And also along the lines of high-end dance music, DJ Ender of Helsinki Nuspirit makes a special appearance at the Funky Buddha Lounge (July 27), fresh on the heals of the band's self-titled debut (on Guidance Records). More collective than band, the Finnish Helsinki Nuspirit make extremely low-key downtempo dance music, intricately spliced with jazz, dub reggae, soul and funk, and kept together by deceptively complex rhythm patterns. Tracks like "Hard Like a Rock," a reworking of the single by French reggae vocalist Daddy Ous, practically shimmers with a lightly churning roots-reggae beat, insidious dub effects and Ous' plaintive voice wailing both over the top and under the surface. Although Helsinki Nuspirit sounds destined for the chill-out room, there's a cerebral and distinguished element to the music that separates it from the pack.

Triple header...
... of the week goes to July 27 at the Abbey Pub with the Peelers, Cash Audio and Trailer Bride. Openers the Peelers play the rock music, and although I've yet to see them myself, the majority of local rock folks whose advice I blindly trust have told me not to miss them—several times. The two-man team of Cash Audio (once known as Cash Money, and I refuse to let that name die, hip-hop label with lawyers notwithstanding) plays gritty-as-hellfire blues, tinged with rockabilly and Stax. And Trailer Bride... well, if you've never seen or heard Trailer Bride, here's a chance to see one of the darkest country-influenced bands in America. Not morosely dark like the Handsome Family, but bleak, like a tin shack with only a telephone pole for company surrounded by a horizon of dirt and sun. For the band's last record, "High Seas" (Bloodshot), released last year, Trailer Bride slowed down the overall tempo a bit and replaced it with a more jagged, skipping beat structure; it works when combined with lead singer Melissa Swingle's unassuming twang-free voice and echoing whines of the saw, bowed bass and lo-fi guitar.

Goddess:
According to mythological texts, the goddess Venus—aka the Greek Aphrodite—was born when the severed genitals of either Zeus or Uranus were tossed into the ocean and combined with foam from the waves. (In the Roman version, an enraged, jealous Gaia, the Earth mother, did the neutering.)

But in taking a name from the Goddess of Love, the Venus zine, which focuses coverage on women in rock 'n' roll, had a far less sinister genesis. The brainchild of local publisher Amy Schroeder, who began the zine while a freshman at Michigan State University, Venus has grown to be a full-time job with a full, albeit volunteer, staff. The forthcoming issue, Venus' thirteenth, marks the second to hit the streets this year and features a very high-profile cover subject: Sleater-Kinney. To drive home the level of recognition Venus has attained, just ask Schroeder how Venus scored such buzzed-about cover ladies: "They actually contacted us."

Schroeder, who recently quit her day job to work on Venus full-time, notes that spike in Venus' growth occurred when she moved to Chicago two years ago. "Venus used to be almost all me," she says. "But when I moved to Chicago, all of the sudden we had all these people who wanted to help. It's the Chicago community that really made it all come together." The growth shows no signs of abating; in 2003, Venus turns quarterly.

While Venus benefit/release parties were once held in friends' loft spaces and featured mostly local bands and DJs, festivities this time have been moved to the Fireside Bowl (July 27, 10pm), where Ari Up of the Slits will play a lo-fi performance before lighting out on tour. The last three Venus release parties have been overcrowded with supporters—i.e., expect a full house.

Troma-tic:
For those headed out to the extravaganza/Disneyland called the Warped Tour (Saturday, July 27 at Tinley Park), find the Troma Films tent to catch a screening of "Super Starlet A.D.," the debut film by Delilah's owner Mike Miller. The screening will mark the last chance to see Miller's film until "Super Starlet"'s rather apocalyptic release date, September 11, 2002.

Also by Dave Chamberlain

RAW MATERIAL
What do you get when you combine rock 'n' roll guitars with Algerian rai, French house music and funk? One answer: a mess. Another answer: Rachid Taha, an Algeria-born French national who, despite overwhelming anti-Arabic sentiment throughout the West, flaunts his Algerian ancestry through his hyper-masculine, hyper-integrated protest music.
(2002-07-18)

DISCOVERIES
Forget the crap dumped on us by the Butthole Surfers for the past decade—the Surfers developed their fanbase in the eighties thanks to some of the most twisted, LSD-friendly, protoplasmic music ever made.
(2002-07-18)

DISCOVERIES
What could Wire, one of the most influential art/punk rock bands in history, now in its fourth decade of existence, possibly have left to prove or say? Apparently plenty, but with "Read and Burn Volume 1," the quartet of Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey cut right to the chase.
(2002-07-18)

TIP OF THE WEEK
The main drawing point for High on Fire is Matt Pike, former guitarist for the lumbering doom giant Sleep. (For those not in the know, Sleep was the slowest, most bludgeoning of the early nineties doom/stoner metalists; the band's final record, "Jerusalem," is a one-song, fifty-minute opus to smoking weed.)
(2002-07-11)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-07-11)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-07-04)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-07-04)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-27)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-06-27)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-20)

RAW MATERIAL
(2002-06-20)

TIP OF THE WEEK
(2002-06-13)