Thursday, May 23, 2013

During school-closing vote, Mayor Emanuel is heard but not seen

Posted by today at 03.31 PM

Mayor Rahm Emanuel: see you sometime?
In the months before the Chicago Board of Education voted to close 50 schools next year, thousands of teachers, parents, and students pleaded for their schools to stay open during hearings and protests.

Journalists, meanwhile, tried to figure out if any of the shifting explanations for the plan were actually based in fact, since it was originally presented as a way to save money, then to improve school performance, then to cut the dropout rate. The answer: not exactly.

Meanwhile, Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn't attend any of the public hearings and was on a ski vacation when the closing list was released in March. Most recently, in the days leading up to the final decision, he largely avoided the public and the media.

In case you missed it, here's the schedule he kept in the week before the board's vote:

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La Sacre du Printemps turns 100, the Butchershop Quartet celebrates

Posted by today at 02.50 PM

Stravinsky_Rite_of_Spring_Bernstein.jpg
For a long time I thought the French seal of artistic disapproval was to rip out the seats of a theater, whether it was the first viewing of the Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí film L'age D'or or Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 screened without subtitles. It seems to be a hallowed tradition. Seat destruction was also famously visited upon the world premiere of the Igor Stravinsky ballet masterpiece Le Sacre de Printemps (The Rite of Spring) on May 29, 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. The Jonathan Cott liner notes for a brand-new reissue of Leonard Bernstein's defining 1958 recording of the work with the New York Philharmonic on Columbia Records includes a lengthy description of the audience reaction.

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Exploring Dance Mania's old inventory in Ray Barney's basement

Posted by today at 02.15 PM

Victor Parris Mitchell rifling through records in Ray Barneys basement
  • Victor Parris Mitchell rifling through records in Ray Barney's basement
When Ray Barney told me the leftover inventory from his old label, Dance Mania, had been gathering dust in his basement since the dance imprint shut down in 2001, I knew I had to get down there and see it for myself. As I wrote in this week's B Side feature, Victor Parris Mitchell, a producer who released several records on Barney's label, and Barney himself are relaunching Dance Mania—and they're doing so partially because the imprint's old catalog is in high demand. The label was an underground phenomenon during its initial run—it's best known for breeding an uncommercial style of house called ghetto house, and the biggest releases sold upwards of 10,000 copies—but these days Dance Mania gets plenty of play in clubs, and some of the label's old LPs can sell for as much as $300 online.

Given Dance Mania's reputation and importance, I was pretty eager to get down to Barney's basement and literally get my hands dirty searching for the label's classic records. So I recently headed down to Lawndale with videographers Dustin Park and Peter Holderness in tow, where we explored the Dance Mania inventory with Barney and Mitchell and talked to the pair about the label's history, its new-found popularity, and selling off the old records. As Mitchell told me the back stock is picked over, but we still managed to discover some beloved Dance Mania records hiding between leftover LPs from Barney's old retail music store. Check out our video below to see some of the records we found, watch Barney and Mitchell talk about the label's history, and get a glimpse of a dance nerd's Holy Grail.

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Talking to founder Brenda Webb about new plans for the city's LGBT film festival

Posted by today at 01.38 PM

From the Thai film Beautiful Boxer, a high point in Reelings programming history
  • From the Thai film Beautiful Boxer, a high point in Reeling's programming history
Last week it was announced that Reeling, Chicago's LGBT film festival, will resume this November following a yearlong hiatus. The fest took a break in order to reconsider its mission in light of the changing nature of film exhibition. Chief among its goals, festival founder Brenda Webb wrote at the time, was to "evolve [in a way] to better address the needs of LGBT filmmakers." Planning for this year's fest is still underway, though Webb has officially handed over key responsibilities to Richard Knight Jr., film critic for Windy City Times and codirector of the recent local production Scrooge and Marley, and Gretchen Blickensderfer, who will act as program director and managing director respectively. Webb will remain involved as executive director of Chicago Filmmakers, which oversees the fest.

