Chicago Reader
305 articles
Best emerging antifolk artist with a song built around a buzzing alarm clock - Chicago Reader
Chicago-based artist described as an emerging antifolk performer who combines power-pop melodies wi…
Best place to try out your act with the most supportive audience - Chicago Reader
Stop Motion Plant has been operating as a performance space in Chicago since 2019, offering a suppo…
Best monthly party where you can smoke the whole garden, eat free food, and watch some of Chicago's best MCs - Chicago Reader
Rich Jones and ShowYouSuck have created a monthly party in Chicago that celebrates the independent …
Best sober-focused music series - Chicago Reader
Matt Ciarleglio advocates for sober-focused music series in Chicago, emphasizing that artists can r…
Best ambient techno microlabel specializing in small-run lathe-cut records - Chicago Reader
A Chicago-based microlabel has quickly established itself by releasing carefully curated ambient te…
Best choir for people looking to get back into music - Chicago Reader
A free, non-audition choir in Chicago welcomes people wanting to return to music. While choral expe…
Best improvising tubaist - Chicago Reader
A musician emphasizes the importance of curious creativity in contrast to everyday life's focus on …
Best new bookstore to score vintage books on hippies, drugs, promiscuity, and everything else good and evil - Chicago Reader
Perpetual Books is a new Chicago bookstore specializing in vintage and counterculture materials, in…
Memory Card releases an unforgettable album of patchwork indie rock - Chicago Reader
Memory Card has released a new patchwork indie rock album that's being praised as unforgettable. Th…
Electronic composer Steve Hauschildt returns to his old stomping grounds to celebrate his latest album, Aeropsia - Chicago Reader
Electronic composer Steve Hauschildt is returning to Chicago to celebrate his latest album, Aeropsi…
Shabaka embraces a world of musical tradition through spiritual jazz - Chicago Reader
Shabaka Hutchings released his second solo album ‘Of the Earth’ on March 3rd, marking the debut rel…
Skaiwater exemplifies chameleonic contemporary pop rap - Chicago Reader
Skaiwater is an artist known for their versatile and ever-changing approach to music, refusing to b…
Chicago alt-country upstarts National Photo Committee come in Red Hot - Chicago Reader
National Photo Committee is a Chicago-based alt-country band that has been active since before the …
Laura Pleasants of Kylesa turns from psychedelic metal to gothy postpunk in the Discussion - Chicago Reader
Laura Pleasants, guitarist and vocalist from psychedelic metal band Kylesa, has launched a solo pro…
Peaches wants to liberate everybody with No Lube So Rude - Chicago Reader
Peaches, known for her 2000 breakout album The Teaches of Peaches, continues her advocacy for femin…
Kaicrewsade has grown into one of Chicago’s best young rappers - Chicago Reader
Kaicrewsade has emerged as one of Chicago's most promising young rappers through his recent release…
Miersten Wolf explores memory, dreams, and Chicago's water management history - Chicago Reader
Steven Mosqueda creates a musical production for Drinking & Writing Theater that combines his f…
Kelly Deasy, cofounder of booking agency Outer/Most - Chicago Reader
Kelly Deasy, cofounder of booking agency Outer/Most, discusses her passion for live music and how w…
Digital hardcore artist Dicqbeats declares war on normal with Dicqbroke - Chicago Reader
Digital hardcore artist Dicqbeats released Dicqbroke last year, an album that begins with a retro s…
Phoenix teen shoegaze phenom Flyingfish kicks off a tour in Chicago - Chicago Reader
Sam Fishman, performing as Flyingfish, is a Phoenix teen shoegaze artist who has evolved his altern…
The Chicago Psych Fest convenes an assortment of music for the heads - Chicago Reader
Steve Krakow, a visual artist, multi-instrumentalist, and Chicago Reader contributor, has transitio…
Chicago dream-pop group Snowcuffs celebrate their second EP at Beat Kitchen - Chicago Reader
Chicago-based dream-pop band Snowcuffs, a five-piece group, are celebrating the release of their se…