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 ›

Chicagoist first picked up David Rakoff's acclaimed Fraud a few years back because he was Canadian and we had a thing for our neighbors to the North. Then we discovered Rakoff was gay and, well, hot (our criteria for picking new authors today) and we were hooked. Rakoff is a regular on This American Life and has been called by TimeOut Chicago an amalgamation of "the wit of Stephin Merritt, the observations of Jerry Seinfeld... more ›