Background: A Taste of Chicago.

This is my first disc swap, please be gentle.

MDLife™ to me is being able to share a bit of myself and my musical journey. The ability to curate something in a physical form in the age of Spotify feels more sincere. Too young for mixtapes, too old for Spotify playlists. To me an MD disc can be like a mosaic consisting of multiple parts of your life expressed via song.

So anyway, about this disc…

I moved to Illinois from Oregon nearly fifteen years ago and became immediately immersed in the local bands, bars, venues. I was driven by my new interest in photography, a friend asked me to join him seeing one of his friends band, brought my camera with me and it just bubbled over. From there, I'd attend shows for bands I liked from other parts of the country, with local bands as openers.Over time, friendships formed through photographing the local acts as you start to see recurring faces/bands and folks just happy to have something documented.

Aside from Piglet and Saltillo, every band/artist on this disc are acts that I have seen, shot, or have had some sort of connection with.

Like a rat leaving an impression in wet concrete, this disc encapsulates the impression Chicago’s music scene had on my adult life. So, if you were to ask me, what kind of music is Chicago pumping out and what I would recommend. This would be just the start of it.

It was so hard to narrow down this to one disc, so not a single second goes to waste (well, just one). The music community/scene in Chicago is tremendous, and I could have made this a multi-disc set, but eventually the music would just keep getting heavier and weirder. I’ve lost count of the number of revisions I’ve made to the track list. The acts listed here are also intertwined with many other bands, and or mutate into other bands. The jokes about good drummers being in seven other bands? That’s a fact.

Chicago is much more than the blues, pumpkins, styx and a certain three lettered wagon. Something, something, Chicago style. While many/all of these are available on digital platforms, the amount of play they get minus a select few is likely to be very low.

I entrust this disc with you to hopefully share the sensations I had when I experienced seeing them in person.

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Total Runtime 79:59

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No Stairway? Denied! - Comes from an edited clip of this. [*] Last minute addition to fill out time, and as the film takes place in Illinois, I felt it was fitting.

Pleasantries - Catch Is Baiting Us Back [*]

Pleasantries consists of Andy Markantonatos, multi-instrumentalist, song writer, animator, Smash Brothers Competitor, Friend, and all around amazing human being.

piglet - bug stomp [*]

Just one of those bands that release one record, gain cult like status and vanish. This is the opening track that set the stage for math rock in Chicago.

Mouth Captain – wennew [*]

Lap Steel + Drums. Mouth Captain is what happens when you’re part of the Briar Street Blue Man Group collective, but years of blue paint buildup has slowed you down and left you longing for the sea. This album is why I own/play a Lap Steel.

Saltillo - Giving In [*]

Saltillo is the alias of multi-instrumentalist, comic book, tattoo-artist Menton J. Matthews III. Missed out on his secret show shortly before he headed to the Atlanta area. Trip-hop with emotion inducing string lines. Ganglion, the album this song comes from is a start to finish masterpiece.

The Lonesome Organist - All the Pretty Little Horses [*]
A one man band operated by Jeremy Jacobsen. Caught him live on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. Unforgettable experience.

Hedgehog & The Fox - The Baron [*]
Chamber Rock is how they consider their sound, it definitely fits. This was one of the first songs I gravitated with when I first saw them. Some of the nicest folks I’ve come to meet and continue to interact with in the music world.

CHEER-ACCIDENT – Await [*]
Their discography is expansive, and this is the song I chose? It was an experience after seeing them live for the first time and not knowing their history and, after watching them converse with themselves via a prerecorded track, this is what they played.

Pavlov3 - Elastic Surface Patterns [*]
Pavlov3 is the project of Chapman Stick/Touch Guitar/Guitar Player, Teacher, Friend, Matt Tate. I saw him open for Secret Chiefs 3 at the now defunct Double Door. I was hooked right away, it’s also still really hard not to go out and buy a Chapman Stick because of him.

Sons of Ra - Tropic of Cancer Parts III [*] & IV [*]
Oh man, lifelong friendships here. It was hard not to include all their other projects here. But these guys do more for the music community than you could imagine. Hardest working musicians in Chicago.

Guzzlemug - Parmesan Luggage [*]
Earliest show in Chicago I ever saw was at the Ultra Lounge with Guzzlemug and Arbogast opening for Behold… The Arctopus. They did only three songs, and still played what was like a 45 minute set. Beware the ballads. This song wound up on my wedding playlist. Though on indefinite hiatus, they left a permanent mark on me.

Huntsmen - Phoenix [*] & Black Birds, Grey Sky [*]
Two songs from an earlier EP of theirs, Huntsmen is Post Apocalyptic Cowboy Doom. If you like this, you’ll love American Scrap by them. Amazing live.

Outrun the Sunlight - Red Bird [*]
Interesting to watch their journey over the years. Personnel changes and etc hasn’t impacted their sound. It’s easy to throw in buzzwords with what it may sound like to others, but their sound is unique to me.

Austaras – Thrones [*]
Three guitar amplifiers of mine help make up the tone of this song/album. John and Co made hell of an album. You can check out John’s other work with Vaskula.

Electric Hawk - Laydeez Night [*]
Three guys who came together while also in an abundance of other projects of their own. Blue Man stage band during the day, unbelievable instrumental heavy hitters at night. Track comes from their latest release.

PLNKA – Endsmouth [*]
Alias of Eric Plonka, another acquired lifelong friend while shooting. Badass with a heart of gold. Riff machine, has been involved with so many bands. To conclude the disc is his take on an Agents of Oblivion song. Crushed it.

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All recorded from FLAC sources via Electron to an MZ-NF610 in SP format.

On an 80 Min TDK Lucir. Playtested on the same device, as well as an E77, E909, E630, RH910, Onkyo MD-105FX.

Labels printed poorly with a Bluetooth Thermal Printer. But did use the label generator! [*]

Extra protection provided by an old filter case, and packing foam.

Included regional token was an Instax Wide print of Matt Tate (Pavlov3) playing live at Martyrs' that I shot, as well as a thermal printed sticker of the Chicago Rat Hole [*], a No Stairway To Heaven Sticker to adhere to the theme taken from the first track.