.

NEW RELEASES: The first solo album Toujours from critically lauded artist and performer Sabina is available now! #FreeStreaming

SABINA’S SOLO DEBUT TOUJOURS RECEIVES CRITICAL ACCLAIM; OUT NOW ON

BAR/NON RECORDS

ALBUM STREAMING AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

EAST COAST TOUR DATES CONFIRMED

“Hard to imagine a better poster girl for polyglot New York pop than Sabina.”—The New York Times

“…a hip gyrating cocktail shaker of wiggy bossa nova and squally Farfisa.”—Mojo

“Glamorous”—Rolling Stone

The new music has received early critical acclaim and is streaming in its entirety at The New York Times HERE. 

To celebrate the release, Sabina will embark on select tour dates on the east coast.

The first solo album Toujours from critically lauded artist and performer Sabina is available now on Bar/None Records. The new music has received early critical acclaim from The New York Times hailing, “She’s still the nonchalant, elusive, sophisticated and resolutely hedonistic figure she plays in Brazilian Girls songs… She’s charming when she shows her wry bravado…” while Boston Globe exclaims, “Sabina Sciubba is a goddess” and Consequence of Sound notes, “There’s a kind of global interplay with her vocals.” 

Best known as a co-founding member of the Grammy-nominated band Brazilian Girls, the debut record rediscovers Sabina’s unique voice, anthemic songwriting, and her signature multi-lingual story-telling, albeit this time within a quite different musical setting.

Toujours was recorded, produced and arranged by Sabina as well as Brazilian Girls producer Frederik Rubens. Of the recording process, Sabina notes, “I started this project on the acoustic guitar, as an escape, in a way, from the party music I’ve been doing for some time. But after a while I felt like I had gone off too far, I was out in the woods, so I came back to the city—And the city was Paris. Frederik and I started working on a few of the songs with an electric guitar. It took a more rock, more lavish direction, still intimate, but not sleepy. It felt right.” 

The new music is inspired by the rock and pop classics of the ‘60s and ‘70s but within more contemporary recording techniques. On the song “The Sun,” Sabina duets with ADANOWSKY (alias Adan Jodorowsky)—singer and filmmaker in his own right and son of Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Born in Rome to a German mother and an Italian father, Sabina lived in Italy, Germany, then France before coming to the U.S. She was in New York City for a decade before returning to Paris, where she now resides. Her own story is really what set the background for her sound.

Toujours Tracklist

1. Cinema

2. Viva L’Amour

3. Long Distance Love

4. Mystery River

5. The Sun (feat. Adanoswky)

6. Non Mi Aspettare

7. Toujours

8. Tabarly

9. Sailor’s Daughter

10. Fields of Snow

11. Won’t Let You Break Me

12. Going Home

Sabina Tour Dates

March 18                                                 Washington, DC                                 U Street Music Hall

March 20                                                   New York, NY                                     Highline Ballroom

March 22                                                  Philadelphia, PA                               Prince Music Theater

March 23                                                     Boston, MA                                    Brighton Music Hall

INCOMING: Dunn Dunn Fest #2 THIS Weekend

Harmonica Dunn’s Dunn Dunn Fest 

is Back THIS Weekend!

You might be done done with Winter madness, but a bit of Dunn Dunn Fest will have you grinnin' again.  We've marked ChiIL Live Shows' must sees below.

DUNN DUNN FEST – 2014 - “3 Nights. 4 Venues. Celebrating American Music”

Dunn Dunn Fest 2013 was such a great success, that they're back at it again this year.
Over 700 people attended the inaugural Dunn Dunn Fest! 

A limited amount of 3-Day passes are now on sale for only $30! Save $20 and gain access to all 4 shows.

Act fast and buy one here: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/420501

MOON TAXI will headline Dunn Dunn Fest 2014 on Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 at Subterranean.

VENUES & DATES:

Thursday, February 20th, 2014 at Tonic Room w/ TRISTEN, CHICAGO FARMER, and RYAN JOSEPH ANDERSON
GET TICKETS

**ChiIL Picks List:  Friday, February 21st, 2014 at The Hideout w/ *MARTIN VAN RUIN, THE WHISKEY GENTRY, & MICHELE MCGUIRE

GET TICKETS

**ChiIL Picks List:  Friday, February 21st, 2014 at Beat Kitchen w/ the SOIL & the SUN, *GREAT DIVIDE and SAFE HAVEN

GET TICKETS

Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 at Subterranean w/ MOON TAXI, DANIEL ELLSWORTH & THE GREAT LAKES and SANTAH | GET TICKETS 

Interested in volunteering with Dunn Dunn Fest?
Email harmonicadunn@gmail.com 

Click here for the full fest site.

