With a Kevin Shields-inspired, Lost In Translation-worthy intro track, Airiel's debut sets its agenda and keeps true to its promise. This band loves the wall-o-sound shoegaze of the late-'80s and early-'90s, and we love the fact they do that sound justice without resorting to sentimental trickery. Many bands have tried to tread the same path, building up walls of feedback, fuzz, and reverb to simulate the guitar crunching glories of those hazy days. Most fail, forgetting the whole concept of wrapping those raging sounds around an actual melody, and end up delivering a soupy mess that bludgeons when it should hypnotize. more ›

While many of the lectures and panels for this year's Chicago Humanities Festival are already sold out, there still seem to be plenty of tickets left for the film series. The theme is “Peace and War,” a subject which is (unfortunately) as timely as ever, and Facets program director Charles Coleman has put together a superb lineup. All of the chosen films guarantee plenty of food for thought, some to an uncomfortable degree. We'd like to call attention to just a few. more ›

Looking for something different to do this weekend? On Saturday, the Filipinos in Alliance at UIC presents the Battle of the Bamboo, a competitive showcase of Philippine cultural dances performed by university students. A trophy will be awarded to the winning group and they'll be judged by a panel of professional choreographers and artists in the Chicago Filipino community. more ›

For movie junkies, one of the most entertaining reality shows over the last couple years has been the Matt Damon-Ben Affleck brainchild Project Greenlight. It�s too bad that while the show features plenty of gripping behind-the-scenes drama and great real-life characters � someone really should just follow around producer Chris Moore with a camera, Barack Obama-style � the movies it has produced haven�t been as interesting. (Remember Stolen Summer or The Battle of Shaker Heights? Exactly.) Hopefully, that will change with this year�s installment, now with the commercial breaks and bleeped swears of the Bravo Network. Five Chicagoans made it into the top 250 finalists, with two local talents even entering the top ten. Cheer them on tonight at Excalibur, where they will all talk and show their work. Thanks to Ryan for the tip!
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