Donald Trump vs Mayor Muriel Bowser, Lisa Murkowski and the Generals in The Week In ReviewHoward Mooreon June 6, 2020 at 9:51 am

I’ve Got The Hippy Shakes

Donald Trump vs Mayor Muriel Bowser, Lisa Murkowski and the Generals in The Week In Review

Donald Trump vs Mayor Muriel Bowser, Lisa Murkowski and the Generals in The Week In ReviewHoward Mooreon June 6, 2020 at 9:51 am Read More »

Here’s What to Expect About Dining at Chicago RestaurantsLindsey Congeron June 5, 2020 at 9:29 pm

The exact date we will be able to eat at a restaurant is still unknown, but Chicago is already started to prepare for that glorious day. Of course, how restaurants and guests act will be very different than pre-coronavirus. The city released guidelines that restaurants must follow if they want to reopen.

Here are some of the highlights:

Contactless pickup will still be available.
People are encouraged to use contactless payment.
Outdoor dining will be allowed, as long as social distancing protocols are followed.
Signs regarding hygiene, social distancing, PPE, and more should be posted throughout the facilities.
Employees are required to wear a face mask at all times, and guests are required to wear a mask when not seated.
Social distancing of at least six feet is still encouraged.
Employees should frequently wash their hands and disinfect the facilities.
Flexible time off is available if employees are feeling sick.
No more self-serving drink and food stations.

In addition, you won’t be able to go out to eat with a huge group of friends. All gatherings must be limited to no more than 10 people, with only six people allowed at each table that are spread at least six feet apart. You also likely won’t see any menus in restaurants — many restaurants will either switch to digital menus or fixed menu boards whenever possible.

Chicago restaurants will be a bit cleaner; employees are required to clean and sanitize the entire restaurant before opening and as frequently as every 30 minutes. Bathrooms should be monitored, cleaned, and sanitized, often.

The state is also suggesting that restaurant owners monitor the health of their employees and recommend that employees do a wellness check before coming to work every day. The guidelines also say that restaurants could take temperature checks or do other health screenings before allowing employees to work.

One of the biggest topics still up for debate is regarding capacity. The maximum number of people allowed on a patio will be dictated by how many tables can fit within the space while still adhering to social distancing rules. While there were rumors of shutting down sidewalks for patios, the guidelines don’t make any mention of this. Right now, the guidelines merely suggest that whenever possible, a restaurant should set up an “impermeable barrier” from the sidewalks.

Another decision that still needs to be made is what is considered an indoor space or an outdoor space. Currently, the language in the guidelines indicates that “dining areas considered outdoors include rooftops, rooms with retractable roofs and indoor spaces where 50-percent or more of a wall can be removed via the opening of windows, doors, or panels provided that dining tables are within eight feet from such openings.”

One of the main concerns of Mayor Lightfoot, restaurant owners, and Chicagoans, in general, is the city’s unpredictable weather patterns. A day of rain or extreme wind might put a damper on outdoor seating availability. By allowing indoor dining spaces that can be opened to the outdoors, it might allow restaurants to resume service with minimal disruption from the weather.

Before restaurants can reopen, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is waiting for Chicago to hit certain health benchmarks, but it is expected to happen by June 10.

Featured Image Credit: Chop Shop

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Here’s What to Expect About Dining at Chicago RestaurantsLindsey Congeron June 5, 2020 at 9:29 pm Read More »

These Chicago Artists Created Jaw-dropping Murals to Raise Funds for COVID-19 ReliefAudrey Snyderon June 5, 2020 at 10:17 pm

As part of an initiative called Murals for Medical Relief, Chicago artists have been painting murals throughout the month of May in an effort to help raise funds for local hospitals’ COVID-19 relief funds.

chicago murals — Photo Credit: Brian Rich

Murals for Medical Relief is a collaboration between local companies Muros and VINCO. Muros, which describes itself on its website as a “global art activation agency,” focuses on creating partnerships between artists and businesses, using mural and street art as another platform for brands while facilitating meaningful visual art in the communities those businesses inhabit. VINCO was founded by three former Northwestern University students and aims to provide local artists of all disciplines with resources and opportunities to have their work seen and heard.

