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Be patient and The Scientific Method will yield results
The Rivendell world premiere is a thrilling, harrowing ride. You'll need patience to make it through the first hour or so of Jenny Connell Davis's brand-new and ultimately satisfying 90-minute play,...
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Lucky Plush’s Better Half explores the mirage of matrimony
The Freudian slips stay in the open. Love may be a mirage—the self no better—and what is life but a walking shadow, etc? That seems to be the thesis of The Better Half, cocreated by Julia Rhoads and...
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Chicago postrock artisans Monobody celebrate their wild second album, Raytracing
For the Tomorrow Never Knows festival in 2017, the Audioleaf talent-buying team for Lincoln Hall and Schubas booked Monobody to open for Tortoise. The move was a tacit endorsement of the position of...
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On their new split with Lifestyles, Meat Wave deliver more greatness
Everyone loves Meat Wave, and for good reason. The local trio have been hammering out some of the best punk rock that’s currently being made, and each of their three records has been better than its...
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After eight years away, a wiser—but still volatile—Daughters return with...
During their mid-2000s heyday, Providence foursome Daughters fed off their own recklessness to the point that it became an inextricable part of their identity. Excellent example: I caught them on tour...
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The weirdness of R&B icon Swamp Dogg still shines bright—even with Auto-Tune
Jerry Williams (formerly known as Little Jerry Williams) has been knocking out bizarre R&B records for 48 years under the name Swamp Dogg. Since his 1970 debut on Canyon, Total Destruction to Your...
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Freddie Gibbs returns to form with two new full-lengths
After his 2007 development deal with Interscope dried up, Gary rapper Freddie Gibbs gathered the pieces of his career and built a new one. His trek since then has been unconventional; for nearly a...
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Following the death of a cofounder, Savannah metal band Black Tusk emerge...
Savannah-based swamp-metal band Black Tusk took a terrible hit in 2014, when their bassist and cofounder, Jonathan Athon, passed away following a motorcycle crash. Prior to the accident, the trio had...
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Rapper Chicks MC and singer Angel Davanport returns with a fiery EP, Sore but...
In the middle of P.O.S.’s “Gravedigger,” which is tucked into the back of his 2017 album Chill, Dummy, the track opens up to make way for a ballast verse from Angel Davanport. Credited as Angelenah,...
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Maryn Jones gets personal with her stripped-down solo project Yowler
It’s a hallmark of excellent songwriting when a tune delivered in a stripped-down format on acoustic guitar and vocals is every bit as alluring as if it were performed by a full band. Maryn Jones,...
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Indie rappers P.O.S and Astronautalis make grime-and-groove bangers as Four...
Astronautalis (Andy Bothwell) and P.O.S (Stefon Alexander) are both esteemed rapper-producers in the indie hip-hop underground. In 2013 they debuted their collaborative project Four Fists, releasing a...
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Drug Church and Gouge Away prove hardcore’s greatest asset is its malleability
Hardcore has always had a tenuous relationship with the mainstream. In the 90s, a number of hardcore bands signed to major labels seemed to be at the brink of crossing over to wider audiences, but the...
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Axis: Sova find solid rock footing within hazy psych on the new Shampoo You
Over the back catalog of Axis: Sova—which includes four full-lengths, a handful of singles, and one tape-only release—the local trio unfold a shocking persistence of vision. On their upcoming...
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In Neverland, Prop Thtr finds the poignancy in J.M. Barrie's chestnut
The new take gives a well-worn story a modern sense of urgency. I have to admit that I was dreading having to sit through another version of Peter Pan. J.M. Barrie's chestnut about the boy who refused...
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The Time Is Now! celebrates the black artists of the south side who used...
The Smart Museum exhibit and companion book provide a valuable historical record of Chicago art between 1960 and 1980. The Time is Now!" is the title of both a big, beautiful exhibit on view at the...
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New-music cellist Judith Hamann shakes up the repertoire
Shaking can be an involuntary reaction to a unidirectional relationship between two people; you scare me, I shake. Likewise, Australian cellist Judith Hamann’s Shaking Studies is intentional,...
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Chicago label Futurehood showcases where queer artists can take hip-hop
In 2011, Erik Wallace (aka rapper Mister Wallace) and Anthony Pabey (aka producer Aceb00mbap) met at the Boystown cocktail lounge Wang’s; four years later they launched Futurehood, a label that...
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Sir Charles Jones revitalizes the classic soul ballad for today’s world
Vocalist Sir Charles Jones is one of the leading lights in contemporary southern soul-blues. He comports himself well in the dance-floor workouts and celebrations of down-home cultural identity that...
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R&B star 6LACK is true to his groove
Some musicians are intrigued by the charms of eclecticism, but when it comes to the sound of his music, Atlanta R&B singer 6LACK (pronounced "black") never wavers from his focus. If you've heard...
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Brandon Williams molds 90s radio sounds into new punk with Chastity
Chastity main man Brandon Williams grew up in the Toronto suburb of Whitby, roughly 30 minutes away from the big city. There his youth was dominated by church services until he became enamored with...
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