So, between writing the intros of this and last week’s Curated Weekend, Brexit happened. I won’t pretend to be educated on all the details of referendum and the eventual consequences. But clearly many of those who voted and even some…
All photos by Julian Ramirez James McCartney has a lot riding on him. You would too if your dad was Paul McCartney. Where most would coast on their family legacy, I truly feel that McCartney eschews that simplicity in favor…
No use in hiding it folks, I’m not Zach. You’re stuck with me, Julian Ramirez. I’ll be taking over your Chicago Curated Weekend for a little while and hopefully continue filling your weekend with interesting musings and some of the…
It’s not a good year until the Graveface Roadshow rolls through town. Graveface Records, formally located in Chicago and now stationed in Savanah Ga., puts out the most eclectic and enjoyable music today. Curated by owner Ryan Graveface, the label…
Despite having been imbued with music his entire life, James McCartney didn’t start performing his own songs live until his thirties. He performed on albums by his parents Paul and Linda McCartney, but didn’t release his own material until 2010.…
Joan of Arc is one of those bands cemented into the history of Chicago’s music scene. Formed after the demise of Capn’ Jazz (another Chicago music staple), Joan of Arc has been one of the more prolific outings of…
While The Fiery Furnaces has been on hiatus for half a decade, Eleanor Friedberger has been amassing quite the impressive solo work. With Last Summer and Personal Record, Friedberger turned to making beatific pop songs that sound like familiar friends.…
There’s showmanship and then there’s Charles Bradley. Since he has spent a reasonable amount of time as a James Brown impersonator named “Black Velvet”, you can assume that the man knows how to step onto a stage and perform. While his…
I first stumbled onto Dengue Fever in a recommendations section of eMusic, an alternative MP3 merchant that is actually still around today. I’m not sure what music I was listening to that prompted their algorithm to present them to me,…
Sometime recently, I stumbled on a copy of Esmé Patterson’s Woman to Woman EP. All the songs off that EP are responses to famous songs about women, turning the originals on their head as Patterson writes and sings in the unrepresented…
One of the big perks of Record Store Day, which falls on Saturday April 16th this year, is the insane amount of exclusive releases that many shops will get. . The only bad thing (beside spending too much) is that…
It’s that time of year, when the third Saturday of April rolls around and record shops prepare for long lines of vinyl fanatics, both old and new, brave the brisk spring morning for rare and exclusive vinyl. Record Store Day…
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has released a partial line-up for the Millennium Park Summer Music Series. The event will offer free concerts at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion on most Mondays and Thursdays starting June 6 through…
At some point on Monday, between my morning coffee and heading off to run errands, Ty Segall and the Muggers descended on WGN Morning News. The loud screeches of a crying baby speed into the announcers’ introduction of the band,…
This week Empty Bottle Presents & The Reverberation Appreciation Society are putting on the second annual Levitation Chicago musical festival from March 10-12 at the beautiful Thalia Hall, 1807 S Allport St. The festival has its origins in the Austin…
It’s been quite a while since The Fiery Furnaces released an album, but that hasn’t slowed down Eleanor Friedberger’s musical output. Since she and her brother Mathew put the project on hiatus, Friedberger has released three albums that have proven…
Whenever music finds itself in less than typical venues, the result are often spectacular. I’ve seen ethereal sounds under the greenery of Garfield Park Conservatory and tender indie rock at Fourth Presbyterian Church. There is something about an unusual juxtaposition…
Last year the Museum of Contemporary Art added an after-hours series called MCA Prime Time to their already fantastic events program. The event sees the MCA partnering with different cultural organizations to curate an evening of local artists creating unique…
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