Editor’s note: Coco Picard spoke with Selva Aparicio about the exhibition “In Memory Of,” on view at the DePaul Art Museum. Edited text from the comic is transcribed here to ease readability. Selva Aparicio’s solo show, “In Memory Of”  at the DePaul Art Museum from March 14-August 4, 2024, alters the museum’s architecture with labor-intensive signs of […] The post Selva Aparicio on ‘In Memory Of’ appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

To a large extent, classical music and popular music are separate traditions with distinct audiences. No one told folk guitarist Marisa Anderson and indie-rock drummer Jim White, though. Their second album together, the new Swallowtail (Thrill Jockey), is a mix of abstract exploration and gentle folk melody that thoughtfully wanders through a landscape that’s part […] The post Drummer Jim White and guitarist Marisa Anderson craft a weird, soothing hybrid appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

Folly Group’s “Paying the Price” is one of the best electronica-infused postpunk songs about shame, and it’s only a B side. The band’s singles—of which they’ve dropped plenty since debuting with “Fashionista” in 2021—land with the digital punch of Sonic the Hedgehog and the spooky polish of Joy Division. The London quartet are on their […] The post London’s Folly Group soothe anxieties with gorgeous postpunk and electronica appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

Pianist Erwin Helfer is a local hero who has made a global impact. The 88-year-old musician is resolute in his devotion to early blues, jazz, and ragtime piano, and he’s taught his emotional, succinct style to legions of students. This month, Helfer’s Highland Park–based label, the Sirens, hosts a celebration of his music and influence […] The post Chicago pianist Erwin Helfer is celebrated by musical friends and peers appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

Even if Japanese songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Eiko Ishibashi collaborated with Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi only once, I’d be grateful. When I saw Hamaguchi’s celebrated 2021 movie, Drive My Car, at the Siskel Film Center (it won an Oscar for Best International Feature Film a couple months later), Ishibashi’s pensive, understated score charmed me completely. […] The post Japanese multi-instrumentalist Eiko Ishibashi performs a live score for the Chicago debut of <i>Gift</i> appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

When the Reader checked in with local noisemaking polymath Seb Alvarez in 2022, he’d turned his creative focus away from his band Meth. and toward the beats-blasted experimental side project Virgin Mother. In that context, the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist made a weirdo junkyard-fi racket with members of rising Rockford screamo outfit Frail Body and many […] The post Experimental-minded locals Meth. find catharsis in bruising noise  appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

“The Lute is Eternal” proclaims the text that concludes the ten-minute video to Jozef van Wissem’s recent single, “The Call of the Deathbird.” The Dutch composer’s gruff vocals appear throughout the short film, shot in the vast Soviet mausoleum outside Warsaw, but his singing (and the relative angelic voice of Hillary Woods) directs the listener […] The post Lutenist Jozef van Wissem portrays forces of life and death on two new albums appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

Giggs’s self-released debut full-length, Walk in da Park, is a landmark album in UK hip-hop history, and almost 16 years after its release, the London rapper is making his first North American headlining tour. Giggs still has the coiled menace and cool-headed flow that made his breakout single, the 2007 freestyle “Talkin the Hardest,” a […] The post UK rap royal Giggs makes his first North American headlining tour appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

Countless Survivor contestants have turned to the camera during their confessionals to express the difficult and draining nature of the game—the physical and mental exhaustion, the lack of food, and the constant close proximity to others take an immense toll. Most cast members find this kind of precarity new and very destabilizing. But season 46 […] The post <i>Survivor</i> contestant Ben Katzman proves that shredding and DIY touring can prepare you for anything  appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more

I saw my first Barrie Cole play the night before the world turned upside down.  On September 10, 2001, I trotted over to Curious Theatre Branchʼs home in the now defunct Lunar Cabaret space on North Lincoln to see To Relax and Laugh in that year’s edition of the Rhino Fest. In Cole’s one-act play, […] The post Barrie Cole: Chicago’s short-order chef of language and empathy appeared first on Chicago Reader ..read more