Peter Margasak explains how a tribute to Obama brought together the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International and their new singer, African star Samba Mapangala. Jim Newberry’s got pics of Mission of Burma and Orquestra Contemporanea de Olinda in the Photo Pit. A Wilco-burning edition of Gossip Wolf dishes on the Internet conspiracy to silence Lair of the Minotaur. Finntroll, Chicago Sound Map, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and others get love on the List. Our guide to this year’s Record Store Day includes a daunting schedule of in-store performances and selects some of the more interesting special releases dropping Saturday, among them a few Chicago exclusives. And in Sharp Darts I profile local drone rockers Disappears.
After the jump, some haunting still lifes of a Disappears recording session in ’08, courtesy of Flickr user matthannigan.