I spoke with Webb yesterday about Reeling's evolution. She was enthusiastic about the future of the festival but remained realistic about the challenges it faces. "It's become really tough for independent filmmakers," she said. "A lot of the old model—launching your movie at a film festival, getting a distributor, getting a theatrical run, going to DVD—has changed. . . . In terms of LGBT films, festivals around the world have come to be seen as the main theatrical opportunity; there are fewer and fewer opportunities to get a theatrical run. That changes the nature of a festival from exposing work to supporting work.

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More barbecue for the dudes: Sweet Baby Ray's comes to Wrigleyville

Posted by today at 01.08 PM

Best of both worlds: bourbon (barrel aged) beer.
"In the 70s and early 80s, Wrigleyville was a shithole. As much of a shithole as anywhere else, anyway," my companion told me as we headed out to Sweet Baby Ray's Smokehouse, the new city outpost of the suburban chain.

We'd picked a rainy weekday night when the Cubs were on the road, and we were off to an auspicious beginning, with ample parking and a dearth of drunken dudes. Still, we wondered why Sweet Baby Ray's had chosen this of all neighborhoods to settle in. It may not be a shithole these days, and obviously there are tourists and ticket holders to cater to, but what happens in the winter? Will a chain draw the rest of us, particularly with independents Wrigley BBQ and the kosher Milt's Barbecue for the Perplexed nearby?

The motto here is "Smokehouse, Bourbon & Beer," which sounds promising enough. Upon entering, you're greeted by the bartender, a "Wall of Bourbon," and multiple ribbons and trophies attesting to the prowess of the team manning the restaurant's Southern Pride smoker. They might as well have added "Sports Bar" to that tag line—the front is dominated by bar stools and hightops, and there are nine TVs inside, one on the patio, and one in the men's room (never miss a moment!)

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Pink Avalanche celebrate the release of their first record, Wraiths, with a free listening party

Posted by today at 12.33 PM

Wraiths
  • Wraiths
Local four-piece Pink Avalanche, led by sound engineer and former Atombombpocketknife front man Che Arthur, are releasing their debut record next week, and are celebrating it with a listening party at the Burlington on Memorial Day, Mon 5/27, at 9 PM. The postpunk project sees a lot of local underground veterans coming together to create an excellent racket. Pink Avalanche—whose lineup is rounded out by drummer Adam Reach (formerly of Poison Arrows), guitarist Kortland Chase (who was in Chatty Cathy), and bassist Pete Croke (who plays in about 200 bands, including Tight Phantomz, Brokeback, and Reds and Blue)—blend Hot Snakes-styled rhythmic pummeling, Husker Du-inspired rough melodic bent, and atonal guitar meandering a la Fugazi. It's an odd and exciting combination of flavors that perfectly showcases the vast array of voices and influences the members of this band bring to the table. You can stream the new album, Wraiths, after the jump, but the party on Monday night celebrates the release of a copy you can actually own.

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12 O'Clock Track: Classixx's "Hanging Gardens," by way of Risky Business

Posted by today at 12.00 PM

Classixx-Hanging-Gardens-608x608.jpeg
  • The cover of Classixx's Hanging Gardens
I heard about Los Angeles dance duo Classixx from Chicago expat David Drake two or three years ago—he had been hyping their 2009 single "I'll Get You" and some of their remix work to me for a while. But none of David's lauding quite prepared me for the skateboard-speed rush of the group's debut LP Hanging Gardens, which dropped a little over a week ago on Innovative Leisure. I've been reading that Classixx recall disco, but all I really hear is some of the keyboard patches that lit up Garage and boogie dance-floor anthems of the early 80s. To me, Hanging Gardens feels like the early 90s, from its cover of pastel-colored geometric shapes forming running pedestrians to its hip-swinging house beats. Like early-90s dance, Classixx's tracks snatch up elements of 70s and 80s dance but give it a house-y, sampled feel. At the same time, the force and volume of the music places it in the same contemporary context as recent retro dance albums like Tiger and Woods's Through the Green or Motor City Drum Ensemble's Raw Cuts, Vol. 1.

