In a world where doorstop science-fiction and fantasy novels have become gold mines for networks and nearly every comic book aspires to be a movie treatment, it’s such a delight to come across genre work that has zero interest in becoming anyone else’s intellectual property. Batavia trio Mechina have been reliably putting out entries in […]
Author Archives: Ed Blair
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Taylor Swift reckons with her own mythology on Folklore
The weekend of July 25, 2020, was supposed to be a coronation for Taylor Swift. That’s when her intercontinental touring music festival, Lover Fest, scheduled to begin in April, would’ve arrived at the brand-new Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, where she would’ve become the first woman to perform the inaugural event at an NFL venue. […]
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Donny Benét channels 80s influences with sly humor
Donny Benét cuts a memorable figure—he plays up a lothario image in his music and often wears a bright white or salmon pink blazer straight out of Miami Vice. The Australian multi-instrumentalist’s look is seemingly crafted for maximum “Is he serious or not?” confusion, especially since Benét’s chosen paradigm is sly synth-dominated 80s disco-pop with […]
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Experienced punks reintroduce themselves as Canal Irreal
Last May, Chicago band Canal Irreal announced their existence by releasing their first single, “Si Somos,” an explosive mix of postpunk and hardcore that combines jagged riffs and propulsive guitar lines with narrative lyrics about society’s rejection of and refusal to deal with the very issues it creates. Sung in Spanish from a first-person perspective, […]
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Christine Fellows illuminates the liminal on Roses on the Vine
It’d be a mistake to call Christine Fellows’s two previous albums “concept albums,” but each has a singular point of inspiration: Femmes de Chez Nous (2011) was born out of the Canadian singer-songwriter and poet’s research into the history of women in Winnipeg (conducted during her residency at Le Musée de Saint-Boniface, a Franco-Manitoban culture […]
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K-pop veteran Tiffany Young strides forward on ‘Run for Your Life’
Ten years ago, “Gee!” by Girls’ Generation became one of the first K-pop singles to break out of South Korea. The success of that track made the group stars in Japan and the U.S. years before Psy went viral with “Gangnam Style”—and even longer before the arrival of the omnipresent BTS. Thanks in part to […]
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Sabaton celebrate 20 years with a tonally inconsistent but informative power-metal take on WWI
Sabaton are celebrating their 20th year of existence in style. The Swedish power-metal band kicked off 2019 with the launch of their own YouTube channel, which focuses on the history that fuels their songwriting, and in July they released their ninth album, the World War I-inspired The Great War. Sabaton are no stranger to exploring […]
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Tegan and Sara mine the past for Hey, I’m Just Like You
The last time Canadian twin-sister duo Tegan and Sara came through Chicago, they were on the road celebrating the tenth anniversary of 2007’s The Con. At the time, it seemed like a fairly standard move—lately it seems like practically every long-running band has dusted off a fan-favorite album for a special show or tour. But […]
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Charli XCX claimed her pop crown at Pitchfork
She’s long been an expert collaborator, but she’s finally ready for stardom on her own terms.
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Carly Rae Jepsen is back! With a sword! And also a new album!
At the start of 2018, Tumblr user swordlesbianopinions posted, “Petition to give Carly Rae Jepsen a sword. I like her and think she should have one.” From this, the Canadian pop star’s fans launched a social-media campaign that culminated at Lollapalooza last summer, when someone hurled an inflatable sword onstage during Jepsen’s performance of “Cut […]
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Sizzy Rocket brings punk influence to modern pop on Grrrl
Sizzy Rocket—the self-proclaimed “royalty of the punks and the letdowns”—is a perpetual motion machine. The LA pop star is a near constant presence on social media, tours frequently, and has released a steady stream of singles and EPs since dropping her debut full-length, Thrills, in 2016. This month, she’s embarking on her first headlining tour […]
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K-pop superstars BTS repay the devotion of their fans
Saturday at Soldier Field, Korean pop powerhouse BTS demonstrated their commitment to making a difference in their audience’s lives.
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Cloud Rat’s experimental grindcore is just as potent slow as fast
On Cloud Rat’s October compilation Silk Panic, vocalist Madison Marshall howls, “Sister wolf eats the throat of the jester / Here to fucking perform.” That line might make a fitting mission statement for the Michigan grindcore band, who have been crafting surrealistic political punk-grind for almost a decade—taking the nightmarish lyricism of Pig Destroyer and […]
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BTS move forward with grace on Map of the Soul: Persona
Seven-member South Korean boy band BTS were already fairly successful when they nonchalantly rapped about having an uncountable amount of trophies in the 2017 Steve Aoki remix of “Mic Drop.” Two years later, that boast feels quaint. Their success is no longer measured in mere award-show wins; they’re shattering records with nearly every move. Their […]
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Easy-listening legends Herb Alpert and Lani Hall share tunes from their decades-spanning careers
Among the many accomplishments of Herb Alpert—which include cofounding A&M Records, releasing 28 Billboard-charting albums (including five that reached number one), and being the only artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 as an instrumentalist and as a vocalist—the easy-listening legend has nine original sculptures on permanent display at the Field Museum. But that isn’t […]