Longtime readers know Gossip Wolf rides hard for self-described “Marxist body horror act” Forced Into Femininity—aka the experimental solo project of former Coughs saxophonist Jill Flanagan. She says that on her new EP, I’m Making Progress, due October 7 via New York label Decoherence Records, she’s shifted away from “allegory and extended metaphor, instead addressing political concerns from the opposite perspective of punk—especially our own real positions as gatekeepers maintaining racism, classism, and sexism.” After a successful GoFundMe drive this summer to cover costs, Flanagan began a three-month tour of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico this week.
Speaking of former Coughs, front woman Anya Davidson (who later played guitar in Cacaw) has spent the past few years focusing on her surreal and hilarious comics. Her strip Band for Life, previously serialized in Vice, follows a crew of Chicago weirdos who make noise-rock as Guntit—and try to keep their failing relationships, dicey finances, and far-from-new tour van in working order. Fantagraphics will publish a Band for Life collection as a graphic novel on October 25; Davidson celebrates the book’s release at Quimby’s on Thursday, October 6.
Last year the five core members of Chicago dance crew the Era began recording themselves rapping over footwork tracks—cofounder Jamal “Litebulb” Oliver calls it “footworking with words.” On Sunday, October 9, the Era host a listening party for their first “footwork mixtape,” In the Wurkz, which shares its name with the stage show they debuted at Hamilton Park in August. In the Wurkz includes contributions from Teklife producers DJ Manny, DJ Spinn, and DJ Rashad as well as DJ Clent of Beatdown House; Gossip Wolf got an early listen to In the Wurkz, and it slays. The listening party is at Chatham footwork incubator Battlegrounds (1716 E. 87th St.); doors open at 9 PM, and cover is $5. v
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