Local label Grandpa Bay celebrates the big four-oh with two new releases
19 Jan 2016
Gossip Wolf is pretty keen on local DIY label Grandpa Bay, which just reached a milestone on Friday with its 39th and 40th releases: Lemonade, by Evasive Backflip multi-Âinstrumentalist and vocalist Jamarcus, and Lately, You, by Chicago indie outfit This Is Lorelei. Both releases are available on cassette, and the cover art for each poses a different young man in the same coat and sunglasses, lying on his back with his eyes closed and surrounded by music gear and a giant clock. The label won’t call either album the big four-oh, and a Grandpa Bay spokesperson explains that the label prefers not to emphasize just one: “We feel like the releases together are largely representative of Grandpa Bay as a whole.” These beguiling, outre indie-rock tapes cost $5 each (downloads are pay what you want) via Grandpa Bay’s Bandcamp, bit.ly/gran_pa.
Since 2012, interdisciplinary Chicago arts festival 2nd Floor Rear has been enlivening a bleak winter weekend by celebrating local DIY culture and the spaces that host it—this year’s edition, We Are Here, which involves venues in Wicker Park, Avondale, Logan Square, Pilsen, and Little Village, goes down Saturday and Sunday, February 6 and 7. The folks from 2nd Floor Rear strive to “build creative communities and advocate for artistic labor” and “invest in local culture and not just throw great art parties,” but fortunately they also throw great art parties! On Saturday, January 16, DFBRL8R Gallery (1463 W. Chicago) hosts a fund-raiser for the fest called Pour It Up, which features a silent auction, raffle prizes, and video art and performances by Ariel Zetina of Witch Hazel (with Alessa Schmalbach), Antibody Corporation, and others. Tickets also get you into an afterparty at Burlington.
James Yancey, aka hip-hop producer J Dilla, died nearly ten years ago. This month the Perse as Funk concert series presents a tribute to him at Subterranean on Friday, January 15. Wunderkid producer Thelonious Martin opens for an ad hoc live band featuring Lili K. collaborator Erik Hunter and Pretty Lights musician Borahm Lee. Tickets are $15, $12 in advance; proceeds benefit the James Dewitt Yancey Foundation.
SOURCE: Chicago Reader
