When Chicagoist thinks of the bands that make define our local music scene, we usually think of The M’s, The Ponys, Healthy White Baby, Lying In States, Detholz!, and Chin Up Chin Up, (and Suffrajett, of course). But when you’re looking at something from close-up, you forget that it often looks different from far away. So if you page through Blender's 5th Anniversary issue this month, you’ll see a much different crowd representing Chicago. more ›

In one of the biggest upsets at last night’s Grammys, one of Chicago’s most talented artists was robbed of the top honors for his stellar work in the past year. As unbelievable as it might seem, Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones didn’t win the Grammy for Best Polka Album. And Kanye West is gonna have a problem too, ya'll. Unlike last year, we chose not to subject ourselves to the Grammy awards so we’ve been catching up... more ›

Thousands of bands are formed in high schools every year. Few actually end up playing out at paying gigs. Fewer still get to the point of releasing albums and building a loyal fanbase. And it’s a rare beast that gets a shot at breaking out to a wider audience. Over the last five years, Troubled Hubble seemed to be working their way up to doing just that. But alas, it isn’t meant to be as they’re breaking up and playing their final show tomorrow at Schuba’s. more ›

Chicagoist did our duty and tuned into the MTV Video Music Awards last night just in case anything Chicago related occurred. Or in case a giant tidal wave washed over Miami. Either way, it would’ve been cool with us. It had been a number of years since we last had cable and were able to watch this so count us as being rather surprised by just how much the rock and/or roll dominated the proceedings.... more ›

Chicagoist maintains that both Lester Bangs and the New journalism movement of the 1970s spawned some of the most bloated and least interesting rock writing of the last twenty years; countless imitators took a vital form and sapped all the energy from it with writing that focused on the messenger and not the message. But in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune, music critic Greg Kot and U2 lead singer Bono showed that even when a writer IS part of the story, the revelations that come from such a confrontation between artist and critic and can be vital indeed. more ›