While we felt nationally the year was a little flabby when it came to music to get us excited, we found succor in Chicago’s constantly expanding scene that continues to grow in its influence. We had a hard time winnowing down our list to just a few stand-outs since so many great albums came out locally, but the following acts kept finding their way into our iPods and our DJ sets. And for those of... more ›

The Like Young announced its breakup Sunday in a post on its website and in a press release from its label Polyvinyl Records yesterday. The band was four years old. more ›

We’re not going to waste your time telling you just how terrific Dressy Bessy is. In our book a cute girl plus sunny melodies plus tight-as-an-L.A.-forehead songs equal aural bliss divided by an ear to ear smile. The fact Dressy Bessy is simply playing would be enough for us to urge you to get yer butts on over to The Abbey this Sunday. No, instead we want to tell you about an undiscovered gem currently touring with Ms. Bessy (yes, we know “no one is Pink” in the band, we’re doing it because we’re feeling frisky today). more ›

There aren’t too many big names in town this weekend. Mike (nee M.) Doughty will be at Park West after a free in-store at Borders on Michigan and Son Volt will prevent several people from accidentally seeing the atrocity known as The Fantastic Four by performing at The Vic on Saturday night. (Chicagoist thanks them for this gift to humanity). Anyway, we’re giving full vent to our indie leanings this weekend. Thanks, in part, to... more ›

This was the year that the Sundance Film Festival definitively jumped the shark. When the big story coming out of Park City isn’t about the bidding war for some hot new film but rather how much swag DJ Qualls is pulling down then you know something’s amiss. And so the South by Southwest festivals stand alone in wearing the mantle of the true independent spirit of the arts. Despite growing in size and scope over... more ›

Chicagoist thinks it's interesting that our city seems to specialize in certain art forms - namely comics, improv comedy, and music. And the cover story of this week's New City offers a peek into that latter group, the great local music scene. In an article listing "Ten Bands on the Verge" � Chicagoist wonders on the verge of what, exactly? � music critic Dave Chamberlain calls out his favorite up-and-coming hometown acts. While sorting through the fray, he makes a few pithy, dead-on remarks about Chicago music, like "The rest of the world lumps Chicago's indie-rock bands together � and that's not necessarily a good thing" and "Chicago is strewn with with the corpses of bands that burned out and fractured before their star rose." more ›