AltWeeklies Wire

Leaving Camp: Antony & the Johnsons 'The Crying Light'new

Antony Hegarty sings earnest torch songs for the natural world.
Chicago Reader  |  Noah Berlatsky  |  01-26-2009  |  Reviews

Pop White People Like: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'new

Precious anachronisms, whistling, the approval of both NPR and the Gray Lady — what’s not to like about Andrew Bird?
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  01-26-2009  |  Reviews

David Lineal Reaches Out to Illinois' Beleaguered Governor in Songnew

The frontman of the local pysch-pop band Bird Names recorded For the Love of Rod, a bizarre song cycle celebrating the governor, in 2005. He gave CD-Rs to a few friends, but the music never saw a proper release. Within hours of Blagojevich's arrest, though, he'd posted it as a free download on the Bird Names site.
Chicago Reader  |  Liam Warfield  |  12-22-2008  |  Music

Whither the Album?new

Chuck Klosterman says Chinese Democracy is the format's last hurrah. Kanye proves him wrong.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  12-08-2008  |  Music

MC Zulu's Space Dancehallnew

Zulu works on Planet Lazer Bass, but he lives right here in Chicago.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  11-24-2008  |  Profiles & Interviews

Pianist Michiel Braam Drafts Chicagoans into His Long-Running 'Anti-Orchestra'new

On Friday his long-running large group, Bik Bent Braam will play music from its gloriously rambunctious new album, Extremen, but with one big twist: Braam will fill out the roster of 13 musicians with ten local improvisers -- the first time he's ever performed the band's repertoire with anyone but the musicians for whom he wrote it.
Chicago Reader  |  Neil Tesser  |  11-10-2008  |  Profiles & Interviews

New Federal IP Act Will Criminalize Culturenew

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 promises to do for music what Homeland Security did for air travel.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  10-27-2008  |  Music

How the Web is Changing Black Youth Culture, and Vice Versanew

Wayne Marshall, a writer, DJ, ethnomusicologist, and probably the only person on staff at Brandeis University who's been written up by the Fader talks Web 2.0 and black youth culture.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  10-20-2008  |  Music

Catfish Haven Moves Past Indie Rock to 1978new

If their early material was like a sensitive country boy who'd moved to the city, Devastator is like that boy's older brother back home, with his Camaro parked proudly in front of his double-wide.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  10-14-2008  |  Reviews

Soul Train's Chicago Rootsnew

The show that put black music on TVs across America got its start in Chicago -- and even after it moved to LA, Chicago kept its own version running daily for nearly a decade.
Chicago Reader  |  Jake Austen  |  10-06-2008  |  Music

Scott and Cara Flaster Release Punishing Music in Beautiful Packagesnew

Seventh Rule has become some­thing of a sanctuary for Chicago bands whose music falls outside the sometimes rigid genre boundaries of main­stream metal, from Indian’s thunderous psychedelic doom to Plague Bringer’s industrial-tinged, drum machine-powered grind.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  10-06-2008  |  Music

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Synergizes Itselfnew

Marketing its music through its own label, the symphony adds value with a new kind of lecture series.
Chicago Reader  |  Deanna Isaacs  |  09-29-2008  |  Music

How Kid Rock's Rejection of iTunes Let Others Beat Him on the Charts with His Own Songnew

The Hit Masters' version of "All Summer Long" reached number five on the iTunes single-song sales chart. By the end of the week it had outstripped Kid Rock's version on Billboard's Hot 100, peaking at number 19 while the original was at number 25.
Chicago Reader  |  Miles Raymer  |  09-22-2008  |  Music

How Sonny Rollins Defeated Heroinnew

In his six-decade career, the legendary saxophonist has claimed many a triumph. But his greatest may have come in the 1950s, during a quiet period in Chicago.
Chicago Reader  |  Neil Tesser  |  09-02-2008  |  Music

Jazz Trumpeter Amir ElSaffar Builds a Bridge to Iraqnew

ElSaffar's suite Two Rivers forges a singular fusion of jazz and Iraqi classical music -- and reconciles his roots in the process.
Chicago Reader  |  Peter Margasak  |  08-11-2008  |  Profiles & Interviews

Narrow Search

Publication

Category

Narrow by Date

  • Last 7 Days
  • Last 30 Days
  • Select a Date Range