Chicago dance-music veteran Ron Trent creates deep house that can keep a dance floor jumping for hours while simultaneously maintaining an intoxicating tranquility. Since the early 90s, Tren…
Between Drake's sleepy Honestly, Nevermind and Beyoncé's "Break My Soul," a lot of people have something to say about house music lately. (And while I can't say I have thoroughly read every…
Chicago postpunks Ne-Hi split in May 2019, and since then guitarist-singer Mikey Wells has expanded his palette of delightful pop hooks in two standout projects: Spun Out, which is indie dan…
Photos by Dylan Barnedo Since its launch as a one-day festival in 2018, Lyrical Lemonade's Summer Smash has grown into a three-day extravaganza that can go toe-to-toe with nationally recogni…
In 2015, when Chicago R&B wunderkind Ravyn Lenae was just 16, she self-released a sophisticated, vigorous EP called Moon Shoes, singing about romance and longing with the grace and lucid…
Gossip Wolf has long admired local country-music craftsman Dan Whitaker, whose considerable discography includes folk-tinged solo work and recordings with his combo the Shinebenders that com…
Jeremey Johnson has chronicled nearly two years of pretrial house arrest. The post 22 months appeared first on Chicago Reader.
Queer garage-pop band Bev Rage & the Drinks have become one of the city's most entertaining acts since coming together in 2015. Mixing hilariously forthright lyrics, spitfire riffs, a…
In the 2010s, Rory Allen Phillip Ferreira became a national force in underground hip-hop rapping as Milo. He retired that name in 2018 and now performs as R.A.P. Ferreira, but the whimsical,…
Guitarist and drummer Weasel Walter, the "brutal prog" purveyor best known as longtime leader of the Flying Luttenbachers, left Chicago in 2003 for San Francisco and later moved to New York"…
Chicago trio Dehd sound like they're trying to levitate by fusing the ineffable but often incompatible powers of frigid postpunk and wispy indie rock. Dehd are dedicated minimalists: their l…
In the past year or so, whenever a friend has asked me to recommend music, I've pointed them at Chicago multi-instrumentalist Jonn Wallen, who creates omnidirectional experimental electronic…
In July 2019, Chicago indie-rock trio Horsegirl played the eighth annual Square Roots Festival. At the time, live shows were the only way to hear the group's taut but disarming dream pop, wi…
In October 1982, members of seven LGBTQ+ concert and marching bands from across the U.S. met in Chicago and formed the Lesbian and Gay Band Association. Though the LGBA changed its name to t…
Gossip Wolf always likes to hear about a new solo album from a member of Ensemble dal Niente"the long-running local contemporary-classical corps has built a spotless reputation for adventuro…
Chicago band Gentle Heat play no-nonsense indie rock that captures the allure of a towering blaze in the space of a single spark. On their new full-length, Sheer (Flesh & Bone), they pac…
Eli Schmitt, 20, moved to Chicago a couple years ago to attend DePaul, where he studies journalism and art history. In that time he's become a crucial connector in an emerging youth arts mov…
Local four-piece Mystery Actions remind Gossip Wolf of the cool, slightly intimidating kids from the Chicago street-punk scene in the late 80s and early 90s, when it centered on Clark and Be…
I heard a lot about the glory days of the Fireside Bowl even before I moved to Chicago, and I loved the way the venue brought together bands from disparate subscenes with almost every show. …
Matthew Rachman Gallery documents the architectural creations of Chicago's ultimate outsider artist. Last summer, Intuit began exhibiting nearly a dozen Wesley W…