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Did you read about food stamps, Stockholm, and Girls Gone Wild?

Posted by today at 11.22 AM

Stockholm, whose suburbs are still being rioted
  • Arild Vågen/Wikimedia Commons
  • Stockholm, whose suburbs are still being rioted
Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.

Hey, did you read:

• About "Why Food Stamp Use in Illinois Has Exploded"? —John Dunlevy

• That shootings cost each Chicago household an average of $2,500 a year? Mick Dumke

• About the nine-year-old boy who ethered Rahm Emanuel earlier this week? Tal Rosenberg

• That riots in the suburbs of Stockholm—prompted largely by poverty, youth unemployment, and police harassment—are now in their fifth day? Kate Schmidt

• About the Reddit user who attempted to mock a Sikh woman's appearance and actually apologized? Gwynedd Stuart

• About how BYU has one of the country's top computer-animation programs? Aimee Levitt

• The Hollywood Reporter's profile of Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis, which almost makes him seem pitiable? Ben Sachs

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Best shows to see: Bilal, Mavado, Chance the Rapper, Die Kreuzen, and more

Posted by today at 08.30 AM

Bilal
  • Marc Baptiste
  • Bilal
As is my wont, before I regale you with highlights from this week's Soundboard writeups, I'm going to rattle off some other worthwhile shows that nobody managed to cover. Fuck a Thursday, but on Friday you've got your pick of weirdo Australian rockers Blank Realm at the Burlington, charmingly bedraggled Portland garage band the Woolen Men at Permanent Records, and Juicy J of the Three 6 Mafia with A$AP Ferg at Metro.

What's on Saturday? Well, gritty Chicago street-rap duo L.E.P. Bogus Boys perform at Reggie's Rock Club, and charismatic young old-school soul band JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound play a release party at Mayne Stage for their new Bloodshot album, Howl.

On Sunday you could check out the eclectic Co-Prosperity Sphere concert that Gossip Wolf mentioned, with Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening, punk bands Distract and Warrior Tribes, and live electro from Hunter & Josh. Or you could get snazzed up and attend "The (Best) Prom You Never Had" at the Empty Bottle, which features Girl Group Chicago, Bobby Conn & the Pretty Flowers, and the Chances Dances DJs. And if that sounds too wholesome for you, I recommend the Butchershop Quartet at Township, playing their notorious rock-band arrangement of Stravinksy's The Rite of Spring to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the piece's premiere. There probably won't be a riot this time, but you never know.

Actually, I take back that rude thing I said before about Thursday. That's the night of my Chicago Craft Beer Week event at the Lincoln Park Binny's with beer manager Adam Vavrick. We're going to pair beers and songs! It's going to be ridiculous, and you should come.

And now on to the Soundboard picks:

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Reader's Agenda Thu 5/23: Mavado, Esther Newton, and DanceWorks Chicago

Posted by today at 06.11 AM

Mavado
  • Mavado
Looking for something to do today? Agenda's got you covered:

"For the past few years Mavado has been in the same predicament that’s afflicted so many other dancehall superstars: he’s practically a demigod in Jamaica, but barely anyone in the U.S. knows who he is," writes Miles Raymer in Soundboard. Catch Mavado's set at the Shrine.

LGBTQ scholar Esther Newton appears alongside her partner, performance artist Holly Hughes, at the University of Chicago's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality. "Newton trained as an anthropologist and made her name with ethnographic studies of drag queens and of Cherry Grove, the village on Fire Island that became America's first queer town," writes Aimee Levitt.

At Old Town School of Folk Music, DanceWorks Chicago presents an informal showcase featuring work by choreographers including Paige Cunningham Calderella, Joshua Blake Carter, and Brandon DiCriscio.

For more on these events and others, check out the Reader's daily Agenda page.

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Agenda Teaser

Performing Arts
80 Foots per Minute Comfort Station
May 23
Music
Gerald Clayton Trio Jazz Showcase
May 23

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