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Ben Pirani returns to Chicago to share his new real-deal soul album
Former Chicago man-about-town Ben Pirani has played a lot of musical roles over the past couple of decades: jamming with a bunch of psych bands, including Civilized Age; drumming in maniacal grindcore...
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With X100PRE, Bad Bunny shows he’s a singular force
As the face of Latin trap, Bad Bunny needs no introduction. More importantly, he needs no definitions: The Puerto Rico native born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has become a international superstar...
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Little Big have more fun than anyone toying with rave's cliches
Little Big have all the nuance of a Las Vegas motel sign, but that’s the point. They’re a Russian rave band that’s employed jackhammer drum patterns, earthquake-inducing bass drops, and synths that...
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Baroness look back on their first decade together with Gold & Grey
The Savannah-based sludge/alternative-metal quartet Baroness has spent a long time nursing their fifth full-length, the forthcoming Gold & Grey, which is their first with new guitarist Gina...
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UK rock icons Mott the Hoople come to Chicago on their first tour since 1974
A decade ago, I desperately tried to find a way to the UK after I heard that legendary band Mott the Hoople was re-forming for a show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Though five original members were...
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Prateek Kuhad, King of Twee
Even compared to twee icons such as Belle and Sebastian or Camera Obscura, Indian singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad is very twee. His vocals are light, high, and breathy.…
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Wake Expands The Boundaries of Grind on Misery Rites
Misery Rites, the newest album from Canadian grindsters Wake, opens with a slow dirge that’s anchored by melancholic howls and oceanic riffs. It’s a fitting introduction to an album on which the band...
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On his new Fountain Fire, guitarist Bill MacKay follows his own wandering...
Like many avant-garde-leaning guitarists, Bill MacKay exudes the spirit of a wandering player walking the earth, at peace with pulling up a rickety stool and shuffling through a dusty acoustic jam...
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Miami's City Girls are gloriously raunchy
Much of the of the world’s introduction to City Girls was through last summer’s inescapable smash-hit from Drake, “In My Feelings.” The Miami-based hip-hop duo of Yung Miami and JT rapped the...
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Guitarist Shane Parish may be self-taught, but he’s no amateur
Shane Parish’s guitar playing in the eclectic, energetic rock duo Ahleuchatistas encompasses rapid neck tapping, convoluted chord sequences, and intricate rhythmic shifts. He and fellow guitarist...
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Blueface used his phone to gain fame, and now he holds the rap world in the...
I can’t blame anyone for holding off on listening to the music of LA rapper Johnathan Porter, better known as Blueface, whose rapid ascent has girdled his image with "industry plant" insults, and...
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Hardcore band Candy are hard to pinpoint, and that’s just fine
Candy formed in 2016, and given their relatively quick ascent among the ranks of hardcore bands, it’d be easy to use the cliché that they came out of nowhere. But in reality, Candy came from everywhere.…
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American Football make amends with the past on their new self-titled album
Twenty years ago Illinois emo trio American Football released their self-titled debut to little interest or acclaim, but in the time since the wistful, gentle record has become a totem that’s eclipsed...
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Bungalow at Middle Brow is a house of wild ferment
Sourdough pizza, country bread, and weird beer in the new Logan Square home of this once-itinerant brewery I felt sad about the crusts. Four of us ordered three pizzas at Bungalow, the brewpub...
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As Hand Habits, Meg Duffy searches for clarity with Placeholder
Singer-songwriter Meg Duffy started the intimate Hand Habits project in their native upstate New York in the early 2010s, but largely put the project on pause after moving to Los Angeles and linking...
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Avey Tare blends nostalgia and the wisdom of age on Cows on Hourglass Pond
Visual art and multimedia forays, including album covers, music videos, merch designs, stage production, and more, are a big part of Animal Collective’s distinct flavor, so it makes sense that for his...
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Low-key prog hero Adrian Belew performs hits from his massive catalog
When it comes to conversations about the best guitar players of all time, rock fans typically list names like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix long before the thought of little old Adrian Belew crosses...
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The Goddamn Gallows blur roots, punk, cabaret, and metal into infectious good...
Born in Michigan and raised on the road, the Goddamn Gallows had a four-year gap between The Maker and last year’s The Trial. Their somewhat nomadic existence of the raw and boisterous band might...
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Bronx rapper Kemba won't be boxed in
Bronx rapper Kemba opened his self-released 2016 album Negus with a plea: “Don't call it political / Please don't deem this lyrical / These are negro spirituals.” Kemba, who’d previously recorded and...
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Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason serves up the band’s deep cuts with Saucerful...
If you’re a fan of Pink Floyd’s most iconic albums, such as Animals and The Wall, you may have plunked down some cash to see Roger Waters in his solo show or caught David Gilmour the last time he was...
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