Bernardo Medina's mother chased him into art with a foam rubber flip-flop. "Latina mothers call it a chancleta," says Medina, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based pop artist and publicist. "It is t…
Most rappers can only dream of making a song as powerful as PGF Nuk's breakout single, "Waddup." Superficially it sounds like a pretty standard drill track"terse verses in a wrought-iron flo…
The post An excerpt from "Southside" appeared first on Chicago Reader.
The title track of Sumac's latest album, 2020's May You Be Held (Thrill Jockey), is a tough-love affirmation built for trying times, when soothing sounds just don't cut it anymore and you ne…
An interview with a trio of teenage boys who shared a passion for Godzilla and for calling each other "brother," though it had only been an hour since they'd met. The post The three Ryans ap…
I wouldn't remember this incident except for that it's on film, one that my brothers have watched repeatedly, the punch growing stronger, more violent in their mind. The post A note on this …
On the reptilian superstar, family, and other monsters The post Swimming in the atomic waters of the largest Godzilla convention on earth appeared first on Chicago Reader.
For over twenty years, my centrist friends have been giving me grief for presidential losses the Democrats have suffered. For example . . . Gore's defeat in 2000, allegedly caused by lefties…
On the evening of Thursday, June 30, dozens of young Black dancers gathered on the Chicago Riverwalk across from the Merchandise Mart. At 9 PM that night, Art on the Mart, which bills itself…
Journalist, playwright, screenwriter, theater critic, arts editor, and novelist Adam Langer was born in Chicago, grew up in West Rogers Park, went to school in Evanston, and spent the early …
I'm not promising anything, but there might be a shrimp chip-eating contest at the Kedzie Inn this Monday. That's what frequently happens on Tujuhbelasan, aka Indonesian Independence Day, th…
Chicago musician Mike Vinopal is the bandleader, songwriter, and guitarist of upbeat funk ensemble Local Motive, the lead guitarist of moody rock band Badcandy, and a pet dad. A former speci…
When Anne Ford interviewed Adam Selzer for the Reader in 2014, it was all about his job as a ghost tour leader. You didn't have to read between the lines to sense that it wasn't the perfect …
LatiNxt is the kind of festival I enjoy the most. This free, two-day fest on Navy Pier is geared toward the pulse of the current scene and allows concertgoers to make new musical discoveries…
Singer and guitarist Fernando de Buen López moved to Chicago from Mexico City in 2012 with his band El Mañana, who released one more album of jangly, psychedelic indie rock in 2014 bef…
Chicago guitarist and vocalist Melody Angel combines fiery celebrations of life with equally fearless and uncompromising demands for social justice. Her style of blues-rock mixes genres and …
Jessica Risker is an experimental singer-songwriter and a licensed clinical counselor. After the COVID-19 pandemic sent Chicago into lockdown in March 2020, Risker merged those pursuits for …
A couple weeks before Lifeguard played Horsegirl's record-release show at Thalia Hall in June, I ran into drummer Isaac Lowenstein and bassist Asher Case while walking through the Logan Squa…
Chicago Community Jail Support, the volunteer mutual aid network that supports people recently released from Cook County Jail, hosts two teach-ins and volunteer training sessions on Zoom thi…
It's unlikely that someone's going to see The Reef: Stalked and go out and murder a bunch of sharks. But the fact that we tend to see nature as victimizing us rather than the other way aroun…
In 2018, Back Alley Jazz, an offshoot of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, thrummed the heartstrings of nostalgic south-siders when it resuscitated the popular neighborhood-alley jams that took p…
As the world literally burns, it's a comfort to see performers we hold dear come back through town to offer musical relief. Singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler debuted in 2004 with the album Ba…
Join local musicians Makaya McCraven and Sons of Kemet for an outdoor show to celebrate the inaugural evening of the Salt Shed (1357 N. Elston), Chicago's newest independent music venue, whi…
He engages in rough sex knowing it's sometimes painful. The post Pretty Boy is the finest thing, but maybe he should be set on fire appeared first on Chicago Reader.
Have you scheduled your monkeypox (MPV) vaccine yet? While the virus is spreading rapidly among people who have sex with MSM (men who have sex with men), anyone can catch it. Intimate skin-t…