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Caroline Polachek from Chairlift explores the pain and pleasure of love on Pang
Caroline Polachek might be the queen of crushes. As half of the synth-pop duo Chairlift, she wrote cheeky sleeper favorites such as “Crying in Public” and “Bruises” in the late 2000s, before branching...
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Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque make classical guitars dance
Chicago-based guitarists Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque collaborated on two albums in the early 2000s, but they’ve since focused on other projects; Ivanovic leads a trio with Matt Ulery on bass and...
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Green Jellÿ keep bonehead comedy metal rolling
In the bustling genre of comedy metal, Los Angeles band Green Jellÿ are at least the second best around. These guys have been hammering out goofy, boneheaded, nursery-rhyme-biting, pop-culture-poking...
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Bay Area rapper Larry June luxuriates in his bountiful, growing catalog
Rappers have been more than game to roll with pop culture’s endless churn, and Larry June is especially skilled at releasing new material fast enough for perpetually refreshed feeds. In the past 12...
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Turn Here—Sweet Corn offers an organic guide to resistance
Atina Diffley's memoir about fighting Koch Industries becomes a compelling solo show with Saltbox Theatre Collective. Atina Diffley grew up on a farm, but dreamed of combining that rural world with a...
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Rapper Davis brings you into his corner of Chicago DIY with Green Parakeet Suite
Davis Blackwell began rapping in June 2018 and got involved in the Chicago music scene in no time. Shortly after he first picked up the mike, he formed the duo Udababy with Joshua Virtue; last year...
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Prog bassist Tony Levin and jazz pianist Pete Levin team up as the Levin...
Many know the lore of prog bass lord Tony Levin, legendary for his active fretwork with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and other artsy UK acts. Lately I’ve been paying more attention to his diverse but...
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Origami Angel help set the tone for emo’s next decade with Somewhere City
Emo’s fourth wave re-energized indie rock in the 2010s, but by the end of the decade many of the genre’s most promising bands had quietly broken up or seemed about to, playing only the occasional show...
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Yuna sings and lives by her own bold rules
Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna (Yunalis Zara’ai) has a striking stage presence: a fashion icon as well as a pop and R&B sensation, she has a personal style she describes as inspired by Audrey...
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On Bigger Than Life, darkwave project Black Marble leans into its pop tendencies
With this summer’s Bigger Than Life (Sacred Bones), Black Marble has finally given in and made a pop record. Born in Brooklyn and now based in Los Angeles, this darkwave act began in 2012 as the...
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On Beware of the Dogs, Australian singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly bridges...
Stella Donnelly’s truth creeps up on you. The sound of her voice over her gentle, electrified folk-rock guitar is like a chill that runs up your spine to your occipital bone, where it releases a warm,...
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Mark Nelson reignites Pan•American as a solo endeavor for a show at the...
When singer and musician Mark Nelson began Pan•American in 1997, he was looking for an outlet for all the things he wanted to do outside of his main group at the time, Labradford. The project has...
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Deathcore wizards Shadow of Intent shred with or without vocals
New England deathcore quartet Shadow of Intent have a pretty cool gimmick I wouldn’t mind seeing more often: they like to release instrumental versions of their music. In 2017 they released The...
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Heilung perform Viking hippie nerd rituals
The band Heilung (German for “healing”) are sometimes described as experimental folk; they themselves call their sound “amplified history.” Either way, they are thundering Viking hippie nerds. Band...
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New York R&B singer Samoht searches for pop music’s unknown paths
New York R&B singer Samoht knows how to draw listeners in by draping his luxurious voice all over lava-lamp instrumentals. Keeping them engaged is the challenge.…
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Southern-tinged emo artists All Get Out bring out their hook-driven anthems
For emo-rock outfit All Get Out, the 2010s were a turbulent decade. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, the band made their breakthrough in 2011 with their second full-length, The Season,...
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In the rocky landscape of Thirst, nostalgia isn’t salvation
C.A. Johnson’s searing drama shows three ways of dealing with the apocalypse. Three distinct responses to the havoc of loss circle one another in playwright C.A. Johnson's searing war show, Thirst,...
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Whisper House makes its spooky and intimate Chicago debut
A young boy and his reclusive aunt face down old ghosts during World War II One might have thought that a ten-year-old show with libretto by Kyle Jarrow (author of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's...
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Bunny's Book Club illustrates the love of a good story
Lifeline Theatre KidSeries brings children and animals together for a family-friendly yarn. Based on Annie Silvestro's children's book of the same title, this Lifeline Theatre KidSeries world...
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Veteran hip-hop producer Blockhead knows how to reenergize instrumental music
New York producer Tony “Blockhead” Simon has invigorated America’s underground hip-hop scene for two decades—he started out as a close collaborator of famously slippery lyricist Aesop Rock, and more...
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