During the pandemic shutdown, A Theater in the Dark was one of the most reliable sources for online radio drama—no surprise, since even when they produced live and in person, the company’s aesthetic (as the name tells you) was to leave audiences in the, well, dark and let aural storytelling and soundscapes create the world […]
Tag: EDM
Matmos have 99 collaborators but a bore ain’t one
Baltimore experimental electronic duo Matmos have released a steady stream of albums over their 25 years, many of which feature guest artists, but on the new The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form they’ve brought in enough collaborators to fill a house party. They made the album in part from submissions by 99 musicians […]
The Soft Pink Truth traffics in revelations on Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
The Soft Pink Truth’s new album, Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? (Thrill Jockey), is a soundtrack for contemplation, discovery, and the seeking of truth. The solo project of Baltimore musician Drew Daniel, best known for his work in experimental duo Matmos, the Soft Pink Truth started in response to a […]
Workaholic superstar DJ Steve Aoki exudes optimism at every turn
Is there any pop star with a career like Steve Aoki’s? How many other sons of business magnates got into hardcore in the 90s, wrote for radical punk zine Heartattack, led a screamo band that released a split with Japanese posthardcore legends Envy, and ran a DIY space that hosted the likes of Jimmy Eat […]
German pop princess Kim Petras gets dark and campy with a Halloween-themed mixtape
Kim Petras opens for South African singer-songwriter Troye Sivan at the Chicago Theatre this weekend.
Fulton Market venue the Mid announces its pending closure
You’ve got till February 2019 to say good-bye to the EDM-focused club.
Researchers are exhuming World’s Fair serial killer H.H. Holmes’s body to determine if he escaped execution, and other Chicago news
Also, CPD superintendent Eddie Johnson’s car was broken into over the weekend.
An Evening of Dance With MacArthur Fellows puts genius onstage
In honor of the 35th anniversary of the MacArthur Fellowships, a free performance featuring five fellows from the dance world.
Five best bets for fall dance 2016
The Seldoms and the Joffrey Ballet are among this fall’s best bets for dance.
Electronic dance music shows its many faces at Pitchfork
Some look forward and some look back, and not all may benefit from the outdoors—but the genre’s vigorous diversity can only be a good thing.
The thrill of techno is alive in the French drama Eden
A young DJ spends 20 years chasing the euphoria of his first brush with garage techno in Mia Hansen-Løve’s latest.
How the USA fell for EDM, chapter one
In these excerpts from his lively and meticulous new book, The Underground Is Massive: How Electronic Dance Music Conquered America, longtime Reader contributor Michaelangelo Matos chronicles the three-decade ascent of EDM.
Former Chicagoan Brenmar’s debut EP for Fool’s Gold fulfills his dance-music promise
The DJ-producer returns to town tomorrow to celebrate the release of his new EP, Award.
More than a dozen concertgoers were hospitalized at Skrillex’s Navy Pier show last weekend
The latest drug-related concert incident furthers concerns about EDM’s safety.
12 O’Clock Track: Breezy Montana melds regional dances on ‘Strike a Pose’
One of the leaders of the bop sound instructs listeners to bop and drop that Nae Nae (among other things) with his new supercharged EDM tune.