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On Dead Planet Hollow Earth travel deeper into the cold reaches of space
Detroit quintet Hollow Earth started their half-life as a metal-inflected hardcore band—or perhaps it was a hardcore-inflected metal band—and with each release they’ve grown in complexity and...
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Young Chicago jazz trio Four Letter Words blend melancholia and turbulence
Last fall I wrote about the vitality of Chicago’s jazz and improvised music scene after discovering the playing of pianist Matt Piet, who’s part of a new wave of players melding the rigor of free...
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Both revered and condemned for his brazen humor, Bishop Bullwinkle is a...
Bishop Bullwinkle’s profanity-laced takedowns of roguish churchmen and their hypocritical flocks on “Hell 2 Da Naw Naw” and “Some Preachers [Ain’t Shit]” have made him a cult, meme-ready YouTube...
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Malian kora player Ballake Sissoko and French cellist Vincent Segal bridge...
As heard on the stunning 2013 solo album At Peace (Six Degrees), the playing of Malian kora virtuoso Ballake Sissoko is rooted in traditional Mande modes, but over his career he’s distinguished...
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Is neuroscience a defense for criminal behavior?
In his new book, local author Kevin Davis probes the role of brain science in the courtroom. A father and husband strangles his wife and drops her out of a window in a staged suicide. Most people...
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Spektral Quartet give the local premiere of Morton Feldman’s String Quartet...
Last year I produced a concert in which fantastic Denver pianist R. Andrew Lee performed November, a masterpiece of minimalist solo piano composed by Dennis Johnson. What made it such an event was...
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Chicago rock trio Dehd tap into atmospheric postpunk for their Infinity Cat...
In 2014 beloved Nashville garage label Infinity Cat launched a cassette series that has since gone on to release tapes by a fascinating array of underground rock purveyors, including art-rock freaks...
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Nikki Lane and Brent Cobb offer alternative visions of Nashville
For her recently released third album, Highway Queen (New West), Nashville singer Nikki Lane reveals a new level of self-awareness, on the title track counting the miles she’s logged on the road while...
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R&B singer-songwriter Ro James brings his liquid flow to the fore on Eldorado
Before releasing his 2016 debut studio album, Eldorado (ByStorm Entertainment/RCA), singer-songwriter Ronnie James linked up with a musician he met through MySpace to cowrite one of the best R&B...
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Slothrust’s Everyone Else is a fuzzed-out slab of classic and alternative rock
Slothrust would be a great doomy sludge-metal band name: with each utterance of it you can practically hear slow-grinding feedback and monster power chords being crushed beneath toppling rhythms. That...
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Punch Brothers banjo stalwart Noam Pilkeny goes it alone on Universal Favorite
As a member of virtuosic progressive bluegrass outfit the Punch Brothers, banjo whiz Noam Pikelny long ago established his technical chops, fitting superbly into the band’s ambitious arrangements and...
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Castle tap into the occult-rock vibe made famous by Black Sabbath
I’ve always loved these heavy riffers. What began as the duo of Mat Davis and Elizabeth Blackwell has expanded to include drummer Al McCartney, and as a trio Castle continue to possess an eerie and...
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For Postcards, folk-pop singer Pieta Brown fleshed out her rustic sketches...
For her atmospheric new album Postcards (Lustre) folk-pop singer Pieta Brown enlisted a wide variety of colleagues to help flesh out arrangements. She didn’t convene the disparate crew in a single...
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Saxophonist Miguel Zenon revels in the power of his long-running quintet on...
Saxophonist Miguel Zenon opens his new quartet album Típico (Miel Music) with the hyperactive original “Academia,” which was inspired by his experiences teaching jazz at the New England Conservatory....
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Carpenter Brut blends a funky, sexy vibe with the sounds of its maker
Mysterious French electronic artist Franck Hueso writes and records under the moniker Carpenter Brut, a pretty blatant homage to the visionary who serves as his musical inspiration. Carpenter Brut’s...
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Underground disco legend Nicky Siano DJs aboveground Disco nightclub
David Mancuso’s the Loft, an invite-only event hosted at various spaces throughout downtown Manhattan, was the supreme underground-dance party in New York City during the early 1970s, and Nicky Siano...
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Volvox’s Berlin-style barrage isn’t devoid of spirituality
Thus far Discwoman’s Volvox has stuck to DJing, with none of the same production releases that fellow collective members Umfang or DJ Haram have used to make their names. Still, she’s built an...
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Milwaukee hardcore champs Expire play Chicago for the final time
Milwaukee’s best breakdown-hardcore band Expire were up-front about their intent to pretty much call it a circle pit following, first, the release of last September’s With Regret (Bridge Nine) and,...
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What does it mean to be midwestern?
Belt Publishing releases two new books that examine the language of the middle of the country. The rust belt is getting more attention than it's had in a long time. Since November an entire subgenre...
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Only sex can save Boystown
Sociologist Jason Orne surveys the north-side neighborhood in his new book. Nowadays, it's strange to remember that it wasn't that long ago when gay men who wanted to be out and proud—who wanted to...
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