Man if you are a fan of experimental-type music you are so in luck this week, and we’ve got the guides to help you plan probably the most exciting experimental music weekend in town. Last night the Empty Bottle and Wire magazine’s Adventures in Modern Music festival kicked off with an event at the MCA and runs throughout the weekend at the Bottle and the Logan Square Auditorium and as I write this the inaugural Sonar Chicago festival is happening at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. For an even more in-depth look at a selection of acts from both fests—as well as a handful of unrelated shows around town this week—check the List. There has to be so many dudes in angular, black-framed “architect or maybe graphic designer” glasses just flipping the fuck out right now.
If sound installations, avant-metal, and glitchtronics aren’t your cup of kombucha this week’s Reader still has a lot to offer you. In this week’s Sharp Darts I’ve got reviews of a few recent local releases, including the addictive new Black Math record and a Residue Reed cut produced by Tony Baines which I literally have played back to back up to five times in a row. Gossip Wolf fills us in on Chic-a-Go-Go organizer Mia Park’s Santa dreams and a great deal on a Mellotron with an excellent Chicago indie rock pedigree. Jessica Hopper talks with Superchunk front man and Merge co-founder Mac McCaughan on staying punk into middle age. In the Photo Pit Clayton Hauck highlights some hip-hop from this past weekend’s North Coast Music Festival.