Monthly Riot Act Media Roundup #MP3s #NewReleases #FreeStreaming

BEGINNING THIS MONTH, OUR FRIENDS OVER AT RIOT ACT ARE PSYCHED TO SEND A MONTHLY ROUNDUP OF THEIR ARTISTS' MP3S FOR OUR READERS. ENJOY!

The weather might be cold, snowy and sucktacular in much of the country right now, but here are some new tunes to brighten your grey day.   Remember, no matter how deeply you're buried in snow right now, we're more than half way to spring equinox.

Benjamin Verdoes

"Evil Eye" from The Evil Eye (Out now on Brick Lane Records): http://benjaminverdoes.com/track/evil-eye-2

The Caribbean

"Jobsworth" from Moon Sickness (out February 18th on Hometapes)

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jobsworth-by-the-caribbean-free-mp3-20131107

Cassorla

"Future One (Feat. Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes)" from the Amigos EP (out February 4th, self-release)

https://soundcloud.com/cassorla/future-one-feat-taylor/s-bp8O0

Cataldo

"In Now and Then" from Gilded Oldies (out March 4th on Red Pepper Records)

http://cataldo.bandcamp.com/album/gilded-oldies-2

Christine Hoberg

"All That Hate" from World Within (Out on February 11th; self-released)

https://soundcloud.com/christine-hoberg/all-that-hate

Colleens

"No Flowers" from Wild Dreams (out February 4th, self-released)

https://soundcloud.com/colleens-2/no-flowers

Jess Williamson

"Blood Song" from Native State (Out now on Brutal Honest)

https://soundcloud.com/jesswilliamson/blood-song-2

Jessie Frye

"Dear" from Obsidian (out February 11th; self-released)

http://jessiefrye.bandcamp.com/

We've got two words for you... DOUBLE BANJO.

The Lowest Pair

"Living Is Dying" from 36 Cents (Out now on Team Love Records)

https://soundcloud.com/teamlove/the-lowest-pair-living-is

Mayors of Liberty

"When You Were Part of Me" from Dream On (Out February 11th on Brick Lane Records)

http://mayorsofliberty.com/track/when-you-were-part-of-me

Potpourri of Pearls

"Sochi" (Special track for Olympics/Unreleased, out now)

http://potpourriofpearls.bandcamp.com/track/sochi

Bio, Photos, links, more: http://riotactmedia.com/roster/potpourri-of-pearls/

Solander

"The Woods Are All Gone" from Monochromatic Memories (Out February 4th on A Tenderversion Recording)

https://soundcloud.com/a-tenderversion-recording/solander-the-woods-are-gone

Tom Brosseau

"Tami" from Grass Punks (Out now on Crossbill Records)

https://soundcloud.com/crossbillrecords/tami-2

INCOMING: Jazz Showcase Weekend With 10 of Chicago's Best Jazz Players

Chi, IL live Shows on our Radar

Local alto saxophonist and composer Shawn Maxwell has an ambitious new project and accompanying album for 2014. Shawn Maxwell’s Alliance features ten of the city’s best jazz players, all of whom will assemble for a weekend of shows at Jazz Showcase, Thursday, Feb. 20 through Sunday, Feb. 23.

Click here for the full show details 

NEW RELEASES: MiWi La Lupa's Solo Debut New Way Home Out Now (Red Baraat) #FreeStreaming

ARTISTS ON OUR RADAR:

MiWi La Lupa

"Everybody's Fuckin' With Me" on New Way Home (Out now on Team Love Records)

https://soundcloud.com/teamlove/miwi-la-lupa-everybodys-fuckin

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we've enjoyed MiWi's talent for years, and we're so stoked about his new solo work. Check it out!

Click here for our past original MiWi La Lupa photo features on the Broadway Fela! tour and Red Baraat including our video interview with MiWi La Lupa!



Catch the whole album FREE streaming here.

Buffalo, New York. Hockey, the cold, the canal, the train yard, Rick James and Ani DiFranco, cheap dilapidated Victorians, potholes brimming with ice and slush . . .

Buffalo is a place where people grow up, and a place people sadly—but understandably—end up leaving in pursuit of their dreams. And it’s Buffalo where MiWi La Lupa started his musical adventure, as so many public school kids in America do, by picking a dented, smelly old instrument off the shelf in band class and giving it a go. MiWi picked the trombone. It fit—sort of. He started a band, Thought. Then he packed his bags.

MiWi made his way east, first to Rochester and the Eastman School of Music, trading in his trombone for a bass trumpet, before, like many musicians, continuing on down the Hudson and arriving in NYC in the summer of 2005. 

