Autumn de Wilde Secret Sisters One of the most off-putting elements of what’s usually dubbed Americana music is the self-awareness of many artists plying their trade to one particular sound or another that ceased to have any contemporary resonance five, six, or seven decades ago. Embracing that sound often involves bald imitation if not a game of dress-up. On the surface Alabama’s Secret Sisters fit that description to a T: the cover of their new album, Put Your Needle Down (Republic), looks like a relic of the late 30s, with Laura and Lydia Rogers dressed like a couple of dust-bowl ingenues gate-crashing a funeral, in vintage black dresses, posing in front of an old buggy....

If you’ve ever doubted whether there are terrible people in the world, the following information may help you lay to rest those doubts. Last year, vandals smashed the fiberglass feline that sat atop the Acro-Cats’ “Catmobile,” the tour vehicle for the Chicago-based troupe of trained circus cats and its sister act, the Rock Cats, a cat band, replete with tiny instruments and a chicken that plays tambourine. The incident occurred while the kitty crew and its devoted trainer, Samantha Martin, were in Los Angeles for a performance....

It’s not very often that you see local dance ensembles share a bill with visiting companies, which is why I’m so intrigued by the debut program of the Auditorium Theatre’s “Made in Chicago” 312 Dance Series on November 16. I’m delighted to see the Auditorium offer its magnificent space to Chicago groups that probably wouldn’t be able to afford a venue of that caliber on their own. Prime downtown theater real estate should be used to spotlight what the city has to offer....

The Best of Times vs. The Worst of Times As you file in off Halsted, through the noisy main floor of the Haymarket Pub and Brewery, you see a quote by Brecht printed on the wall: “A theater without beer is just a museum.” This is the principle that governs the little performance space on the other side of the black felt curtain, home to Drinking and Writing Theater, which continues its “vs....

pain” by disrupting the streets full of buses, fans, and tourists. Meanwhile, officers on foot, horseback, and bicycles created a barricade on both sides of the Drive. Starting at 4:30 PM, with temperatures in the 80s, organizers mobilized marchers onto the roadway to formally express their demands that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Department superintendent Eddie Johnson resign. Gun Violence Protest March on Lake Shore Drive Police said there were no arrests made and no altercations reported....

In the run-up to Christmas, there’s a lot more to do than last-minute shopping. Here’s some of this week’s happenings we recommend: Tue 12/22: The International Flipper Pinball Association hosts the IFPA Pinball Tournament at Emporium Arcade Bar (1366 N. Milwaukee) with cash prizes for winners and a bag of tokens for everyone who enters. 7 PM

JJ Miramontes Tour de Fat 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.

Jillian Edelstein Moshin Hamid 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.

Todd Rosenberg Gerard McBurney You usually need a concert ticket to hear Chicago Symphony Orchestra artistic programming adviser Gerard McBurney talk about music, live and in person.

Between the 1960s and the mid-1980s photojournalist Dorrell Creightney made pictures of Chicago street scenes, products for ads, beautiful models, everyday people, and musicians including jazz legends John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie. He left behind between 300,000 and 500,000 images of his work. Even Creightney’s daughter Vanessa says, “He was kind of a recluse.” Among the stockpiles are photos of Aretha Franklin in concert in Stockholm and negatives of the English model Twiggy....

This spring Chicago is offering lots of great opportunities to see movies directed by women. The Gene Siskel Film Center is almost done with its series devoted to pioneering American filmmaker Lois Weber, and next month it’ll present a retrospective of films by Lina Wertmuller; Block Cinema wraps up a Chantal Akerman series this week with a screening of From the Other Side on Thursday and a symposium about the director’s work on Friday; Doc Films is in the middle of a series called “Women by Women: Portraits by Contemporary Directors,” which has included such great films as Vagabond, Madeinusa, and Wendy and Lucy; and at the Chicago Latino Film Festival (which started last weekend at the AMC River East), almost a quarter of the narrative features showing were directed or codirected by women....

Mark Steuer’s new German restaurant isn’t named for his teenage all-accordion Krautrock cover band—though I wouldn’t be surprised if he could pull something like that off. It is, however, a long-awaited return to the main stage by a chef who’s veered all over the culinary map since his first days in Chicago, handling the savory side of things at Hot Chocolate, and then moving on to the Gage. Since leaving behind the nominally “midwestern” Bedford and then the South Carolina low-country wingding at Carriage House, he hasn’t been idle....

In the liner notes for her dazzling new recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Hyperion), Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt details each of the 28 pieces with casual erudition, dispatching technical observations with an easy familiarity that bleeds into something more personal. She writes of how with every onset of the 22nd Variation she gets “a feeling of rebirth,” also explaining how much energy and focus variation 26 requires right after “emptying everything from inside yourself in Variation 25....

QMy boyfriend of two years can’t climax or maintain an erection unless his testicles are handled, squeezed, pulled, or pressed on (preferably with my stockinged foot or knee). Needless to say, intercourse does not work very well, and our sexual repertoire is rather limited, which is frustrating for both of us. His doctor says his ED is not physiological. I’ve read your advice on “death grip” masturbation and suspect it’s a variation of that....

Some musicians are intrigued by the charms of eclecticism, but when it comes to the sound of his music, Atlanta R&B singer 6lack (pronounced “black”) never wavers from his focus. If you’ve heard his 2016 hit Prblms, you know what to expect from this year’s East Atlanta Love Letter (LVRN Records): slow-to-midtempo grooves, minimal fuzzed-out beats with ambient synth chill, and laid-back vocals that shift between Auto-Tune whining and quasi hip-hop talk- singing....

Louis Fitch No-Tell Motel 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.

Street View is a fashion series in which Isa Giallorenzo spotlights some of the coolest styles seen in Chicago. Nakea West See more Street Style Summit shots in the Chicago Looks blog. Anthony Maslo, host Gaudy God, and Kokorokoko’s Sasha Hodges Alanna Zaritz of Drawn and Coutured and Gabor Jewelry designer Leah Ball Whitney Gruber of eDrop-Off Coyote De Groot of Labrabbit Optics

Street View is a fashion series in which Isa Giallorenzo spotlights some of the coolest styles seen in Chicago. @capn_crunk Ben Morino’s photo installation at Degenerate Art Gallery

Street View is a fashion series in which Isa Giallorenzo spotlights some of the coolest styles seen in Chicago.