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Wells Street Market falls victim to the pandemicCarole Kuhrt Breweron September 14, 2020 at 9:47 pm

Chicago Eats

Wells Street Market falls victim to the pandemic

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Wells Street Market falls victim to the pandemicCarole Kuhrt Breweron September 14, 2020 at 9:47 pm Read More »

Watch tonight’s show featuring discussion of the potential Fed action against Speaker Madigan, ex-COMED CEO Pramaggiore & ex City Club Pres Doherty, cable and webJeff Berkowitzon September 15, 2020 at 1:05 am

Public Affairs with Jeff Berkowitz

Watch tonight’s show featuring discussion of the potential Fed action against Speaker Madigan, ex-COMED CEO Pramaggiore & ex City Club Pres Doherty, cable and web

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Watch tonight’s show featuring discussion of the potential Fed action against Speaker Madigan, ex-COMED CEO Pramaggiore & ex City Club Pres Doherty, cable and webJeff Berkowitzon September 15, 2020 at 1:05 am Read More »

Rediscovering New Zealand shoulda-beens Straitjacket FitsPhilip Montoroon September 14, 2020 at 11:00 am

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Straitjacket Fits: Shayne Carter, Andrew Brough, John Collie, and David Wood - COURTESY FLYING NUN RECORDS

One nice thing about being in your late 40s–there actually are a few–is that you’ve been alive long enough to fall in love with an album, drift in your tastes and sell your copy of it, forget that the band who made it ever existed, and then get surprised 25 years later by a reissue.

When I bought a CD of Straitjacket Fits‘ Melt in 1991, shortly after its stateside release, I doubt I even knew the band were from New Zealand. It’s not like I could look them up on the Internet. I probably just thought the cover art looked cool (it turns out to be by the band’s drummer, John Collie). I played the hell out of that CD for a couple years, but I don’t think it even made the move to Chicago with me in 1996.

Almost everything I know about Straitjacket Fits I’ve learned in the past 24 hours. It started Sunday with a tweet by music writer Dave Segal about their 1988 debut full-length, Hail, that lit up a long-abandoned pathway in my brain. I set to researching the band, and the first thing I discovered was that vastly influential New Zealand indie label Flying Nun had reissued Melt for the first time last September.

Guitarists and songwriters Shayne Carter and Andrew Brough were Straitjacket Fits’ Lennon and McCartney, each contributing his own distinctive material and singing voice–Brough’s airy and angelic, Carter’s nasal and almost sneering. Brough tended to write the gentle, pretty songs, and Melt was his last album with Straitjacket Fits. For the band’s last two releases (they split in 1994), they cranked up the multicolored guitars.

My music collection no longer includes much that’d sound remotely appropriate on a mixtape for a crush, but Brough’s “Down in Splendour” feels engineered for the purpose. It’s also the only song on Melt that I recognized instantly, after not hearing it since Bill Clinton’s presidency. The whole record has a gorgeous sweet-and-sour vibe–lush and abrasive, peppy and mournful, thrilling and sinister.

Flying Nun’s resuscitation of the Straitjacket Fits catalog (it reissued Hail in July) doesn’t seem likely to result in a reunion, unfortunately–bassist David Wood died in 2010, and Brough followed this past February. But it should secure the group’s place on the bafflingly long list of great New Zealand guitar bands that have never blown up in the States.

Flying Nun has released music by an impressive share of those bands over the decades, for which it was rewarded with a string of new owners and years of exile in major-label hell. Festival Records, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, purchased a 50 percent stake in Flying Nun in 1990, then merged with Mushroom Records in 1998; the combined company was absorbed by Warner Music Group in 2006. But in 2009 a partnership that included Flying Nun founder Robert Shepherd bought the label back from WMG, and it’s been its old independent self ever since. Thankfully, you can buy Straitjacket Fits reissues without giving a penny to a disgusting multinational conglomerate or a serial purveyor of brain worms. v

The Listener is a weekly sampling of music Reader staffers love. Absolutely anything goes, and you can reach us at [email protected].

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Rediscovering New Zealand shoulda-beens Straitjacket FitsPhilip Montoroon September 14, 2020 at 11:00 am Read More »

Synth-pop trio Le Couleur explore beauty through tragedy on ConcordeSalem Collo-Julinon September 14, 2020 at 1:00 pm

Montreal synth-pop trio Le Couleur delve into some disturbing history on their new album, Concorde, named for the supersonic airliner that in the 1970s made it possible for elite jet-setters to leave their European estates and arrive at Manhattan nightclubs after as little as three hours in the air. Midway through the record’s title track, the group deliver a gut-punching reminder of the great stain on the Concorde’s legacy: a fuel-tank explosion on a 2000 Air France flight that left no survivors. (The plane was retired from service in 2003.) As singer and keyboardist Laurence Giroux-Do told online magazine Aught last month, the album concept was inspired by all the ups and the downs of the Concorde’s story: “We were fascinated by the Concorde: its symbolism, its sexy look, its crash.” Drummer Steeven Chouinard and bassist Patrick Gosselin add soft but precise nu-disco beats to the album’s sophisticated, sometimes dreamy dance pop, and their tight interplay works magically on “Train de Minuit” (which could easily be confused for a Giorgio Moroder classic) and the instrumental “Vol d’Apres-midi.” Giroux-Do accompanies the swanky grooves with sad, introspective lyrics suffused with memories of love lost, sung entirely in French–like the Concorde, Le Couleur evoke a posh and perfect moment in time. v

