A look at the Reader‘s top stories of 2018 as determined by number of pageviews in each month of the year—an admittedly dubious method that nonetheless does resurface some really great reads. In some months there were virtual ties, which conveniently let me pad this out to the 18 most-read stories. January: “The trials of […]
Tag: Vol. 48 No. 13
Issue of Dec. 27, 2018 – Jan. 9, 2019
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Just eight days after a glowing performance review at WCPT, the ax fell
Don’t worry: The Ben Joravsky Show will be back.
Posted inBlogs
Making sense of Billy Jack, declared America’s first action hero by at least one dad
Social media editor Brianna Wellen tries to find the joy in her father’s favorite movie franchise.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
‘Please tell me where I can find my porn!’
How Tumblr’s ban on NSFW content harms queer and kinky people. Plus: you shouldn’t need a “spotter” at a swinger party.
Posted inMusic
Chicago power-pop band Beach Bunny show why they’re one of the best in town with Prom Queen
If you spent any time at Chicago indie shows last year, chances are you became familiar with the band Beach Bunny, even if you never actually saw them. The group’s name appeared on so many of the gig posters and concert calendars plastered on the walls of local clubs that you could easily imagine they […]
Posted inMusic
Meshell Ndegeocello dissects and rebuilds 80s and 90s classics on Ventroliquism
Can someone please give Meshell Ndegeocello a Grammy already? The ten-time nominee, also known as Meshell Suhalia Bashir-Shakur, has forged a distinctive and idiosyncratic path since her 1993 debut Plantation Lullabies. The singer and multi-instrumentalist has also become known for her social activism, and she’s contributed work to compilations, tributes, and anthologies including AIDS-research benefits […]
Posted inMusic
Kitty and Ricky Eat Acid team up to create the undeniable Pom-Poms
In summer 2017, rapper Kitty, who’d gone viral via Soundcloud earlier in the decade, released Miami Garden Club, her long-awaited crowd-funded debut album, which captured her shift away from the quirky rhymes of her early tunes and toward dreamy bedroom pop. Kitty toured on that record alongside her husband Sam Ray, a like-minded musician who […]
Posted inMusic
Outlaw country duo Brothers Osborne love weed, whisky, and Willie Nelson
Outlaw country first pulled out of the truck stop almost half a century ago now, but you wouldn’t know the genre was middle-aged (and often paunchy) from listening to the Brothers Osborne. The Maryland duo has the spirit—and at least some of the facial hair—of the men who played outlaw country in the 70s, making […]
Posted inMusic
Madison garage punks the Hussy can heat up the coldest winter nights
Here in the midwestern tundra, January can be a sleepy time for shows by touring bands, but no matter where or when Madison garage punks the Hussy play a gig, they heat things up—or even set them on fire. And that’s not just cliche rock ’n’ roll hyperbole; in this case, you can take those […]
Posted inMusic
Luke Winslow-King traded New Orleans for Michigan, but his music retains some southern charm
The influence of gospel music on singer-songwriter Luke Winslow-King is obvious, even when he’s playing an up-tempo song with a title such as “Swing That Thing.” Though King doesn’t approach it in a superficial, frantic, tambourine-banging way, if you’re familiar at all with southern gospel you can easily identify its hallmarks in his use of […]
Posted inMusic
Gabby’s World finds indie-rock grace in small details on Beast on Beast
Indie singer-songwriter Gabrielle Smith broke out in 2015 under the name Eskimeaux. Since then, she’s changed the name of her project a couple times, and last year she made her debut as the front woman of Gabby’s World—which released Beast on Beast (Yellow K) in November. Though Gabby’s World positioned as a fleshed-out band and Smith […]
Posted inMusic
DJ Seinfeld has more heart than laughs
A few years ago Swedish producer Armand Jakobsson coped with a painful breakup by binge-watching Seinfeld and crafting beautiful, glacially paced house tracks. He’d previously recorded music under various aliases (he preferred the name Rimbaudian), but in 2016, when he released the heartfelt cuts he’d created during that emotional healing process, he chose a new […]
Posted inMusic
One of the longest-running freely improvising ensembles on earth plays this (and nearly every) Monday in Roscoe Village
For improvisers, familiarity is a double-edged sword; if musicians get too comfortable with each other, inspiration can turn into habit. But there’s nothing quite so thrilling as the near-telepathic rapport of a group whose players know each other’s strengths and try to push each other to greater heights. The members of Extraordinary Popular Delusions have […]
Posted inMusic
New York indie rock band Charly Bliss keeps the pop perfection flowing with “Heaven”
I like Charly Bliss way more than I should. The NYC foursome—really a pop act disguised as a punk band—ticks countless boxes on the list of things that immediately annoy me or make me roll my eyes: goofy, quirky lyrics; cute and zany music videos; pristine production values; and an unabashed Weezer influence (more the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Chicago Period Project seeks to end menstrual taboo and “period poverty”
Program provides free tampons and pads as well as safe spaces to access them.