Man of beer and beard Chris Kolodziej is set to contribute curatorial chops to our weekly listening party this Monday August 12, 2013, poised to share records from his eclectic hoard with the receptive airwaves in the cool tiled barroom of Trenchermen. Kolodziej is a craft beer sales supervisor (or more aptly, a professional drinker) for River North Beer who spends his days contemplating the endlessly nectarous flow of indie ales ravaging the modern market, which keeps his whistle wet and tank full for occasional nights pounding drums with his grunge band Roach Beach. We pounded beer and tunes (not drums) for an hour of hang time at his apartment in Ukrainian Village, please enjoy a few glances from the scene to prime you for his live DJ set on Monday.

Before tapping into the hoard I had to get a look at his turtle Steven Boots. This guy has a lot of personality, living like a creepy old man among cute little goldfish.

First thing Kolodziej played for me was this West African psychedelic compilation, African Scream Contest, a record he first heard in the back room of Whole Foods during his days as the beer buyer for the Lincoln Park store.

He had a bunch of compilations on the shelf, they had their own dedicated cell in his record storage unit, ripe with a few titles from Chicago’s Numero Group (including Patrick Sisson’s favorite, Light On the South Side).

This recently released Devo compilation is a sweet piece, a collection of recordings capturing their formative years in Akron Ohio from 1974-1978. Not that the group ever grew out of their playfulness, but these early jams have the endearingly antic sound two young punks messing around with synthesizers and 4-track tape in their parents’ basement.

Kolodziej was (coincidentally?) toking on a tall boy of 8-Bit Pale Ale from Manhattan Kansas’s Tall Grass Brewery, a perfect aesthetic pairing with the angular intergalactic lo fi of Devo.

While on the kick, we jammed some late 70s San Franciscan synth punk from The Units, locking in tight with the analog Devo fuzz and the Australian Galaxy Hop buzz.

On the subject of San Francisco (and of buzz and fuzz), Kolodziej threw on this collection of singles by Thee Oh Sees, one of his favorite bands.

Careful not to get carried away on the West Coast - he brought me back home with a glass of Letherbee’s Malort(Robbie Haynes’s teethy blend) and a Local Option stein of dark ale.

Clearly locality is a priority for Kolodziej and his roommates. They have a large map of Chicago on their wall, with a single pinpoint stabbed into their residential whereabouts. Context.

And the duct-taped marquee on the threshold of their kitchen reps their home address. Terroir.

COLLECTION SELECTION: Chris Kolodziej