four-tet-rounds-lp-cover

Ideas of Reference: Ten Years of Four Tet, Rounds

BY PETER LILLIS Ten years ago, Four Tet released Rounds, his third full-length, and his most focused work. Four Tet—UK’s Keiran Hebden—composed an affirming masterwork of mood, rhythm and repetition using only disparate, seemingly unrelated samples, culled from just about anywhere you can imagine, and beyond. Throughout Rounds, Hebden...
The Haxan Cloak's Excavation

Chewed Up and Spit Out: A Review of The Haxan Cloak’s Excavation

BY JORDAN MAINZER Death kindly stopped for Emily Dickinson, but hasn’t been so polite to The Haxan Cloak’s Bobby Krlic. Though in fairness, Krlic’s music doesn’t offer the kindest portrayal of Death. Within the first two minutes of The Haxan Cloak’s incredible new album Excavation, Krlic (who kind of looks like Sam Beam’s...
packshot

Young Bloods Find God: A Review of Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

BY KEITH MEATTO Vampires have surpassed their pop culture saturation point, thanks in part to the HBO series True Blood and the Twilight series of books and blockbuster movies. Literary types can enjoy Karen Russell’s latest short story collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove while couch potatoes can watch...
Kanye West

21st Century Schizoid Man: The Truth About Millennials and Online Dating

BY TIM MYERS One of the more exasperating trends in popular culture today is the sudden rise in derisive articles on the “Millennial Generation” (See the most recent Time cover story “The Me Me Me Generation” and the Business Insider rebuttals). They’re pompous, contrived, ill-informed, and littered with backhanded...
GOAT_US-Tour

Must Never Change: An Interview with GOAT

BY PETER LILLIS Korpilombolo, Sweden is a remote “locality” in northern Sweden. With approximately 530 residents, Korpilombolo recently gained notoriety for being home to the mysterious GOAT, a fast rising and fantastic psychedelic rock band with a penchant for tribal drums, blues-drone freakouts and voodoo-like masks. Wrapping up their...
BRINGBACKTHEDUDES8_zps88992bad

It’s Still Us Against Them: Titus Andronicus, The So So Glos, and Sharpless @ Metro Chicago

BY JORDAN MAINZER After touring the hell out of their three LPs, you’d think that Titus Andronicus would run out of live show surprises. Wrong. On May 4 at Metro Chicago, the everlasting “war” between New York and Chicago provided plenty of fodder for the Brooklyn (via Jersey) band...
NC-Splash_03

Uncover Band: A Review of NEXT Collective, Cover Art

BY DANIEL BEAUREGARD NEXT Collective is a New York-based group comprised of some of the most notable young names in jazz. Except for producer Chris Dunn, there isn’t a single musician credited on the album that was born before 1980. Despite their youth, each of these musicians has already...
Whisking up some aioli

Food is Just a Vehicle for Condiments

Condiments are truly the best. Maybe they all  don’t necessarily outshine the food they clothe, but they do possess the power to transform.  Sinus-scorching honey mustard turns a mediocre sandwich into an outrageous one; a zany marinade makes brisket wildly addictive; and a fresh summer tomato sauce turns boxed...
James Blake's sophomore effort, Overgrown

Digital Lion: The State of James Blake

BY JORDAN MAINZER It’s about 9:30 P.M. at Metro Chicago on May 4, 2013, and the crowd is stuck in some sort of limbo. Unsure whether to stand still and scratch their chins or dance, audience members look very awkward while a DJ plays minimally and lazily remixed versions...
Mikal Cronin

The Second Wave: An Interview with Mikal Cronin

BY JORDAN MAINZER He’s been starting over for a long time. He feels anew. So instead of baking a new cake, Mikal Cronin has proved that the cherry on top can make something special. In other words, tweaking and refining goes a long way. Lest we forget, tweaking and refining...
YPC_Animals_ST

Prog-Art: A Tribute to Storm Thorgerson

BY PETER LILLIS In the days after the loss of an icon, what progress can be made? The late Storm Thorgerson certainly has created many iconic works over the years, mostly in the form of artwork for several definitive psychedelic and progressive rock bands, including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin...
High-on-Fire_Dark-Lord-3-Floyds

Our Live Life, Vol. 4: April Concerts in Chicago

BY PETER LILLIS & JORDAN MAINZER Today, Peter and Jordan continue their monthly roundup of the shows they saw in the last month. As seen below, April includes two of their favorite sets of the year. These 16 additions put our collective concert tally at 47 for the year,...
◀ ▶