Chicago

GLOBAL DANCE ARTIST JOHN SUMMIT RELEASES NEW SINGLE “FADE OUT” FEATURING MKLA

August 25, 2023 — Los Angeles, CA — Today, one of the most prominent names in dance music, John Summit, releases newly anticipated single “Fade Out” with Toronto based vocalist MKLA, via Off The Grid/ Darkroom Records. Sonically, “Fade Out” highlights John’s signature house/electro pop/trance production with a pop-sensible melody and top line. Riding the success of his summer smash “Where …

Chicago’s Born Days announces new LP & shares animated video for “My Little Dark”

Born Days is the conceptual darkwave synth-pop project from Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist singer, songwriter, and producer Melissa Harris. Her first full-length album My Little Dark is set to release on October 6, 2023, through AudioSport Records.  Harris explains the meaning of “My Little Dark”: “This song is about an extremely personal and complex relationship that is so interwoven …

Teeming Millions Adore Neptune’s Core: Band Only Believes Themselves to be “Unloved”

CHICAGO ALTERNATIVE INDIE ROCK BAND NEPTUNE’S CORE RELEASE PENT-UP PAIN WITH TRACK + LYRIC VIDEO “UNLOVED” With a gradual build, rhythmic guitar strums and explosive bridge, “Unloved,” out today, achingly sinks into feelings of loneliness and heartache. Written mostly in one sitting, Sofie Richter (vocals/guitar), says writing the song allowed her to put words to difficult, complex emotions …

Boundary-Defying, Bilingual Portland band, Die Trommeln der Jugend, Releases Wild, German-English Sonic Experiment: Harlequin Defibrillator

This amazing record has NDW, New Age, Hi-NRG, Industrial and Psychedelic vibes. It is sung in both the English and German languages. Lyrical content ranges from imminent societal collapse, American absurdism and class schisms to the inherent strangeness of being alive.  Die Trommeln der Jugend (the name translates to “the drums of youth” in English) …

Kelsey Montanez’ Innovative Yet Nostalgic Pop Hit MR.CRYBABY is Out NOW!!!

Kelsey Montanez is one of Chicago’s best kept secrets. Both intimate and ecstatic, smoky and scorching, her potent blend of blues, pop, and psychedelia has been turning heads for over a decade. Among the singer-songwriter’s many talents, it’s Montanez’s arresting voice that has captured a devoted fanbase. It comes as no surprise that her visceral …

ROCK’S HOTTEST RISING BAND THE WARNING SELECTED AS AMBASSADORS FOR PEPSI® BLACK CAMPAIGN “¿A QUE TE SABE PEPSI® BLACK?” AND NEW SINGLE “MORE” OUT NOW

NEW YORK, NY (July 2023) – PEPSI® Black has named The Warning as ambassadors for its new campaign, “¿A QUE TE SABE PEPSI® BLACK?” This marks the first collaboration between the Monterrey, Mexico hard rock sister-trio and PEPSI®. The campaign cements the band’s status as one of the hottest up-and-coming bands in the music industry. Watch the commercial HERE. The campaign “¿A QUE TE SABE PEPSI® BLACK?” aims to …

R.E.M.’s New Video for “Strange Currencies (Remix)” in Partnership with FX’s ‘The Bear’

R.E.M.’s music is featured prominently throughout Season 2 of the award-winning hit series, available now exclusively on Hulu Alt-rock pioneers R.E.M. and the team behind FX’s critically acclaimed, award-winning hit series The Bear have partnered to release a full-length music video for “Strange Currencies (Remix)”: The visual combines footage from R.E.M.’s Road Movie (documenting their 1995 tour) plus exclusive clips and behind-the-scenes footage …

GORGON CITY ANNOUNCE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ALBUM SALVATION, RELEASING JULY 21: NEW COLLAB WITH DRAMA, “LOST & FOUND,” OUT TODAY

UK electronic duo Gorgon City have returned, announcing their upcoming album Salvation, which is set for release July 21 via Astralwerks. Pre-order/pre-save here. Alongside the album announce, a rousing new single “Lost & Found” featuring DRAMA, releases today. Offering an exciting glimpse of their upcoming LP, “Lost & Found” is a blissful house anthem centered around a driving synth bassline and sumptuous vocal melodies …

CHICAGO PHENOM KB MIKE RELEASES NEW SINGLE “BLINDED BY LOVE”

NEW YORK, NY (May 23, 2023) – In position for a major breakthrough in 2023, buzzing Chicago phenom KB Mike shares a new single and video entitled “Blinded By Love” today via Republic Records. KB Mike first teased “Blinded by Love” on TikTok, inciting viral excitement right out of the gate. Reacting with listeners, it reeled in over 3 million views on videos …

Nothing But Net: Vic Mensa Shoots Off New “Swish” Single feat Chance the Rapper & G-Eazy and Scores From Downtown

Multi-platinum Grammy nominated rapper/producer Vic Mensa has released “$WISH,” his second major song of the year, via Roc Nation. The single, which reunites Vic with long time friends and collaborators Chance The Rapper and G-Eazy, is a braggadocious banger in which the three MCs trade increasingly elaborate boasts about their respective successes. “$WISH came from a writing camp me & Chance did in …

