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Friday night live schedule (and other events), into July 2013 Join us Friday nights at 7:30 for BYOB events. May 24 Friday night live at Transistor: Coins, Calvin Conway, Bedrest, 7:30 p.m. Free (donations strongly encouraged and much appreciated), BYOB.
Visit Coins on Facebook and Bandcamp.
Listen to Calvin's 2012 Transistor performance
For their Transistor set, Bed Rest will perform with guitar, mandolin, banjo and cello. Visit Bed Rest on Soundcloud. May 31 Friday night live at Transistor: Terrible Spaceship and TBA, 7:30 p.m. Free (donations strongly encouraged and much appreciated), BYOB.
It's been called apocalyptic swing. Ambient synthetic horror pop. A terrifying story you can dance to. It's Terrible Spaceship. June 7 Friday night live at Transistor: Chris Corsale, Rob Winn, The Missing Chums June 8 Special Saturday night event: 'No Lizard Kings' poetry reading with Larry O. Dean, Ken Kase and Snežana Žabić The title of the event, 'No Lizard Kings' refers to misconceptions people might have about rock musicians who also write poetry. 'We're kind of poking fun at ourselves a little,' says Kase. 'People tend to think of grandiose, depressing poetry like the stuff that Jim Morrison used to do.' Larry O. Dean concurs: 'It's almost become a stereotype. Nana, Ken and I are doing something quite different. We're musicians who just happen to be writers. In fact, I think of myself as a 'writer' regardless of the hat I'm wearing -- or guitar I'm playing!' Žabić adds that she has nothing against The Doors, but when she organized a reading of selected Serbo-Croatian translations of rock poetry when she was in high school, Jim Morrison didn't make the cut. (Jimi Hendrix's 'Vetar viče Mary' did.) All three authors have published books of poetry this year. Kase's debut, 'Seven Sonnets,' was illustrated by St. Louis cartoonist John Blair Moore. Žabić collaborated on her bilingual book 'Po(jest)zija/Po(eat)ry' with fellow feminist activist Ivana Percl, writing poems in lyric, experimental and recipe forms. 'Po(jest)zija/Po(eat)ry' is illustrated by comic book artist Dunja Jankovic. Dean's latest book of poetry, 'Brief Nudity,' is 'concerned with the juxtaposition between elegy and irreverence.' Dean explains: 'The book has elements of humor and tragedy intertwined. It includes a series of persona poems from the perspective of victims of the 1989 Bay Area Loma Prieta earthquake. But it also deals with popular culture's stranglehold on our collective unconscious,' with such far-flung poetic subjects as Evel Knievel, Tom DeLay, Hercules, Tweety Bird and The Angry Whopper. Contributor bios
Flier by Chien-An Yuan
June 14 Friday night live at Transistor: Joshua Wentz, Zorin 
Flier by Chien-An Yuan
June 21 Friday night live at Transistor: 'FC Chicago' with a DJ set by SUPERTOY and performance by Rainbo Video. June 28 Friday night live at Transistor: No show this week. Catch Transistor Sound recording artists Airline-X live at Quenchers! July 5 Friday night live at Transistor: Joe Adamik and TBA July 12 Friday night live at Transistor: Max Abstrax and TBA July 19 Friday night live at Transistor: Group 312 Films presents a night of screenings July 26 Friday night live at Transistor: Girl Detective Friday night live at Transistor archive 2013 April 12: Charlie Crane, New Missionaries, Airline-X March 15: Illinois Bovine Explosion, Nana Zabic, Ben Simon March 1: Scuttlebuggs, Jon & Carly February 15: Brice & The Inklings, Steven Gilpin February 8: oRSo, Whirlpool February 1: Kevin Rieg and Neil Erker of Many Places, Alberta January 25: Hek Hernandez and SUPERTOY present SILVER 2012 December 14: Neil Jendon December 7: Rows of Arrows, Ty Maxon November 30: Mitre, 'Sound of Noise' screening November 16: Max Abstrax, Terrible Spaceship November 9: One Hour Naps, The Astronomer November 2: 'Future Shorts' short film festival screening + music by Radius with video mixing by Byron Durham October 26: No show October 19: Slowbots, SMACKSOFT October 12: Host, Radius October 5: Randi Russo, Justin Turner, Jesse Hanabarger September 28: Moongriffin and Charles Mantis September 21: Joe Adamik and Jim Baker September 14: XYZR_KX, Brash Flair, Ian Wilson September 7: Matt Campbell and Little Dickens August 24: Mouth Dakota Band, Calvin Conway, Joel Walter August 17: Patrick Cosmos and