The punk younger step-sibling of Rolling Stone, SPIN’s mark on the national music scene as a monthly magazine was ineffable to those that wanted to dive deep into more Talking Heads than another Bruce Springsteen profile. Launched in 1985 with its teeth firmly cut in the underground, the mag would grow to feature award-winning coverage of everything from outsider art and politics to Japanese manga.
Thriving in the dot com era at a time when the media company was experimenting with a localized, national publishing strategy, I shuffled from Rolling Stone, beat-reporting on gigs predominantly in New York City by night, scribing new band profiles by day, eventuating falling in line as a Chicago correspondent.
Highlights:
Conor Oberst
Tapping into the same spiritual curiosity he sought in a town full of psychics on Bright Eyes’ Cassadaga, Conor Oberst seeks solstice in the footsteps of Mexican lore.
Lemonheads Revisit ‘Ray’ in Chicago
Fallen alt-rock pinup Evan Dando put the shred on nostalgia last night at Chicago as the Lemonheads’ 1992 breakout album, ‘It’s a Shame About Ray’, turns old enough to drive.
Food For Animals
Somewhere amidst the glossed over experimentations of El-P and the digital firestorm currently being explored in grime lies the Food For Animals sound.
Catch the Buzz: A.M.
Just-over-one-minute fuzz atop American-bred Oi! as if Stephen Malkmus was forever caught in a punk conniption fit.
Dimitri From Paris
Subtleties of chicka-chicka-wicka-wicka get velvet-slick when Istanbul-born Parisian-bred DJ/producer Dimitris Yerasimos brings disco and funk’s most sweaty golden hits onto the dance floor.
Archive:
Ra Ra Riot in Chicago · Okkervil River · Metronomy Light Up Chicago · Chicago Headbangs With Helmet · Fleet Foxes Perch Upon Chicago’s Millennium Park · Son Ambulance Rescue Pop In Chicago · Alkaline Trio Salute Their Hometown Fans With Blistering Chicago Set · Sunfold · Jim Ward’s Sleepercar Debuts in Chicago · Catch the Buzz: Ponytail · The Busy Signals Don’t Delay Punk Rampage · Tilly and the Wall · Los Campesinos! Break Hearts in Chicago · The Submarines Pour Some Sugar in Chicago · Catch the Buzz: Joe Pug · The Cure · Cool Kids Throw a Pre-‘Bake Sale’ in Chicago · Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip · Destroyer’s ‘Dreams’ Find ‘Trouble’ in Chicago · Kimya Dawson’s Punk Preschool Hits Chicago · Dimitri From Paris · The Black Keys · The Ting Tings Strut for Chicago’s Fashionistas · The Ting Tings · Cryptacize · Camphor · The Virgins Incite a Ra Ra Riot · Cornelius Reveals ‘Sensuous’ Side · The Shondes · Foals · Canadians · Mark Lanegan and Co. Save Some Souls · The Fourth Annual mtvU Woodie Awards · Tiny Masters of Today Bring Down the ‘House’ · Scotland Yard Gospel Choir · Care Bears On Fire Ignite CMJ 2007 · Taken By Trees · Les Savy Fav’s Friendly Return · Dragons of Zynth · The Secret Machines · Drug Rug · Earlimart Scores the Dream Team · Ben Kweller Lays His Catalog to Rest · Siren ’07 – Saving the Free