This week the band Fishermans released a free digital ep called Collective Vertigo. This is the follow-up to last year's self-titled debut ep. This seven-piece collective have a great sound that combines small electronics with a group rock atmosphere.

The Maybenauts have released a video for their track "Not Aware" which appears on their Big Bang EP. The band will be playing a free show at Double Door on Sept. 14th.

A band the jumped out at me while scrolling and playing through the Middlewest line-up was Shy Technology. This four piece band has been together for awhile, and released their debut ep The Waltz back 2009. However, it was their debut full-length, We The Instruments that has really solidified this band for me. The bands plays an energetic form of indie rock that is slightly dark at times. On my favorite track from their album, "Just Us" they actually remind of a basement version of Interpol.

Shy Technology is a band to watch, and a band to check out at Middlewest when they play on Friday at Otto's Nightclub at 8:10pm.

The Giving Tree Band recently unveiled their music video for "Circles," the single of their forthcoming album The Joke, The Threat & The Obvious.

To celebrate the release of their new album The Giving Tree Band will headline a hometown show at the House of Blues in Chicago this Friday September 10th.

I am confident that my appreciation and understanding of music would be no where near what it is today if it was not for the website Epitonic. The site launched in 1999 and I wish I could remember how I stumbled upon it, but it was my musical bible from '99 to 2002. The site predated many of today's popular music sites, and was also structured differently. The key to epitonic was related artist discovery somewhat like Pandora today, but with much more underground atheistic. The best utilization of the site, and the way I spent hours and hours, was through searching through the similar artists of your favorite bands or genres. Everyday I found myself downloading (through dial-up) a cd's worth of new music to listen to.

One of the co-founders of Epitonic was Justin Sinkovich who currently is in the band The Poison Arrows and runs File 13 Records. The site disappeared in 2004, but now Justin is looking to relaunch this influential service. Since Justin lives in Chicago the relaunch party will be here this Fall. However, he first needs to raise some funds to finance the relaunch. You can visit his kickstarter page for more info and to get involved.

In the meantime he has put the site back back online for everyone to browse the archives.

Middlewest Fest takes place in Dekalb, IL on Sept. 10th and 11th and features some of the best Midwestern bands including Maps & Atlases, Russian Circles, Smoking Popes, Dr. Manhattan, Felix Culpa and many more. With such a large collection of talent we thought we would highlight a different band each day leading up to the fest.

Breathe Electric is primarily the work of Grant Harris who set put in 2007 to crafted listener friendly dance-pop and has done just that over four EPs. His most recent release is June's Lovestruck EP (Alliance Music Management). When Breathe Electric performs live the band expands into a full band. Musically, Lovestruck is filled with big hooks and catchy lyrics, and seems to have been tailored to make you dance. Breathe Electric spent the summer as part of the Vans Warped Tour, and will be traveling across country again this fall.

Breathe Electric will be performing at SMLTWN Skateshop (229 E. Lincoln Hwy) on Saturday (9/11) at 8:40pm as part of Middlewest Fest in Dekalb, IL.

Before the summer completely fades you should check out the fun indie-electro sounds of Gemini Club. This trio has been floating around the city for the last few years, and have released several quality remixes and an ep called Future Tidings last year. Next month they will be releasing a new single called "Ghost" that will feature six remixes by Hey Champ, Only Children, Midnight Conspiracy, and others.

Gemini Club is playing a special release show at The Metro on September 24th where attendees will be able to grab a physical copy of the release for one night only. The night will include Hey Champ (DJ SET), Only Children, Midnight Conspiracy, Team Bayside High, Kid Color, and will be hosted by Moneypenny.

Percolator's new album “None of These Are Words" is now available and starting today they will be featuring one track per day. The feature will include extra information about it: stories, lyrics, credits, and explanations, and last until all 12 tracks have been featured. The above video was shot at Odd Obsessions and in turn is slightly NSFW.

Calm Palm Vapor is based on the Southside of Chicago (McKinley Park and Brighton Park), make Space Motown / Dreamstream music and perform all over the world. Pierogi (melodies) and secretwars (beats) teamed up to create this project in January of 2010 after realizing how stale the scene in Chicago had become. Now the two are combining forces to make textured and layered music by the Joe Meek standard of "if it sounds good, it IS good". The group plans to tour extensively and win over crowds wherever they end up.

Yes, they are the number one band on our chart, but why. Well, they released their debut album Welcome To Wastleland on August 24th, and announced a major tour with Smashing Pumpkins on the same day. The band plays straight '80's style hair metal and are quite proud. Signed to Atlantic Records, Bad City proves that arena rock lives.