Gene's 2012 favorites

By Gene Wagendorf III 

Twin Peaks at The Whip (photo by Gene Wagendorf III)

It's the end of the year and we're a music blog, so you know what that means: "best of" list time. That said, "best" is a silly and subjective word that we at Windy City Rock are trying to avoid this year. Instead we're offering you some lists of local favorites from several of our contributors. Over the next few days we'll be posting about our favorite Chicago records, bands, shows and what-have-you from 2012. Enjoy, and happy holidays!

5 Favorite Records

Twin Peaks - 'Sunken'
The soundtrack to my summer came courtesy of a group of delinquent minors who, between burning trees, skateboarding and prepping for college, managed to put together a record filled with anthemic, sunny jams. Expect big things out of Twin Peaks in 2013. Read a full review of Sunken here.

Fave track: Fast Eddie
Get the record: here

Running  - 'Asshole Savant'
Get Bent nailed it when they described Running as "an incendiary blast of rock ‘n’ roll akin to smashing Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music into the Stooges and then smashing that combo into Suicide." Asshole Savant does an admirable job of capturing the mayhem of Running's live sets. 

Fave track: I Can't Believe I'm Alive
Get the record: here

The Smashing Pumpkins - 'Oceania'
Oceania is Corgan and company's best record in the better part of a decade. Doesn't quite reach as high as it aims, but there are some beautiful moments here.

Fave track: Pinwheels
Get the record: here

Recap: The Chicago Sonic Coalition at Situations, 6/16

By Gene Wagendorf III    

Count Kindness (Photo courtesy of Gonzo Chicago)

It's not often that I see a show and come away thinking, "what the hell can I possibly write about that?" Such was Saturday's "mini-DIY-fest" at Situations, The Chicago Sonic Coalition.

We told you about it back in March, but in case you weren't listening (or are too lazy to click the link) I'll give you the gist here. John Yingling of Gonzo Chicago corralled 64 local musicians at the soon-to-be-gone Treasure Town, tossed their names in a hat and helped to create 17 new bands. Getting that many people in the same place at the same time is daunting enough, getting them to practice together for a couple months and create new music with each other is the kind of thing one should get a medal for. Shocking no one, not all of the bands made it. Those that did survive the lottery and the subsequent months of practice with new bands got together for a big show at Situations. The rules were fairly simple: put together a short set of music (with each band doing one cover) and knock the collective socks off whatever audience turned up to see this group of Frankenstein outfits.

The Chicago Sonic Coalition

By Andrew Hertzberg

(photo credit: John Yingling)

Over this past weekend, in a giant loft called Treasure Town in the Little Village neighborhood, the names of 68 musicians were thrown into a hat and 17 bands were created from there. Each band has 2 and a half months to create a 20 minute set of entirely new music (a cover is allowed though). So maybe you’ve been wondering what a collab between Close Hits and Wume would sound like? What could members of Magic Milk, Vamos and Heavy Times come up with? Just how loud could the noises combined by guys from Lechuguillas, Paper Mice and Bad Drugs get? Well, we all just have to wait until June 9th. Details as they come (or stay up to date by the giving the facebook page a like). Special thanks to Gonzo Chicago's John Yingling for throwing this all together.