Clik here to view.
Buscabulla’s tropical soul vignettes distill the mixed blessings of returning...
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, at least 130,000 people left Puerto Rico to live elsewhere. Yet in February 2018, Puerto Rican musicians Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo del Valle, aka experimental...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago’s Dark Fog offers trippy escapism on two new EPs
When I wrote about prolific Chicago three-piece Dark Fog last winter, the trippy psych voyagers were releasing three albums within a three-month span. It’s nice to know that, even in these uncertain...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon’s marvelous improvised concert at the May Chapel...
Has it really been just two months since the Illinois shelter-in-place order went into effect? Sometimes live music seems like a fading memory.…
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago drill icon Lil Durk leans into his melancholy on Just Cause Y’all...
Chicago rapper Lil Durk dropped his debut mixtape nearly nine years ago, and he’s since matured into one of drill’s most consistent, influential, and successful artists. His four previous major-label...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Okkultokrati alchemize grimy punk and metal into a dark triumph on La Ilden Lyse
Oslo six-piece Okkultokrati cast a net into rock’s grittiest, dankest seas and dredge up an electrifying hybrid sound: they twist influences from heathen black metal and thrash together with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saint Louis rapper-singer Smino re-creates the fun of classic hip-hop...
When rapper-singer Smino self-released She Already Decided on April 20, he added “Mixtape” in scare quotes to the title on Soundcloud. In doing so, the Saint Louis native provided a sly history lesson...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Soft Pink Truth traffics in revelations on Shall We Go On Sinning So That...
The Soft Pink Truth’s new album, Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? (Thrill Jockey), is a soundtrack for contemplation, discovery, and the seeking of truth.…
View ArticleClik here to view.
TALsounds makes ambient music we can only dream of on Acquiesce
It’s easy to get the impression that Natalie Chami dreams in music—she’s immersed in it in practically every minute of her waking life. By day, she teaches choir, vocal technique, and music technology...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Charli XCX captures her present life on the made-in-quarantine How I’m...
Charli XCX has no chill. The pop star has spent much of her time during the pandemic making a new album, How I’m Feeling Now, which came out May 15.…
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago indie-pop upstart Damacy fits the serene vibe of the city’s young...
Multi-instrumentalist Yuto Winston Kanii moved to Chicago a couple years ago, and he’s kept busy with his easygoing solo indie-pop project, Damacy. He grew up in the Louisville area, where he began...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago experimental electronic producer K-Rad makes serenity now
Since 1996, Chicago electronic producer Christopher Grabowski has experimented with IDM under the name K-Rad. The name initially represented a small, loose collective with Grabowski, Joe Hahn, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Harvey rapper Ty Money bids adieu to the career-defining mixtape series Cinco...
On May 5, Harvey rapper Ty Money released the fifth and final entry in his career-defining mixtape series, Cinco de Money, which he launched in 2015. Each volume has showcased what makes Money stand...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis releases a second record with his all-star...
When you want to put together an improvising ensemble whose interactions will be unpredictable as well as satisfying, it helps to recruit someone who has your back and someone else who isn’t afraid to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rosebud Allday showcases its sunny sound on its first label compilation, Buds...
On its first compilation, Buds Volume 1, Chicago label Rosebud Allday showcases the talent of its roster and its friends from the local scene. Founded in 2018 by Bill Ocean and producer Jayson “Jsun”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Xibalba plunge into new depths of metal and hardcore on Años en Infierno
Named after a Mayan term that roughly translates to “place of fear,” Southern California trio Xibalba have been blending strains of metal and hardcore for nearly 14 years. They’ve increasingly leaned...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sonic Boom uses retro-futuristic psychedelia to explore today on his first...
This might go down in history as the year everything got completely fucked forever, but some people will also fondly recall it as the year when Sonic Boom finally released his glorious second LP, All...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ethan Lim leans in to Cambodian food
Hermosa’s chef makes space on his sandwich menu for the city’s only Khmer food. Unless your mom is Cambodian, it seems like every time there’s an opportunity to eat Khmer food in Chicago, it’s the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A trilogy for times of terror
Three streaming productions give us plenty to ponder in the pandemic. The world of quarantine is paradoxical, with our immediate environments smaller and more constrained even as the big existential...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Steve Earle examines a mining tragedy to engage listeners across the...
On April 5, 2010, a coal-dust explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, killed 29 miners. Though subsequent investigations found that a pervasive pattern of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Indigo Girls see the past clearly on Look Long
Singer-songwriters Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been playing folk-rock guitar and singing harmonies together since the early 80s, when they were high school students in Decatur, Georgia. In 1985,...
View Article