Most music outlets have already published their listicles spotlighting the best albums of the first half of the year. As usual, I’m not even thinking about picking my favorites from among every album released anywhere—I’m overwhelmed just by the volume of quality Chicago music that I haven’t gotten to write about yet. This felt like […]
Category: Record Roundup
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Chicago’s grassroots rock bands brighten the corners they’re in
New local rock releases from Bleach Party, Coaster, Fake Limbs, Lala Lala, Strawberry Jacuzzi, and Swimsuit Addition
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Anohni’s heartfelt but clumsy Hopelessness and 13 more record reviews
Nine Reader writers tackle new releases from otherworldly pop virtuoso Anohni, ambient wizard Brian Eno, self-proclaimed “Hood Pope” A$AP Ferg, and wintry folksinger Marissa Nadler, to name a few.
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Majical Cloudz’ richly intimate Are You Alone? and 12 more record reviews
Eight Reader writers recommend Vhol’s ambitious cosmic thrash, Boots’s ominous but danceable pop, Michael Pisaro’s thrillingly engrossing minimalism, and more.
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Reviews of Mick Jenkins’s surprisingly friendly Wave[s] and nine more new records
Five Reader writers take in a range of sounds that includes Ola Belle Reed’s rural roots music, Ahab’s “nautik funeral doom,” and Beach House’s newly modest dream pop.
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Six of the month’s best Chicago releases in rock, rap, and dance
Reviews of new music by Flesh Panthers, J Fernandez, Lil Durk, the Singleman Affair, T.B. Arthur, and the Valenteens
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Swervedriver’s watered-down I Wasn’t Born to Lose You and 11 more record reviews
Seven Reader writers tackle a dozen new releases, including comeback albums from Swervedriver and Cannibal Ox, Ata Kak’s oddball Ghanaian electro-rap, and Jack DeJohnette’s love letter to Chicago-born jazz.
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Sleater-Kinney’s clear-eyed, open-hearted No Cities to Love and 11 more record reviews
Eight Reader writers tackle a dozen new releases, including John Carpenter’s first music not for film, Aine O’Dwyer’s improvisations on pipe organ, and a reissue of Del Shannon’s 1968 psych-pop masterpiece.
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Neil Young’s gaudy, reactionary Storytone and 15 more record reviews
Reviews of 16 new albums, including Arca’s uncanny electronic mutations and T.I.’s unshakable street rap
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Aphex Twin’s moments of bliss on Syro and 15 more record reviews
Ten Reader writers take on 16 albums—including Aphex Twin, Godflesh, Johnny Marr, and more.
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DJ Mustard’s lean, mean ratchet party 10 Summers and 14 more record reviews
Ten Reader writers review 15 new records, including Pallbearer’s stately, mournful doom, Willis Earl Beal’s raw, mystical antipop, and Jack Ruby’s staggeringly savage no wave.
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Robin Thicke’s morbidly fascinating Paula and 15 more record reviews
This month’s release roundup includes White Lung’s witchy two-minute mantras, Monarch’s crawling tectonic doom, and Sir Michael Rocks’s bleakly sunny party rap.
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Lily Allen’s almost annoyingly catchy Sheezus and 15 more record reviews
This month’s stack of record reviews will get you better acquainted with Ben Frost’s defibrillating body music, Dawn Golden’s alchemical electro-pop, and lots more.
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The Pixies’ deflating Indie Cindy and 15 more record reviews
Future’s conscience-stricken coke rap and 15 more reviews of recent releases
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Kylie Minogue’s cheerfully lascivious Kiss Me Once and 15 more record reviews
Reader writers tackle Morbus Chron’s feral-to-cerebral death prog and 14 more new records.