More than a decade after it broke out commercially, drill music has arguably become Chicagos biggest cultural export. This hip-hop subgenre burst into the mainstream in the early 2010s thanks to the likes of Chief Keef, King Louie, and Lil Durk, and its now influencing the sound of music as far afield as New York, […] The post Goalden Chyld transforms ...

When it comes to portrayals, on the big screen or the stage, of the Latino migrant experience, most stories focus on the journey, on the actual border experience and the abuses many migrants face or on multigenerational stories that begin inevitably at the border and end with the familys eventual assimilation to this country.  So […] The post An Educated ...

As the pandemic first sank its talons into the service industryclosing hotels, restaurants, grocers, and retail storesservice were lauded as essential workers. Since then, theyve been unionizing their workplaces at a speed the U.S. hasnt seen in more than half a century. Between March 2022 and April 2024, about 290 workers at nine Chicago hotels, […] The ...

Cult Show is a play about the human need to socialize and the cult of the Neo-Futurists. In it, ensemble members Alex Hovi, DeVaughn Loman, Joanna Jamerson, and Lara Johnson and writers/directors Jasmine Henri Jordan and Audrey Polinski greet audiences in ragtag outfits of red, blue, and yellow. Their getups and demeanors border on clownish […] The post ...

Inspired by her family and the get-togethers, birthday parties, and other celebrations they held throughout her childhood, south-side rapper J Bambii began curating fun, healing spaces for her community a decade ago. One of her recurring events is the FiFi, a party she started in spring 2022. Bambii says its grown to attract more than […] The post J ...

The Reader is pleased to announce that two of our stories from 2023 won at the Peter Lisagor Awards, which recognize some of the best in journalism from Illinois and northwest Indiana. The awards are organized by Chicago Headline Club, the official Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Best food or restaurant coverage […] The post ...

When Pitchfork broke the news last Wednesday morning that Steve Albini had died, it hit the Chicago scene like a thunderclap. Both as a recording engineer and as a musician, Albini had seemed like a permanent fixture, too thoroughly woven into the fabric of underground rock to leave it. At least when death came for […] The post Remembering Steve Albini ...

Last fall, when Jon-Carlo Manzo launched Fire Talks Chicago-centric sublabel, Angel Tapes, I knew to keep an eye on it. Fire Talk had already done exceptional work releasing music by local indie rockers, and Manzo has great taste. Angel Tapes third release is the new Universal Miracle Worker, the debut EP by local duo Feller, […] The post Chicago rock duo ...

Chicago metal quartet Selenoplexia attracted some attention with their strong 2022 debut EP, Agony, and last fall they released their first full-length, Exalt and Despair. The bands name refers to what were believed, prior to the 20th century, to be the sometimes fatal physical and mental health conditions caused by the rays of the moon. […] The post ...

Ride made an indelible impact on shoegaze and indie rock. The UK four-pieces first two albums, 1990s Nowhere and 1992s Going Blank Again, are widely considered genre landmarks. Though Ride split up just before releasing their fourth full-length, Tarantula, in 1996, the original lineup reunited nearly two decades later. And theyve stayed reunited: this ...

If youve seen television commercials from the 1980s, youve probably heard Suzanne Ciani, even if you dont realize it. Do you remember the sound of a Coke can being popped and poured? The space-age shimmers that accompanied the on-screen appearances of logos for the likes of AT&T and ABC? The robotic chirp of a GE […] The post Electronic-music pioneer ...

The Secret Sisters released Mind, Man, Medicine in March, and it already feels like one of the best Americana albums of 2024. The record represents a homecoming, musically and literallythe duo recorded it at the legendary FAME Studios in their hometown of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Since the early 60s, FAME has served as a forge […] The post The Secret ...

Sonja arent a traditional supergroupthe members of this Philadelphia trio have all collaborated with one another elsewhere, most notably in beastly Philly black-metal band Woe. But these folks also have heavy pedigrees outside their shared past, spending time individually in metal outfits Tombs, Infernal Stronghold, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, and Crosspitter. ...

According to the 2020 census, the suburban village of Glenview has a population of around 49,000 people, and just 1.4 percent of them are Black. That helps explain the isolation, frustration, and sadness Chicago rapper KingTrey felt navigating that town as a teenageran experience he makes the focus of Black Kid / In Glenview, a […] The post Chicago rapper ...

The four Chicagoans who recently formed slacker-rock group Sprite have a surplus of indie cred, but none of their previous bands has balanced heavy and heavenly as well as Sprite do on Decembers self-released, self-titled album. Separately, the members of Sprite traffic in related but distinct styles. Guitarist Donny Walsh has played in nervy postpunk […] ...

Cellist Tomeka Reid and her powerhouse quartetguitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwararecently celebrated their tenth anniversary of performing together. But you could be forgiven if you thought theyd already had a decade together when they released their self-titled debut in 2015the album is a marvel of uncanny ...

Ive loved seeing kindly troubadour Bill MacKay get more of the spotlight. Once Chicago’s best-kept guitar secret, he now seems to be growing his fan base even faster than his discography, which already included solo works and collaborations with experimental musicians such as Ryley Walker, Nathan Bowles, Katinka Kleijn, and Cooper Crain (Bitchin Bajas, ...

Mike Reed owns Constellation and the Hungry Brain, coprograms the Chicago Jazz Festival, and directs the Pitchfork Music Festival; he knows how to throw a shebang. But the five-night celebration that hes planned to observe his 50th birthday keeps the focus on his creative side. Reed is also a drummer, composer, improviser, and bandleader whose […] The ...