The show that put black music on TVs across America got its start in Chicago—and even after it moved to LA, Chicago kept its own version running daily for nearly a decade.
Category: Music Feature
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How a Bad Band Gets Good
Tirra Lirra’s journey from self-indulgent sprawl to taut postmodern psychedelia
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Pitchfork Music Festival
The second Pitchfork Music Festival is in fact the third such event curated by Pitchfork Media–the Intonation Music Festival, on hiatus this year, was in part Pitchfork’s baby in 2005. Of the 39 artists playing, most are standard-bearers for the kind of indie rock Pitchfork has adopted as its raison d’etre–Cat Power, the New Pornographers, […]
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Heroin Hell
After five years lost in the wilds of addiction, Chamber Strings front man Kevin Junior tries to pick up where he left off.
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Quitting While They’re Behind
The Pagans have been waiting for us to give them their due for more than 20 years. We’re not getting any more chances.
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The Times They Are A-Changin’
When the venerable Old Town School of Folk Music opened its new headquarters last fall, few knew the future of folk music was under debate. But the genre that gripped generations in the 1950s and ’60s is being reinvented in the ’90s. What do we mean now when we talk about folk music? The new […]
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Touch and Go v. The Buttholes
After nearly 20 years of putting out records without lawyers or contracts, Corey Rusk was forced by one disgruntled band to defend his system in court. The outcome may change the way the underground does business.
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The Mekons hit the road and the road hits back
In the Whirlaway Tavern, near the corner of Kedzie and Fullerton, the conversation between Sally Timms and Jon Langford keeps getting sidetracked by the American Music Awards on television. LeAnn Rimes is holding the last notes of a syrupy song with a sleepy-eyed grin. “A 14-year-old girl,” Timms notes. “Oh, God,” Langford groans. Maria the […]