On Tuesday, September 14, my friend James Kennedy publishes his second novel, a sci-fi thriller called Dare to Know. (His first, the YA fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish, was reviewed in the Reader in 2008.) I’m not going to attempt to rate the new book, because I’ve destroyed my credibility on that front by admitting […]
Author Archives: Philip Montoro
Posted inMusic
Third Coast Percussion evolves along with the pandemic
Reba Cafarelli is managing director for Third Coast Percussion, working primarily in booking, marketing, and day-to-day operations. The ensemble is incorporated as a nonprofit, and it has a board of directors and three full-time employees in addition to its four members. In May 2022 Third Coast Percussion plans to release its next album, which will […]
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Dana Hall, jazz drummer and educator
“Being in the room and feeling the heartbeat of the people that you’re with, that’s really a large part of what makes the music what it is.”
Posted inMusic
Flowers for an unsung casualty of the post-Nirvana feeding frenzy
Steel Pole Bath Tub made lurid, thrilling, messy noise rock that didn’t sound quite like anybody else.
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Hali Palombo, composer and shortwave radio enthusiast
“A lot of the most fascinating audio that I’ve found has been things that most people would just skip over.”
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Dengue Dengue Dengue create humid beats for the techno averse
If four-on-the-floor club music doesn’t move you, try Dengue Dengue Dengue’s omnivorous tropical fusion.
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Sublime Frequencies releases an entrancing field recording of traditional Ghanaian gyil music
First things first. The gyil is a traditional West African xylophone with dried gourd resonators hung below most or all of its hardwood keys. (A similar instrument is called a “balafon” in Francophone Africa.) It’s usually tuned pentatonically, and its full, luminous tone is haloed with a cicada-like buzz, created by vibrating membranes made from […]
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Jennifer Phạm, cofounder of Haibayô and Celebrate Argyle
“For so long, people didn’t know anything about Asian Americans. Showing who we are and being proud of who we are, it’s really important during this time.”
Posted inMusic
A slice of sunshiny soukous for spring
Revisiting an old favorite by Sam Mangwana’s 80s band Tiers Monde Cooperation
Posted inBest of Chicago
The pandemic pushed indoor music into the parks
Saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Tyler Damon played regular concerts in Margate Park this past summer and fall.
Posted inMusic
Indonesian avant-garde duo Senyawa confront the apocalypse with community
“Ideas that are seen as progressive, modern, or radical always have these associations that come from the West,” said Senyawa vocalist Rully Shabara in a February interview with Reader contributor Joshua Minsoo Kim for his online music zine Tone Glow. “But is that true?” Shabara, 38, and instrument inventor Wukir Suryadi, 43, founded this Indonesian […]
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Zak Kiernan, maker of dungeon synth and comfy synth
“When someone reads you those Hans Christian Andersen stories when you’re young, this is the music that’s playing in your mind.”
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Time to dissolve your brain with ridiculous noise rock
The new album from Austin “supergroup” USA/Mexico is the musical antidote to consciousness.
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This carousel calliope has a message for you—and you’re not going to like it
Sometimes you learn more from a machine when it stops working.
Posted inMusic
A music poll to start 2021
Did 2020 set the bar low enough that it’s safe to hope this year will be better?