Kris Esfandiari is no stranger to side projects. Since cofounding doom-metal band King Woman in 2009, she’s released solo material under the names Miserable, Kris, Dalmatian, and Nghtcrwler. Her latest project, Sugar High, is a collaboration with Berlin-based songwriter and producer Darcy Baylis, whose credits include recordings by Wicca Phase Springs Eternal and Camp Cope […]
Author Archives: Madeline Happold
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Friday is buy stuff from Bandcamp day
On March 20, Bandcamp responds to the pandemic by giving up its cut so that all your money supports musicians. Here are six local acts to start with.
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Sanction master ear-shattering metalcore on their debut full-length Broken in Refraction
In physics, the term “refraction” refers to the deflection of a wave, such as light or sound, as it passes through a medium. It’s a phenomenon Sanction aim to replicate with their ear-shattering metalcore. In 2017, these Long Island natives—vocalist David Blom, guitarists Mike Marino and Andrew “Lumpy” Wojcik, bassist Ryan Stephenson, and drummer Dillon […]
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Caroline Polachek from Chairlift explores the pain and pleasure of love on Pang
Caroline Polachek might be the queen of crushes. As half of the synth-pop duo Chairlift, she wrote cheeky sleeper favorites such as “Crying in Public” and “Bruises” in the late 2000s, before branching out into solo work, taking opera lessons (inspired by a Handel aria in the soundtrack of the 2009 Lars von Trier film […]
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Chelsea Wolfe connects womanhood to the natural world in Birth of Violence
Listening to Chelsea Wolfe is like watching a fog roll in and wondering if a storm will follow; her music provokes an uncanny feeling that combines mystifying beauty and deep anxiety. The singer-songwriter has spent much of the past few years on the road, touring in support of 2015’s Abyss and 2017’s Hiss Spun, both […]
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Defeater push their conceptual melodic hardcore into newer, darker chapters
Melodic hardcore isn’t known for indulging pleasantries, and Boston-based five-piece Defeater dare you to enter a universe that’s as bleak as it is complex. Derek Archambault (vocals), Adam Crow (guitar), Jake Woodruff (guitar), Mike Poulin (bass), and Joe Longobardi (drums) write concept albums that tell the story of a Depression-era working-class family as they struggle […]
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Bay Faction blend emo and synth pop on Florida Guilt
Bay Faction are a band with roots in cyberspace. In 2013, lead singer James McDermott was studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston when he posted a call for bandmates on a Facebook page for local musicians. The only replies came from two fellow Berklee students, bassist Kris Roman and drummer Connor Godfrey (later […]
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Rockabilly legends the Flesh Eaters reunite on I Used to Be Pretty
It’s been more than 38 years since the Flesh Eaters released their acclaimed second album, 1981’s A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die. But the classic version of the ragtag rockabilly group that made that recording—which included founder and front man Chris Desjardins (aka Chris D.), John Doe and DJ Bonebrake of X, Dave […]
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How to support the local music scene without leaving your nice, warm home
Even when winter weather and winter malaise raise the bar for going out, you can still play an important role in sustaining DIY Chicago music.
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Riot Fest inches toward gender balance
The Chicago festival has never topped 25 percent female-inclusive acts, but it’s still ahead of many of its competitors.
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Behind Sleeping Village’s unassuming exterior lurks a state-of-the-art sound system
Erin Brenner lends her audio engineering skills to the newly opened Avondale bar and concert hall.
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Long Way Home gives the Odyssey a modern hip-hop beat for an epic journey across Chicago
Q Brothers Collective and the Chicago Children’s Choir team up for a modern epic.
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Show your support for International Women’s Day by dining out in Edgewater
The Edgewater Chamber of Commerce has organized a dinner crawl to highlight the neighborhood’s woman-owned businesses.
Posted inBlogs
Chiditarod XIII and more of the best things to do in Chicago this weekend
Jane Bond: Funny But Deadly and more goings-on March 2-4
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Chicago R&B artist Jordanna combines the vulnerability of performance art with the defiance of punk
Jordanna has left behind the riot-grrrl trio Glamour Hotline to make her bodacious new solo EP Sweet Tooth.