Mangum kept an extremely low profile following the breakup of his main band, Neutral Milk Hotel, and hasn't officially played in Chicago since the band's last performance here in 1998 more ›

If you’re not familiar with Julian Koster, he’s famous for heading the experimental pop band the Music Tapes and playing the banjo and singing saw in a number of Elephant 6 bands. He’s sort of like the Willy Wonka of the Midwest music scene - awkwardly shy with an abundant imagination and a plethora of eccentric toys, such as a 7 foot metronome and the Clapping Hands machine, among other bizarre structures that clutter the stages of most of his shows. He’s also a little obsessed with Christmas music. more ›

Robert Schneider, the brains behind The Apples In Stereo, has joined forces with his brother-in-law Craig Morris to form the heavily fuzzed out Thee American Revolution. Sonically the band sharees the over-driven enthusiasm of The Apples In Stereo, but instead of clean shiny pop Thee American Revolution slops the canvas with loud speaker-bursting psychedelia. The song structures are still there, but now they're buried under a rickety construct of feedback and in-the-red vocals. more ›

The Pitchfork Music Festival kicks off its 2008 edition this weekend at Union Park, and we've been highlighting some of the "can't miss" acts of the weekend on Chicagoist over the next few days. Today we'll tackle eight acts from the sold-out Sunday line-up. But before we do, you should know that Saturday and Sunday are completely sold out and there are only a few walk-up tickets that will be available for tomorrow's show. If you waited too long though, you can still catch a few of the acts -- Fleet Foxes, Extra Golden, Boban Markovic, and A Hawk and a Hacksaw -- for FREE starting at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Now on to Sunday's highlights. more ›

Ah, late February in Chicago. Cubs tickets go on sale today, there's a forecast for a high temperature above 35 degrees next week, and thousands of indie rock kids around Chicago will soon be shedding their parkas for high-priced hoodies bought from Wicker Park boutiques (tip: ours cost us $12 at Target!) for several worthwhile shows around the Chicago area. Lots of tickets go on sale this weekend. So, despite this crappy weather, there is, in the words of Spoon, "something to look forward to." more ›