One of the displays is 200 feet long and two stories high.
Tag: Vol. 47 No. 30
Issue of May. 3 – 9, 2018
Posted inBlogs
Jaden Smith and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week
The Death of Stalin and more goings-on about town 4/30-5/3.
Posted inFilm
The Girl Deep Down Below explores how it feels to be Muslim in America right now
It’s kind of like being trapped in a horror movie.
Posted inBlogs
The guy who quit Second City
Dan Bakkedahl had one of the best improv gigs in Chicago. Why did he give it up?
Posted inBlogs
Stormy’s Chicago show to feature Rahm on stage—kinda
A guy in a Rahm mask will be cavorting with Stormy Daniels when she brings her “Make America Horny Again” tour to Chicago in June.
Posted inBlogs
Kanye versus Obama: It’s easier being a celebrity than a politician
Remember Obamacare, Kanye?
Posted inMusic
On her EP Cool, Chimeka shows she knows Chicago hip-hop as well as anyone
Formerly known as Chin Chilla Meek, rapper and Harvey native Chimeka shows she’s ingrained in Chicago hip-hop on her most recent self-released EP, January’s Cool. She teamed up with producers such as the hard-grinding Novacane, Twista’s right-hand man Sunny Woodz, and ZMoney’s secret weapon J. Neal, and got a nice assist from rapper the Boy […]
Posted inMusic
Sunwatchers fuse proto-punk and free jazz, while Olden Yolk craft sophisticated, harmony-laden pop
On their bruising second album, Sunwatchers II (Trouble in Mind), New York instrumental quartet Sunwatchers further refine their flinty collision of scorching free jazz and numbing proto-punk. Yet while the combo’s ethos is guided by influences such as the Stooges blowout “LA Blues” and the acidic skronk of guitarist Sonny Sharrock, there’s more to their […]
Posted inMusic
As the Messthetics, two D.C. punk legends and a mystical guitarist break genre barriers
D.C. punk legends Fugazi took an indefinite hiatus in 2003, though they’ve continued to flood the world with new music—or unreleased recordings, anyway. In 2011 the band launched the Fugazi Live Series, a site archiving hundreds of concert recordings that showcase their exceptional improvisational skills. Punks may shudder to think of it this way, but […]
Posted inMusic
Joshua Hedley writes immaculate classic country melodies—and lyrics that don’t do them justice
Mr. Jukebox (Third Man) is the title of the debut album by Nashville singer and fiddler Joshua Hedley, but it’s also his nickname—a walking encyclopedia of country music history, Hedley plays requests at the drop of a cowboy hat. On this album, his devotion to classic country is clear: there’s the faux-Nudie suit he sports […]
Posted inMusic
As Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Adam McIlwee threads together emo, trap beats, and occultism
Pennsylvania singer-producer Adam McIlwee says he doesn’t like emo, but he’s anchored to the genre. For close to a decade, he fronted Tigers Jaw, one of the brightest acts in the fourth-wave emo scene, and his yearning vocals lent the band’s music a hard-to-measure bittersweet allure. McIlwee left the group in 2013, though, and pulled […]
Posted inMusic
Frankie Cosmos delivers another aching, poignant record of two-minute indie-pop songs
And just like that, Frankie Cosmos—otherwise known as Greta Kline, and otherwise tied to an obligatory footnote, given that her parents are Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline—released her third studio full-length in four years. Though the brand-new Vessel is the biggest record to date for the 24-year-old lo-fi indie darling, featuring an even fuller band […]
Posted inMusic
Demilich’s only album still outweirds most death metal after 25 years
Demilich released just one album, Nespithe, before breaking up in 1993, and its 39 minutes of music have secured their reputation as one of the weirdest, most original, and most prescient bands in technical death metal for 25 years and counting. Nespithe is a lurid, aggressively metastasizing web of alien convolutions, gonzo metrical collages, and […]
Posted inMusic
On the weird, gorgeous All Nerve, the Breeders sound better than they have in decades
Revisiting the two albums the Breeders made with drummer Jose Medeles and bassist Mando Lopez, 2002’s Title TK and 2008’s Mountain Battles, I realized I desperately wanted them to be better than they were—I hoped with futility that sisters Kim and Kelley Deal could reclaim the genius of their 1993 masterpiece, Last Splash, and its […]
Posted inMusic
Drummer Chad Taylor, a quintessential ensemble player, creates atmosphere and color on his solo debut
Over the past couple years, drummer Chad Taylor has been on fire, contributing to some of my favorite recordings, among them albums by trumpeter Jaimie Branch, bassist Eric Revis, and pianist Mara Rosenbloom. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to jazz. In the late 90s Taylor cofounded the Chicago […]