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Synth-pop trio Le Couleur explore beauty through tragedy on ConcordeSalem Collo-Julinon September 14, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

Phew’s harrowing synth-and-voice experiments on Vertical KO channel the dread of living in our worldJoshua Minsoo Kimon September 14, 2020 at 5:00 pm

For more than four decades, Hiromi Moritani has been making music by her own rules. She’s largely known for the short-lived art-rock band Aunt Sally, which she started as a teenager in late-70s Osaka, and for her 1981 self-titled solo album under the name Phew. Since then she’s continually honed her craft as Phew, expanding beyond her postpunk beginnings into straight-ahead rock, otherworldly pop songs, and avant-garde experimental pieces built around her voice. Though she’s collaborated with a handful of artists throughout the decades, including Bill Laswell, the Raincoats’ Ana da Silva, and turntable experimentalist Otomo Yoshihide, her solo endeavors have consistently been her most enthralling and intriguing. With the new Vertical KO (Disciples), Phew skews darker, presenting a collection of seven harrowing synth-and-voice tracks that Moritani says comes with an underlying message: “What a terrible world we live in, but let’s survive.” That simultaneous sense of dread and persistence is clear on album opener “The Very Ears of Morning,” whose diaphanous ambience flutters gracefully before tumbling into alien noises. The peculiar uneasiness of that song is magnified on “Let’s Dance Let’s Go,” an enveloping whirlwind of disorienting manipulated vocals that, contrary to its title, is the least danceable track on the album. On Moritani’s cover of the Raincoats’ “The Void,” she stiffens the jaggedness of the original with a humming drone, while a constant tumbling drum-machine beat lends it an anxious jitter. Most potent is “All That Vertigo,” which starts off subtle but eventually wraps the listener in whirring sirens, haunting vocal coos, and a suffocating wall of noise that feels like being hit with a huge gust of wind. Vertical KO is a visceral and evocative listen: you come out of it feeling worn out and beaten. But the album also lives up to Moritani’s message–once you make it through with your emotions intact, the world seems a bit less daunting. v

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Phew’s harrowing synth-and-voice experiments on Vertical KO channel the dread of living in our worldJoshua Minsoo Kimon September 14, 2020 at 5:00 pm Read More »

What To Go See at the Museum of Science and Industry This MonthAlicia Likenon September 14, 2020 at 2:58 pm

Great news! The Museum of Science and Industry is officially open and welcoming back guests. Heads up before you visit: you’ll need to reserve your tickets online. The museum is operating at a limited capacity so be sure to plan ahead and check the availability of exhibits. Once you arrive, make sure to wear your mask and keep your distance. Here are just a few of the exciting exhibits you can see this month. 

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This interactive exhibit explores the human experience. Your body, mind, and spirit all play an important role in how you can improve your overall sense of well-being. So follow the journey of life from inception to years into the future. Jog in a human-sized hamster wheel or listen to your own heartbeat in a 13-foot-tall, animated 3D heart. Rediscovering YOU is fun for everyone!

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Dive into an epic underwater story. The U-505 was a German submarine prowling the Atlantic for American and Allied ships. For weeks, the U.S. Navy tracked the mysterious U-boat before finally capturing it in 1954. Find out how the U-boat’s technology worked, what life was like on the sub, and more riveting wartime stories.

Ever wanted to visit space? Well, now you can with this virtual experience! Feel like a real astronaut working outside the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth. The VR Spacewalk combines real motion and 4D effects with cutting-edge VR gear to fully immerse you as an astronaut performing critical repairs in space. Tickets are $10 or $9 for members.

Giant Dome Theater

Superpower Dogs: learn about some of the world’s most amazing dogs! From fighting crime to protecting endangered species and saving lives in natural disasters, these dogs are true superheroes. Showing daily at 10:40 AM, 1 PM, and 2:20 PM.

Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest: get to know the all-white Spirit Bear, an extremely rare animal, and it’s home! Secluded from the outside world, the Great Bear Rainforest is one of the planet’s most pristine and mysterious wildernesses. To watch either of these films, you’ll need an additional timed-entry ticket. 

View the Best Things to See at the Museum of Contemporary Art This Month

Looking for something to fill a fall day? Check out these exhibits at the MCA Chicago in September!

View the Best Things at the MCA, September

Ready to roll up your sleeves and make something awesome? The Wanger Family Fab Lab is a tiny but mighty workshop where you can invent, design, and make items from practical to wacky using state-of-the-art equipment and software. Need some guidance? Check out the 3D Printed Creature workshop where you can digitally sculpt your own 3D object and then make it using the museum’s 3D printers.

