Chicago singer-songwriter Gia Margaret makes what she calls “sleep rock.” Its mellow vibes make it well-suited for early-morning or late-night listening, while its catchy melodies and driving beats can get heads nodding—albeit gently. Margaret’s 2018 debut full-length, There’s Always Glimmer, creates inviting atmospheres with crisp production and varied instrumentation: Margaret’s double-tracked vocals glow amid a […]
Author Archives: Izzy Yellen
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Brooklyn-based saxophone and drum duo meld composition and improvisation seamlessly
Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey have been married to each other since 2010 and playing together since 2007, working as a duo as well as within larger ensembles, where they’ve collaborated with avant-garde jazz musicians such as Tim Berne and Mary Halvorson. Though the duo initially focused on improvisational music, a 2016 tour […]
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Andrew Bird resumes his cozy Gezelligheid church shows with bittersweet holiday cheer
Winter can be a stressful time, especially around the holidays, but Andrew Bird’s annual string of hometown shows at Fourth Presbyterian Church, which he’s christened “Gezelligheid” after the Dutch word for conviviality or coziness, have the potential to temporarily melt away seasonal anxieties. The multi-instrumentalist and songwriter has played in many settings throughout his illustrious […]
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Plantasia celebrates the music of Mort Garson—and plants
On his 1976 album Mother Earth’s Plantasia, composer Mort Garson captures some of the most inventive sounds and most radical notions of the mid-70s. Specifically, he made his goofy and endearing compositions solely on the relatively new Moog synthesizer, and he intended that they be played for plants to help them grow. Inspired by his […]
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Boston singer-songwriter Sidney Gish confronts the complexity of life with stripped-down music
Few emerging songwriters have captivated me in quite the same way as Boston’s Sidney Gish. On her breakout album, 2017’s No Dogs Allowed, she confronts her life experience with wit and fun, using self-aware lyrics and refined layers of guitars, vocals, and drums. The record—whose goofy, surrealistic cover prominently displays the Microsoft Paint toolbar—comes following […]
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Why? and the Meat Puppets bring their disparate sounds to the eclectic Do Division lineup
Weeks before the official start of summer, Do Division helps Chicago kick off music-festival season. Empty Bottle Presents and Subterranean programmed its East and West stages, respectively, with a lively mix of bands and DJs from Friday night through Sunday evening. Among this year’s notable acts are two groups that have recently celebrated career milestones: […]
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Avey Tare blends nostalgia and the wisdom of age on Cows on Hourglass Pond
Visual art and multimedia forays, including—album covers, music videos, merch designs, stage productions—are a big part of Animal Collective’s distinct flavor, so it makes sense that for his new solo album, Cows on Hourglass Pond, core member Avey Tare (the pseudonym of David Michael Portner) would incorporate some extramusical creative flourishes. By the album’s release […]
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Jazz quartet Black Diamond debut their new album at eclectic show Zoetic
Black Diamond recorded their brand-new album, Chant (Shifting Paradigm), during a five-week residency at beloved Logan Square venue the Whistler. But rather than host a traditional release show, the two-tenor-saxophone quartet, co-led by Artie Black and Hunter Diamond, are taking part in a multidisciplinary event called Zoetic: A Celebration of Visual, Aural, and Botanic Art. […]
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Shamir continues path of twists and turns with Resolution
Shamir rose to the spotlight with the release of his 2014 song “On the Regular,” but though the dancy, cleanly produced music made the singer-songwriter what he calls an “accidental pop star,” it pigeonholed him into a stylistic box that proved detrimental to his creativity. With the popularity of that single and his 2015 debut […]
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Sparkle Hard shows another step in the evolution of Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
The music of Stephen Malkmus can roughly be divided among his three main bands: Pavement, the Jicks, and Silver Jews. For better or for worse, Pavement tend to overshadow the other two—their rough, fuzzed-out music and enigmatic, humorous lyrics made them alt-rock darlings during the genre’s 90s heyday, and their stamp on indie rock has […]
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Chicago jazz drummer Charles Rumback introduces a new quartet
At the core of the Chicago jazz and improv scene is the constant building of new groups fueled by distinct personnel, concepts, or instrumentation. Drummer-composer Charles Rumback has exemplified this particularly well in his many projects. In 2017, he released Threes and Tag Book with his trio of pianist Jim Baker and bassist John Tate, […]
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Three of today’s brightest new songwriters team up for a tour, and some collaborative tunes
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus are three singer-songwriters who have each made an impact in the music world in just the past couple of years, particularly with their recent solo releases Turn Out the Lights, Stranger in the Alps, and Historian, respectively. While Baker’s instrumentals—usually sparse figures on a chordal instrument—are mellow and […]
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Ladies of LCD Soundsystem DJ a Halloween night of celebration and empowerment
This fall, two members of LCD Soundsystem, keyboardist Nancy Whang and synths and electronics player Gavin Rayna Russom, are on the road as the DJ duo, Ladies of LCD Soundsystem. Russom came out as a transgender woman in June; her first performance after that was at Berlin as part of Femme’s Room, on the eve […]
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Jazz bassist Matt Ulery blends styles and scenes with his multifarious new project
Ulery’s celebration of Sifting Stars this weekend makes for a good snapshot of his eclectic practice—it combines a jazz quintet, a vocalist, and a string quartet.
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Experimental Sound Studios brings together a duo of improvising giants
Lou Mallozzi and Douglas Ewart are both seasoned interdisciplinary artists who approach sound and music from a multitude of perspectives. Mallozzi, who founded Experimental Sound Studios (ESS) over 30 years ago, most recently exhibited a site-specific installation at gallery Sector 2337 that’s composed of two works, one of which involves sound and its interaction in […]