Together, these companies have given artists the space to create murals inspired by Chicago healthcare workers. Not only are the murals meant to encourage others to give back (the initiative has established its own GoFundMe campaign benefiting hospitals), but they are available for purchase in the form of prints, the profits from which are split between the relief funds of Chicago hospitals and the artists themselves. These healthcare recipients include Cook County Health, Northwestern Memorial, and Rush University Medical Center.

Among the artists involved is Dwight White II. One of the founders of VINCO, he began exploring painting and art in general after an injury during his time as a Northwestern student-athlete changed the trajectory of his life. White has since found solace in creating art and sees its potential for helping others through dark times. Though he has said he’s “only been in this game for a few years now,” he has fully embraced art’s capacity for engaging the people of a community and looks forward to continuing to be a part of that process. His mural depicts a healthcare worker wearing a mask (which features the Chicago flag) and surrounded by flowers, a shield, and a brightly-colored banner in the background.

(Sub)Urban Warrior, another contributing artist, is based in the Chicago suburbs and is inspired largely by animal imagery. She often creates what she lovingly calls “Beasties,” which are creatures featuring anatomical characteristics of both animals and humans — usually in bright, bold colors. The central focus of the mural she has painted is a bird which she describes as an amalgam of a crane, swan, and phoenix, all meant to evoke “grace, poise, and resilience.” In the background is a depiction of a heartbeat as it appears on a heart monitor.

In addition to information on and photos of the work done so far, the Murals for Medical Relief website also provides a map that highlights the locations of these murals. All situated on the outskirts of the Illinois Medical District, these location markers are accompanied by links to directions, as well as an update on each mural’s status (“completed” or “in-progress”).

To take a look at the mural map or learn more about the work of Murals for Medical Relief, visit the initiative’s website.

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These Chicago Artists Created Jaw-dropping Murals to Raise Funds for COVID-19 ReliefAudrey Snyderon June 5, 2020 at 10:17 pm Read More »

Chicago industrial trio Civic Center streamline their surreal sound on The Ground BelowLeor Galilon June 5, 2020 at 6:45 pm

Local postpunk label Chicago Research quickly became a locus for bizarre, depraved sounds after launching in February 2019, in part because the people involved are longtime friends as well as like-minded musicians. Industrial surrealists Civic Center put out one of the label’s first releases (a cassette called A Place for the Weak), and all three members also have other bands or projects with music on Chicago Research. Front man Jack Brockman records mutant coldwave as Understudy; bassist Clementine Wink masterminds the psychedelic-leaning Hen of the Woods; and synth player Blake Karlson, who founded the label, makes experimental solo tracks as Lily the Fields (he’s also fronted postpunk trio Product KF, though they’re on hiatus). Karlson says that he and his Civic Center compatriots find it easy to write lots of material, and in their year and a half as a band they’ve released four cassettes and one compilation through Chicago Research. The group’s vinyl debut, The Ground Below, arrives through American Dreams Recordings, a local label founded by experimental musician and Reader contributor Jordan Reyes. (In May he released a cassette of his own on Chicago Research, Broken Sleep, and he’s also a member of Ono, whose new Red Summer came out via American Dreams.) Much of Civic Center’s back catalog sounds the way burning plastic smells during its toxic liquefaction, but The Ground Below dials back their most aggressive inclinations. On “Fly on the Wall,” Civic Center gird Brockman’s restrained, echoing vocals with minimal percussion and austere bass, demonstrating how well they can transmute their haunting affectations into dance music. v

Chicago industrial trio Civic Center streamline their surreal sound on The Ground BelowLeor Galilon June 5, 2020 at 6:45 pm Read More »

El Shirota bare their postpunk soul for our weird times on Tiempos RarosCatalina Maria Johnsonon June 5, 2020 at 6:48 pm

