Philip Montoro

The pomelo sorbet at Village Creamery is ludicrously intense—it cranks the sweetness and tartness up to 11.

In this interview, Greg Obis attempts to demystify mastering—while explaining why it'd still be a good idea to let a professional handle it.

Bin Chen is a research associate professor in the chemistry department at Northwestern University, where he manages a team of 30 people within the 80-member lab led by Canadian scientist Ted Sargent.

Bin Chen is a research associate professor in the chemistry department at Northwestern University, where he manages a team of 30 people within the 80-member lab led by Canadian scientist Ted Sargent.

Improvising cellist and Elastic Arts curator Ishmael Ali wants to bring together crowds from siloed subsets of the experimental arts scene.

Polymorphous prog prodigies Sleepytime Gorilla Museum share a bill at Lincoln Hall with Chicago weirdos Dead Rider and Cheer-Accident.

Joseph Guzman: The Star Partyer

“Power should be more equally distributed—it should be a wide variety of people,” says drummer and Option series curator Lily Glick Finnegan. “It shouldn’t just be one person deciding this is what jazz is and this is what improvised music is.”

Kokoko! are oddballs even in their hometown of Kinshasa, and now they’re bringing their cosmopolitan junkyard beats to the Empty Bottle.

What the freezing temperatures of Chicago’s winter lakefront can give you

The best prodigal son in a rock band is Jonathan van Herik returning to Facs.

An excerpt from the music memoir You’re With Stupid, by Kranky label cofounder Bruce Adams

The touring musician

The blowtorch of a rapper also known as Brian Hines helped weld together Chicago’s 90s hip-hop scene.

“Around 300 performers have flown to Chicago to pay tribute to Jeff’s music,” says Michael Cameron, co-owner of Uncommon Ground. “It’s like the Jeff Buckley pilgrimage to Grace Street.”

I suspended my reporting on the firing of Mykele Deville at his request—and as dismayed as I am by what I learned, I hope the Hideout grows from its failure.

Plus: No Men preview their next record with a eye-singeing new video, and postgrunge duo Orisun release their debut full-length.

Herschell Gordon Lewis invented the modern splatter film with Blood Feast—and he’s inspired two thousand rock ’n’ roll maniacs.

Plus: The Boombastic party adds a Halloween costume contest to become Boo!bastic, and Gman Tavern celebrates the 40th birthday of 1999 with a night of Prince tunes by DJs Jill Hopkins and Jack Riedy.

The Equity Arts project wants to turn the building it shares with TriTriangle and No Nation into an incubator for a diverse arts community, but it proposes to evict curators who live in their spaces.