Coins, aka Angela Mullenhour (Sybris) and Ellen Bunch (Reds and Blue), are dropping their debut full-length, Recital Pressures, this week on local cassette label Plustapes; the release show is December 17 at the Hideout. This kicks off a busy season for Plustapes—possibly the most prolific label Chicago has seen in years—with the debut of Grey Ghost (Brian Griffith from Very Truly Yours) in January and another live cassette from Disappears (with Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums) in February.
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Califone have scored a new PBS documentary, The Calling, about clergy of various faiths in training. The four-hour, two-part project airs December 20 and 21 at 9 PM on WTTW. Chicago-based band members Jim Becker, Ben Massarella, and Joe Adamik have answered a different kind of call, accepting an offer to join Iron & Wine for the next two years, touring with Sam Beam behind his major-label debut, due in January on Warner Brothers. Califone will remain active between their Iron & Wine obligations.
The Handcuffs are back in the studio, knocking out album number three with Mike Hagler at King Size Sound Labs in Humboldt Park. The band will release the results in early 2011, on vinyl, CD, and as a download. Singer Chloe F. Orwell says they’ve been listening to a lot of glam, which explains the boas-to-band-members ratio in their publicity photo.