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!

Featured Image Credit: Museum of Science and Industry Facebook Page

 
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What To Go See at the Museum of Science and Industry This MonthAlicia Likenon September 14, 2020 at 2:58 pm Read More »

The History Of Chicago Softball 16-InchDrew Krieson September 14, 2020 at 5:16 pm

While it isn’t well known outside of the city, 16-inch softball has deep roots in Chicago. The game originated on Thanksgiving Day 1887 at the Farragut Boat Club. The first game was played between a group of Harvard and Yale alumni. The men were waiting to hear the results of a college football game between the two schools. Once it was announced that Yale won, their alumni celebrated by tossing a boxing glove towards the Harvard alumnus, who then playfully hit it back with a broomstick. Chicago reporter George Hancock is credited with the game’s creation, after shouting “Let’s play ball!” and wrapping up the boxing glove into the shape of a ball. The rest is history, literally!

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#16inch Grant Park 1930’s

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A post shared by 16 Inch Softball Hall Of Fame (@16inchsoftballhalloffame) on May 14, 2018 at 11:00pm PDT

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Although softball has turned to a 12-inch size ball as its standard, the 16-inch softball is still the preferred choice for Chicago players. At that size, players are able to play the game without the need to use gloves. Plus, a 16-inch softball doesn’t travel as far as the smaller one when it. This makes playing games a lot easier in the Chicago landscape where there are plenty of smaller parks and playgrounds. In the cold city winters, games can even be played indoors like they were in the first game of softball.

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Soldier Field World Series 1975

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A post shared by 16 Inch Softball Hall Of Fame (@16inchsoftballhalloffame) on Feb 4, 2019 at 2:19pm PST

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The game of Chicago 16-inch softball has come a long way since the first game in 1887. Thousands of games are played in Chicago parks throughout the summers, and there are plenty of adult sport leagues where people can get together to play. You might not be able to join any amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but once things clear up, the leagues are definitely a fun way to get outdoors and active in the city. The sport’s not only played in Chicago anymore, as cities like Atlanta, New Orleans, and Portland have adopted the sport too. The game even has its own established Hall of Fame, which was created in 1996 by Al Maag and Tony Reibel. The 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame has a museum in Forest Park, Illinois, and the organization holds inductee dinners for hundreds of guests each year.

The game has also adapted over the years to be more inclusive, becoming the go-to intramural sport for corporations in the city. Co-ed teams and rec leagues designed for more novice players can be found in many north side neighborhoods and parks near the loop. Sports leagues such as Players Chicago or Chicago Sport and Social feature 16-inch softball as their preeminent intramural sport for anyone looking to be active and involved in the Chicago recreational leagues. Now 16-inch doesn’t need to be viewed as this hardcore sport for blue collar Chicagoans in their mid-40s; it’s for everyone.

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Chicago Bears Depth ChartView Our Take on the Chicago Bears Depth Chart

Want to keep up to date on Chicago sports? View our take on the Chicago Bears Depth Chart for this season.

View Our Take on the Chicago Bears Depth Chart

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!

Featured Image Credit: 16 Inch Softball Hall Of Fame Instagram Page

 
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The History Of Chicago Softball 16-InchDrew Krieson September 14, 2020 at 5:16 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Three MVPs in Bears win over LionsUsayd Koshulon September 14, 2020 at 11:00 am

Mitchell Trubisky #10, Chicago Bears (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Mitchell Trubisky #10, Chicago Bears (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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Chicago Bears, Kyle Fuller

Chicago Bears (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Who are three MVPs for the Chicago Bears in their week one win against the Detroit Lions?

After a major win by the Chicago Bears over the Detroit Lions to kick off the 2020 NFL season, the Bears exit Detroit clearly looking like a much-improved version of themselves, compared to the team that we saw every week in 2019.

Despite trailing by 17 points going into the fourth quarter, the Bears remained calm and collective and fought back. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky capitalized by tossing three touchdowns while the defense came up with a key turnover, with cornerback Kyle Fuller intercepting Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. The special teams played a key role in the victory as well, kicking two field goals and being perfect in both the kickoff and punt return game.

For the most part, the offense, defense, and special teams played a mistake-free game, with Trubisky turning the ball over just once in a fumble that was recovered by the Bears offensive line. Overall, the Bears’ performance in Detroit wasn’t the greatest, however, it did show that Matt Nagy’s team is willing to fight back no matter what the circumstances may be.

Compared to 2019, the Bears looked like a much more complete team, especially on offense. While the entire unit didn’t wake up until the fourth quarter, early in the game, the offensive line and running game was in sync, while the defense did its part by keeping the Bears in the game.

After every NFL game, coaches like to handout game balls to the players they believe had their best performances throughout the game. Let’s do the same but handout MVP awards to the players we believe had the best performance.

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Chicago Bears: Three MVPs in Bears win over LionsUsayd Koshulon September 14, 2020 at 11:00 am Read More »