the WHISTLER

The Drastics are modern roots music. Their sound fits as easily in a Kingston dancehall as it does in an artist’s loft-party in the warehouse district. Though primarily classified as a reggae group, The Drastics embrace many styles of music both live and in the studio. This can be heard in their songs which draw from roots Jamaican music, hip hop, hard-bop jazz, afro-beat, dancehall, as well as folk music from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Take this powder keg cocktail of styles, add the pulse of gritty everyday urban living and you get one explosive sound. Beat Magazine: “Musically inventive and steeped in a variety of styles … know how to use horns and melodica to dub it up real fine.” TimeOut Chicago: “dub masters, The Drastics … never fail to put on a killer party”

Glad Cloud celebrates the rich landscape of Chicago musicians working with ambient music, be it acoustic, electric, or both. Curated by Benjamin Mjolsness, the series provides an opportunity for ambient artists to colour the air, walls, and liquids of the Whistler in a deliberately non-intrusive manner. Visitors enjoy their cocktails and companions while the music envelops the room around them; performing artists are able to work on new approaches to their music. 8-10pm.

Featured artist: Adam Tramposh composes, performs and produces original compositions under the moniker Polymer Slug. Adam is a piano, keyboard, and DIY-recording enthusiast. Performances consist of on-the-fly, synth-based looping. The result is predominantly ambient / textural, but not without warmth and pop sensibility.

A mind blown is a mind shown! Join Permanent Records (your trusty local record store/label) for a night of eargasmic tunes and found films and videos. P-Rex owners, Liz and Lance spin the latest underground rock jams and rare dusties from their deep private collection. An exclusively vinyl exodus to the other side! Come on out and catch a buzz and a head full of fuzz. A set thick with the air of Spacemen 3, including artists that inspired them and the new school influenced by them. Psych, Noise Rock, Punk, Garage Rock, Weird Pop, Minimal Synth, and crates full of the in-betweens. Space out…
2nd Sunday of every month.

Known as the versatile drummer and percussionist in a slew of midwestern bands, Darren Garvey releases his first solo record ‘Under A Common Ceiling’ in March 2010 on Quell Records. This is his debut as a singer and the list of instruments that Garvey plays on this recording is a bit daunting: from piano to pump organ to micro korg, accordion, mbira, banjo, guitars, bass, and a long list of percussion instruments. Much of the eclectic variety of the material comes from Garvey having been involved with a large scope of styles throughout his career as a performer. While exploiting this full pallet of sounds, the music focuses above all, on the melody and lyrics to these new songs. Songs that offer advice for the struggle with technology and loneliness, much of this record was written while touring with other groups during 2007-2008.

Darren Garvey began playing piano and guitar as a child before migrating to the drum chair in high school and seeking out lessons with Glenn Kotche and Michael Zerang. His interests in percussion eventually earned him a music degree from the University of Illinois in percussion and jazz studies. In the meantime Garvey began touring with Ralph’s Kind (VH1’s Best Unsigned Band 1999), the Andreas Kapsalis Trio, and Cameron McGill & What Army while remaining active as a studio session musician. Darren has appeared on over 40 recordings including works by Algernon, L’Altra, Paper Arrows, Ernie Hendrickson, W.W.Lowman, Lindsay Anderson and a new project with members of Bound Stems and The Narrator.

This Tuesday night show at The Whistler is a CD release event and celebration. Join Darren for two sets of music followed by a listening party.

With performances by: Tila Von Twirl, Double DJ, Lez BoBo the Clown, Thunder Davis, Mattrick Swayze and special guest star Cameron Esposito. Hosted by Jyldo. Followed by Fabulous Ladies of Fitness DJ set/dance partay.

This hour of performance power showcases artists who will make your head swim and your heart pound—their wild range of comedy, dance, burlesque, cheerleading, & drag will bend your brain and blow your mind, giving new meaning to the phrase “peak performance.” After the Cardio Cabaret warmup, we’ll go high-impact and begin to really feel the burn as the Fabulous Ladies spin their singular blend of 70s lite rock, 80s and 90s hiphop/R&B jamz, and the best pop hits of the last decade. You want to dance? Well, grooves cost. And right here with FLOF is where you start paying: in SWEAT.

Cameron Esposito is a nationally and internationally touring standup comic, a producer of the Lincoln Lodge (Chicago’s premier alternative comedy showcase) and the ringmaster for touring Chicago-based circus company El Circo Cheapo Cabaret. Cameron has appeared at Just For Laughs Chicago, the Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, and has been featured on WGN radio, afterellen.com, and the Logo television network.

Friday night dance party throw-down featuring a rotating cast of DJs from the greatest radio station in Chicago, CHIRP (Chicago Independent Radio Project). Expect to hear a mix of everything from Soul to Hip Hop to Indie Rock bangers to Pop classics and beyond. It’s that Wooo Woooooooo!!! And we’re bringing it every time.

Featuring: Kathryn Regina, Stephanie Friedman, Matt Whispers, Maggie Ritchie

The Orange Alert Reading Series is a extension of the arts and culture website What to Wear During an Orange Alert. The series began at the Whistler in November 2008 and has featured some of the top poets and fiction writers from Chicago and around the Midwest. Hosted by Jason Behrends; 3rd Sunday of every month, 6-8pm.

Male’s new album All Are Welcome is the product of two reference points coalescing at an unknown synthesis. They wanted to create a forum for ideas to meet open interpretation; tones that meet texture, voices that meet structure, knocks and whirls that color a laid-back, anxious roll-call. The act of creating this piece was the purpose; the hope is that the ensuing product may provide others a conduit to some other place or feel. Collaborators on All Are Welcome include the Exploding Star Orchestra, Fessenden, Joan of Arc, Nemeth and Pan American.