It’s a rare delight to stumble upon a musician’s debut album and instantly recognize that they have a style all their own. This was the immediate reaction I had in 2020 to Welfare (Ijn Inc.), the first full-length by Philadelphia-based artist Lucy Liyou. It is, as with many other experimental records by emerging artists today, […]
Tag: American Dreams Records
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Daniel Wyche makes guitar ambience you can feel at home in
“A home is a place that’s full of people,” says Chicago guitarist, composer, and improviser Daniel Wyche. “I’ve been inspired by my grandparents’ hospitality. They had this need to welcome tons of people into their home. That’s cultivating what family means.” The first track on Earthwork, Wyche’s new album on local label American Dreams Records, […]
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Blue Lick debut with an oblique and deadpan combo of modular synth and spoken word
Multi-instrumentalists Havadine Stone and Ben Baker Billington have played a handful of compelling local shows as the duo Blue Lick since 2017, but they haven’t released any recordings yet—probably because they both keep themselves busy. Stone has dropped solo cassettes on Reserve Matinee and American Dreams Records over the past few years, and Billington (who […]
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Chicago’s DIY rock scene mourns Alejandro Morales
With his generous spirit and boundless enthusiasm, Running drummer Alejandro Morales was the beating heart of a vibrant community.
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Johari Noelle addresses 2020’s overlapping crises with a socially distanced new video
Johari Noelle addresses 2020’s overlapping crises with a socially distanced new video, Serengeti drops a non-Kenny Dennis acoustic album, and more.
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Why do indie musicians put up with penny payouts?
Streaming your favorite artists’ music is the least helpful way to support them. But they can’t abandon those platforms, because we won’t.
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Chicago industrial trio Civic Center streamline their surreal sound on The Ground Below
Local postpunk label Chicago Research quickly became a locus for bizarre, depraved sounds after launching in February 2019, in part because the people involved are longtime friends as well as like-minded musicians. Industrial surrealists Civic Center put out one of the label’s first releases (a cassette called A Place for the Weak), and all three […]
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Chicago postpunk gets its Wu-Tang Clan
Local label Chicago Research has built a powerful, tight-knit collective of dark underground rock and electronic artists.
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A cosmic crossword on the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was created by Minnesota-based illustrator Shawn Reed.