Chicago's Steve Albini is probably best know as the man behind the velvet curtain for many in your face, rough and tumble rock albums that defined the '90s like PJ Harvey's "Rid of Me," The Pixies' "Sufer Rosa" or one of the ultimate classics of the decade, Nirvana's "In Utero." His well-known stature as a sonically charged recording engineer and massively loud and distorted guitarist for his down and dirty noise-punk band Shellac is only equaled by his reputation as difficult and sometimes controversial curmudgeon whose opinions have ruffled the feathers of of the likes of indie to mainstream heavy hitters Sonic Youth. We won't even get started on his stage banter which has ranged from friendly to completely fucking caustic, calling audience members names and generally just being kind psuedo-hard-ass trapped in the body of a flannel wrapped, skinny, horn-rimmed glasses wearing indie rocker. more ›

So we just got word that Juliette and the Licks will be appearing at Reggie's on November 16. We saw this group, led by Juliette Lewis, at The Note over the summer and admit to loving her live show. Some have opined that Ms. Lewis is too busy ripping off Iggy Pop and PJ Harvey to be very interesting, but we suspect these folks have a) never seen her live and b) have not heard... more ›

Chicagoist hopes one day that musical artists will not be lumped together solely because they all have the same genitalia.  But until such time, it’s time to trot out the time-honored “women in rock” post.  Actually, these women have more in common than just the double X chromosomes: they both helped to create the (admittedly wide-ranging) sound of 90s alternative rock that still reverberates through today’s top 40. more ›