Ah, summer vacation: the time of year when Chicago’s youth are free from the confines of school—but aren’t allowed to be in Millennium Park after six at night on weekends […]
Author Archives: Kirsten Lambert
Posted inMusic
Aimee Mann poignantly confronts mental illness on Queens of the Summer Hotel
Aimee Mann pairs her exquisitely crafted lyrics with unforgettable melodies, but her tunes often aren’t what you’d call light romps. The singer-songwriter started her musical career in the 80s as […]
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Garbage indicts social injustices on No Gods No Masters
When Garbage broke out with their self-titled debut album in 1995, their alluring but abrasive sound—dark power-pop melodies topped by Shirley Manson’s alternately growled and whispered vocals—enticed listeners like sweet […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Remembering Michael Martin
From Chicago to New Orleans, the performer, playwright, director, producer, and raconteur created deep connections.
Posted inMusic
Tank & the Bangas embrace connection and the wacky side of isolation on Friend Goals
When New Orleans band Tank & the Bangas invited their friends and family to help them cover Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s pop classic “What the World Needs Now Is […]
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Fantastic Negrito merges rootsy sounds on his new Have You Lost Your Mind?
Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Xavier Dphrepaulezz, better known as Fantastic Negrito, takes us on a trip through his consciousness on his latest album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (Cooking […]
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Twenty One Pilots get conceptual on Trench
Beyoncé has her Beyhive and Taylor Swift fans call themselves Swifties, but no current pop fandom rocks ski masks or face paint quite like the Skeleton Clique—the devotees of Twenty […]
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Day of the Dowd 2 aims to stock the shelves at Pilsen food pantry
When Chicago drummer Gerald Dowd released his first full-length album, Home Now, in 2014, he threw a daylong release party with the tongue-in-cheek name Day of the Dowd. Over the […]
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Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard puts her soul into Jaime
The thought of publicly airing painful events from your past may make you cringe, but soul baring can also be cathartic or even necessary. Brittany Howard, the guitarist and front […]
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UK singer-songwriter Barns Courtney explores existential themes on 404
After Dave Grohl broke his leg early in the Foo Fighters’ 2015 tour, he performed the rest of the dates with his leg in a cast, sitting on a throne […]
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Genre-crossing musician Gary Clark Jr. shows his versatility on This Land
Good luck slapping a label on Gary Clark Jr. The Austin native won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2013, but his music cuts across genres, including blues, […]
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With All Blues, Peter Frampton honors classics amid his own loss
Peter Frampton’s got a right to sing the blues. The versatile guitarist recently revealed he has a degenerative muscle disorder called inclusion body myositis, which means his fingers might eventually […]
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‘Diamond’ Diana Ross marks a half century of ruling the stage
This year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival seemed beset by bad juju: the Rolling Stones begged off due to Mick Jagger’s heart surgery, and Bob Seger bowed out, blaming […]
Posted inMusic
Rock and baseball greats team up for the annual Hot Stove Cool Music benefit
You never know who might show up at Hot Stove Cool Music Chicago, an annual benefit concert that brings the city’s baseball and music communities together to support nonprofits helping […]
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Sebadoh cranks out timeless yet timely tunes on Act Surprised
Listening to some of the tracks on the new Act Surprised (Dangerbird/Fire), Sebadoh’s ninth studio album, you could almost imagine yourself back in 1992. But though the band’s signature lo-fi […]