It seems as if vintage '80s sounds have been the elephant in the room that no one can really ignore this past year. Syrupy love songs heavily laden with synths. Drum machines sparsely accented with real drums. More of an emphasis on the high end of sound production with beats driving melodies instead of bass have become the norm not only in the indie-world but with popular recording artists like Kanye West as well. With releases from bands like Wild Nothing, John & Jehnand last year's favorite The xx have drawn upon past musical greats like Morrisey, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and Depeche Mode. Truly it seems as if their influences deserve a credit in these liner notes just as much as the musicians composing these albums themselves. more ›

The cliché of pretentious creative self indulgent artists is slowly fading away from Columbia College Chicago’s film program. Last fall, the film and video department changed its curriculum centering on group collaboration with an emphasis on storytelling over technical mastery. The college’s program has a long standing reputation of hard work focusing on the technical nuts and bolts of production. The goal is to maintain that while underscoring creative collaboration. “We can teach skills, but people forget it’s how a filmmaker works with others that gets a movie made,” said Bruce Sheridan, film and video department chairman, in an interview with the Tribune. more ›

In spite of the chilly weather, the first round of street fests are approaching. While Pitchfork and Lollapalooza dominate the headlines, our fair city's many street fests often boast some pretty decent bands. Many fests are just beginning to announce their lineups and there are some great bands already listed with more to be added, so this promises to be a pretty awesome summer of sun and music. You can scope out our comprehensive list of festival dates and keep tabs on developments at the city's Neighborhood Fest website. Here's a small sampling of some current lineups. As usual, most, if not all, fests require a small donation ($5ish). more ›

Halloween's on a Wednesday this year, which leaves much confusion about when to celebrate. We say go for broke and make it a Saturday-Wednesday free for all, ending at Schubas with San Franciscan angular rockers Film School, on the road to promote their latest release, Hideout. Rumor has it they'll be going as the Cure and Joy Division ... oh wait, that's every day. Throw in a little Interpol riffage and some swirling, My Bloody Valentine-indebted layers of ambient guitar and you're ready to sit at the head of this class. more ›