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Wampum
Big Buildings
Catalog Number 007666-5
Wampum’s
musty melodicism and muted psychedelia channels bits of Big Star,
Buffalo Springfield, and early Yo La Tengo; the band’s songwriting
instincts are so thoroughly realized that I doubt thousands of dollars
and a full modern studio treatment could’ve made the record
any better.
J. Niimi, Chicago Reader
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Water
Everywhere
Big Buildings
Catalog Number 007666-4
Water
Everywhere is my favorite local rock record of a young 2006. I've
compared their studied sloppiness to Exile on Main Street in the
past, but I'm going to have to add some other markers: a wired-up
Grateful Dead, a hippified Loaded-era Velvets (say, if Lou Reed
had left and Sterling Morrison had taken the reins), and a puppyish
R.E.M. around the time of their 1981 Athens bootlegs. (Maybe some
of those Peter Buck-Keith Streng collaborations too.) They have
an absolutely joyous infatuation with their own grainy lo-fi ululations
throughout Water Everywhere.
Monica
Kendrick, Chicago Reader
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I
Don't Want to Go Down to the Basement:
Live at the Sweatbox
Various Artists
Catalog Number 007666-3
If
The Sweatbox Summer Concert Series was a sporting event (and some
may argue that it was), this 19-band 74 min CD would be a huge box
of Web Gems from a winning season. Lovingly presented by the Sweatbox
Preservation Society and Stars/No Stars Records, the disc combines
live songs, crowd chatter, and the sounds of beers being emptied
at an alarming rate. With headphones and a six pack (not included),
you'd swear you were in the basement yourself. And maybe you were.
Featuring
a number of wild, shambling, and generally off the cuff performances
from these Chicago bands:
Big Buildings / The Bon Mots /
Camaro Rouge / Catfish Haven /
Cracklin Moth / Adam Fitz / Frodis /
Hot Dog City / IllinoisFirst! /
The Ladies & Gentlemen /
Milk at Midnight / The Returnables / Riviera / Shot of Therapy /
Snowbeast / Stroby Alliance / Telenovela / Titmice / Zimmerman Twins
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Hang
Together for All Time
Big Buildings
Catalog Number 007666-2
They
wail and bash, channeling Bo Diddley and the Rolling Stones ("We
Are Steamships," "Streetlights"). They unplug and
go near-country ("Big Dave," "Peaceful Man at Odds").
They split the difference, like the Kinks meeting Uncle Tupelo ("Skinny
Women Shaking"). One track is a distorted, short rant followed
by a song of relative sonic polish. Someone coughed during the intro
to "Quiet Landmine"? So what! Leave it in!
Barry Gilbert,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
There's
a lot of stuff going on here that reminds me why I fell in love
with music in the first place.
Vitas Zebratis, Glorious Noise
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This
is the Bricks EP
Big Buildings
Catalog Number 007666-1
Rough,
but right. .
Bob Mehr, Chicago Reader
You
can almost smell the beer and stale cigarette smoke.
J im DeRogatis, Chicago Sun-Times
Judging by the photos on its Web site, there are
two things the members of Chicago-based Big Buildings aren’t
worried about: being taken too seriously - and their hair.
Reckless Abandon Column
Columbia Daily Review
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