I’ve never been the type to have a single favorite artist (I’ve probably got 100, depending on the context or mood), but for more than a decade I’ve counted Italian psychedelic-metal group Ufomammut among the best bands on the planet. So in January 2020, when they announced that their drummer, Vito, was departing and that […]
Tag: Vol. 51 No. 16
Issue of May 12, 2022
The Sound Issue
An audiologist’s study of over-the-counter hearing aids, a guide to radiator noises, an investigation of ShotSpotter, and much more
On the cover: Illustration by Joe Mills. For more of Mills’s work, go to joemills.com
Find a print copy of the Reader.
←Previous issue | Next issue→
Posted inMusic
Mystery Actions debut a new blast of anti-war punk rock
Local four-piece Mystery Actions remind Gossip Wolf of the cool, slightly intimidating kids from the Chicago street-punk scene in the late 80s and early 90s, when it centered on Clark and Belmont—specifically Punkin’ Donuts and the Alley. Perhaps that’s because the band—vocalist Nikki Mouse, guitarist Lucy Dekay, drummer Rose Beef, and bassist Mikhael Hell—crank out […]
Posted inMusic
Three albums in, Chicago underground supergroup Rlyr are still having fun
I heard a lot about the glory days of the Fireside Bowl even before I moved to Chicago, and I loved the way the venue brought together bands from disparate subscenes with almost every show. Chicago instrumental trio Rlyr exemplify that freewheeling spirit: in their wondrous thrashing, I can hear the residual effects of growing […]
Posted inMusic
Nigeria’s Joeboy makes life-affirming pop music
Throughout the next few months, Chicago will host several concerts featuring contemporary Nigerian pop stars, and Joeboy in particular is a must-see. Born Joseph Akinwale Akinfenwa-Donus, the 24-year-old singer attracted international attention in 2019 for his summery single “Baby,” a love song with a loping chord progression and an overarching yet understated chipperness that’s ready […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago rapper, producer, and singer ’Kechi maps his future through his family roots
Chicago producer, rapper, and singer Ikechi Chijiuba Ihemeson, aka ’Kechi, performs as though his entire life has led up to the moment he steps to the mike. He started recording his new full-length, ’Kechi Tunez (Ojuba Music), in 2020, though he traces the album’s roots back to a year he spent in Africa a decade […]
Posted inMusic
Third Coast Percussion rebuild Jlin’s experimental footwork by hand
I love Third Coast Percussion—I ranked their 2018 release Paddle to the Sea number one on my list of the best Chicago albums of the 2010s—and I’m a big fan of Jlin. So when I heard that TCP had commissioned music from my favorite experimental footwork producer, I started counting down the days till they’d […]