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Stay Smooth posters from Spike Press will be available for purchase at Stay Smooth XIV!
In honor of Stay Smooth XIV: Nowhere Left To Rum, we thought we'd put together a guide to all things smooth so you know what to expect when you step on deck at the Columbia Yacht Club this Saturday. Click "read more" to dive into the phenomenon known as Yacht Rock. —K.Champ
Local Chicagoans Warm Ones are a quartet of gents who appreciate good ol' fashioned pop rock n' roll. Not the cheesy kind that involves too much of one or the other, but the kind that combines real guitars and drums with woo-ing lyrics. Their debut album, Sprezzatura, was released earlier this year with sounds of both garage rock and a couple fun guitar pop tracks. Check out one of their live performances of "Love for a Week" below!
Sundrenched summer sounds from Stephen Paul Smoker
By Alyssa Meza
August is coming to a close. Elementary schools are opening up their doors and the scorching summer heat is beginning to wane. So just as the seasons begin to change, so do the summer mixtapes, EPs, LPs and releases detailing the youthful exuberance of June, July and August.
While the music of Stephen Paul Smoker is still sun-drenched, his typifies a different kind of summer; where the sun sheds light on things that did not make it onto Best Coast’s Crazy For You. It’s more of a somber and stranger affair on Smoker’s EP Violent Sun/ Violent Fun. And though it released earlier this Spring, it still feels relevant, especially considering that Smoker will be playing tracks from the EP at this year’s North Coast Music Festival in September. Everything comes full circle.
Cause Cinema: Hopes & Dreams Project offers kids an alternative
By John Esther
Since the dawn of cinema children around the world dreamt of becoming movies stars, basking under the public light of adornment, one day making that Oscar speech, and taking in the big bucks, but for some kids right here and now in California, cinema means something far more transcendental than fame. Faced with such unfortunate circumstances as a life-threatening illness or parental loss, making movies is a way to overcome obstacles no child should ever encounter.
Casiokids
PHOTO GALLERY: UR Chicago brought Casiokids and Light Pollution to Schubas as part of Amplify New Music Series. All photos by Michael Murphy.
Music