Chicago Mixtape is the brainchild of Casey Meehan. Subscribers receive an email every week that includes a free mix tape of Chicago bands with upcoming shows in the city. The service keeps your iTunes fresh with trending music. In addition, Chicago Mixtape holds a live music series that features mix tape alumni at some of the best venues in Chicago.

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Audiotree is one of my favorite companies to discover new music. Based out of Chicago, the company wears many belts, including live sessions, band interviews, sponsorships and artist management. Since the recent inception of the company, they have interviewed and recorded a hundred great bands and counting, both local to Chicago and touring acts.

We had the opportunity to record a live set this past summer at the Audiotree studios. Before the session, I had never heard of this young company, but I was impressed by the genuine interest of the staff in local talent. Audiotree records their live blog posts with multiple studio mics and a group of very talented film kids to give bands live, professional studio concerts at no cost. Check out Audiotree TV to discover the most talented and undiscovered bands coming from Chicago.

Hailing from one of my favorite music cities, Chicago’s Castevet reminds me of what it was like to discover the youthful, orchestrated energy of Cap’n Jazz and Hot Water Music years ago. I’d call it math punk, with plenty of gorgeous hooks.

Though most people in the West think of mahjong as a mysterious game old Chinese people play, it’s actually gets quite rowdy when people get together to play it. Rowdy is certainly a good adjective for Mahjongg, the exquisitely danceable electro-whatever outfit from Chicago who draw as much from Afrobeat as they do vocoder-laden sleaze rock from the 70s.

These heady times call for heady music, something spaced-out, trance-y, weird, and devilishly ecstatic to distract us from reality. Chicago’s Cave heeds this call for musical escapism, channeling Hawkwind, Kraftwerk, funk, and tribal frenzy into their mothership-beaconing groove.

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Chicago’s Cheer Accident started as a post-no-wave weirdo band typical of the Skin Graft roster, but of late, they’ve been doing some unrestrained pop and rock. They even have harmonized vocals and an occasional horn. This isn’t to say they’re commercializing – their songs are just as complex as ever, and there’s still a hint of discordance beneath the shimmering new sound.