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Singular guitarist Bill Frisell presents a stunning duo with simpatico...
Despite forging one of the most recognizable sounds on electric guitar over the last three decades, Bill Frisell has emphasized an ensemble-oriented approach for much of his career, one where his...
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On Goths, the Mountain Goats are as compassionate as ever toward their...
What distinguishes the goths that Mountain Goats leader John Darnielle sings about on the band’s new album Goths (Merge) is neither fashion nor sound, but a desire to find community while separating...
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Chart-topping country songsmith Chris Stapleton finds his sweet spot on From...
Plenty of flourishing Nashville songwriters have failed to translate the success they’ve had penning hits for artists into onstage popularity in their own right, but Chris Stapleton has delivered...
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The Chosen Few helped build house music’s foundation and keep the party going...
Is experiencing music outdoors worthwhile if you can’t share it with those you love? Not to those guiding the Chosen Few Picnic, which began the way many great summertime activities should start—with...
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Trombonist Jacob Garchik’s Ye Olde and drummer Gard Nilssen’s Acoustic Unity...
Trombonist Jacob Garchik has long been one of the more fascinating figures on New York’s improvised music scene, a terrific musician with a fertile imagination and unbridled curiosity. He’s become a...
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For a new seven-inch, False distill the power of their 12-minute black-metal...
False are the only black-metal band who’ve ever made me cry. Last September at Scorched Tundra, the cathartic gusts of “Saturnalia” (from False’s untitled 2015 album) blew open a window in the attic,...
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On Sorcerer, Tonstartssbandht show just how much more there is to psych
While splitting genre hairs can be a fun exercise in futility, the prolific duo of brothers Andy and Edwin White don’t give you much time to make up your mind. Because “psych” can often act as a sort...
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Deslondes submerge their spirited take on Americana in a humid atmosphere on...
On their terrific second album, Hurry Home (New West), New Orleans quintet Deslondes settle into a sweet spot at the nexus of various threads of southern sounds, building on the low-key charms of...
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Chicago bassist Clark Sommers reveals another side of his versatility with...
There’s a reason dark, woody-toned bassist Clark Sommers is a ubiquitous presence on the Chicago jazz scene—not only does he have impeccable timing and bulldozer force but he’s incredibly versatile....
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Avery R. Young & De Deacon Board inject blues, funk, and gospel with a...
Avery R. Young & De Deacon Board are in the business of saving souls. Through what he calls “sousefunk”—an intersection of blues, funk, and gospel—Young taps into the raw emotions of a pastor...
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Last Men in Aleppo takes moviegoers into the heart of the Syrian civil war
Director Feras Fayyad rides with the White Helmets, the heroic volunteers of the conflict. Millions of people worldwide saw the June 2014 video, shot during Russian air strikes against the city of...
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Matt Eversman is back in the game at Ella Elli
The former Saigon Sisters chef stands out amid the Four Star Restaurant Group empire. My accomplice and I huddled at our table outside the restaurant, shivering as waitstaff struggled to light the...
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Okja is a big-screen fantasy you won’t see on the big screen
Bong Joon-ho, creator of The Host and Snowpiercer, bypasses theatrical exhibition for Netflix. At this point there are no Chicago screenings scheduled for Okja, the eccentric children's fantasy from...
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The Spice Room is the Indian restaurant every neighborhood deserves
Logan Square’s pan-subcontinental storefront excels with the familiar. Did you know that you can patent a recipe in India? Me neither.…
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DJ Shadow still makes magic out of the record-store dollar bin
DJ Shadow wasn’t the first to repurpose sampled records into wholly original music, or even the first to do it artfully—there were Double Dee and Steinski, the Dust Brothers, and Negativland, not to...
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Cartoon supergroup Gorillaz roll through Chicago with their overstuffed...
Since breaking out in the 90s as front man of Brit-pop powerhouse Blur, Damon Albarn has turned into the rare rock star who’s unable to make a bad record—but that doesn’t mean everything he’s done has...
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Drug Honkey continue to develop their progressive side on the recent Cloak of...
This local “psychedoomic” outfit share spiritual space with some fellow travelers, but really they’re in a league of their own. Heavy as fuck and blending their plunging, slow doom riffs with an...
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Chicago rap hero Bump J makes his grand return at WGCI’s Summer Jam
In the 2000s, Chicago hip-hop broke out via Kanye West, Rhymefest, Lupe Fiasco, and the Cool Kids, but no other local rapper was as emblematic of the city during that era as Terrance Boykin, better...
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K-pop sensations Monsta X set their sights on the West
In March 2015, South Korean clothing company Litmus announced an endorsement deal with Monsta X, a K-pop group that had been a unit for a handful of months and had only a couple singles to their name....
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Austin punks A Giant Dog keep adding to their tradition of no-frills greatness
Austin’s A Giant Dog are the type of band that shouldn’t stand out as much as they do. The five-piece, whose lineup at one point featured Texas garage-rock wunderkind Orville Neeley (OBN IIIs, Bad...
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