A new web startup is taking a novel approach to free music streaming. What makes Awdio different from sites like Pandora or Last.fm, is that their music is live! Picture this… You’re at work in Brussels, Belgium (why wouldn’t you be?), it’s 10 AM, and you get to listen to live music from the clubs in Chicago that are still rockin’ out. That’s nice.

So how does it work? Awdio has negotiated deals with many big name clubs all over the world, and they’ve installed high quality streaming equipment in each of them. The site is currently in a private beta period right now, so you may have to wait to actually use it (or you could try the password here). But once you get in, mmmmmmmmboy is it slick. All of the clubs show up on a grid, and the ones that are currently streaming music are lit up.

You can click on any of them to get more detailed information about the venue (like where it is, what it looks like inside, what the talent’s like). Then you stream the music right through your music player (iTunes probably) - so you don’t have to keep the browser window open.

Other than the connection dropping a couple times, I’m really impressed. The sound quality is top notch. You can tell the streaming equipment is plugged right into the sound system instead of using microphones. If you’re bored of your usual top 8 at 8, check out Awdio.

I recently discovered a ridiculously good indie band from Jacksonville, FL known as Black Kids and cannot stop listening to their four-song EP titled The Wizard of Ahhhs. The highlight of the release is the synth heavy “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You”, a track that has been played roughly 457 times on my iPod in the last month. Sample the unofficial fan video below and download the entire EP for free from their website here.

Allow me to begin by reciting a quote from the avant-garde artist, Andy Warhol: “An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have.” Now, I really don’t want to wax philosophic, but I can say for certain that anyone who prizes music knows not only how important but necessary it is to have. Music has enriched the lives of millions and there is nothing more capable of bringing people together than a live concert. That being said, check out the awesome lineup of indie shows (which are apparently out of chronological order) coming soon to Chicago. I’d say that it’s going to be a good year!

Or fistpump, headbob, sway, or chill out…but great electronica/dj work has been done in the past year.

Checkout
Muscles: Guns, Babes, and Lemonade
The Field: From Here we Go To Sublime
Buriel: Untrue
Skream: Skream
Calvin Harris: I Created Disco
Timputer: Partyficial Intelligence (underground mixtape circulating around the DC metro area)
Chromeo: Fancy Footwork
Simeon Mobile Disco: Attack Decay Sustain Release
DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist: The Hard Sell (See it live on their nationwide tour)
Justice: Cross (featuring the euro hit D.A.N.C.E.)
Matthew Dear: Asa Breed
Daft Punk: Alive

Two other albums worth mentioning from 05/06 are:
Ellen Allien and Apparat: Orchestra of Bubbles
Mylo: Destroy Rock and Roll

On the Indie rock front, Vampire Weekend is dropping their self-titled debut at the end of the month. This band grabbed a lot of buzz at the end of the summer with their release of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, a really great track. Look out for the release.

08 should bring great things.