If there is one person, who has been causing a stir on the international club circuit recently, it is Barcelona’s John Talabot. Already his debut “My Old School“ (which is meant literally by the way) on Permanent Vacation in 2009 and shortly after that the single “ Sunshine”, which he put out on his own Hivern Disc imprint, made him one of the most promising musicians of the Spanish electronic scene. And those two releases also already set the mark for John Talabot’s unparalleled music: raw, loopy, heavy on the kick drum, sample based, moderate on the tempo, distorted on the drums and light years away from the clean and ever revolving house sound of today. This unique style which also blends influences from afro beat, Detroit techno, Chicago house and cosmic disco, but also northern soul or the energy of Flamenco, immediately turned some heads around. James Murphy, Âme and Aeroplane started including Talabot music in their sets like it was the most natural thing. However – and this is quite rare – he not only gained legions of fans in the house and disco community, but also amongst the leftfield pop and indie rock followers. NME and Resident Advisor both had “Breakthrough“ features on John Talabot and he can be proud of a “Best New Music“ dubbing on Pitchfork. (Being rather elusive on showing his face in magazines or the web it also came to some funny rumors that John Talabot was the alter ego of a well-known techno producer from Detroit).

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"In a market place over saturated with corporate created talent, MER delivers a refreshing reminder that musicians with originality and heart still exist!" - CHICAGO TRIBUNE

MER teams up with Chicago's finest for another installment of MER's Music Showcase. With the huge success of the January residency at Schubas Tavern, MER brings together some of the city's finest front-men for an intimate songwriter circle. Hear the stories behind the songs and experience the music in the raw state in which they were written.

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For the uninitiated, Dead Confederate is a five-piece rock band from Athens, GA whose music runs the gamut of infectious psychedelia to a uniquely southern and ferocious dirge. Although, placing labels on a band like this is rather pointless as their sound seems a constant and fluid evolution; they never seem content with abiding by the guides of one sub-genre, so maybe it's best we just leave it at "rock" for simplicity's sake. Dead Confederate, in name and sound, formed in 2006 in Atlanta, GA before moving to Athens shortly thereafter. In these six years, the band has become one of the most revered live acts in the nation by fans and peers alike. Touring relentlessly in the US and overseas, they've been handpicked to join a number of their musical heroes on the road (REM, Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets... to name a few) and play some rather high- profile gigs (Bonnaroo to Bumbershoot, SXSW and CMJ, Late Night with Conan O'Brien... also to name a few). Dead Confederate has released two full-length records to-date, 2008's "Wrecking Ball" and 2010's "Sugar", as well as two EP's, a live album, and an eighteen-song compilation of home recordings. Their third full-length, "In The Marrow", will be making it's long-anticipated appearance on April 16, 2013 via Spiderbomb Records/ Redeye.

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Taking its name from novelist Jack London’s 1904 seafaring adventure, Sea Wolf has evolved organically from its hermetic origins in Alex Brown Church’s living room into a muscular, full-bodied musical entity with passion to burn. After adopting the sobriquet, Church burst onto the music scene in two-fisted fashion with the EP, Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low, and the subsequent full-length debut album, Leaves in the River, about which Interview magazine observed, “His music is both erudite and unvarnished, a blend of swirling melodies, literary balladry and damaged art-rock composition.”

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