In September 2017, Jesa Espinoza and Rosemary Villaseñor opened Joyride Records in the Ukrainian Village storefront at 1914 W. Chicago that had previously housed Permanent Records. But Joyride is saying good-bye to that space—its final day will be Sunday, December 16, and until then it’s discounting part of its inventory for a moving sale. Espinoza says Joyride will take a couple months off while he seeks out a south-side location for the store, and he’s got his eyes on Bridgeport.
Chicago garage-punk maniacs Mannequin Men broke up in 2015, ending a 12-year run of careening live shows, mildly scandalous album covers, and powerhouse jams (on three albums and a slew of singles). At the time, guitarist Ethan D’Ercole told the Reader, “I can’t imagine that we won’t play together in some project down the line.” Now they’re doing just that . . . and the project is Mannequin Men! On Saturday, December 15, at the Empty Bottle, the original lineup will celebrate the band’s 15th anniversary. Drummer Seth Bohn says they’ve mellowed a bit: “As we’ve been rehearsing those songs, it’s almost as though those are cover songs of some other band. I’m like . . . why were we so mad back then?”
Earlier this month, the Chicago Loop Alliance launched an underground (literally) pop-up art series called Short-Cuts in the Chicago Pedway. Gossip Wolf is stoked about the contribution of local sound artist Jeff Kolar, an exploration of background music called Music for Phone Booths (also to be released as an album). Five vintage phone booths on the pedway level of the City Hall and County Building (121 N. LaSalle) will play his recordings, made with electronics, voice, and an 1863 pump organ, from noon to 1 PM on Wednesday, December 12, and from 5 to 6 PM on Thursday, December 13. At 12:15 PM on Thursday, Kolar will discuss the project at the Space p11 gallery, on the pedway level at 55 E. Randolph. v
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