Welcome to doubletimefeel.com. For those of you expecting petecroke.com, fear not! It's still me, I just decided to change the name of this blog and give the site a bit more focus. You can access this site from doubletimefeel.com, doubletimefeel.org, and petecroke.com... whatever suits your fancy.

This redesign was, to put it mildly, a royal pain in the ass. 3 times over the past few weeks, I managed to overwrite files, delete crucial directories, and nitpick nitpick nitpick over how the site looks. That being said, I am also extremely excited to have Double Time Feel up and ready. I hope to be a voice in documenting the amazing music that either orginates in or passes through Chicago.

Double Time Feel is a constant work in process, so new features and tweaks are soon to come. If I labored over this launch any longer, chances are it may never have seen the light of day.

Thanks for being patient and thanks for reading. Tomorrow: the first show review!

Here is a little mix I whipped up of some good ol' Chicago music. It's Chicago bands who are still around (albeit some more prominently than others), and it represents a lot of what I like about the music scene here. I did one of these a few years ago for a mix cd party that I attended, and I decided to do another one this week. There are plenty of bands that I did not cover, but that leaves the possibility open for volume 2.

Enjoy!

(dowload it here)

The tracklist:

1) Polly Gray - Pinebender
2) Pink & Sour - Califone
3) Astra 3B - The Eternals
4) Want Out - Mt St Helens
5) Fluxus - Chicago Underground Duo
6) Stolen Mountains - Chinup Chinup
7) Fields and Parks of Easy Access - Town and Country
8) String Ray and the Beginning of Time, pt. 2 - Exploding Star Orchestra
9) Son of the Son of the Kiss of Death - The Narrator
10) Mr. Squeezzy - Icy Demons
11) My Donuts, God Damn! - Haymarket Riot
12) Political Mysticism - Make Believe
13) Quit Fanning Yourself You're Making Me Hot - Locks
14) Last Call - The Vandermark 5
15) Death Rides a Horse - Russian Circles
16) Parasol - The Sea and Cake
17) To The Rooftops - Watchers
18) Steady as She Goes - Shellac
19) They Have Monkeys Like We Have Squirrels - Dianogah
20) Stay of Execution - Sleepout
21) Akebono - The Jai Alai Savant
22) Seneca - Tortoise
23) From the River to the Ocean - Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake

The Chicago Cubs clinched the National League Central Division Title this weekend, so I thought it was appropriate to make sure that everyone out there learns the lyrics to 'Go Cubs Go' (not 'Go Cubs Win', as manager Lou Pinella hilariously referred to it one day during a post-game conference).

So, when the Cubs make their way to the World Series, make sure you know the words for the post-game celebration:

Baseball season's underway
Well you better get ready for a brand new day
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today.

You're singing now ...
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go, Cubs, go
Go, Cubs, go
Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today.

Like them or not, Smashing Pumpkins did not just leave an indelible mark on Chicago, but an entire generation of kids who were exposed to their music in the early 90's. It could be argued that their current influence still reigns supreme today, but I think one would have a harder time proving that point. They arrived at the right time and were able to cash in on the commercial success of the "alternative" movement, and managed to build an eclectic body of work that has often come under all sorts intense criticism and scrutiny from fans and media alike... but of course I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

So why even mention a band that obviously isn't hurting for exposure or needing yet another article to be written about them? Well, I had pretty much forgotten about the Smashing Pumpkins and how much I used to be into them, but recent events (read: getting hooked up with a copy of the Singles soundtrack) brought back a flood of memories when that riff from 'Drown' kicks in. Maybe it's just me, but I think sometimes its too easy to write off how good a band like Smashing Pumpkins were. They came up through the ranks the same way most other bands do, only their peak was light years past what 99.9% of bands could ever hope to experience.

I found a few videos on youtube that date back to 1992 at some club in Milwaukee (according to various comments) where the band played 'Drown', and introduce it as a song that will be in a movie that "you don't know about yet". If the date is right, this would have been just before Siamese Dream was released, an album that is pretty hard to dislike no matter what your tastes. However, for me its one of those records that maybe finds its way into my rotation once a year, and I always end up saying "damn this record is so good... i should listen to it more often", but of course I don't.

Anyways, here are some links to the 1992 show I mentioned. Its a pretty rare glimpse into one of those "before the entire world knew who they were" moments, and to have been there must be a rad memory for those in the crowd.

Drown

Sweet Sweet

Frail and Bedazzled

Disarm

Tristessa