Posted on April 29, 2010 by Margaret The UnCool

Edible Audible Picnic, the daytime music series returns to Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion this summer. Acts include DJs and live bands. Presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Millennium Park, this free series has been expanded to include 16 concerts on Mondays and select Saturdays at noon, beginning June 7 through September 4, 2010. Three Saturday events are scheduled for July 3, 24 and September 4. We are pleased to see several local acts in the lineup.

Below is the schedule:

Monday, June 7 at Noon – Solvent
Solvent is Jason Amm, a Toronto based, robot-music composer, focusing on analogsynthesizers. He is a co-founder of Suction Records and one of the shining stars on the Ghostly International label. Solvent’s electro-pop music can be heard on his latest full-length Subject to Shift. http://solventcity.com/

Monday, June 14 at Noon – The Cool Kids*
Chicago hip hop duo, The Cool Kids are Antoine “Mikey Rocks” Reed and Evan “Chuck Inglish” Ingersoll. The self-described “the new black version of the Beastie Boys,” Reed and Ingersoll have collaborated with The Bloody Beetroots, Drake, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, and Maroon 5.

Monday, June 21 at Noon – Dosh
Dosh’s sound combines electro-acoustic music, traditional rock instruments and the use of live sampling techniques to create loop-based compositions onstage. Dosh layers percussion-heavy concoctions from an array of gadgets. Martin Luther King Dosh, a collaborator with Andrew Bird, is joined by Michael Lewis, who performs live on saxophone, electric piano, and electric bass. Dosh is playing Millennium Park in support of his fifth fulllength album, Tommy, on the Anticon label. www.myspace.com/doshanticon

Monday, June 28 at Noon – I Am Robot and Proud
Making his Chicago debut, I Am Robot and Proud is a one-man indie electronic artist from Toronto, Canada named Shaw-Han Liem. He combines both electronic and organic instrumentation to produce gentle instrumental electronic pop.

Saturday, July 3 at Noon – Green Velvet aka Cajmere*
Chicago’s own Curtis Jones records under two different aliases, Green Velvet, for his techno style of music, and as Cajmere when he produces house music. He produces dance music through his two record labels, Cajual and Relief Records.

Monday, July 5 at Noon – Nice Nice
Nice Nice are Portland-based Jason Buehler and Mark Shirazi, a duo using guitars, drums, voices, electronics and more to create their “post-everything modern music” for nearly a decade. Now recording for Warp records, the group weaves sounds together from psychedelia and neo-primitive electronica to dub rhythms.

Monday, July 12 at Noon – El Guincho
El Guincho is the recording alias of Spanish musician Pablo Díaz-Reixa. His musical style is influenced by a broad range of artists like Animal Collective and Os Mutantes, and relies heavily on the use of sampling, incorporating elements of Afrobeat, dub, Tropicália and rock and roll. Díaz-Reixa described his music as a kind of “spaceage exotica.”

Monday, July 19 at Noon – High Places
High Places is Mary Pearson and Rob Barber. High Places’ sound uses bass-heavy, crisp beats, vocal melodies, syncopated rhythmic lines performed on folk percussion instruments, guitar duets turned into treated samples, and percussive lines created from the manipulation of household objects. Their new record, High Places vs. Mankind, was released on Chicago’s own Thrill Jockey label.

Saturday, July 24 at Noon – Chicago Hip Hop–All Headz on Deck*
The Chicago Hip Hop Initiative successfully lobbied the City of Chicago to declare July Hip Hop Heritage Month, back in 2003. Each July since, the group has acted as an umbrella for a variety of concerts, showcases, forums, and discussions aimed at preserving hip hop’s historical and artistic legacy in Chicago while continually promoting an agenda of family, community, positivity and peace.

Monday, July 26 at Noon – A Grape Dope
A Grape Dope is the beat-oriented, electronic side project of John Herndon, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the band Tortoise. Hearndon uses dub heavy, tribal-like rhythms that are peppered with electronic beeps, vocal samples and polyrhythmic handclapping. A Grape Dope, Herndon’s electronic alter-ego, rarely performs his material live.

Monday, August 2 at Noon – VHS or BETA Dee Jays
VHS or BETA, from Louisville, Kentucky, combines elements of rock, French house and dance-punk. The band’s self-released debut, Le Funk, received some recognition, but with 2004’s Night On Fire the band achieved measurable success. VHS or Beta released Bring on the Comets in 2007, which featured the alternative rock radio hit “Can’t Believe a Single Word.” Members of the band continue to expand their fan base by performing DJ sets across the country, making one of their stops in Millennium Park this summer. www.vhsorbeta.com/VOB/Home.html

Monday, August 9 at Noon – Javelin
The Brooklyn based, beat-making duo, Javelin consists of cousins, Tom Van Buskirk and George Langford. Their self-released CDR, Jamz n Jemz, was selected as “Best New Music” by Pitchfork and the duo recently released their proper full length debut album No Mas on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label. Also performing this summer at Lollapalooza, Javelin have performed with Mos Def, remixed The Very Best, and toured the UK with Yeasayer. dollarbinsofthefuture.com/

Monday, August 16 at Noon – Juan Maclean DJ Set
John MacLean, better as the front man of rock band, The Juan MacLean, is an American electronic musician and former guitarist for the indie Dance-punk band Six Finger Satellite, with LCD Sound System founder, James Murphy. Murphy later released MacLean’s records on his acclaimed DFA Record label. As a DJ, MacLean focuses on classic tracks, disco, and house. He recently released the latest addition of the famed “DJ Kicks” series for the Studio K7 label.

Monday, August 23 at Noon – All City Affairs*
All City Affairs is the song writing, beat making, and general musical output of Chicagoan, Peter Andreadis, also known as the drummer in long running Chicago rock trio Baby Teeth. All City Affairs layers synth bass lines and looping drums with guitars, keyboards, percussion, melodicas and more.

Monday, August 30 at Noon – Future Rock*
Chicagoans Mickey Kellerman and Felix Moreno, and drummer Darren Heitz, are the driving force behind Future Rock. During their live shows all three members wield synthesizers and live loops, melding a traditional band with an electronic dance party.

Saturday, September 4 at Noon – Orchard Lounge*
Orchard Lounge focuses on down-tempo, space disco, house, techno, b-boy era electro, hip hop, soul, and funk music that you can dance to. This trio was formed in Chicago in 2000 by Ben Silver, Spencer Lokken and Bethany Lokken

* Denotes Chicago act

–Margaret at The UnCool

UnCool Update: Millennium Park Edible Audible Picnic Line-up Announced10.0101