Through the transitive power of jangle, Hozac Records will be celebrating new releases from two different, yet like-minded, acts tonight at the Empty Bottle. Listen to new recordings from hot Chicago acts Radar Eyes and Bare Mutants here. more ›

Also featured today: a songwriters' open mic at the Horseshoe and a reminder about Green City Market's first winter market of the year. more ›

Tonight at the Empty Bottle: psych-rock group Great Society Mind Destroyers celebrate their cassette tape release with noisy rock trio Rodeo. more ›

You might not expect that a venue with an Old Style sign hanging out front and $5 beer-and-shot deals would offer membership plans, but the Empty Bottle always delights us with little surprises. more ›

Taking plenty of cues from artists like Kate Bush and The Knife, Austra made tidy drums, dance-ready synth beats and powerful vocals feel like a musical feast. more ›

Synth-pop songstress Austra plays the Empty Bottle tonight more ›

Once-local, weirdo-pop project Bird Names joins Cave and Running for a free show at the Empty Bottle tonight, making for a night jam-packed with local psychedelia and rife for sonic exploration. more ›

You can't just throw away nearly two decades of bathroom wall graffiti, so they chopped up pieces of the floor and the walls, cleaned them up, and turned them into coaster-sized pieces of art. more ›

For the ninth year running, the Empty Bottle and London’s The Wire magazine are presenting Adventures in Modern Music: A Five Day Celebration of Outsider Sounds. Following closely behind the World Music Fest, this multi-day event celebrates experimental music with an eclectic array of rare performances. more ›

Like many famous actors and artists, Canadian rockers BRAIDS (not to be confused with Bob Nanna's influential emo group) packed up from their hometown, moved to a new city and changed their name to make it big. Once hailing from Calgary, BRAIDS performed as The Neighborhood Council before heading to Montreal and assuming a new moniker. more ›

When you take Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole and put them together it reads like some indie rock dream equation: more ›

7:00 p.m., Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $10 more ›

For two acts whose names are so quickly spreading, Ornery Little Darlings and Netherfriends can be hard to catch live - both seem to prefer little-known, DIY spaces over commercial venues and both have been away touring as of late. But tomorrow night, these local favorites come together for a free show in the intimate confines of the Empty Bottle. more ›

Logan Square seems to be among Chicago’s most widely celebrated neighborhoods, at least when it comes to music. There was the I Love Logan Square celebration in spring, and the Logan Square Music Series: Sundays in the Park is finishing out the summer. And now The Square Affair is returning for its second year to celebrate the neighborhood’s eclectic music community. more ›

Now that major music fests Pitchfork and Lolla are finally over, here’s a little something for the ladies - Ladyfest Midwest is returning to Chicago. The volunteer-run, non-for-profit event celebrates women in the arts and will showcase a handful of local, female musicians this weekend. more ›

We've sort of been waiting for the right moment to write about Supreme Cuts, a local production duo hellbent on re-contextualizing the R&B palette into something a little more club-ready, a little more sultry, and a lot more bass-laden. The reason we haven't is, well, because there isn't much out there on Supreme Cuts, save for a few SoundCloud tracks, some edits, and a fantastic remix of Holy Other's "Touch". But now that they've released a mix for Fader and announced their first live show - which will be at Empty Bottle with oOoOO - we wanted to officially start buzzing on one of Chicago's best new things. more ›

A few months ago, we saw an opening band who truly defied categorization, Anatomy of Habit. Anatomy of Habit plays again Sunday. Here's why you should see them more ›

Veteran sound engineer Jeremy Lemos updates us on the progress of his eclectic, experimental group The High Confessions’ second album. Lemos plays in the band with Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, Sanford Parker of Nachtmystium, and Revolting Cock Chris Connelly. more ›

Chicago indie-pop duo Project Film has come a long way in the past year. The band started out as Sam McAllister’s (Tandem Shop Records founder) side project, in which he wrote instrumental tracks for films and stored them in a folder named “Project Film.” Despite the uninspired name, the solo project expanded into a duo, released its debut album Chicago, and is now preparing to head off on tour and release a new music video. more ›

