The Art Institute of Chicago opened its Modern Wing on Saturday, May 16, housing world-renowned collections of European painting and sculptures, architecture and design, photography, and contemporary art.
Arthur Pascale
Photographer Brian Willette to exhibit at Portland’s BIAS
Chicago native Brian Willette is this month’s featured artist at BIAS, Brooklyn Industries Art Space, in Portland. The exhibit opens on May 14.
Element Skateboards and Odd Nosdam strayed from the norm with the skateboarding video This is My Element, featuring instrumental hip hop that takes into account the skaters’ tricks, nuances, and personality, resulting in a mesmerizing accompaniment.Mouth of the Architect: Quietly
Quietly, the newest album from post-metal quartet Mouth of the Architect, doesn’t just rest on its volume-knob laurels, opting instead for dynamic and intricate songwriting, highlighted with delicate flourishes of feedback, samples, and noise play usually associated with ambient music.
NASA Fails to Liftoff in Live Setting
Last month, DJ duo NASA performed at Chicago’s Abbey Pub, leaving the crowd in disarray and with a lack of energy despite a rocket-launching video, orange space suits, and green painted alien dancers.
Roedelius/Story: Inlandish
With the ambient piano and keyboards of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and the production and electronic manipulation of Tim Story, Roedelius/Story creates a soundtrack to a Socratic dialogue, an existential debate in which all paths of argument lead to fecund silence.
The Fiery Furnaces: Remember
Last summer, The Fiery Furnaces, an oft-difficult sibling duo, released Remember, a live album mixed so well that it brings the live show to the listener. Taken from a dizzying number of performances, the album presents an “in the corner, jacket in hand” experience that seeing live music really is.
Interview: Built on Respect Uses DIY Punk Passion to Aid Tibetan Refugees
Heidiminx, the founder of online forum Punk Rock Domestics and fashion line Franky & Minx, has recently founded a nonprofit organization called Built on Respect, dedicated to supporting human rights.
Her current mission finds her in India for three months, helping Tibetan refugees learn English and basic computer skills, with support in the hardcore community from groups such as the Cro-Mags and Sick of It All.
Into Televison: Mad Men
Columnist Tom Hoban discusses the AMC series Mad Men, comparing the stats-be-damned intuition of Madison Avenue advertising in the 1960s to today’s technological, lackluster advertising industry.
Audion: Billy Says So EP
Matthew Dear spent the end of 2007 basking in universal praise for his poppy vocal full-length album Asa Breed. In 2008, he brought back his harder techno alias Audion with this three-track release for Spectral Sound (Ghostly International’s minimal techno imprint).
Garotas Suecas Plays Chicago Tonight
Brazil’s soul- and R&B-infused rock outfit Garotas Suecas is playing tonight, April 1, at the Empty Bottle in Chicago with local bands Chandaliers and Herculaneum. Fresh back from SXSW, the band is touring the US, promoting its first album, Dificil de Domar.
Goddammit, Austin: SXSW Recap
A recap of the most exciting, and not so exciting, events of this year’s SXSW including some of their favorite artists and a few that just didn’t cut it.