The first international Cassette Store Day is Sat 9/7, and though this Wolf thinks the idea is kinda silly (ever been to a “cassette store”?), the warm, fuzzy sound of tapes is still worth celebrating. If you feel the same way, you should check out a couple cool local CSD events. A party at Logan Square’s Bric-a-Brac Records from noon till 8 PM includes vendors Mac Blackout (selling custom-painted boom boxes), Already Dead Tapes, Notes & Bolts, Teen River, Nihilist Records, and Plustapes (selling a brand-new release called Weeping Willow from Little Howlin’ Wolf‘s Shadow Drifter project); bands with recent cassette releases play throughout the day, among them Todays Hits, the Sueves, the Funs, and the Cairo Gang. That night the Owl debuts a cassette vending machine for its in-house label, Parliament Tapes—for $5 a pop the machine will sell recordings of live sets at the Owl, a compilation Ian Svenonius made for his Supernatural Strategies book, a mix by Impala Sound Champions, and more.
In this wolf’s eyes, the Chicago couple who make music as Post Honeymoon have the perfect relationship. Not only are Rachel Shindelman and Nick Kraska married, but their duo, formed in 2007, cultivates a seriously rocking dance-pop sound—it’s like a cross between PJ Harvey and Depeche Mode, or like what might happen if Grimes combined her synth squawk with Erasure-style melodies in gorgeous gothic death-rock tunes. Post Honeymoon play a release party for their second LP, Second Skin, on Fri 9/6 at the Burlington with We Are Hex and Bone & Bell, and they’ve posted a video for the album cut “Kid With a Gun” on their website.
Metro and Smart Bar just hired two new senior talent buyers who are talents themselves: Lasers and Fast and Shit front man Joe Carsello got the job at Metro, and producer Marea Stamper (aka the Black Madonna) will work for Smart Bar. Congratulations!
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