Once in the city things began to take off for MiWi, and he soon found himself performing with music greats like Les McCann, David Byrne, Bill Frisell, Femi Kuti, Charlie Hunter, and El-P. MiWi would also become an original member of the band Red Baraat, with whom he would go on to tour the world.

Be it the diversity of MiWi’s palate, his growth as a musician and experiences on the road, or his roots coming from a blue-collar corner of the country often passed over and left for dead by the chronologists of the musical cannon, MiWi’s endeavors were aligning, naturally, with the art of songwriting. Expression—of loss, desire, grief, forgiveness—and a growing need to examine, document, and articulate his life began to take over, and soon the seeds of MiWi’s first solo album were firmly planted.

New Way Home, MiWi’s debut album on Team Love, is the result of life taking an unexpected turn. With the help of Monica Frisell, the songs began to take shape in early 2013. As things developed, friends such as Joanna Warren, Conor Elmes, Curtis Fowlkes, Rob Jost, Mara Kaye, Natalie John, Timothy Allen, Bill Frisell, and Conor Oberst, all enthused at the sound, eagerly jumped in to lend a hand. New Way Home is a short, immediate, and catchy album, but its real magic lies in its ability to invoke a wide range of sonic diversity while not losing sight of its singular vision. 

A track like “Ashes To The Wind” invokes legendary bluesman Howlin’ Wolf, while “Here I Am” positions itself neatly between singer-songwriters like Ron Sexsmith and Stuart Murdoch. The album’s songs range from playfully vengeful (“Everybody’s Fuckin’ With Me”) to sorrowfully serious (“New Moon”). MiWi’s voice is frank, his phrasing crisp, his lyrics easy to grasp yet full of twists. The songs document a season in a life, offering empathy to the listener while asking for the same in return.

New Way Home was released on Team Love Records January 21, 2014.

LINKS:

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Team Love Records

Chicago's Own Jason Narducy Back With New Band Split Single #NewRelease #SXSW

SPLIT SINGLE ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF FRAGMENTED WORLD 4/1; ALBUM TRAILER, SXSW, RELEASE SHOW

“Watching Jason was the first time I thought I could start my own band, and write my own kind of music....Jason totally set my life in this new direction. It wasn’t a Jimmy Page or KISS poster I had – it was fuckin’ him!”-- Dave Grohl

“Jason’s been doin’ the rock since he was a snot-nosed little punk. And I can attest from his work with me on the road that he’s got it down. And it’s not going to stop any time soon.”-- Robert Pollard

“I’m used to hearing Jason making me sound better, but it’s funny and familiar as well to hear his voice standing out in front again. I’m a fan of Jason’s work – it’s classic late 20th-century pop music songwriting"--Bob Mould

“Jason is a fan of great songwriters like Pete Townshend, Lennon & McCartney, Bob Mould, Robert Pollard, and Strummer & Jones, so it would only be natural that he’d write such well-crafted, memorable pop songs.”-- Jon Wurster

“I’m always wearing so many hats, so I loved the idea of being in a band where all I do is play bass on someone else’s stuff. I felt like a session musician, which was so cool. Still, I got pretty in depth: there were no preconceptions, which is what collaboration is all about.”--Britt Daniel

Jason Narducy's epic career first started as a co-founder of Verböten – one of the seminal acts in the Chicago punk scene that produced groundbreaking bands like Naked Raygun and Big Black. Narducy then went on to become frontman/songwriter/guitarist for Verbow, another beloved Windy City outfit who signed a major-label deal with Epic/Sony during the ‘90s alt-rock bubble. He followed that up with an ongoing, nearly decade-long run as indie-rock’s secret weapon – serving as bassist and backing vocalist for indie-underground icons like Bob Mould, Robert Pollard, and Superchunk, as well as Seattle’s indie power-pop faves Telekinesis. 

Now, Narducy is returning to center stage as a bandleader with Fragmented World – the debut album from Split Single. A new project formed with fellow travelers Britt Daniel (Spoon, Divine Fits) on bass and drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Mountain Goats, Bob Mould, Ben Gibbard, Robert Pollard), Split Single proves equal parts solo project and collective. The material on Fragmented World ultimately spans the breadth of Narducy’s history while artfully exploring a gamut of styles and emotions in ways he’s never approached before.

Photo Credit:  Marina Chavez

Split Single will be touring on this album, and Jason will be at SXSW (with touring band Ben Trokan of Reigning Sound and Tim Remis). The band's record release will be in Chicago at Schubas on April 5th.