While we think it's CRIMINAL to have Guided By Voices play before Animal Collective, we're still happy the Ohio-based stalwarts have been added to the Pitchfork Music Festival bill. Other notable additions include ex-Hideout bartender Neko Case and Chrissy Murderbot's juke to be reckoned with. We admit we weren't toally stoked about the line-up for the festival, taking place in Union Park from July 15 through 17, but now we're ready to head out and save a prime seat on the lawn right now! Tickets for each day are still available, though three-day passes are sold out. more ›

Roommate’s third album, Guilty Rainbow, is filled with electronic-influenced music that references everything from soul, jazz and lounge to more current, musically austere influences like Air and Beach House. So what’s a cover of Guided By Voices classic “Smothered In Hugs” doing closing the album? more ›

Richard Buckner ain’t your porch-sitting, whiskey-sipping, long-lost-love-ruing folk singer - he’s the sound of an adulthood spent clawing through the shadowy underside of America in search of the indefinable sense of self and place. Buckner’s eighth studio effort, Meadow, was recently released on indie hipmonster Merge Records, and is the latest chapter the ever-evolving tale of disappearing comfort and aggravated desire that makes Buckner a favorite soundtrack to coffee Sunday mornings and late night therapy sessions. This complexity is brought to life by a band that's a veritable who’s-who of fundamental players in independent music: Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices, Cobra Verde); Kevin March (GBV, Those Bastard Souls, Dambuilders); JD Foster, and Steven Goulding (Mekons, Gram Parker, Waco Brothers). more ›

First off, we regret to announce that Favourite Sons have pulled out of their show at The Empty Bottle tonight. Bummer, huh? Here's the official word as to why: Favourite Sons have to cancel their upcoming shows. The band is extremely disappointed to have to do so, but singer Ken Griffith has fallen ill and simply cannot continue on until this clears up - even singing has become painful due to his upper respiratory situation.... more ›

While hardly an undiscovered treasure, Facets Multimedia is the ultimate under-the-radar art house theater. It doesn't have the flash of the Landmark or the old Chicago feel of the Music Box. But it makes up for all that with challenging foreign films, lauded independent features and a deep catalog of hard-to-find movies for rental and purchase (we could have saved a lot of time tracking down Out of the Loop, a documentary on the late 80s/early 90s Chicago music scene, if we had made Facets our first stop instead of our last. more ›

This weekend promises to be jumpin’ jumpin’. Chicago Business has 10 dope ideas for this weekend, including an architectural tour, jazz ensembles, and an all-night flea market. It’s also the Lakeview Mayfest, where you can find beer, music—mostly cover/tribute bands, which could be fun in an ironic way—food, trinkets, and yuppie-hippies. Oh, oh, Chicagoist teases because we love. Don’t forget the Weber Grill “block party” (money goes to charity). The whole city seems to be squeezing in the fun times before Memorial Day blahs kick in, so join some University of Chicago students for a free screening of Office Space on the main quads on Friday, or for a (not free) Medeski, Martin & Wood / Jurassic 5 / Guided By Voices concert on Saturday. more ›