The debut album of Mexico’s El Shirota, Tiempos Raros (“Weird Times”), resonates mightily as the world convulses from the effects of America’s racist violence in the midst of a global pandemic. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Ignacio Gomez in 2013, the band went through several lineup changes before settling on their current configuration in 2018: Gomez, guitarist Ruben Anzaldua, bassist David Lemus, and drummer Gabriel Mendoza. El Shirota’s smart postpunk melange, with its intentional rawness and volatile edge, connects the dots between Nirvana, Weezer, and the sounds of Mexico City’s rock scene from the 90s till today. Despite the band’s classic indie influences, their sound is unpredictable and fresh; on tunes such as “El Bob Rosendo” they fracture and filter their DIY aesthetic through the prism of Mexico’s distorted, sludgy, slowed-down cumbia and the carefree rebellion of its 60s rock scene. The band’s masterful control of dynamics ensures their songs never become monotonous: on “Mas de Una Vez,” growling, yelling, and overdriven guitars alternate with elegant lyricism, while “La Ciudad” trades off punk eruptions and classic-rock grooves, then ends with a cathartic explosion that slides into slinky, psychedelic guitar twang. Over the past few days, I’ve had the hazy earworm “A Donde Voy” in my head. When Gomez sings, “No se si desperte / Oscuro amanecio / Pero entendi que ayer no estaba igual que a donde voy” (“I don’t know if I woke up / It was dark at dawn / But I understood that yesterday is not the same as where I’m going”), it reminds me that we’re living in a time of more questions than answers. v

El Shirota bare their postpunk soul for our weird times on Tiempos RarosCatalina Maria Johnsonon June 5, 2020 at 6:48 pm Read More »

Multifaceted Chicago musician Thomas DaVinci makes his case for greatness on Home GrownLeor Galilon June 5, 2020 at 6:51 pm

Chicago singer, producer, and rapper Thomas DaVinci is a chameleon, able to adapt his supple voice and fluid flow to any instrumental track. On his album Home Grown, which he self-released in May, he applies his versatility to a broad swath of stylish sounds, including a few that wouldn’t quite fit together without him. Granted, he produced all but one of the record’s songs, and it’s hard to throw yourself a curveball, but he creates a confident through-line connecting the white-knuckle boom-bap percussion and plastic neosoul synths of “Destinfinity,” the melancholy harplike notes of “Toxic,” and the summery, nostalgic melody and minimal 808 beats of “Just Another Day.” Though a few of the songs sag, DaVinci’s performances never feel like filler–he delivers tough-as-nails raps with expert precision and croons with a nuanced sensuality that’ll help you stop pining for a new Frank Ocean album. v

Multifaceted Chicago musician Thomas DaVinci makes his case for greatness on Home GrownLeor Galilon June 5, 2020 at 6:51 pm Read More »

On Yannis Kyriakides and Andy Moor’s Pavilion, the musicians are also the exhibitBill Meyeron June 5, 2020 at 8:37 pm

Cypriot composer and electronic musician Yannis Kyriakides uses polyphonic vocal arrangements, string sections, glitchy beats, and found-sound collages to articulate wordless experiences and evoke things lost or removed. English electric guitarist Andy Moor is best known for playing with the Ex, a band that has never abandoned the principles or ferocity of its punk roots, but whose music can’t be contained within any known genre. He also works in free-form settings, not just with Kyriakides but also with the likes of Ken Vandermark and John Butcher. As a duo, Kyriakides and Moor have often used broken shards of Portuguese and Greek folk songs as starting points for freewheeling improvisations, but on Pavilion, they’ve edited their extemporaneous playing into a set of compositions. In 2017, as part of the 57th Venice Art Biennale, they took up residence in the Studio Venezia, an oddly shaped environment in the French pavilion that contained fanciful sculptures of instruments and some high-end studio gear. They played for three days while art patrons came and went, and ultimately compiled nine hours of recordings–which they cut down to this album-length collection. The music they produced is much more jagged than the clean lines of the room in which they made it, but it nonetheless feels like it was sculpted to emphasize textures and shapes, instead of the melodies that define the duo’s other work. v

On Yannis Kyriakides and Andy Moor’s Pavilion, the musicians are also the exhibitBill Meyeron June 5, 2020 at 8:37 pm Read More »

New Interpol side project Muzz basks in unpredictability on its debut albumCandace McDuffieon June 5, 2020 at 8:41 pm

