the WHISTLER

Artist: Various Artists
Title: The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival
Catalog #: WSLR-006
Format: 3xLP + book
Release Date: April 20, 2010

We’d like to introduce you to some of our favorite bands… They’re all from our hometown of Chicago, IL. They’ve all entertained folks at the Whistler, our little bar and music venue here in Logan Square. And they were all featured performers at our first neighborhood block party, the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival. This compilation is a triple LP + 32 page book combo with band interviews by Liz Tapp of Mule Magazine.

SIDE A
1. In Tall Buildings “The Way to a Monster’s Lair” (MP3)
2. Michael Columbia “Beluga”
3. Robbie Hamilton “Lonely Haze”
4. Mazes “My Drugs”

SIDE B
1. The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir “Tear Down the Opera House”
2. Puerto Muerto “Drumming For Pistols”
3. Cains & Abels “My Life Is Easy”
4. Algernon “(Don’t Press) The Red Button”

SIDE C
1. Bird Names “Wisdom, A Harbinger of Death”
2. The Loneliest Monk “Secrets From the Couch” (MP3)
3. Matt Ulery’s Loom “Spare Parts”
4. Allá “Gran Poder (dias de los muertos version)”

SIDE D
1. Eastern Blok “Kopanitsa”
2. Jim Becker “Percy Anne”
3. Baby Allright “Walking the Dog”

SIDE E
1. Judson Claiborne “Song For Dreaming”
2. The Golden Horse Ranch Band “Dirt On My Hands”
3. Mar Caribe “Hitchhiking Argentine Deserts”
4. Notes & Scratches “The Safecracker’s Lover”

SIDE F
1. White Mystery “Farmer”
2. Blue Ribbon Glee Club “Dress”
3. Mass Shivers “(I’ve Got the Power)”
4. Box of Baby Birds “Red Lights and Chimes”

Artist: In Tall Buildings
Title: In Tall Buildings
Catalog #: WSLR-008
Format: CD, LP, digital download
Release Date: April 6, 2010

SIDE A
1. Walking Man
2. The Way to a Monster’s Lair (MP3)
3. Twenty One
4. Suitor

SIDE B
1. Good Fences
2. Elvis Presley Blues
3. Alarm Will Sound
4. Flemishing

In Tall Buildings is the title of this record, the name of the band, and the title of a John Hartford song. This “band” is really Erik Hall and his songs.  Erik is a natural multi-instrumentalist, equally at home playing electric guitar and percussion in NOMO, fuzzed-out bass in His Name Is Alive, or Motown-inspired drums in Saturday Looks Good To Me.  But here we find him, for the first time, in his own element, alone in his home studio, layering track upon track of vocal harmonies, guitars, pianos, and heavy rhythms, to create his solo debut as a veritable one-man band.

This is rock music, informed by Erik’s array of influences. Imagine a Thom Yorke remix of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, or if Gillian Welch were to sit in with Steve Reich & Musicians. Bubbling synth sequences, driving distorted drum beats, interwoven finger-picked guitars, and pulsing woodwind chorales all find their way into the mix. Erik’s lyrics unveil a personal world through stark imagery: a monster’s lair, a bed of soft linens, a spilled glass of wine, a shared whiskey bottle, a plummeting star, and a walking man.

The story of the album starts in Ann Arbor, where Erik got his music degree from the University of
Michigan and sold cheese at Zingerman’s Deli.  A planned move to the east coast fell through as a
long-term relationship unraveled, and new songs started to appear. Erik headed home to Chicago,
and, in a high-rise overlooking Lake Michigan, he slowly crafted his first record. It’s not so much a
breakup album as it is a document of a man making a new beginning, and finding his own voice.

For a couple years In Tall Buildings sat in the slow cooker while Erik spent months at a time on the road with NOMO and His Name Is Alive, returning home to put all his earnings into recording equipment and all his time into songwriting.  Tape delays, spring reverbs, half-broken synthesizers, funky organs, mics, preamps, mixers, and an old Fender Starcaster guitar all found their way into his apartment and onto his songs.  He maxed out his credit card, recorded vocals in a linen closet, and called in favors to make it happen, and after four years and countless hours producing himself, here
is a beautiful and challenging record.

*****

In Tall Buildings

Publicity: Tom at AAM
Radio: Justin at AAM
Distro/Sales: Carrot Top Distribution

Artists: White Mystery, Black Apple
Title: Black & White Split 7”
Catalog #: WSLR-004
Format: 7”
Release Date: September 21, 2009

CLICK HERE TO BUY ($3.00 + S&H)

SIDE A
1. White Mystery “Take A Walk”

SIDE B
1. Black Apple “Fire Baby” (MP3)

“If you’re a fan of stripped down garage rock, loud drums, and/or redheads, meet your perfect match. White Mystery is the two-piece brother/sister duo of Alex and Francis White. Alex is best known as the guitar rockin’ front women of Miss Alex White and the Red Orchestra, but with her latest venture with brother Francis, she strips it down to a guitar and heavy-handed drum garage rock sound. The twosome put on an energetic show, and had one of the most killer tambourine and guitar rock outs I’ve ever seen recently when they appeared on Chic-A-Go-Go.” —Lisa White, Gapers Block

Artist: Blue Ribbon Glee Club
Title: A Cappella Uber Alles
Catalog #: WSLR-002
Format: 7”
Release Date: March 23, 2009

SIDE A
1. California Uber Alles (Dead Kennedys) (MP3)
2. Words and Guitar (Sleater-Kinney)

SIDE B
1. Bad Kids (Black Lips)
2. Waiting Room (Fugazi)

CLICK HERE TO BUY ($4.00)
*Includes digital download coupon

“These locals tip the scales at around 30 members, culled from the lineups of other Chicago groups, but you can’t blame that on the Polyphonic Sufjan mega-band trend—they’re a bona fide glee club. Their sound is so wobbly, so amateur and informal, that calling them a choir would be a bit grandiose, and they plunge into the songs they’ve chosen—mostly punk and indie-rock standards—with a reckless enthusiasm for which glee is really the only proper synonym. They ooh and aah and bomp-bomp-baah their way through Fugazi’s “Waiting Room” and the Clash’s “Spanish Bombs,” bringing out the songs’ latent whimsy—plus you can finally understand all the words. Performances are entirely a cappella, save for some sparse drumming or tambourine shaking—they even sing the riffs and solos.” —Jessica Hopper/Chicago Reader