Neil Jendon with live video by Byron Durham July 20: Handsome Tyrants, Theron Humiston July 13: Everypeople Workshop July 6: Dan Phillips, Stephen Mulcahy, Marko Casso June 29: An Evening of Readings May 25: Jon & Carly and Solo in the Second City readings May 18: Charles Mantis and EveryPeople Workshop March 30: Love and Radiation February 17: Julian Dawson & Jon Langford January 27: Jane Thatcher 2011 December 16: XYZR_KX + 'Visions of Astropolis' screening October 14: Dreamers of the Ghetto July 1: Handsome Tyrants, Tim Kaiser June 24: Neil Jendon & Mike Weis, Joe Adamik group June 17: Vada Granger, Flower Man June 10: Gold Fronts June 3: No show May 27: Dan Zapruder and Project Film May 20: Wes Imel and Casual Encounter May 6: The Desperate Hours and Absinthe and the Dirty Floors April 29: magician Jay Collen April 22: circuit benders Tim Kaiser and Roth Mobot April 15: No show April 8: free jazz quartet Extraordinary Popular Delusions April 1: Chicago Acoustic Underground Showcase with Duck & Goose, Jane Thatcher, Common Shiner and Left Turn At Albuquerque March 25: Dead Sheriff March 18: No show March 11: The Rust Belt Ramblers and The Missing Chums March 4: The Bergamot and Dan Zupruder February 25: Julia Miller and Coppice February 18: Strange Electronics (Cracked Raytube, Monica Panzarino, Arcane Bolt) February 11: No show February 4: Starlicker January 28: Flights AV (music + film) January 21: No show January 14: No show January 7: No show 2010 December 31: No show December 24: No show December 17: Steve Solomon December 10: Jane Thatcher and Jenny Gillespie December 3: The Eternals + DJ Major Taylor November 26: No show November 19: No show November 12: Light on Lines, Neil Jendon and Mike Weis November 5: Chicago Women of Noise October 29: local bands Mouth Dakota and Jon Drake & The Shakes October 22: local bands Seafarer and Beaten by Yuri October 15: Paisley Babylon 'Beautiful Chaos' (5 turntables, 5 echo boxes, 2 crates of vinyl, 1 maniac), with Eric Nelson of ikyaudio. October 8: Percussion and guitar soundscapes of Tommi Zender with visuals by Byron Durham of MF Chicago October 1: GLI.TC/H screening night September 24: local bands Dead Sheriff and Eiffel Tower September 17: Poster Child September 10: No show September 3: jazz saxophonist Ken Vandermark August 27: local bands Canasta and Beaten by Yuri (canceled) August 20: local bands Simple Singer and Legs Like Straw August 13: No show August 6: No show July 30: Chicago Women of Noise July 23: Comedy night with Mollie Merkel and friends July 16: indie pop sensation Charlie Slick July 9: No show July 2: local indie duos Chew Heart and The Missing Chums with Manhattan, Kansas-based quartet The Low End June 25: the band Split live set + CD release party June 18: local duo Signature Groove June 11: No show June 4: dark ambient acts Millipede and Polyfuse, with visuals by Byron Durham of MF Chicago May 28: local bands Absynthe & The Dirty Floors and House Sounds May 21: Metro DJ night with Metro owner-founder Joe Shanahan and box office manager Pete Rullo May 14: local bands T'Bone and Seafarer May 7: electronic duo Bookmobile and SAIC sound and video artists April 30: spoken word artists Michelle Renae and Sondra Morin April 23: local band Airlines-X and local experimental duo 727 Generator April 16: Performance artist Clover Morell 'Family Portrait,' plus members of Transistor's performance art workshop (led by Matt Marcum) April 9: Rayograph and queer electro performance-art trio DAAN April 2: Transistor six months in business party March 26: Two with Water Reading Series and local theater group Billy Goat Experiment March 19: Color Swim presents a genre-bending mash-up of video and music March 12: electronic-ambient trio Gamma and noise duo Feedbacula March 5: Bladon Conner artist reception February 26: local rockabilly trio The Dyes and TAFKA Vince & Lauren Revival February 19: local duo The Missing Chums live set + CD release party February 12: CHIRP (Chicago Independent Radio Project) DJ night February 5: Meet the Photographers (Brian Hischier, Tracy Graham, Jordan Nicolette, John Sisson, Steve Somen) January 29: spoken word artist Michelle Renae January 22: Roth Mobot with Coming Tomerica January 15: video artist Surabhi Saraf January 8: No show January 1: No show 2009 December 25: No show December 18: Two Can Play at That Game: A Festival of Duos (music, performance, dance and video, featuring Mark Franz and Max Alexandar) December 11: local indie rockers Split |
