Zoran Orlic The Autumn Defense (John Stirratt and Pat Sansone) I’ve always been a fan of the elegant, meticulous retro-pop of the Autumn Defense, the long-running project of Pat Sansone and John Stirratt—better known to most folks as members of Wilco. The pair craft guitar pop with clear antecedents—the Beatles, Big Star, the Zombies, Raspberries, and the Beach Boys, among others—marked by a predilection for the soothing sounds of 70s soft rock....
Ryley WalkerFriday, 3:30 PM, Blue Stage Jimmy WhispersSaturday, 1 PM, Green Stage Bitchin Bajas (the trio of Cooper Crain from Cave, Rob Frye, and Dan Quinlivan) have developed and finessed their sound in the past couple years, transforming themselves from hypnotic Krautrockers into kosmische wizards with a collective Terry Riley obsession. On their recent EP, Transporteur (Hands in the Dark), synth arpeggios cycle feverishly, their microscopic mutations changing the shape of each piece subtly but decisively, while Frye blows weightless, spell-casting flute lines....
It would be pretty easy to keep griping about this past winter—you know, the coldest four-month period on record in these parts. And now that it’s summer, who doesn’t want to kick back and put in minimal effort? So guess what? Winter sucked. It sucked hard. The long underwear, the salt stains, the heating bills, the agoraphobia, the snow, the sleet, the sludge. At a certain rock-bottom point even the best of us would’ve traded his or her firstborn for a weekend of lounging in a cramped, sun-beaten Chicago backyard, a cheap Mexican beer in hand and a toe dipped in a child-size inflatable pool....
A Good Family is Erik Fassnacht’s first novel, and like a lot of first novels, it brings to mind—my mind, anyway—Thomas Wolfe’s description in You Can’t Go Home Again of his protagonist George Webber’s own first novel: “in it he had packed everything he knew about his home town . . . and the people there.” A Good Family is packed with everything Fassnacht knows about Chicago and the people here, filtered through the perspectives of the four members of the Brunson family of Downers Grove....
Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Thursday, June 8, 2017. ACLU slams Emanuel’s new police reform monitor plan The American Civil Liberties Union has slammed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new plan to have an independent party monitor the Chicago Police Department rather than put it under a consent decree overseen by a federal judge, calling it a “non-starter” and “hostile to police reform,” according to the Sun-Times. The ACLU hasn’t yet decided whether it will sue over the matter, “but we are considering every option,” said ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka....
Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place. Older strips are archived here.
For more stuff to do this weekend—and every day—check out our Agenda page.
Jerry Yulsman Johnson and Kerouac, ca. 1957 I received one of my most important lessons about feminism when I was about 16 and attempted to read On the Road. I think I got as far as Montana, where Sal and Dean hitch a ride in the back of a pickup truck and gaze up at the stars. I liked that part, but shortly after, I fell asleep and didn’t bother picking it up again....
Joe Martinez Jr. Oozing Wound A new full-length from local thrash trio Oozing Wound is on its way in October—but if you’re like me and getting anxious to hear new material from the band, here’s a tune to hold you over. Today’s 12 O’Clock Track is “Drug Reference,” which was released in the Adult Club Singles series earlier this week. On their first LP, last year’s Retrash, Oozing Wound had it dialed in, playing no-frills thrash metal, but this time around they seem to be spacing out a bit, slamming away at repetitive, dizzying riffs and toying around with techy, proggy shredding....
Matthias Clamer W. Kamau Bell That one got your attention. Looking for something to do today? Agenda‘s got you covered. For more on these events and others, check out the Reader‘s daily Agenda page.
Mutilation Rites Looking for something to do today? Agenda‘s got you covered. For more on these events and others, check out the Reader‘s daily Agenda page.
There’s a moment in every American life when you decide, for nostalgia’s sake, to revisit some of the processed food you loved as a kid. And then you realize after the first couple of bites that it’s . . . not that good. The lovely stuff of dreams has somehow become a chemical nightmare. Part of the fun of BraveTart, though, is all the research Parks has done on the origins of our most beloved national desserts....
Rhett Miller is still known best as front man for alt-country die-hards the Old 97’s, but for his latest solo album, The Traveler (ATO), he teamed up with Black Prairie—a sprawling Portland quintet that began as a Decemberists side project. Black Prairie started their career with a bluegrass vibe, but more recently they’ve gravitated toward their indie-rock roots. They’re an impressively versatile band, which makes them a good fit for Miller, who always seems to be looking for new settings for his wide-grin pop songs....
Chosen Few Picnic The annual two-day house-music party returns for the 27th year with performances from Steve “Silk” Hurley, Craig Loftus, and more, with sets by the Chosen Few DJs all weekend long, of course. 7/1-7/2, Jackson Park, 6300 S. Lake Shore, chosenfewdjs.com, $25-$135, $50-$160 for two-day pass. Firefly Ball Off the Street Club hosts this night of music, dancing, food, and drinks in the Art Institute’s Modern Wing to raise money so kids who live in violent areas of Chicago can go to summer camp....
In the public rumpus that preceded the opening of the Dawson, one image remains embedded in the collective memory of the city’s twitchy restaurant stalkers: a slab of nearly raw high-grade beef jacketed in a thick, batter-fried shell. The money that went into this project is hard to fathom, judging not just from the two-story, 400-seat refurbishment with upper and lower outdoor patios, but also from each and every little detail, like the animal-embossed vintage cocktail glassware and the disposable bar napkins and taco wrappers printed with the image of the Dawson’s mascot, a bident-wielding satyr....
Zombi 2, aka Zombie Tonight, the folks at Delilah’s are tuning up Lucio Fulci’s 1981 splatterfest The Beyond, one of the horror auteur’s best and nastiest films. Even within the horror niche, Fulci is something of a polarizing figure, a notorious gore hound who favored elaborate, violent, and otherwise inane set pieces over cogent storytelling and conventional narrative. Italian horror isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but those who can even halfway stomach the genre tend to stop with Mario Bava or Dario Argento, leaving Fulci for the fringe enthusiasts who revel in the director’s unique and decidedly bizarre fixation on blood, guts, and general mayhem....
Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck in I’m Still Here I’m looking forward to revisiting The Master this coming week in the Music Box Theatre’s latest 70-millimeter film series. I haven’t seen the movie since it was released to DVD—as I argued last year, The Master‘s thematic content is tied so closely to its extralarge format that I feel it wouldn’t be the same film outside of a theater. At the same time, it’s a movie I’ve wanted to watch alongside quite a few others, as The Master is such a towering work that it seems to draw other movies into its orbit....
The Amish Project The story behind Jessica Dickey’s somewhat fictionalized account (names changed, a few details altered) is horrific: a troubled middle-aged armed man invades a one-room Amish school with a vague plan to molest young girls and ends up shooting eight of them, killing five, before killing himself. But Dickey is after more than shock theater. Her solo show is a riveting meditation on evil, recovery, and the myriad paradoxes of the human psyche....
Technically speaking, no “Oktoberfest” beer brewed in the U.S. is actually Oktoberfest. According to European Union regulations, only six German breweries—all within Munich, the same ones that are allowed to serve beer at the annual Oktoberfest celebration—are allowed to make beer that carries the label. (That’s obviously never stopped U.S. brewers from calling their beers Oktoberfest, though.) According to the Oxford Companion to Beer, the Prince of Bavaria once tried to bring beer from a brewery he owned to the original Oktoberfest, and even he was denied access....
