Gossip Wolf has been following local label and multimedia collective FeelTrip for ages, and the crew keeps growing. Cofounder David Beltran (aka producer Starfoxxx) says that FeelTrip recently launched the imprint Reptilian Traxx, which he’ll run with Matt Engers (aka producer Sophagus) and FeelTrip’s in-house video director, Joshua Patterson (aka new-age act the Druid Beat). Beltran says Reptilian Traxx will release obscure electronic music, classic-sounding club tracks, and “anything not jangle pop.” Last week the label debuted with the cassette Reptilian Traxx Vol. 1, a genre-blurring dance mix by Chicago producer Tony Rainwater. FeelTrip and local dance collective Cold Tech celebrate the birth of Reptilian Traxx at Slippery Slope on Thursday, December 15. Starfoxxx and Cold Tech producers Please & Steve Noah and Barragoon spin; Sophagus plays live.
This summer Shiloh singer-guitarist Ryan Ensley dropped this wolf a note about his new group, Sonny Falls, whose six-song debut, There’s No Magic Left in This World, retains the rambunctious twang of the defunct Shiloh. On the EP, Ensley played everything but drums, which were covered by his Shiloh bandmate Calvin Schaller; Oshwa guitarist Michael Mac engineered. There’s No Magic Left in This World came out digitally in October, and Sonny Falls celebrate the release of a cassette version at the Empty Bottle on Wednesday, December 21.
Evanston rapper Kweku Collins graduated high school in May 2015, and he’s already a linchpin of Chicago’s hip-hop scene. In April local label Closed Sessions released Collins’s debut album, Nat Love, where his “inviting, fluid rapping and singing” (to quote the Reader‘s coverage) “pack a wallop as his words sink in.” Collins will sign copies of the LP at a meet and greet on Friday, December 16, at Wicker Park vinyl shop Shuga Records—this wolf wouldn’t be surprised if fans pack the place. v
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