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Jyroscope and Montana Macks reflect on middle age with Happy Medium
On their new EP, Happy Medium, everyman Chicago rap group Jyroscope reflect on navigating middle age in what remains of the middle class, while the production from fellow local Montana Macks evokes...
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DJ Manny centers love on his R&B-infused new album, Signals in My Head
Manuel Gaines, who performs as DJ Manny, was ten years old when he first heard footwork music at a party. Before long, the Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based producer met two titans of the genre, DJ Spinn...
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Leela James makes vital modern soul on See Me
Since Leela James put out her debut album, 2005’s A Change Is Gonna Come, the soul siren has released a steady stream of music, exploring new stylistic elements while staying remarkably focused. In a...
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King Woman retell personal and Biblical horrors with Celestial Blues
When you can’t outrun your past, one option is to face it with your own poetics. That’s the approach King Woman front woman Kris Esfandiari takes when confronting the Biblical archetypes branded on...
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Chicago sound wizard Mark Solotroff makes grounding, elegiac music on Not...
Chicago sound wizard Mark Solotroff has been wielding his powerful electronic grimoire since the mid-80s as the leader of Intrinsic Action, Bloodyminded, and Anatomy of Habit. He’s also collaborated...
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Torres writes big happy rock love songs for the end of lockdown
Brooklyn singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott, aka Torres, is a master of insular, languid indie pop. But after making it through lockdown and finding inspiration in her partner, visual artist Jenna...
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Ten favorites from the Cannes Film Festival 2021
This year’s selection included everything from a highly anticipated rock opera to compelling documentaries to an award-winning film featuring a character who lactates motor oil. It would be convenient...
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Chicago songwriter Emily Jane Powers supercharges Isometry with wild guitar...
When local folk-pop artist Jessica Risker interviewed Chicago singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emily Jane Powers on her Music Therapy podcast in April 2020, Powers was halfway through...
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Chicago indie workhorse Liam Kazar reaches for the sublime on his debut solo...
Multi-instrumentalist Liam Kazar has been so crucial to my evolving understanding of Chicago’s bustling, magnanimous music scene that I felt a little heartbroken when he moved to Kansas City in 2019....
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Yasser Tejeda brings the Afro-Dominican quijombo to the LatiNxt Festival
The Dominican Republic is famous for merengue and bachata, but Yasser Tejeda prefers to focus on lesser-known varieties of Dominican roots music. He reimagines centuries-old Afro-Dominican styles,...
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Quin Kirchner puts a contemporary spin on mid-20th-century jazz
Quin Kirchner blew into Chicago in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated his old hometown of New Orleans. He wasted no time making himself essential as a drummer, and since then he’s played with a...
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Chuck Prophet’s songwriting keeps getting better
If the best parts of your classic British Invasion, 50s country, 60s pop, and pure rock ’n’ roll records could be transformed into a person, they might look and sound a lot like Chuck Prophet. For...
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School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play reopens at the Goodman
Jocelyn Bioh's smart comedy at the Goodman examines cliques, colonialism, and colorism. From the Heathers to the Plastics, teenage girls and their cliques have proved to be a sturdy source of pop...
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Damon & Naomi reunite with guitarist Michio Kurihara for meditative songs...
One of the few positive aspects of the pandemic is how it’s highlighted the importance and irreplaceability of our relationships, even as a tangled web of geographic and public health considerations...
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Annihilus’ Luca Cimarusti brings Chicago musicians along on his experimental...
Chicago multi-instrumentalist and Reader contributor Luca Cimarusti is having a busy summer. In July his minimalist postpunk trio, Luggage, dropped the album Happiness, and now he’s about to put out...
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Annette remains a mystery—but it’s a mystery worth watching
The brainchild of Leos Carax and Sparks is a delirious combination of imagination and frustration. Ideally I'd be writing this review ten to 15 years from now, or maybe even longer—so unsure am I as...
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Chicago rocker Jackie Hayes bottles up burnout on her new EP
Jackie Hayes left behind a devout Christian upbringing in Waukegan to move to Logan Square at age 19 and pursue her music career on her terms. As a frequent opener at Schubas and other local clubs,...
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More comedy, movies, and art, please
Upcoming events and recommendations for the next seven days Here are some events, screenings, exhibitions, performances, and other activities to help you continue to enjoy summer, this weekend and...
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After 15 years, Chicago hip-hop duo Abstract Mindstate reunite—thanks to...
I routinely scroll through all the new music people have uploaded to Bandcamp using the “Chicago” tag, and in January I noticed something curious: Still Paying, the previously unreleased second album...
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Sparks continue their renaissance with the soundtrack for Annette
This is the first time I’ve reviewed a soundtrack without seeing the movie, but a good soundtrack should stand on its own. And in the case of Annette (which comes out August 6), the soundtrack was...
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