I have a distrust for self-promoters. Bands that hype their hype on their website. So I thought I'd do my part
for artists, groups, and DJs that just work hard and play good music and fuck all the rest of it.
ALWAYS check MODchicago for tunes and the latest happenings in our city. My main man Eric RUNS the Garage, Freakbeat, International and Psych scene in Chicago... not to mention heavy heavy doses of Boogaloo Soul. He keeps our dancefloors BUSY!
Fear City . Absolutely rock solid skinhead oi,
best band to ever play my frunch room. I got a lot of respect for these guys... not only because they could
kick my ass in a heartbeat but haven't, but because loyalty and respect means something to them.
I hope they make it huge, but not until Grant comes back from Korea.
And Chicago's best: My Were They . Nice dudes AND nice sounding?! It's a rare combo.
Proof that the finest soul groups STILL come from the States can be gathered by listening to
The Ambitions , The Elevations ,
The Fabulous Soul Shakers , or the
World's Greatest Sinners
Another very fine, tho not Stateside, northern inspired group is Yoyo . I like them a lot.
I probably spend 95% of my time listening to 60s soul. My favs all come from, or were recorded in, Chicago.
The Admirations, The Artistics, Marvin Smith, Billy Butler, Major Lance, The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield, Terry Callier, The Radiants, Betty Everett, Fontella Bass, Billy Stewart, The Mighty Marvellows, The Du-ettes, Johnny Sayles, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Tony Clarke, Nella Dodds, Jan Bradley, Jackie Ross...
and I'll tell you, no one treats me right like the Rare Soul Millionaires !
R$M runs the northern side of soul in Chicago, while East of Edens fills the bill for Southern stuff,
and nuff respect to James Porter and John Ciba for doing it.
While you're at it, there are loads of great soul clubs to support and tunes to check out, including:
Hip City (Oakland)
Central Soul Club (Bakersfield CA -
and check out DJ Tommy Potts for more tune from Central), and
Emerald City (Seattle)
For the soulful side of the mod and skin scene check out Midnite Cowbwoy ,
who joins forces with DJ Marco to form the Solid Sound System ,
serving up tasty southern style funky soul.
Check in on Marco at Federal for more funky good stuff.
Shit, I like Marco's Masala Beat Club too.
He spins The Honey Machine too! Hardest working man in showbiz!!
You can count on good rarities and plenty of grooves from
Tony the Tyger and
Satisfaction
Dollsquad really does it right, and they cover one of my fav tunes of all time.
I hear the first few chords from The Danger and say out loud, "fantastic!"
Same goes for the The Bad Apples tune "You'll Never Put Me Down."
Check out the extra fantastic Explorers Club (did I mention extra fantastic?)
Local favorites The Sonnets , The Shifties ,
and The Bon Mots are not to be missed.
Really, really good is The Movement . Like, I wish they lived in Chicago good.
The Anydays could make you like Monday Mornings.
To my ears, Squire was THE BEST of the revival (tho my fav tunes aren't on their page).
They're so good they even have an ace tribute band, The Young Idea .
There are quite a few good classics such as Mod Fun and
New Planet Trampoline , and then some great bands that have studied the classics, such as The Lost 45s ,
The Revolvers ,
The Phantom Keys ,
Laboratorio S.P. , and
The Stateside Saints
I like The Cutouts . I like Madison, WI too. They have a song called "Scooter," how nice is that?!
Living Stereo does it right.
As for The Impact ... hell, you gotta support mods from Pensa-fuckin'-cola Florida!
The Black Hollies are, of course, quite good. I'd also rate...
Eurovox ,
The Clamour ,
The Ivy Lines ,
HeadQuarters ,
Sons & Lovers ,
The Phobes ,
The Makeout Room
The Only Jones , and
Ultra Sonic Edukators .
If I ever calmed down I would probably listen to The Mod Cons a whole lot.
Wondering where the real indie bands have gone, the ones that love JAMC, the first Velocity Girl EP, and everything great about C-86 and early Primal Scream? Well check out The Manhattan Love Suicides right away. You'll be very happy, like I am.
I'm not afraid to say I like This Is Seb Clarke .
I even kinda like The Rumble Strips ... and both for the same reason. The horns. Blame the Dexy Midnight Runner in me.
I don't know how I would have turned out if I hadn't discovered Pezband growing up. Everyone from Chicago loves them, or should.
Them and The Beat , the Paul Collins variety. One of the best ever.
The BMX Bandits have always had a place in my heart.
The Melons do too... could someone convince to reform and gig in Chicago?
The Shake wins the award for best band I have been introduced to through myspace that I am pretty sure I couldn't have found out about on my own. So thanks for the friend request!
I've liked - no, loved - Jens Lekman's music from the second I heard Rocky Dennis and haven't stopped yet.
And while we're in Sweden, listen to The Charade .
A classic for me, born from one of the best pop grounps ever, The Shermans .
Cannonball Jane's "Such is the Score" does it for me. That's just some straight-up good shit.
I Doot Da Doot dig the The Unlovables , but that's no surprise.
Language of Flowers floats my boat. The Color Bars do pop music well.
Easy breezy, White Shoes & The Couples Company are great.
If you like that breezy pop sound, check out Shade Tree for more Swedish goodness.
And if you like that, you should like The Friendly Lens . Not the same sound, but I'm just guessing anyone who has a feel for the former would dig the latter.
Also listen to The Answering Machine
and Tales of Jenny .
Twee enough for me is Lil Hospital .
The Only Days nail a sound that reminds me of melodic post-c86 stuff. Great guitars, really really good all around.
I enjoy...
The Casuals and
The Parade .
You know what? I kinda like The Dials .
The Like Young were fantastic.
The Merkurs were too, Thank You.
And The Adored are good too.
The Modern Temper can be a bit quiet for my usual taste, but I like it anyway. Maybe cos they're from Chicago.
For trad reggae & ska I like the Soul Steppers , and
The Big Sound sound right to my ears.
So do Germany's The Essentials .
The Style Collective have a distinctive take on trad styles that I like.
Gotdammnit, I love Stamford Bridge and am putting them up here hoping something will be released.
last but not least... Raygun, Naked Raygun .
Fireworks (or anything else from Beat Takeshi), After Life, Eros + Massacre, Mother India, The Devil Probably (and all Bresson films), La Ceremonie, Sunset Boulevard, Chinatown
Debord and the IS, Lefebvre, young Marx, Lukacs, Hegel, Marcuse, Benjamin: "Only that historian will have the gift of fanning the spark of hope in the past who is firmly convinced that even the dead will not be safe from the enemy if he wins. And this enemy has not ceased to be victorious."
Friends that make a living doing it on their own. Support them!
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