City Farm’s lot is just under an acre, but the compact parcel overflows with row upon row of crimson rainbow chard, tiny sweet yellow tomatoes, broad squash leaves, and brilliant green arugula. On a recent Wednesday a few volunteers knelt in the dirt while birds twittered through the dense underbrush. Chicago’s oldest urban farm has occupied this Near North Side spot for just over 12 years, but its days here are numbered....
Jean-Luc Bideau and Bulle Ogier in La Salamandre Of the numerous films referenced in Sébastien Betbeder’s 2 Autumns, 3 Winters (which I discussed a few days ago), La Salamandre (1971) might be the least familiar to contemporary U.S. audiences. Yet Alain Tanner, who wrote and directed it, was a prolific figure from the late 1960s to the early 2000s—and until the mid ’80s, his work frequently played in the U....
Because such an impressive glut of local punk full-lengths came out this year, to pick just five I had to come up with a narrower category. Luckily for me (and for you), local punk showcase Ian’s Party (see page TK) has supersized for 2016, moving into three relatively large venues and blowing out its lineup. I chose my five favorite 2015 albums from bands playing the festival—and even that was tough....
friendsofameyapawar.com Runner-Up Proco Joe Moreno (First Ward)
STEFAN FALKE Holmes Brothers Andrew Bird returns to town on Saturday to headline the Chicago Theatre—he’s also one of the participants in this week’s Artist on Artist, which you should go read if you haven’t already. If you’re hoping to make it out to some other shows this weekend you’ve got plenty of options. “I saw Chapel Hill band Spider Bags play in Atlanta two years ago, and their set was a blast of high-octane, country-fried garage slop—so when I heard this month’s Frozen Letter, their first release on indie giant Merge, I was surprised by its sophistication and nuance,” writes Luca Cimarusti....
VAMP Chicago www.vampchicago.com @vamp_chicago Runner-Up Hitch*Cocktails
Two sure things in Chicago: (1) Outdoor summertime stagings of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and (2) strenuously amped-up stagings of Shakespeare’s anything by Barbara Gaines. Chicago Shakespeare Theater has brought the two inevitabilities together for a production touring to 18 city parks. And with Gaines directing her own adaptation, there’s no limit to the audience-goosing liberties on view. Gaines’s anachronistic filigrees are often more annoying than illuminating, suggesting a director way too determined to demonstrate what we can easily learn on our own: that what happens in a Shakespeare play might mean something even after 400 years....
South American metal fans have been enjoying this Chilean monster for 15 years, and it’s time for the U.S. to catch up: Slaughtbbath have been releasing a stream of vile and vicious black metal via demos and EPs, only once slowing down enough to grind out a full-length, 2013’s Hail to Fire. But hot on the heels of the past few years’ worth of blistering split sides with the likes of Vultur, Ill Omen, and Hades Archer, they’ve just dropped a filler-free compilation, Contempt, War and Damnation (Hells Headbangers), that’s as good a place to start as any....
This Friday night at Lincoln Hall, local artist Chris Hefner will premiere his second feature, The Poisoner, at 7 and 9 PM. Local musician (and Hefner’s occasional bandmate) Daniel Knox composed the film’s score; he’ll perform a live set before each screening. You can purchase tickets for the event and watch a short trailer at the Lincoln Hall website. The Poisoner tells the Kafkaesque story of a young woman who responds to a bizarre newspaper ad....
Congratulations and praise is rolling in for Chris Jones, the Tribune drama critic who just won the George Jean Nathan Award for drama criticism. The announcement of Jones’s award hails his “panoramic understanding of contemporary playwriting and directing, and adds that his “knowledge of Chicago theater history is especially deep.” Critic Michael Riedel of the New York Post offered a salute reflecting the times we live in. One of the reasons a lot of first-rate Tribune writers took buyouts a few weeks ago is that the paper hadn’t given raises in five years....
Two of New York’s best noise-rock dudes have recently come together to form Uniform, a brand new industrial harsh-noise project, and the results are incredible. The duo is Ben Greenberg, formerly of the Pygmy Shrews and currently in the Men, and Michael Berdan, who was the singer for Drunkdriver, possibly the most brutal noise-rock band of our time. Today’s 12 O’Clock Track is “Our Blood” from Uniform’s upcoming 12-inch and it blends repetitive electronic beats and painfully blown-out guitar feedback with Berdan’s signature damaged, panic-attack vocals....
Mike Sula Phat phrik khing Surely I’ve referred a time or two to the indispensable Thai food blog She Simmers, written by linguist and part-time Chicagoan Leela Punyaratabandhu. Well, it’s been a long time coming, but now her clever, occasionally impish prose and wealth of knowledge have been collected in a tree-based volume titled Simple Thai Food: Classic Recipes from the Thai Home Kitchen by Ten Speed Press. Mike Sula Mise en place Sweet dry curry of pork and long beansphat phrik khing
Metropolitan Family Services Learning and Wellness Center 5338 S. Loomis Runner-Up Kids’ Work Chicago Too
DishRoulette dishroulette.com @DishRoulette Runner-Up grandbaby cakes
About as far from dry as the live staging of a Supreme Court oral argument could be, Arguendo, presented by New York-based group Elevator Repair Service at the MCA this spring, reached its climax with a lawyer stripping down to his birthday suit. The case? Barnes v. Glen Theatre (1991), in which erotic dancers in South Bend, Indiana, claimed the state’s ban on public nudity violated their First Amendment right to freedom of expression....
Dum Dum Girls Today is opening day for the MLB; if you haven’t filled up on beer and Cracker Jacks by the end of the afternoon and are in the mood to keep the celebrations going there are some great shows to see tonight and in the coming days. “On her latest album, Too True (Sub Pop), Dee Dee Penny (aka Kristen Gundred) lets go of the 60s girl-group elements from earlier Dum Dum Girls records to tighten her embrace of the 80s,” writes Peter Margasak....
Action Bronson Chicago Psych Fest V kicks off tonight at the Hideout with Verma, Mako Sica, Energy Gown, Crown Larks, and the Humminbird—if you can’t make it out this evening, you have a couple more chances to see the annual psych celebration as it continues through Saturday. If psych isn’t your bag there are plenty of other shows worth checking out through the weekend. “Henry Butler is probably the most technically dazzling pianist in blues and R&B today,” writes Dave Whiteis....
There’s a reason dark, woody-toned bassist Clark Sommers is a ubiquitous presence on the Chicago jazz scene—not only does he have impeccable timing and bulldozer force but he’s incredibly versatile. That last quality is a true hallmark of great Chicago musicians of the past, who often had to adapt to all manner of gigs to earn a living, whether playing in pickup bands for a touring R&B singer or playing polkas at a Polish function....
Michael Schmidt/Sun-Times Mayor Emanuel answers questions Wednesday at a press conference outside the Shedd Aquarium. Illinois should follow Chicago’s example and ease up on marijuana, Mayor Emanuel told a General Assembly committee Tuesday. That part of his testimony got the lion’s share of media attention, but the mayor’s other drug proposal was more significant. But whatever the motive, the proposal is a welcome one. Illinois is stingy on social service but extravagant on prosecuting drug addicts....
As the first snowfalls of winter pummel our work-weary faces, it’s difficult to keep in mind that Chicago can be a safe haven, a destination for refugees, a warm and comforting environment for folks escaping the ravages of poverty and government oppression and war. Some felt it viscerally this week, as American border officials fired tear gas canisters at toddlers during an otherwise peaceful march by asylum seekers at the Mexican border....
