On Warmer Music's Spring 2014 Mix

via Chicago Colors

By this point in the year, most of my friends are pretty sick of me but this year, I'm starting to fear for my safety. As you might remember, I'm one of the few Chicagoans who is an unapologetic fan of winter. Far from a popular position in an average year, this year it was the kind of thing that had visions of torches and pitchforks dancing in Chiberians frostbitten heads.

But even after a winter as historically bleak as this one I will still defend my love of true winter because it makes the spring all that much sweeter. This morning I smiled because it was raining. Rather than snowing. In late March. Only someone whose dealt with freezer burn on their lungs could find happiness in a drippy, 40 degree day.

Indeed spring in the midwest is a brief and flighty thing that exists for, at most, six non-consecutive weeks between March and early June but it's no less glorious because of it. A long-time spring fever sufferer, I still dream every year of the utterly giddy feeling I got in college when the season's first day over 50 when I could get away with skipping an afternoon class, throwing together a mixtape and go tooling down country roads to find a place to walk amidst woods and birds.

Don't get me wrong, as a whole, spring 'round these parts is perhaps the least satisfying season. But like that girl/boy/other you always had a crush on growing up, the brief moments when the light shines on you are unbelievably heady in a ways a solid. steady relationship/season (OK, this metaphor is getting out of hand) never quite could.

On Warmer Music's 10 Favorite Concerts of 2012

Radar Eyes At The Bottle Just Missed My List
But The Camera Didn't Miss Me

One thing about end of the year lists is that there's always this unrealistic patina of omniscient and impartial judgement about them. With the internet, it's now assumed that all music writers (most of whom, like me, do it for nothing more than the exposure and the cheap thrill of being able to spout their opinions publicly) have heard every album on the ever-increasing list of good or potentially good album released in a given year. Not only that, but that they've given each several hearings and formed utterly informed opinions. Not only is that impossible, but it's laughable. Music sites will aggregate their writers opinions, try to form a diverse, yet meaningful selection and yet still end missing much great music and over-hyping other, less-deserving music - it's the nature of the beast.

A nice feature of about live shows is that they're inherently finite. You can't see all the concerts, not even all the bands. Especially not if you want to know the music of the bands you are seeing. Plus there's surprise shows, booking conflicts, unexpected illnesses and any number of factors that make the live experience still something that cannot be truly duplicated or fully "shared" instantly to everyone around the world. 

With that in mind, I present my favorite concerts of 2012. Looking at this list, I'm immediately struck by the lack of hip-hop representation which I chalk up to a combination of my own bad planning combined the unfortunate tendency of hip-hop shows to be washed-out, bass and hype-men heavy messes that one can't fully get behind, no matter how much one REALLY wants to have an amazing show. Still, I'm lucky to live in a city with this much great music and I could have easily doubled this list without running out of amazing musical experiences that made my life better this year. Thanks to the musicians and my audience members for sharing these with me, it was really, really fun.

On Warmer Music's Favorite Albums of 2011 [7-1]

So here it is, the end of the list. For a year that started relatively slow, I'm impressed by the quality of music we've ended up seeing from 2011.

It was a tough year and all these albums were created with that context in mind to a greater or lesser degree. It wasn't a year for frivolity but that doesn't mean this is all dour music. Indeed what made most of these records so necessary was their ability to acknowledge life's hardships and take something worthwhile and uplifting away from the experience. With that in mind, enjoy some albums to soundtrack your dancing at the end of the world!


15. Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital
14. Nick Lowe - The Old Magic
13. Le Butcherettes - Sin, Sin, Sin
12. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saint
11. Fountains Of Wayne - Sky Full Of Holes
10. The Roots - Undun
9. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
8. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

On Warmer Music's Favorite Songs of 2011 [10-1]

So here it is, the thrilling conclusion. Although 2011 felt like a little bit of a down year for music compared to 2010, I was surprised by how difficult cutting songs off this list proved to be. It's a testament to the incredibly open and accessible nature of modern technology and media that even a "down" year is so fulled with exciting, interesting, catchy, happy, depressing and otherwise amazing music.

Download On Warmer Music's Favorite Songs Of 2011
[See Tracks 30-21]
30. Cold Rain - Talib Kweli
29. Summer Song - Matt Duncan
28. Baby's Arms - Kurt Vile
27. Holy Holy - Wye Oak
26. Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino
25. I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl - Wavves
24. Midnight City - M83
23. Time Is Right - The Feelies
22. Weekend - Smith Westerns
21. Metropolis - Illinois
[See Tracks 20-11]
20. Video Games - Lana Del Ray
19. Shaking Hands - Title Tracks
18. Codeine - Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
17. Never Quite Free - Mountain Goats
16. Pulaski - Drive-By Truckers
15. Waiting For Kirsten - Jens Lekman
14. War's Blazing Disciples - The Eternals
13. The Leibniz Language - Le Butcherettes 
12. Nat Geo (feat. Chris Lee) - G-Side
11. The Summer Place - Fountains of Wayne

Concert Review - Fucked Up/Wavves At Logan Square Auditorium, September 30, 2011

It was windy last night as I was walking to the Logan Square Auditorium. And I mean windy. As I strolled past the turn of the century two-stories north of Fullerton, I could hear the leaves constant rustling as background noise that reminded me of the recently-departed cicadas but sounded more like the wash of surf crashing far away. It was the first time I'd had the headspace to really notice the end of summer and beginning of the chilly onslaught that is Chicago from October through April.


After arriving and getting my ticket torn, I was given the most thorough pat-down I've recieved since forgetting to remove hair gel from my suitcase before going to O'Hare, which made me smile. Cleary the Empty Bottle and the show's other promoters were taking no chances with a hardcore crowd.