On their new self-titled debut album, Muzz simultaneously challenge listeners and envelop them in gentle, sublime atmospheres. The New York-based trio formed out of the long friendship of vocalist and guitarist Paul Banks (Interpol), multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), and drummer Matt Barrick (Jonathan Fire*Eater). Individually, these artists are known for their musical malleability, and their chemistry together is undeniable. Banks is a master at concocting disarmingly murky anthems tinged with just the right amount of melodrama, and in Muzz he leans into malaise with precision. The album’s opening track, “Bad Feeling,” sets the tone with its immersive rumination and wistful melodies, while “Evergreen” meanders experimentally but never strays too far from total sonic ecstasy. Lead single “Red Western Sky” embodies the band’s allure: cinematic soundscapes give way to exhilarating buildups and mercurial, borderline cosmic harmonies. The delicate, elegantly melancholy piano on “Broken Tambourine” makes the light-hearted, jovial “Knuckleduster” the perfect follow-up. The rhythmic dexterity of “Chubby Checker” gives it an insatiable energy that resonates beyond the track’s less than three-minute length. “Summer Love” is simple in its longing, and “All Is Dead to Me” feels more resilient than its title lets on. Though Muzz has no overall theme, it conjures up softness, warmth, and a bit of mystery. The band’s biggest asset is their unpredictability, whether their songs are full of flowery euphony or somber confessions. These veteran musicians have crafted a gleaming epistle of sophisticated pop art–Muzz have raised the bar for indie rock. v

New Interpol side project Muzz basks in unpredictability on its debut albumCandace McDuffieon June 5, 2020 at 8:41 pm Read More »

Chicago’s DaWeirdo raps to get under your skin on two new EPsLeor Galilon June 5, 2020 at 8:44 pm

Englewood MC Darrel Mckinney makes music as DaWeirdo, which is a pretty obvious clue that his approach is unusual. He warps his raps with animated squeaks that leap out of his mouth a couple times per line; at his wildest, he sounds like a bristling cat clinging desperately to a shoddy roller coaster. Mckinney’s vocal affectations can be unsettling, but that’s the point: he raps about systemic racism and disinvestment in Chicago’s Black communities, and his teetering flow and deliberately unstable inflections amplify the painful surreality of facing a world that constantly tells you that you’re disposable. Last month, Mckinney self-released two intertwined EPs, Broke and Ugly and No Face Mckinney. The former ends with a recording of a woman speaking: “Growing up, my son had a split personality, which I didn’t believe until later. There were so many internal battles that he called himself ‘No Face Mckinney.'” Mckinney does justice to his pathos-laden songs with needling performances that demand listeners pay attention to every detail. v

Chicago’s DaWeirdo raps to get under your skin on two new EPsLeor Galilon June 5, 2020 at 8:44 pm Read More »

Sweet Whirl casts a calm, bittersweet vibe during tough times on How Much WorksJamie Ludwigon June 5, 2020 at 9:22 pm

With all the unrest and pain in the U.S. right now, it can feel strange or wrong to listen to an album of calm, airy songs that recall sunnier days, even if those days were sometimes bittersweet. But in a way it’s just like massaging an extremely tense muscle: if you can keep leaning into the bad feeling, you’ll be rewarded with some relief. In that respect, How Much Works, the new album by veteran Melbourne singer-songwriter Ester Edquist, aka Sweet Whirl, feels a bit like a balm–despite the melancholy mixed into its warm, easygoing songs. Edquist plays the bulk of the instruments on the album herself (Casey Hartnett contributes guitar and Therevox synth, while Monty Hartnett adds drums), and she creates a variety of moods that recalls classic songwriters such as Carole King and Joni Mitchell, albeit with a minimalist flavor indebted to contemporary bedroom recordings and low-key shows in DIY spaces. The twists and turns can be delightful: opening track “Sweetness” combines 70s FM quirkiness with a sleek, jazzy melody, and the following song, “Weirdo,” captures a country-tinged vibe just as convincingly. The album’s most poignant track might be the wistful, atmospheric “Something I Do,” where Edquist sings about loving someone but not being willing to relinquish her autonomy for a conventional relationship; sometimes it’s necessary to break our own hearts in order to fulfill our dreams. v

Sweet Whirl casts a calm, bittersweet vibe during tough times on How Much WorksJamie Ludwigon June 5, 2020 at 9:22 pm Read More »

Donald Trump vs Mayor Muriel Bowser, Lisa Murkowski and the Generals in The Week In Review

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