“If we stay silent, it will be the end of us,” Mdou Moctar sings in French on the title track of his new album, Afrique Victime (Matador). If there’s one thing you can say for sure about Moctar, it’s that he’s not silent. The Nigerien guitarist keeps one hand on the tradition of Saharan Tuareg […]
Tag: Sonic Youth
Posted inMusic
Sound artist Andy Slater on the spring-into-summer sound of 80s freestyle
Current musical obsessions of sound artist and performer Andy Slater, DJ Hannah Viti, and Reader listings coordinator Salem Collo-Julin
Posted inMusic
Thurston Moore returns to his avant-garde roots on Spirit Counsel
One of the very few celebrity breakups to ever have an emotional effect on me was the 2011 split of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, which also resulted in the end of Sonic Youth. There was much speculation on how the band’s members would move forward following the dissolution of such a distinctive creative partnership, […]
Posted inMusic
Underground supergroup Sick Gazelle take an unexpectedly pleasing dive into postrock on Odum
There was no way that Sick Gazelle weren’t going to be good. This trio of recording engineer and Veloce mastermind Eric Block on guitar, Yakuza and Bloodiest front man Bruce Lamont on saxophone, and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums could’ve ventured down practically any musical path imaginable, and any one of them would’ve been […]
Posted inMusic
Strutting garage rockers Bleach Party finally drop a full-length album
Strutting garage rockers Bleach Party finally drop a full-length album, half of Sonic Youth helps celebrate 30 years of Daydream Nation at the Music Box, and more.
Posted inBlogs
What caused the melee outside a Public Enemy and Sonic Youth show at the Aragon in 1990?
In 1991, Reader critic Bill Wyman hit the pavement to figure out how one of the biggest shows of the previous year ended in a brawl that resulted in 18 concertgoers behind bars.
Posted inMusic
Publicist Heather West on the feral stank of the Wolfmanhattan Project
Current musical obsessions of Western Publicity founder Heather West, music critic Jim Kopeny (aka Tankboy), and Reader associate editor Jamie Ludwig
Posted inFood & Drink
Roister, the Alinea Group’s casual spot, is jaw-dropping
Mike Sula raves about Roister, the latest from Grant Achatz, Nick Kokonas, and company.
Posted inFilm
Kim Gordon: ‘Nobody says, “What’s it like being a man in music?”‘
The Sonic Youth cofounder talks with the Mekons’ Sally Timms about her recent divorce, her rejuvenated art career, and her new memoir, Girl in a Band.
Posted inBlogs
Austin’s Spray Paint perfect their marriage of no-wave throb and garage-rock thud
The jagged trio play the Empty Bottle on Wednesday in support of their terrific new album Clean Blood, Regular Acid.
Posted inNews & Politics
This week’s Chicagoan: Joshua Dumas, composer
Joshua Dumas, composer: “There are a lot of composers who can hear stuff in their mind’s ear, but I’m not one of them.”
Posted inBlogs
Black metal supergroup Twilight debut a new track from their upcoming final album
Largely-local American black metal supergroup Twilight debut a new track from their upcoming final record.
Posted inFilm
Kathleen Hanna: Grrrl interrupted
The Punk Singer profiles a feminist rocker who walked away.
Posted inBlogs
Reader’s Agenda Tue 9/24: Body/Head and Gate, Old Jews Telling Jokes, and Black Vocality
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Tuesday, September 24
Posted inBlogs
Reader’s Agenda Mon 5/27: Celtic flutists, bloody rock, and the beaches of Chicago
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Monday, May 27