Did 2020 set the bar low enough that it’s safe to hope this year will be better?
Category: The Listener
Posted inMusic
A new Chicago punk and metal compilation benefits local music venues
A new two-disc compilation from Angry Peasants hopes to help “save CIVL-zation.”
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Neptunian Maximalism deliver a funeral rite for the human species
Neptunian Maximalism’s recent triple album, Éons, imagines a future Earth dominated by hyperintelligent elephants.
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Daniel Knox’s new single holds up a mirror to a year of unraveling
“Fall Apart” will appear on Daniel Knox’s next album, Won’t You Take Me With You, which is due in January.
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Fringe Christmas music is the best Christmas music
Chicago singer-songwriter Ian Iversen does his part to redeem Christmas music with the cheeky retro new wave of “Santa.”
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Delia Derbyshire Day celebrates a pioneer of electronic music
Delia Derbyshire is most famous for her 1963 arrangement of the Doctor Who theme, but she composed her own pieces for more than 200 radio and TV shows.
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Tierra Whack embodies Philly’s transformative party energy
Philadelphia has been in the news a lot lately, and some of the reasons are way better than Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
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Make some joyful noise with 79rs Gang
Mardi Gras Indian troupe 79rs gang play music for staying loud in the streets.
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Serena Isioma has an antidote for election anxiety
Chicago bedroom-pop songwriter Serena Isioma can give your brain a 15-minute vacation with the Sensitive EP.
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The feel-good music of the Damned
Everything else may suck in 2020, but the Damned are as much fun as ever on their new EP.
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Eighteen years ago, Tift Merritt made an almost perfect country song
Tift Merritt’s “Trouble Over Me” isn’t exactly about love, but its emotional ambiguity is what makes it so relatable.
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Secret Drum Band build their beats as an act of collective strength
Secret Drum Band’s latest record makes a wordless case for environmentalism and antifascism.
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The mystery punk from The Dead Next Door
Is there a better place to find a pseudonymous hardcore song than a low-budget 80s zombie movie?
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In 1995, Gillette and 20 Fingers were the rulers of the dance floor
The Gillette and 20 Fingers hit “Short Dick Man” taps into a universal truth: pissing off jerks by insulting their penises is fun.
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Rediscovering New Zealand shoulda-beens Straitjacket Fits
Flying Nun Records has revived Straitjacket Fits’ catalog, giving the band a second chance at the huge audience they deserved.