Last fall Chicago drone explorers Bitchin Bajas released a cassette of synthesizer-only Sun Ra covers called Switched on Ra (Drag City). The trio of Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, and Dan Quinlivan combine feel-good vibes with versatility and flexibility—they’ve shape-shifted into a free-jazz-inspired combo on Frye’s 2021 solo LP, Exoplanet (Astral Spirits), and leaned into their […]
Tag: Haley Fohr
Posted inMusic
A concert-by-concert guide to the Frequency Festival
After a COVID gap year, the Frequency Festival returns on February 22. The six-day event is an outgrowth of the Frequency Series, which is programmed by former Chicago Reader staff music critic Peter Margasak and hosted by Constellation. Founded in 2013, shortly after drummer and promoter Mike Reed opened the north-side venue, the series presents […]
Posted inMusic
New-music feast the Frequency Festival returns after taking a COVID year
Former Reader staff writer Peter Margasak has been programming the Frequency Series at Constellation since 2013, bringing in artists from across the wide spectrum of experimental and new music for weekly showcases. Since 2016 Margasak has also booked the annual Frequency Festival, which skipped 2021 for obvious reasons; the festival will return for its sixth […]
Posted inMusic
Circuit des Yeux transforms isolation and grief into absorbing musical ambition on -io
Chicago vocalist, guitarist, and composer Haley Fohr is such a creative force that she can’t be contained by one persona—in addition to performing as Circuit des Yeux, she uses the alter ego Jackie Lynn to tell musical tales from the points of view of characters that feel personal yet slightly removed. Fohr began her new […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago’s Devin Shaffer channels idiosyncrasies into soundscapes on In My Dreams I’m There
Devin Shaffer spent her formative years searching for a sense of belonging as a performer—whether on a stage or in Chicago’s musical zeitgeist. In 2012 she found that elusive sense of communion seething from the PA at Cafe Mustache during a set by Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux. It encouraged Shaffer to think beyond […]
Posted inMusic
A memorial to Alejandro Morales
Alejandro Morales’s death doesn’t just leave a hole in Chicago’s DIY music scene—it’s a loss to community activists, to affordable housing advocates, and to countless friendships.
Posted inMusic
Haley Fohr joins forces with Bitchin Bajas on Jacqueline, her second album as alter-ego Jackie Lynn
A few years ago, Haley Fohr, who makes experimental rock music under the name Circuit des Yeux, introduced a new project where she inhabited a drifter-turned-drug-pusher alter ego named Jackie Lynn. Her 2016 album under that name mixed dejected pop and stripped-down electronics with off-kilter alt-country; its second half in particular had a mysterious, dangerous […]
Posted inMusic
Instigation Festival connects the musical traditions of Chicago and New Orleans
It’s not hard to tell the difference between New Orleans and Chicago: open a window in the wintertime, or take back-to-back bites of gumbo and a hot dog. Each city has its own proud and particular musical traditions, including distinctive past and present approaches to jazz. Just like a meal of gumbo and a hot […]
Posted inMusic
Style photos from Pitchfork Midwinter
Festival fashion reflected the creative yet chill vibe of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Posted inMusic
Daredevil producer Jlin survives her own trial by fire
Indiana-based beat wizard Jlin returns to the stage for Pitchfork Midwinter after courting burnout to finish her second album and score an avant-garde dance performance.
Posted inBlogs
Singer-guitarist Haley Fohr hunts for a path forward with a colorful Hideout residency
Fohr’s three freewheeling Wednesday shows feature guests such as Hamid Drake, Tim Kinsella, and Olivia Block, plus an eight-piece version of her Circuit des Yeux band.
Posted inBlogs
Pitchfork’s Midwinter brings Kamasi Washington, Slowdive, Laurie Anderson, and dozens more to the Art Institute
Midwinter runs February 15 through 17 and also includes Oneohtrix Point Never, Grouper, Perfume Genius, DJ Koze, two William Basinski performances, and Tortoise playing all of TNT.
Posted inMusic
Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux on music with the integrity of a gold watch
Current musical obsessions of Circuit des Yeux mastermind Haley Fohr, interdisciplinary artist Mikel Patrick Avery, and Reader music critic Peter Margasak
Posted inMusic
Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux gives the local premiere of her score for the 1923 silent film Salomé
Anyone who regularly reads my writing in this paper probably knows about my growing admiration for Haley Fohr, a vocalist, composer, and improviser whose stunning creative growth over the last few years is matched by her rigor and ambition. Last year her long-running project Circuit des Yeux dropped a knockout album, Reaching for Indigo (Drag […]
Posted inMusic
Whitney Johnson works to remystify music as Matchess
Chicago violist, singer, and organist Whitney Johnson completes her Matchess Trilogy with the occult healing songs of the new Sacracorpa.