In 2017, several Chicago musician friends—Joe Carsello and Zaid Maxwell from Lasers and Fast and Shit, Steve Reidell from Air Credits and the Hood Internet, and Johnny Caluya, Rob Goerke, and TJ Tambellini from Verma—founded Volutus Records as a “common place for side projects and audio experiments” devoted to “forever searching for the vibe.” The label has apparently had a busy quarantine, and its recent releases include the exquisite ambience of Fruit Collection, which Maxwell made as Oscillator Bug; the drone-heavy sound art of Program One, by Goerke’s project Quiet Eye; and the chilly industrial tracks of the debut EP by Surgery Boys, aka the trio of Carsello, Caluya, and Reidell. On Friday, August 7, the second Surgery Boys EP will drop, and in October, Reidell will release an LP of his cover of the Genesis album Duke—its proceeds benefit the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Gossip Wolf’s playlist “Albums That Would’ve Sounded Great Outside This Summer” just keeps getting longer. Local four-piece Fat Night play blue-eyed soul and funk with a late-70s or early-80s vibe, and on Friday, July 10, they dropped their tasty new LP, Live for Each Other. The title track’s sunny video, by local production company Coool, feels like a message from a parallel universe: the band and their friends guzzle “Fat Night” soda on Montrose Beach and at a fantastic-looking Fourth of July party.
Chicago indie label Star Creature Universal Vibrations helps elevate the newest boogie and modern funk from across the globe—and it’s just as good with archival material. The new 12-inch Attack of the Chicago Boogie collects four highly prized vintage cuts from unheralded local acts: Andrew Kitchen, the J. Parker Band, Mister, and Henrietta Thomas. The vinyl comes out September 9, but the record is already streaming—and on Sunday, August 2, Conservatory Vintage & Vinyl will host a socially distanced release party also broadcast on Twitch. DJs will start spinning at 2 PM and keep going for at least four hours. v
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