Mavis Staples – Hideout Block Party 2011

Mavis Staples – Hideout Block Party 2011

Date: 9/24/2011
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Posted: 10/23/2011 9:51:51 pm
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If you’re unfamiliar with what I do here at plarpco.com, please read my post highlighting Andrew Bird’s set at the Hideout Block Party 2011. That will give you some background about the show, my recording techniques and some of the shortcomings of these recordings. Don’t get me wrong, they are listenable. Maybe moreso than that, but I am quick to sell myself short. I am an amateur after all.

I was pretty excited to see Mavis’s set. I’m not a big soul music fan, nor a big gospel fan, and my primary knowledge of Mavis is from seeing the Staples Singers sing with The Band back on The Last Waltz. But I know a legend when I see one, and if you’re looking for a legend, Mavis is it.

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Kellen & Me – Ultra Lounge

Kellen & Me – Ultra Lounge

Date: 10/15/2011
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Posted: 10/18/2011 11:58:20 pm
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So, if you’re from Chicago and you’re into music, I’m sure you know about ChicagoMixtape.com. If you don’t, then stop right now, and go sign up. I’ll wait…

I’ve been following the project from the beginning, and really the only thing that I look forward to on Monday mornings is the weekly email filled with hand-picked tracks from bands that have shows coming up that week. 90% of the tracks are great, and I seem to have a taste in music that’s similar to the curator of the project, Casey Meehan. It’s really like a friend is hooking you up with some new tracks every week. Good stuff.

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Andrew Bird – Hideout Block Party 2011

Andrew Bird – Hideout Block Party 2011

Date: 09/24/2011
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Posted: 10/05/2011 7:58:02 am
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I must admit that I’m a relative newcomer to the “hideout” scene. I saw my first show there a few months ago, and found the relatively high hipster quotient to be balanced by the good music, comfortable room, great bartenders, lively front patio, and industrial neighborhood. Anyway, this post is about the Hideout Block Party, which didn’t take place inside The Hideout, but across the street in a parking lot that is usually the home of a fleet of big blue Chicago garbage trucks. On this beautiful sunny Saturday, it was the home of thousands of Chicago music fans enjoying one of the last great festivals of the year.

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Upcoming Recordings

I launched PlarpCo with the intention of regularly posting the recordings that I was making around Chicago. Well, shit balls, I haven’t posted anything, have I? No.

Why not? Well, I’ve been pretty busy, and haven’t really gotten around to it. Sue me. But, in the future I hope to post some of these recordings that I already have “in the can”, and some others I’ll be recording soon:

Rocky Votolato
Matt Pond PA
Old 97′s
Loudon Wainwright III
Sharon Van Etten
David Grisman
SeBADoh
Clare Burson
Peter Bradley Adams

If you want, you can hit the RSS or Twitter links on the top right of the page to get notified when I finally do get around to posting some recordings.

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Plarp Co. is Live

Now it begins.

I guess I needed a place to start posting some of the recordings I’ve been making of bands that come through the Chicago area. And this is it. I’m not an expert taper by any means. In fact, I’m making lots of mistakes. Hopefully my tapes will improve over time. And, although I fancy myself a music fan, I’m not the most eloquent, nor fully versed in music history with the ability to speak meaningfully about it. So, don’t expect lots of long show reviews or my opinion on how a performance fits in with the history of post-rock or whatever. That’s just not my thing.

I do hope to provide some decent audience recordings from some of the great venues around Chicago. So, enjoy the music, give me some feedback, and of course, if you’re from a BAND and don’t want me posting your tapes, you can contact me and I’ll take them down. Of course, if I were you, I’d carefully consider that action. I’ve found some great bands and bought lots of records and concert tickets as a result of hearing unauthorized live material. Music is your art, not your product. Let people hear it, and they’ll come back for more.

More to come!

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