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 © 2013 |
Coins is a Chicago duo comprised of Angela Mullenhour and Ellen Bunch. Their 2011 release 'Recital Pressures' received this write-up on 
Calvin Conway (pictured right performing at Transistor in 2012) sings and plays the blues harmonica. His music is soulful and direct while being melodic and harmonious. He writes and records his music in an effort to create great sounds from daily life. Calvin recently completed a 4-song EP called 'By Rail' that was inspired by a memorable train trip to New Orleans via Austin. He'll be playing songs born out of stories from the trip. From witnessing drought and devastation in Texas to experiencing the finest of hospitality and good music in New Orleans, the songs paint a picture of the great times had.
'These two musicians, Katherine Trimble and Tomas Feijo, are not only skilled song stylists, they are adept composers, as comfortable on their respective strings as they are with digital software. Both are prolific solo artists and their outputs are fueled by extremes of musical interest. Often within the span of a single composition, Trimble's rich cello tones move from gestures evocative of myriad reference points, classical here, rural Americana there, to dense, layered, visceral explorations of friction and timbre. Feijo oscillates between unwieldy, assertive, meandering, emotive tirades one is tempted to think of as 'post-folk,' and time-stretch sample-based deconstructions of popular music under the pseudonym, The Reverend Dr. James Doctor. Together, they seem to focus one another, highlighting their overlapping idiosyncrasies. What you get with Bed Rest is puzzle-box songs, songs that yield more the deeper you listen.' - Steven Fletcher 
Terrible Spaceship rediscovers media from the past and resuscitates it into a modern music and video multimedia experience. Utilizing samples and live instrumentation for its original scores, the band has been described by the Chicago Tribune as 'equally influenced by Danny Elfman, Portishead and Orson and H.G. Welles.' 
Terrible Spaceship's first record, 'Invaders: 1938,' which tells the tale of the 'War of the Worlds' as presented by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater company, is now available on Bandcamp, iTunes and Amazon. The second record, completed but not yet recorded, is 'Zontar, The Thing from Venus.' It's a forgotten ridiculous '70s sci-fi/horror film spun into a massive pseudo-electronic high-energy dance party. The band will perform 'Zontar' for their appearance at Transistor. 
Larry O. Dean was born in Flint, Michigan. As a young man, he worked with filmmaker Michael Moore, cartooned for fanzines, and published essays and reviews on music and popular culture in the alternative press. He is the author of 10 chapbooks; his work has been widely anthologized and translated. In addition, he is a singer, songwriter and producer, working both solo as well as with several 'hard pop' bands, including The Fussbudgets, Malcontent, Post Office, The Me Decade and The Injured Parties. Since 2001 he has hosted a monthly songwriter showcase, dubbed Folk You! After living in San Francisco for over a decade, he makes his home in Chicago. Online: 
Ken Kase has been a St. Louis musician for 25 years. His band, The Ken Kase Group, released three CDs between 1997 and 2008, and consistently played on the St. Louis club scene as headliners and opening for Dada, Ben Folds Five and Chuck Berry. He is also a member of veteran St. Louis band Sun Sawed in 1/2, which released 'Elephants into Swans' in January, their first new album in over a decade. His blog, 'The Overleaf,' concentrates on eBook editions of classic literature in the public domain. Online: 
Snežana Žabić teaches writing and literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She resides in Chicago and hails from Croatia, by way of Serbia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. She was first a poet and a writer; she has been writing songs and playing guitar since 1998, performing and recording both solo and as a member of Patti's Breakfast (Belgrade), Good Apples (Chicago) and The Adaptations (Chicago), oscillating between indie folk and loud rock.