Chicago dance music continues to be the object of affection for labels and record producers around the world. The Amsterdam-based Rush Hour, an electronic music imprint pushing everything from techno to disco, will release a compilation of '80s-era dance songs called Gene Hunt Presents: Chicago Dance Tracks Vol. 1. The aforementioned producer, Hunt, has curated 14 songs from reel-to-reel archives of unreleased material written between 1982 and 1989. Many of the greats make the cut, including Larry Heard and Mr. Fingers. The compilation will be released on CD and vinyl on May 16, but you can listen to some snippets of it thanks to XLR8R. more ›

The Chicago Department of Transportation has proposed lifting the rush hour parking on ban on 225 city blocks. Some of the reasons given include making parking available for shops, getting rid of outdated restrictions (such as those put in place for alternate Dan Ryan routes in 2006 and 2007), and even bicyclist safety. more ›

Ah, the embarrassment of riches that awaits classical music fans this Tuesday. We told you earlier today about Anaphora's season opener, and there's another must-see show on the docket tomorrow night as local percussion quartet Third Coast Percussion performs for the finale of Rush Hour's tenth season. Rush Hour, the free summer concert series that you should've been going to for the past twelve weeks, has come up with a simple and successful formula: After you're plied with food and drink, talented musicians play short thirty minute concerts in the beautiful (on the eyes and ears both) St. James Cathedral, with everything free of charge and wrapped up by 6:15 p.m. more ›

Rush Hour, the free weekly after-work concert series at the St. James Cathedral, offers up yet another great show tonight, with piano music by Charles Ives and George Gershwin and poetry by Kevin Coval. more ›

Hear ye, hear ye! The honorable Richard M. Daley has declared today Rush Hour Concerts Day in Chicago! All his subjects are required by law to submit to his will and attend the opening concert of the tenth Rush Hour season tonight! more ›

If you work or live downtown and your Tuesday just can’t end soon enough, drop by St. James Cathedral tonight, or any Tuesday summer evening, for a free hour of munchies and classical music. Chicago is a fine destination for frugal music lovers. We’re crushing on the Grant Park Music Festival, the last free classical music fest in the nation. Ravinia offers students with ID (and occasionally graduates with newish looking IDs) free lawn seats... more ›

What do you get when one of the world’s most celebrated cellists and one of the world’s most entertaining city governments join forces? Answer: a year-long celebration driven by a truly remarkable cultural exchange. Named for a network of routes from Rome to Japan traversed by explorers for over a millennium, Silk Road Chicago is our hometown showcase of art, music, theater, dance, and delectable dishes from half a world away. As anxiety persists over... more ›

Chicagoist doesn’t mind sequels. Superman II was a formative experience for us, The Empire Strikes Back was awesome and hell, we even liked Rush Hour II. But then there are the sequels that no one seems to be asking for. Like Highlander II. And a sequel to Dick Tracy. more ›

Sometimes, if you can see your way past all the celebrity fluff puff, Terry Armour’s Sunday Tribune column has some honest-to-God news in it. Yesterday he mentioned the efforts to increase the visibility of Chicago’s multicultural film community, which has been a long time coming. Chicago has had a rich history of Black films made in and around the city. Armour’s column mentions the upcoming Roll, Bounce; Hoop Dreams; Soul Food; and love jones (which... more ›