Had a ball, as usual, in Chicago. I do love the city. Spent the first few days in Evanston talking to kids about why they should go into a dying industry. Then headed South and stayed with brother in Bronzeville. Spent time hanging in Logan Square and Wicker Park.
But the best thing about my trip was the music I picked up. The night I was at the Lavender Room they were playing some dope West African '70s soul. Through the magic of Shazam, I was actually able to figure out precisely what they were rocking. Here's one of the records--William Onyeabor's "Better Change Your Mind."
A few other tangentially related points:
1.) If you go to the Violet Hour, get the punch. Any of them. (Wayne Curtis cover some that here.)
2.) They really need to make a Shazam for indie artists. It misses too much music.
3.) You don't need Shazam when you're hanging out with 20-year olds. The dormitory is a great curator of music. Outside of this blog, I had the most insightful conversation about music at dinner with some college kids.
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