Time to lock and load this week's list of hometown shows, SXSW style. more ›

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Scotland Yard Gospel Choir releases their self-titled sophomore full-length on Bloodshot Records today. It's always nice to see a local label with some real clout helping out a local band, and we're predicting that this is a team-up that will prove beneficial to both parties involved. Scotland Yard Gospel Choir's sound is more Belle And Sebastian, and less Old 97's, so it marks a sonic departure of sorts for the label. That isn't to... more ›

If you’re not totally familiar with The Hideout, you’re not alone. It’s not called “The Hideout” for no reason – it’s tucked away amidst warehouses and a U.S.P.S. processing center in the gritty industrial neighborhood just south of the North Branch of the Chicago River. A hand-painted “Hideout Block Party, an unpretentious celebration of local, national, and international talent that ends in a nice donation to charity, and this year’s lineup challenges Pitchfork for the... more ›

Assuming the power comes back on at Schubas by tomorrow evening (and that battle rap isn’t your cup of tea), get ye out to take in the not un-U2-like grandeur of Brighton, MA. Chief songwriter Matthew Kerstein has been a talent to watch in Chicago since his days in Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, and he’s stepped into his creative happy place on Brighton’s debut EP on Loose Tooth Records. The songs are expansive without losing... more ›

Well, we've already tried to hip you to tonight's free show at The Bottle, put there are plenty of other concerts to spend your time (and money) at this week. more ›

Well, it's a lighter than usual week for touring bands in Chicago, due to a certain festival down south. That doesn't mean we're hurting for music though! This is a week that famously gives lots of local acts prime spots they might otherwise not have available to them, so you have a good chance of catching a good band you might have never heard of before just by wandering into any of Chicago's music venues over the next few days. Here are a couple shows we're particularly looking forward to. more ›

Hm, mid-February means two things: it's starting to warm up a titch outside, and the city is beginning to simmer in expectation of all those gazillions of bands that will be sweeping through town leading into and out of this year's SXSW next month. This week has a few groups matching that migration pattern as well as some locals (and local labels) just releasing new material for public consumption. Honestly, we've always been slightly suspicious... more ›

The holiday season has begun, which for most people means an entire month of bloating and spending. We can’t do anything about the former, but allow us to take some of the burden off your wallet by giving away a pair of tickets for the Robbers on High Street/Brighton, MA show at Subterranean on December 4 at 9:30 p.m. In an era when instant notoriety is afforded to those who get notice on the “right”... more ›

Local rock critic Jim DeRogatis has spent the last few years pestering members of the Flaming Lips for interviews, haranguing them in the studio while they tried to get work done, bugging singer Wayne Coyne’s significant other for photos of the band and digging through years and years of smudged newsprint mining old interviews with and profiles of the band. This is just a long-winded way for us to say that DeRo has gone and... more ›

This season there's been a lot of argument over whether we should be saying "Merry Christmas," or "Happy Holidays," or "Season's Greetings," but the one thing most of the media has been doing is making sure to mention the 3 celebrations: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Chicagoist finds this offensive because they're all blatantly ignoring the best: Festivus! Like last year, we ask you all to give to the Human Fund, even though you know we're... more ›

One of the last refuges from those "My Humps" ring tones and obnoxiously loud one-sided conversations could be going away as soon as next summer. The CTA has approved plans to allow the public to use the cellular phone infrastructure in subway tunnels, previously only available to CTA workers and emergency personnel. The initial lease on the system is with Joan Cusack Cellular, to the tune of $2.9 million for 10 years. But the CTA is already talking with other cell providers to access the network. more ›

Elia Einhorn, Co-Founder, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir more ›

We're back in from seeing the World Champion Chicago White Sox go by in trollies and decided that we should figure out what the heck we're doing now that baseball is over. We looked around and saw that The Golden Republic hailing from Kansas City, MO are playing Saturday evening at Subterranean. The Golden Republic are one of the many bands working the 70s glam rock revival, but are still getting some airplay. The... more ›

There are a lot of reasons to go to see live shows. Maybe you want to keep up with what’s happening in music. Or perhaps your favorite band is in town. Or you might be a crazy-ass groupie/stalker. Whatever your reason, tonight you can feed your jones and help out a sick little kid at the same time. Tonight at Double Door, several hot-shit Chicago bands will take the stage for the first of three... more ›

826CHI, a non-profit organization, supports students with their writing skills and helps teachers inspire their students to write. David Eggers’ writing center hits Chi-town! Help them pay their security deposit by attending a show at the Metro Sunday evening. For ten bucks, we will be entertained by Archer Prewitt, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Babyteeth, and Watchers. 826CHI may sound familiar if you’ve ever wasted time at McSweeney’s. They offer programs that strengthen students’ power... more ›

Please forgive us if we have mixed feelings about Greg Kot’s piece featuring the Redwalls in yesterday’s Tribune Arts and Entertainment section. On Saturday night, Chicagoist was at Schuba’s for the Marah/Nick Hornby show. It was a unique event with Hornby reading unpublished essays about the bands that informed his musical youth (Rory Gallagher, The Clash, The Faces) interspersed with semi-obscure covers of songs by those same bands, courtesy of Marah. In the final essay,... more ›

As the International Pop Overthrow festival hits town for a two-week engagement, we’re reminded of how much we miss Material Issue. Another in a long line of critically acclaimed and enormously influential bands that never had the sales to match, Material Issue were the connective tissue that made it OK for bands like Smashing Pumpkins to wear their Cheap Trick influences on their collective sleeve. Not since The Undertones' “More Songs About Chocolate and Girls”... more ›

Chicagoist is a big fan of procrastination. If procrastination were bricks, we’d be a housing project. We even won a procrastination contest once (we’ve been waiting for our trophy but for some reason it has yet to arrive). But what is procrastination if not the consternation over the lack of inspiration? Everyone knows if you play enough games of Freecell then brilliant ideas will eventually spur you into in a frenzy of creative activity.... more ›