Wilco brings sonic violence and whispers to Millennium Park
There was violence in the music, at one point so sudden and sharp that it startled even some of the diehards, and a moment so quiet that Jeff Tweedy sang...
Home > Reviews
All Stories
Review: Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ worth the wait
Frank Ocean was long overdue for new music. The singer made one of the decade's signature albums four years ago, "Channel Orange," and ever since anticipation for a follow-up has...
Mekons give ‘live album’ cliche a twist with ‘Existentialism’
The title of "Existentialism" (Bloodshot), the Mekons' latest album (released in tandem with a limited-edition book and video), sounds like a ponderous textbook left over from their art school days....
Homme the latest experiment for 2 multifaceted musicians
A few weeks ago at the Pitchfork Music Festival, the Chicago experimental-rock duo of Homme — Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham — tried its boldest experiment yet. It was Homme's...
Song doesn’t remain the same for Ryley Walker on ‘Golden Sings That Have Been Sung’
Singer-guitarist Ryley Walker's music suggests one long free-flowing song. The playing sounds improvised within a loose structure, the singing is more like a waking dream, the words and notes made...
First Reggae Fest spans eras, generations
Even in a city glutted with music festivals, at least one genre remained under-represented. But this year, a group of local promoters did something about it. Reggae Fest, which debuts...
case/lang/veirs find power of 3 at Chicago Theatre
"You can't control these women," k.d. lang said fondly of her bandmates, Neko Case and Laura Veirs. The newly christened beat combo, case/lang/veirs, was a force to be reckoned with...
Lydia Loveless unleashes brutal honesty on ‘Real’
Lydia Loveless has a way of cutting out all the euphemisms and coping mechanisms that humans routinely use to get through a crisis. "But if self-control is what you want,"...
case/lang/veirs a tale of ‘3 alphas’ and 1 stellar album
Though she's had a long and productive career as a respected singer-songwriter, Laura Veirs said she sometimes felt out of her league when working on a trio album with k.d....
Lolla’s 4-day marathon: At 25, a festival defined, for better or worse, by the youth brigade
What if they held a festival and everyone came? Lollapalooza, which concluded Sunday, expanded to four days at Grant Park for the first time to celebrate its 25th anniversary and...