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Lianne La Havas moves between love and loss on her new self-produced,...
Born in London to a Jamaican mother and a Greek father, singer and guitarist Lianne La Havas takes inspiration from both branches of her family tree and beyond, finessing diverse influences into...
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Scott McGaughey of local electronic-music veterans Chandeliers goes solo
If you’ve ever seen Chicago ensemble Chandeliers, you’ve seen Scott McGaughey hunched behind a bunch of black boxes and patch cords. Chandeliers have long taken an ecumenical approach to electronic...
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The myth of housing mobility
The Voucher Promise chronicles the “illusions” of Section 8. As cities around the country continue to grapple with the economic and social fallout of decades of racist public policy, a new book by...
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Chicago music mastermind Nnamdï reflects our absurd world with the...
Our country has always privileged the powerful—a group that, historically and presently, has consisted almost exclusively of straight white men. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve only...
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The Pacifica Quartet fortify new foundations with Contemporary Voices
It might seem backhanded or cute to say that a Grammy–winning string quartet’s 16th record has the feel of a second act. But that more or less describes the Pacifica Quartet’s new release,...
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Chicagoland emo project Park National cuts its own path in sparklepunk
Chicagoland multi-instrumentalist Liam Fagan is 18: young enough to treat emo bands who are still establishing themselves (particularly critical darlings Oso Oso) as aesthetic polestars, but also old...
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Protomartyr dive into the murk of modernity with Ultimate Success Today
These days, nihilism isn’t a choice—it’s a corner that we’ve boxed ourselves into in a feeble attempt to preserve some semblance of peace of mind. By 2020, Protomartyr had already spent more than a...
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Ben Baker Billington’s Quicksails builds whole worlds from serene synths
Many prolific musicians call Chicago home, but multi-instrumentalist Ben Baker Billington is a veritable Energizer Bunny. He’s been contributing otherworldly experimental sounds to the scene since his...
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Manual Cinema celebrates a decade of innovative work
The company offers an online 'retrospectacular' of four previous shows.“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two...
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Vile Creature embrace resistance and power amid despair on Glory, Glory!...
The new third full-length from Canadian doom duo Vile Creature, Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!, is everything I hoped it would be.…
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Cinder Well merges traditional folk styles to transcend place and time on No...
Cinder Well is the brainchild of Ireland-based, California-bred singer and multi-instrumentalist Amelia Baker. As part of the Santa Cruz anarchist folk-punk scene, she’s previously played with dusky...
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The harsh noise of Evicshen’s Hair Birth will leave your head spinning
Massachusetts-based sound artist and instrument maker Victoria Shen, who performs as Evicshen, makes music that rattles your brain. Her debut LP, Hair Birth (American Dreams), is a master class in...
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Ghetto Kumbé create pulsing Afrofuturistic grooves that build on the beats...
Few styles of music lift my spirits more than the drum- and marimba-driven chants born along Colombia’s Pacific coast. These ancestral grooves survived the travails of 16th-century colonization to...
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When the world feels barren, Chicago punk veterans the Lawrence Arms build hope
Chicago punk trio the Lawrence Arms formed in 1999, and they’re aging remarkably well. Rather than settle for the kind of navel-gazing that’s common among bands of their vintage—commemorating, say,...
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Xoe Wise’s intimate indie folk makes the world feel a little more welcoming
Since this spring Chicago singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Xoe Wise has been parking her scooter at intersections around town for small, outdoor pop-up performances—a series she calls...
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Instrumental duo Zombi weave their influences into a metallic beast on 2020
It’s been five years since Pittsburgh instrumental duo Zombi released Shape Shift. In May, they whetted the appetites of their long-suffering fans with the single “Breakthrough & Conquer,” which...
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Robert Millis abstracts shellac into ambient sound
Seattle-based musician, composer, filmmaker, ethnographer, and record collector Robert Millis is fascinated with antique formats, and his obsession has evolved from crate digging to a vein of pure,...
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Chicago rappers SD and Brian Fresco combine their distinctive styles for the...
I’m thankful for the first full-length collaboration between Chicago rappers SD and Brian Fresco, the new Muddbruddas (Empire). Its mere existence takes a wrecking ball to the tired cliche that the...
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Sui generis trio Bloodmist get bleak on their second album
Given the diverse CVs of Bloodmist’s members, the trio’s music could be many things. Clarinetist and synthesizer player Jeremiah Cymerman has made solo recordings that bridge free improvisation and...
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Mary Chapin Carpenter finds her folk-pop heart on The Dirt and the Stars
Mary Chapin Carpenter’s twangy, peppy hits bounced up the country charts in the 90s, but their cowboy boots always seemed like they pinched a bit. Twenty-some years later, Carpenter’s records have...
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