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- Blogs, Bleader Oct 9, 2018
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Otis Rush and his searing guitar immortalized the west-side Chicago blues sound
Rush is hardly obscure, but the Secret History of Chicago Music couldn't let the death of such a powerful and influential artist pass in silence.
- Music, Gossip Wolf Jul 31, 2018
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First-wave drill producer LeekeLeek dies at 27
Plus: Veteran Chicago rapper Longshot celebrates his collaboration with Lazerbeak, and Drum Corps International hosts a world championship in Michigan City.
- Music, Gossip Wolf Jul 17, 2018
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RIP to beloved Chicago house DJ and producer Sean Haley
Plus: Punk Rock and Donuts throws a Pilsen Reads! benefit, local pop-rock band Bike Cops celebrate their debut full-length, and more.
- Music, Music Feature Apr 19, 2018
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Entertainment lawyer Jay B. Ross fought for the people who made the music he loved
An expert negotiator, he went to bat for stars as big as James Brown and Muddy Waters, but he also clawed back royalties for countless forgotten artists who’d never gotten their due.
- Blogs, Bleader Jan 24, 2018
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Mark E. Smith, the acerbic voice of influential Manchester postpunks the Fall, dead at 60
Mark E. Smith's inimitable sneer was a lacerating antidote to mediocrity for more than four decades.
- Music, Gossip Wolf Sep 19, 2017
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RIP Trey Gruber of promising young Chicago band Parent
Plus: New recordings on the way from the Father Costume—and a new album already here from Dan Whitaker & the Shinebenders
- Music, Gossip Wolf Aug 1, 2017
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Beloved underground rapper Mic One passes on too soon
Plus: Donnie Biggins of Harmonica Dunn takes over as booker at FitzGerald’s, and Pilsen’s Dvorak Park hosts the We Are Hip-Hop Youth Festival.
- Blogs, Bleader Jul 18, 2017
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Phil Cohran shaped the Black Arts Movement with his vision and discipline
Secret History pays tribute to its first subject, the late Phil Cohran, who cofounded the AACM, formed the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, and launched the Affro-Arts Theater.
- Music, Gossip Wolf Mar 1, 2017
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West-side music-business institution Willie Barney dies at 89
Plus: Music Frozen Dancing returns to the Empty Bottle with a “kool” surprise guest, and Immortal Bird crowdfund to replace stolen gear.
- Music, Music Feature Dec 22, 2016
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The best live metal of 2016
Metal shows remain a great way to drive hostile occupiers out of your head—whether you prefer the bitter catharsis of False or the galloping rush of Tengger Cavalry.
- Blogs, Bleader Nov 11, 2016
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So long, Leonard Cohen
We mourn him, even though he told us this was coming.
- Music, Gossip Wolf Nov 1, 2016
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Eat chili to help the Arts of Life Band release their first album
Plus: Postpunks Ganser continue a busy 2016 with a new EP, Konstantin Jace of Moritat spins 78s all month at the Peninsula, and more.
- Blogs, Bleader Oct 25, 2016
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Saying good-bye to Herb Kent, radio’s greatest of all time
Herb Kent helped shaped Chicago's musical tastes for more than 70 years, and his on-air persona was history's purest example of radio magic.
- Music, Gossip Wolf Oct 11, 2016
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Chicago label Deep Space Objects compiles a constellation of diverse electronic tracks
Plus: Argot releases the serenely funky 90s house of Shifty Science, Lord Mantis drummer Bill Bumgardner dies at 35, and more.
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 6, 2016
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Country giant Merle Haggard dead at 79
The last living genius of honky-tonk passes away on his birthday.
- Blogs, Bleader Nov 24, 2014
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Goose Island's 2014 Bourbon County beers, reviewed by six increasingly drunk people
Chicago's most hyped beers of the year arrive on Black Friday, and the Reader is ready.
- Blogs, Bleader Oct 10, 2014
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RIP Fletcher Weatherspoon, longtime pillar of Chicago's African-American social-club scene
Jake Austen profiled Weatherspoon for the Reader in the 2012 feature story "Spoon's last dance."
- Blogs, Bleader Jun 9, 2014
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Sweet soul: The generosity and tragedy of soul historian Bob Abrahamian
A personal farewell to Chicago soul historian and WHPK deejay Bob Abrahamian, who died at age 35 last week
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 1, 2014
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Remembering Frankie Knuckles
The house-music legend is dead at 59.
- Music, Music Feature Dec 26, 2013
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Our favorite music of 2013
Six Reader writers, 12 months, 30 picks—and not one list that just rearranges the same records you'll see everywhere else
- Music, Gossip Wolf Oct 9, 2013
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Gossip Wolf: Oozing Wound discharges its first album
Plus: Teen Witch throws a sexy alien party, Oshwa preps a fancy single, and more
- Blogs, Bleader Apr 26, 2013
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RIP George Jones, my gateway to really hearing country music
The brilliant singer George Jones has died, but as the guy who made country music make sense for me, he'll live forever.
- Blogs, Bleader Mar 18, 2013
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Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Company and Songs: Ohia dead at 39
Jason Molina, leader of Magnolia Electric Company, died on Saturday in Indianapolis at age 39.
- Blogs, Bleader Jan 29, 2013
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Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris, inventor of musical conduction, dead at 65
The cornetist and inventor of an approach to conducted improvisation called "conduction" passed away following a struggle with cancer.
- Blogs, Bleader Sep 17, 2012
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Shows to see: Obituary, Devin Townsend, David Byrne & St. Vincent, Big Business
Soundboard picks from the next three days include several flavors of metal and whatever David Byrne & St. Vincent's collaboration is