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- LowDown Marching Band
Of the many exceptional gigs that Gossip Wolf has missed over the past 15 months, few rank higher than the LowDown Brass Band. Their mix of New Orleans-style second-line horns with hip-hop and reggae beats can make any venue feel like a deliciously sweaty street parade. In February, the group began releasing a series of one- and two-minute tracks, each accompanied by a video (most were shot outdoors, including on the Riverwalk, by the Calder Flamingo on Federal Plaza and in a convertible on Lake Shore Drive). On Friday July 2, all ten of them will be released on an album titled Mini coil sessions, and that night they’ll be playing a limited-capacity show at FitzGerald’s. Better yet, another feature film is coming in November!
Allen Moore, a multidisciplinary artist from Robbins, Illinois, calls his work a “social allegory, conversing with symbols and institutions conducive to constructs of race, class, and personal introspection.” He paints, sculpts and makes experimental music, and for his new band, Lived a devil (released last week on local label Monastral), he played hand-cast LPs from sheets of graphite and okra on multiple turntables, augmenting their rough output with keyboards and electronics. On weird and otherworldly tracks such as “Black Is Beautiful,” Moore’s crackling thuds and old soul samples sound like transmissions from beyond the edge of the known universe.
Chicago singer-songwriter Jean Cochrane makes soft and disarming indie pop as Hard Femme. Until last week, their last feature film was from 2014 Masculinity and other disadvantages, but the brand new A layer of topsoil makes up for lost time with catchy songs about homosexuality, gender and, uh, corporate social media (“Lonely Starbucks Lovers”). Belle & Sebastian-sensitive indie rock fans can buy A layer of topsoil via Bandcamp. v
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