It feels like just yesterday that Steve Mizek, founder of defunct electronic-music site Little White Earbuds, launched his Argot label. In fact it’s been more than five years—Argot grew out of Mizek’s small-run imprint, Stolen Kisses, in spring 2012. On Friday, October 27, Smart Bar hosts Argot’s belated fifth birthday party, with sets from Mizek and three producers who’ve released new material through the label this year: experimental Champaign producer Hippie Priest (who dropped the full-length cassette See It Through in July), Detroit drum ‘n’ bass fanatic Todd Osborn (who dropped the Elastic 68 12-inch in May), and underground Brooklyn house artist Octo Octa (who dropped the New Paths 12-inch in April).
The November candy-corn detox is a bit rough, but aside from that, Halloween season is Gossip Wolf’s favorite time of year—not least for the chance to see Chicago bands dress up and pretend to be other, more famous bands! Though Chicago Singles Club stopped producing its more-or-less-monthly online artist profiles in August 2016, the site continues to host an annual Halloween cover throwdown—and this year’s is at Cole’s on Friday, October 27. The Drases perform as Marilyn Manson, Wet Piss as Creedence Clearwater Revival, and New Drugs as Iggy Pop, while Vamos and Dan Rico team up for what they’re calling TRL IRL—which this wolf hopes includes some Britney Spears and *NSYNC! The show is technically free, but donations benefit the Hispanic Federation’s Unidos campaign for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico and the Topos de Tlaltelolco earthquake-rescue brigade in Mexico.
Mute Duo, aka pedal-steel guitarist Sam Wagster (Father Costume) and drummer Skyler Rowe (Rash), celebrate the release of a self-titled CD of taut, atmospheric improvised music with a show on Friday, October 27, at Elastic. The self-released disc is limited to 100 copies, and Reader contributor Dmitry Samarov did the artwork! v
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Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the proper formats of the Todd Osborn and Octo Octa records, as well as where Hippie Priest actually lives.