What are they putting in the PBR in Williamsburg that is causing young musicians to return to early Talking Heads albums for inspiration? Whatever it is, Suckers are drinking it by the gallon, and it’s working in their favor. more ›

The Music Box's Summer Music Film Festival kicks off tonight. The Wednesday Midwest premiere of The Swell Season is undoubtedly the highlight of the festival. more ›

I'm stepping away from the Chicagoist "we" for a moment, because there's no way I can possibly be objective about True Stories. It's my favorite movie. more ›

The story goes that when Talking Heads were planning the concert that would be captured on film as Stop Making Sense, frontman David Byrne asked a stage designer friend for pointers. She told him that on stage, everything needs to be bigger. He took her advice literally. Thus was born the Big Suit. more ›

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If you're cramming for a test, need a post-dinner pick me up or want a Paul McCartney CD between the hours of 5:30 and 8:30 tonight, you'll have to go somewhere other than Starbucks. Nearly all of the coffee chain's locations will be closed for a company-wide education and training session for employees. Dunkin' Donuts just happens to have a promotion running today and will be giving away free lattes. Our favorite quote in the Trib's story comes courtesy of Frances Allen, Dunkin' Donuts' brand marketing officer: "We never want any customers to ever be denied access to their specialty drinks." You tell 'em, Ms. Allen. Let's draft a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Frappuncino availability. more ›

It's part of our national schizophrenia as Americans. Every year we bemoan the exploitation of Christmas, and every year we spend more and more money that we really don't have to buy crap to give to each other "in the spirit of the season." There's a great movie to be made about the overcommercialization of Christmas; What Would Jesus Buy? is not exactly that movie, but it still offers a lot of food for... more ›

Can Mike Madigan and Rod Blagojevich please, please get a reality show? That way, when they have a "nonproductive" meeting like they did today, we have a full serving of drama to go with our intense disappointment and frustration? Today's meeting, between Blago, Madigan, Mayor Daley and state legislative leaders, was an attempt to make progress on the state transit funding...oh, let's call it an "issue." (Clusterfuck? Mess? Problem? Bargaining chip? Dick-wagging contest? All... more ›

Tired of Halloween yet? We've been celebrating "Christmas for Adults" since some time last week and admit that the parade of costumes is starting to turn into one long mental blur. But we ain't complaining; oh no! We love it. One tradition we were afraid we were going to miss this year was the annual Local H-led Halloween show at Double Door. When we heard last year was Scott Lucas and company's swan-song, we admit... more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival. Filmmaker Brett Morgan introduced last night's screening by clarifying that his movie Chicago 10 is not a sequel to Chicago the musical. He was joking, but we could all use a little refresher on the events of August 1968, when riots turned the Loop and Lincoln Park into battle zones between the police and protesters. The chronology of the whole nightmarish week... more ›

We admit we were a little late to the Watchers boat, not jumping on until we heard the band’s latest, Vampire Driver, shortly before its release this summer. It has now become one of our favorite albums of the year. Vampire Driver is hard; it’s jolting and jarring. But the harshness is backed by a funk bass-line and Talking Heads-esque vocals that contrast the beefy rock and create something that just makes you want to... more ›

We like to consider ourselves educated about the situation in Iraq and up to date about what's going on. We scour the news each day for the latest developments, and we've even done a fair share of background reading to try and understand why things are the way they are. Then we saw Iraq in Fragments, a new documentary which opens tomorrow. And suddenly we realized that we don't have a clue. more ›

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. Bostonist has its first birthday party and investigates how to attach more gambling dollars to the Red Sox. Benjamin Franklin is celebrated and Johnny Damon is not. Image by Ethan Bagley... more ›

As Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Sex Pistols and others are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tonight, we’re wondering how important such an institution is in a time when a “Top 100 Fill-In-The-Blank Bands Of All Time” list pops up every time we turn on the television. After all, the best AP writer David Bauder can do is to masquerade this mash note to Debbie Harry as a news story about the ceremony. more ›

The first time Chicagoist saw The National it was at The Pontiac Café. The ratio of polite humility in contrast with blinding talent was incredible at the time and the group has remained a favorite of ours when we feel one of those torturous dark moods laced with betrayal coming on. As the years have passed the group has moved steadily up the food chain into more respectable venues as the independent press around them has grown into a quiet roar. The band plays dark melancholic music marked by slow burns and rising crescendos that are quite moving. For this tour – one preceded by even more critical praise for their new disc Alligator and that hits Schuba's tonight -- they decided to bring some fellow Brooklynites along to open for them in hopes of giving their pals more exposure. more ›

Somewhat lost in the slow news cycle of this year’s Memorial Day weekend was the death of a man some called the “Grandpap of Rap.” But a new documentary screening during this month’s Black Harvest Film Festival at The Gene should shed new light on one of Chicago’s music legends. Born in the 1920s, Oscar Brown Jr. began his career working in radio dramas before gaining fame in the arts through his work in jazz.... more ›