Born in India, raised in New Zealand and Australia, and based I’m not sure where, pop provocateur Jitwam might seem fickle—his outre style leapfrogs from sun-bleached, broken psychedelia (“Drowning in Tomorrow,” from 2017’s ज़ितम सिहँ) to sparkling, limber nu-funk (“Busstop,” from 2019’s Honeycomb), to minimal, mumbled soul (“Stronger,” from 2019’s Purple EP). But there’s a […]
Tag: house music
Posted inMusic
Catholic school house
In November 2021, news broke that filled the Chicago house-music community with pride. Hometown house legends Ten City were nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronica Album for Judgement, their first full-length studio recording since 1994. Many Chicago fans remembered that around the time of the group’s formation in the mid-1980s, their producer, house pioneer […]
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Tireless collaborator Reno Cruz steps out with his debut solo album
Since moving to Chicago from his native California in 2017, singer-songwriter Reno Cruz has made an indelible mark on the city’s indie-rock and soul-music scenes, spending the past few years playing guitar in the Lala Lala live band and collaborating with Gossip Wolf faves such as Wyatt Waddell, Sen Morimoto, and Shawnee Dez (who also […]
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Queer nightlife fixture Cae Monāe opens for her synergistic collaborators in darkwave trio Pixel Grip
Cae Monāe’s existence is her art. Whether she’s taking over an Instagram square with her face abstracted by embellishments and makeup or adorning herself in a custom outfit and commanding a stage with iPhone beats, she demands consideration. And why shouldn’t she? She’s a Black trans woman, so invisibility isn’t an option for her. It’d […]
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Chicago house reshaped pop around the globe
House-music culture developed in Chicago’s Black gay clubs in the 1970s, and it owes as much of its soul to the people who gathered to dance as it does to the DJs whose innovative mixes of disco, funk, R&B, and pop kept late-night partiers moving till long after sunrise. In the seven years or so […]
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Farewell to unsung house-music architect Rodney Bakerr
Rodney Bakerr led early Wax Trax! group Strange Circuits, ran underground label Rockin’ House, and wrote ubiquitous house-music rhythm patterns for Roland.
Posted inCity Life
Out there, around here
Upcoming events and recommendations for the next seven days
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Thirty years ago, a Black queer zine captured the scene that birthed house
Robert Ford and Trent Adkins shaped the bold, subversive, gossipy, funny, deeply engaged voice of Thing, which was felled by the AIDS pandemic in 1993.
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DJ Antonio Cesar keeps finding money to evolve house music
Chicago producer and DJ Antonio Cesar has used tens of thousands of dollars in grants to travel the world, exporting the city’s sounds and importing new influences.
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Nez draws from house, hip-hop, and R&B for his invigorating Midnight Music EP
Chicago artist Nesbitt “Nez” Wesonga broke out in the early 2010s with hip-hop production crew Nez & Rio. By 2014, they’d helped make a bona fide hit album: Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron features three Nez & Rio tracks, including the triumphant single “Man of the Year.” Q had previously enlisted the duo for 2012’s “Druggys Wit […]
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Music makes the people come together
Upcoming events and distractions from our listings coordinator
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Remembering Benji Espinoza, champion of Chicago house music
Benji Espinoza’s work for Quantum Distributors and the D.J. International label helped boost house into its exalted place in the global pop pantheon.
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After influencing pop for decades, veteran Chicago producer the Twilite Tone drops his solo debut
In Brian Coleman’s liner notes for the 2010 Get On Down reissue of Common’s Resurrection, producer No I.D. (aka Dion Wilson) talked about his early collaborator, the Twilite Tone, who was also Common’s DJ. Specifically he credited Tone, born Anthony Khan, for helping catalyze the growth of Chicago’s hip-hop community in the late 80s and […]
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Roll up for the percolator on the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was created by singer, DJ, and producer Green Velvet, aka Cajmere.
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Dave ‘Medusa’ Shelton was a fairy godmother to Chicago’s club scene
Dave Shelton didn’t just found the legendary Medusa’s—he also helped everyone in his orbit shine like a star.