In November this Wolf reported on local indie-pop trio Moritat and their strategy of blanketing local record stores and venues with a series of free mix tapes, each of which included a few slices of the album they were working on with Brian Deck. On June 26 that self-released album, Clill Blanzin, hits the streets. Take a listen to the lead track, “Cats,” at the group’s Bandcamp page, and you’ll see why Gossip Wolf thinks this record is gonna be full of serious earworms. Moritat plays at the Old Town Art Fair on Sat 6/9, and celebrates Clill Blanzin‘s release at the Whistler on Mon 6/25 with openers Northpilot.
Rock Island rapper Ghetty is getting love from big-name MCs from outside Illinois—Wiz Khalifa, anyone?—but the Prairie State is where his heart is, and that love comes through on the recent mix tape Illst8 Music Volume 1. It looks like Ghetty might be making his move: This weekend Gawker-approved viral rapper Riff Raff dropped the video for his collab with Ghetty and Embassy, “Mike Tyson.” Filmed in March at Chicago’s Hotel Sax, it features striking footage of our fair city, lots of Skittles and Starburst, and what looks like a cross between a simulated blow job and a booty dance. Ghetty will fly to LA next week to make three more videos—one with Riff and two on his own.
Under the name Cinchel, guitarist and composer Jason Shanley has been home-recording droning ambient soundscapes and releasing them in small runs through labels all over the map—not to mention playing out-of-this-world shows—for five years now. The recent vinyl LP Stereo Stasis, which comes in a wax-sealed hand-painted watercolor sleeve with two CD-Rs, is Cinchel’s most ambitious yet: peeps who are into exquisitely timed six-string symphonics, from glacial 70s Robert Fripp albums to the slow builds of Emeralds’ Mark McGuire, should find plenty to enjoy. The release is limited to 100 copies, available through Cinchel’s Bandcamp page.
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