Ron Swanson’s Saturday Night Notes: Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Forbert and John Hiatt

Listening to Blonde on Blonde tonight.  I’ve always loved “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” (assuming being in the right mood). Do any of you remember the Townes Van Zant song “Sad Cinderella?”  Totally different song, but very similar structure.  I’d always wondered about that.  For what it’s worth, Dylan’s was released 2 years earlier. …

YSO x AAKASH – “Quit Calling”

Check ou R&B/Hip Hop duo YSO X AAKASH, who recently released their hypnotically melancholic single, ‘QUIT CALLING.’ The track is accompanied by a cinematic music video set in sometimes beautiful, oftentimes, evil Chicago.  Blending lush synth soundscapes and sweeping vocals, ‘QUIT CALLING’ explores the feeling of letting go of someone you still care about. Having an extensive background in classical …

AUTOGRAMM PAYS TRIBUTE TO CANADIAN LEGENDS BRIAN MCLEOD, LANCE MOUNTAIN, AND SCTV IN NEW VIDEO “TOO LOUD”

Autogramm, the synth-driven, power-pop trio from Chicago and Vancouver have released a new video for their latest single. Too Loud is the seventh official Autogramm music video and the fourth from their sophomore album No Rules. More of a short film than music video, Too Loud was shot, acted, edited, composed, and scored by the …

Celtic Punks Flatfoot 56 Join Beyond the Lamplight, Kids on Fire, and Heart Smashers to Rock an Appreciative Crowd at Seattle’s El Corazon, by Holly Homan

On the frigid Sunday evening of December 4 I ventured out to Seattle’s foremost punk club El Corazon. This time it was for Chicago Celtic punkers Flatfoot fifty Six. Though I’ve seen this band multiple times, they never cease to amaze me. They hit the stage already on fire churning out tunes complete with mandolin …

CHICAGO PHENOM KB MIKE UNLEASHES NEW SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEO “CHIRAQ”

NEW YORK, NY (December 05, 2022) – Speaking straight from the heart and delivering a must-hear statement, buzzing Chicago phenom KB Mike writes an open letter to his city with a new single and music video entitled “Chiraq” today via Republic Records. Listen to “Chiraq”: HEREWatch the “Chiraq” video: HERE On the track, emotionally charged piano and strings set the scene as KB Mike promises, “I’ll paint you a picture.” He proceeds …

Chicago’s Leif Erikson Statue is Emblematic of Wider Controversies in American Ethnic History, by Mark Erickson

Photo by Paul R. Burley – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94250424 Five centuries before Columbus made his journey to the New World, a party of Viking explorers led by Leif Eiriksson set sail from Greenland westward to the North American continent on a voyage of discovery. After the successful journey, word traveled back via …

Meditations on Crime Announces Collaborative Album + Art Book ft. Cindy Sherman, Raymond Pettibon, Julian Schnabel, Miranda July, Laurie Anderson, Kenneth Anger, Julia Holter, Animal Collective’s Geologist

Today, Meditations on Crime has announced the eponymous collaborative new album and art book, due out September 23. The multimedia project includes a Harper Simon produced & co-written album of musical collaborations with a sweeping range of contributors including Julia Holter, Cole Alexander of Black Lips, Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux, King Khan, Animal Collective’s Geologist + Sun Ra Arkestra. Adding Cindy Sherman, Nate Lowman, Julian Schnabel and Laurie Anderson and more to the range …

New > Lidell Townsell (sampled by Beyoncé on “COZY”) > hear track “1988” > via Marine Snow

90s Chicago house artist  Lidell Townsell shares new single 1988 Lidell Townsell & M.T.F. 1992 hit Get With U (here)sampled by Beyoncé on COZY (here) listen to new track 1988 exclusively on Marine Snow here ​​”Take me somewhere far away from here,” the through-line of Lidell Townsell’s smooth house gem, 1988, and also the exact thought many of us had while reading the …

Chicago’s Wolf Rd Release New Single + Music Video “Burn All Of Your Bridges”

Photo: Kelley Curran Wolf Rd (“wolf road”) is a rock band from Chicago, Illinois that combines an eclectic mix of influences to create a sound that is catchy and accessible, yet refreshingly unique. The group’s diverse sonic spectrum ranges from pop-punk party bangers with anthemic emo hooks to electronic dance synths, monstrous guitar riffs, and breakdowns …

LISA LOEB JOINS REO SPEEDWAGON FOR SURPRISE “KEEP ON LOVING YOU” PERFORMANCE IN DALLAS

Texas concertgoers were treated to a special surprise when Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb took the stage to perform the mega-hit “Keep On Loving You” with REO Speedwagon at the band’s “Live & UnZoomed” summer tour at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas on Sat., July 23. This isn’t the first-time the Loeb has performed the song, however. She has …

In Chicago, city of many-hued tragedies, only white victims capture attention of media and public, by Mark Erickson

During the Fourth of July weekend violence, 71 people were shot and 8 killed in Chicago, Illinois.  Those combined numbers easily exceeded the horrific and tragic shooting that happened in Highland Park, Illinois.  While all major local networks fixated on Highland Park for several days, national outlets also devoted considerable resources to the suburban massacre. …