Tag: Vol. 52 No. 17
Issue of May 31, 2023
On the cover: “Worth the risk?”
Fallout from a queer erotica screening at Sleeping Village exhibits how far cultural institutions still have to go to support the entire LGBTQ+ community.
Illustration by Betsy Ochoa for Chicago Reader
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Posted inOn Politics
High grades
In the aftermath of presiding over his first City Council meeting, Mayor Brandon Johnson gave himself the highest grade possible. “If you’re keeping score, I believe it was 41 alderpersons voted for it,” Johnson told reporters. “I would consider that an ‘A’ grade. I mean—I don’t know what a brother’s gotta do to get a […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Filters are not just for Instagram
Chicagoans inspired to reduce possible contamination in their home drinking water can find NSF-certified filters at chain stores like Home Depot, Target, Lowes, or Amazon, as well as local home goods and hardware stores. Consumers may find it easiest to use faucet mounts and pitchers, which are listed below. Other options, such as under-sink water […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Is there lead in there?
Chicago has long been known to have an issue with lead contamination, though many residents may be unaware. In 2011 and 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Illinois conducted a study on field sampling protocols for lead in drinking water. The agency concluded that existing sampling protocols underestimated lead corrosion and levels in drinking […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Inside Vivaldi’s all-female orchestra
As far as I can tell, no Chicagoan has written a novel about Italy since 1890, when Henry Blake Fuller’s queer-coded satire, The Chevalier of Pensieri-Vani, was misinterpreted by critics to be an earnest heterosexual romance. More than 130 years later, I doubt readers will make a similar mistake with Julia Fine’s new novel. A […]
Posted inMusic
House producer Jayda G celebrates her father’s life on Guy
When Canadian producer Jayda Guy, who makes music as Jayda G, was a child, her father began spending hours in a room with a specific goal: to record his life story. William Richard Guy had grown sick, and as his health declined he enlisted the help of Guy’s older sister to compile 11 hours of […]
Posted inThe To-Do
Microcinema, rock ’n’ roll photography, and more
Warming temperatures mean it’s time to get out there and strut. From book signings to variety shows, there’s something coming up for everyone’s walking speed. Sweet Void Cinema screeningssweetvoidcinema.com The Humboldt Park-based production company and microcinema Sweet Void Cinema (3036 W. Chicago, Suite 1W) collects shorts from local filmmakers and screens them monthly as a […]
Posted inMusic
Experimental doom pioneers Khanate make a surprise return after 14 years of silence
During their initial run, from 2000 till 2006, New York City’s explosive Khanate helped usher in a new era of experimental heavy metal, setting off an ongoing wave of interest in bands such as Boris, Om, and Sunn O))) (which Khanate guitarist Stephen O’Malley had founded with Greg Anderson in 1998). But while some of […]
Posted inMusic
Sampa the Great imbues polished hip-hop with the psychedelic magnetism of Zamrock
Sampa Tembo was born in Zambia and raised in Botswana, but she was living in Australia when she released her breakout second mixtape as Sampa the Great, 2017’s Birds and the Bee9. Sampa’s hip-hop career soon took off internationally, and after COVID-19 spread worldwide, she left Australia for Zambia. The move helped her expand her […]
Posted inMusic
Elijah LeFlore makes his mark in Chicago R&B with coolheaded poise
Chicago R&B artist Elijah LeFlore sings with the understated cool of someone who’s found peace and mostly just wants to share that whole-body tranquility with you. In January 2022, he self-released his debut full-length, Sunset Radio, where his lilting voice floats among gentle guitars, nimble electronic percussion, and soothing keyboards; he followed that up in […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago alt-country darlings the Texas Rubies come on home
The Texas Rubies are the great Chicago alt-country phenomenon that wasn’t. Lead vocalist Jane Baxter Miller and guitarist and harmony singer Kelly Kessler were Kentucky transplants who met in Chicago in the early 90s and started writing hard-hitting retro-country songs in the tradition of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. They released one album, Working Girl […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Worth the risk?
Fallout from a queer erotica screening at Sleeping Village exhibits how far cultural institutions still have to go to support the entire LGBTQ+ community.
Posted inArts & Culture
Just stick to it
As the saying goes, Chicago is a big small town. We’re always bumping into each other. Artist, photographer, zine maker and promoter, curator, event organizer, and lifetime Chicagoan Oscar Arriola, 51, is one of those welcoming, familiar faces often present at the coolest, most underground happenings. As an appreciator, connector, and maker, Arriola is a […]
Posted inMusic
Five ensembles, including a contrabass and cello choir, gather to honor the departed Harrison Bankhead
Histories of jazz tend to play up the significance of composers and conceptual innovators who also lead bands. Harrison Bankhead will not stand in their ranks; during a career that began in the 1970s and lasted until his death in Waukegan on April 5, he only made two albums as a leader. But as a […]