The women of Automatic were born to be in an art-punk band, but they’re still finding their footing. Much of the Los Angeles group’s press coverage has treated them like they’re learning their craft in real time while growing an audience through social media and handshakes. While that may be true, they’ve also had more […]
Tag: synthesizers
Posted inMusic
Electronic music master Klaus Schulze leaves us a riveting posthumous record
Given the myriad horrors American society faces, desensitization can be a survival mechanism as well as part of the problem. Numbness can easily turn to apathy when we’re bombarded unrelentingly with mass shootings, climate-change-induced natural disasters, stealthy new COVID-19 variants (plus monkeypox), a 24-7 news cycle broadcasting the horrors of the invasion of Ukraine, and […]
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Scott McGaughey of local electronic-music veterans Chandeliers goes solo
If you’ve ever seen Chicago ensemble Chandeliers, you’ve seen Scott McGaughey hunched behind a bunch of black boxes and patch cords. Chandeliers have long taken an ecumenical approach to electronic music, weaving together clattering drum programs, squelchy funk punctuations, and long, proggy melodies; the closest they get to a rule is that hardware, not software, […]
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Chicago’s weirdest cook-off signs off on the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was created by local artist and animator Samuel Nigrosh.
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Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails talks synths and sensibility with Jordan Reyes of Ono
Cortini is best known for making Trent Reznor sound even better, but in his solo practice he produces symphonies of sound with exotic analog synths.
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Early-80s techno-pop trio Scarlet Architect play their first hometown show in 33 years
Scarlet Architect wrote new material on their European reunion tour last year, and they’ll debut it in Chicago on Saturday at Cobra Lounge.
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Diode Milliampere does chiptune the hard way
Chicago chiptune wizard Diode Milliampere wrings music out of obsolete hardware one command line at a time.
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In Rotation: The Reader’s Tal Rosenberg on the only house musician in the Harper’s Letters section
Current musical obsessions of DJs and producers Ross Kelly and Samantha Roberts
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Danny Brown’s thoughtfully raunchy Old and 15 more record reviews
Eight Reader writers take on 16 albums—including Traxman’s user-friendly footwork.
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The Ming Mecca finally unites synth geeks and video game hackers
Now you can generate video games from your analog synth setup.
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In Rotation: Audio engineer Tim Iseler on “Darth Vader’s Cock and Balls”
Audio engineers Tim Iseler and Jeremy Lemos on “Darth Vader’s Cock and Balls” and the Dirty Projectors at the Sydney Opera
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The even more experimental side of Zappa keyboardist Don Preston
A new anthology collects experimental electronic music by Mothers of Invention keyboardist Don Preston
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More weekend music: SMOD and Keith Fullerton Whitman
More live music options for busy Chicago weekend
Posted inBlogs
Early electronic-music magazine Synapse digitized
Every issue of the early electronic-music magazine Synapse is now available online for free.
Posted inMusic
Dance Macabre
The electronic duo Gatekeeper looks to the classic slasher soundtrack for inspiration.