Last week, supreme Chicago boogie label Star Creature Universal Vibrations dropped its first three records of 2020. They bring some serious heat: there’s a seven-inch by NYC talk-box maestro Temu (the tenth release by the label’s Tugboat Editions imprint); the disco-inflected debut album by Munir (of Indonesian boogie collective Midnight Runners), titled Eastern Sun; and the Paradise’s Love Remix 12-inch EP by American disco combo Bordeaux, a collaboration with London soul-reissue label Fantasy Love that packages a remastered version of the funky, fiery 1982 original with two slick remixes. You can buy all three as a bundle from Star Creature’s Bandcamp—your record collection will thank you!
If you’ve been to Elastic Arts lately, you’ve probably wondered about all the unlighted, alien-looking chandeliers on its ceiling. They’re part of a complex new sound system created by the Chicago Laboratory for Electroacoustic Theatre, and Elastic describes them as “16 individual, hemispheric, omni-directional speakers, each on a discrete channel, configured in a roughly 30-by-30-foot grid.” On Friday, January 24, local sound artist Stephan Moore, who made the CLEAT system, will inaugurate it with a 16-channel performance that exploits its special properties. Also on the bill is electronic musician Jason Soliday, founder of late, lamented local DIY space Enemy.
