A neighborhood dispute in east Wicker Park has ended up being the catalyst for a new record store. Over its five-year existence, Tim Adams has always run Ajax Records–a one-man label and national distributor of much hard-to-find stuff–out of his apartment. Recently, some city inspectors showed up at Adams’s door; he was informed that there’d been reports that he’s been running a business out of his home, and by the way, did he have a city business license? Adams doesn’t know for sure, but he suspects the visit may have had something to do with an ongoing disagreement between his landlord and a local bar owner. Turns out Adams didn’t have the license and that he was in a noncommercially zoned area to boot. His response: Ajax goes legal, and retail. The location is 2156 W. Chicago, next door to the Soul Kitchen restaurant. Adams’s lease begins November 15; he’s talking about a November 22 opening.
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The Mekons are holding a record-release party for their new album, Mekons Love You, on Touch and Go records, at Lounge Ax on Tuesday. Musical entertainment, says Jon Langford, will be provided not by the band but by, um, Iggy Yoakam & the Pogo Ponies.
Hitsville would like to plug as perfunctorily as possible the fact that he now cohosts–with Jim DeRogatis of the Sun-Times–a weekly music talk show. It’s on the Loop FM, Sundays from 4 to 6 PM.