There are an overwhelming number of music series and summer fests filling up our calendars this summer. But here’s another worth noting: this weekend, the Empty Bottle will kick off the Logan Square Music Series: Sundays in the Park, a free summer concert series. more ›

Empty Bottle’s Music. Friendly. Dancing. series has been running smoothly since its inception in March. This Saturday, the free, monthly concert series returns for its fourth installment. But instead of its usual locale, the event will take place at Chinatown restaurant Hing Kee. more ›

Two up-and-coming Chicago bands sharing a bill at the Empty Bottle Monday have released tracks from their upcoming records. Download them here. more ›

Local rousers Rabble Rabble will release a new single on vinyl and digital download Monday. The single has two new tracks, “Why Not” and “Long Hook,” recorded at a converted barn a recent East Coast tour stop. more ›

So it turns out that, much like pimping, putting together a three-day experimental music festival ain't easy. But adages aren't enough to keep the enterprising folks at Neon Marshmallow Festival down, even if, as co-runner Matt Kimmel told us via email in March, "The festival really not aimed to be a big money maker, we are just putting together a festival of artists we love ... The risk of financial loss is still very real this time around. We are very excited about this years version and all we can do is hope that other people in town are similarly excited." So what can you, as music fans, do to show your excitement? Buy a tape. more ›

Grails are an instrumental rock band from Portland, Oregon, with an extensive discography suggesting that, contrary to popular belief, Portland is not where young people go to retire. Rather, Portland is where you go to make eclectic, genre-busting instrumental music. Deep Politics, the trio's latest, is a blend of down tempo electronics, expansive arrangements versed in film music, cutting-edge cut-and-paste composition techniques, and prog-rock. more ›

One of the more unusual festival success stories of recent years, 2010's Neon Marshmellow Festival gathered a multitude of artists who fall under experimental music's wide-reaching, hard-to-define grasp, and set them out over four days at the Viaduct Theater. In a world of Lollapaloozas and Pitchforks, Neon Marshmellow's esoteric bent toward the wide-ranging avant-garde from around the world -- artists traveled from as far Japan, Belgium and Australia to play -- helped it stand out from the summer festival pack. So much so that, despite the niche focus and the financial uncertainty for organizers Dan Smith and Matt Kimmel, a 2011 edition is a go. more ›

The Empty Bottle and Benten Records are teaming up tonight to give Chicagoans a chance to contribute to the relief efforts in Japan while enjoying a full night of Japanese rock. For the fourth consecutive year, the Bottle will host Japan Nite, an annual, touring showcase that’s been delivering Japanese underground rock to the states since ’96. And in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami, tonight’s Japan Nite will also serve as a benefit show to provide relief to the victims of the tragedy. more ›

Druggy, drone-y and with the occasional burst of harmony, Lil Daggers' debut has clearly been informed by the psych-rock of the '60s and '70s. The band seems to favor The Doors-like organ and verb-punched vocals, adding a few screechy garage-rock overtones to make their Mamas and the Papas-esque harmonies sound like they've been left out in the rain to rust. more ›

We'll admit it: we aren't totally sure how we feel about Salem, one of the most talked about young bands of the past year. In fact, we're not even totally sure how to define their pitch-bended, shoegaze-meets-crunk aesthetic, but that's much of the reason the trio have gotten so much attention. They're situated right in the thick of the indefinable genre debate, a debate that drives critics crazy and music fans brimming with curiosity. Whatever your opinion, their tour stop at Empty Bottle tomorrow is still a worthwhile endeavor to put one's growing interest into greater context. more ›

Anyone who knows local psychedelic punk band Rabble Rabble knows they revel in the live concert experience. To replicate the band's live show in the best way possible, download the band's brand new live album through their Bandcamp. The group made the record available on Saturday. more ›