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Something about the cold, steel environs of Streeterville’s Loews Chicago Hotel makes the experience of entering its restaurant, Rural Society, a surprise to the senses. You particularly notice the aromas: campfire, leather, tobacco. And, of course, meat—this is the new Argentinian steak house from Jose Garces, the Chicago-raised chef who left to build an empire in Philadelphia and beyond. Counting a Philly taco truck, Rural Society is the 19th restaurant in his stable, and his second on the home front since Mercat a la Planxa, which opened in 2008....

Ever since he waddled into office three years ago, President Trump has been waging war against the environment, and the union of federal employees who are trying to protect it. He has, among other things, opened up federal land to oil and gas drilling, lifted limits on coal mining leases, redefined what water bodies are in order to make it easier for companies to pollute them, and attempted to prevent states like California from setting their own limits on auto emissions....

It takes work to have a place to play, and Michael Foster knows the issue as both an organizer and musician. He’s a cofounder of Queer Trash, which establishes dedicated queer performance events at venues around New York City. The collective hosts experimental and improvised music, harsh noise, performance art, and fashion; Foster’s music in the Ghost, the Andrew Barker Trio, the New York Review of Cocksucking, and duos with percussionists Ben Bennett, Claire Rousay, and Weasel Walter fall into a few of those categories....

Over the last couple of years one of my favorite working bands has been a knotty trio led by guitarist Tim Stine, with bassist Anton Hatwich and either Frank Rosaly or Adam Vida on drums. Both rhythm sections bring a deliciously teetering and coolly swinging energy to Stine’s improvisations, which recall the early work of Joe Morris and the splintery spontaneity of Derek Bailey. Stine doesn’t appreciably change his style and tone in his quartet, but the tunes he performs with alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Quin Kirchner do demonstrate the elasticity of his compositional vision....

In pursuit of what remains a very fuzzy vision of a journalism future driven by artificial intelligence, Tronc is now seeking to hire a “content specialist” to develop and maintain “news content harvesting robots.” Successful candidates are motivated, self-directed, and passionate about shaping the future of news distribution by working at the intersection of hard-hitting journalism and big data. Work with our team of content specialists and ontologists to craft customized information solutions for our hundreds of clients worldwide....

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A Chicago-born army vet and illustrator with modest beginnings ventures into the exclusive world of French haute couture and becomes the very first American couturier to achieve success in Paris. That’s the story told by “Making Mainbocher: The First American Couturier,” which opens tomorrow at the Chicago History Museum. The exhibit features 30 of his garments, plus fashion illustrations, photographs, and interactive displays. How did he begin his career? Where did his learn his craft?...

Devin Shaffer spent her formative years searching for a sense of belonging as a performer—whether on a stage or in Chicago’s musical zeitgeist. In 2012 she found that elusive sense of communion seething from the PA at Cafe Mustache during a set by Haley Fohr of Circuit des Yeux. It encouraged Shaffer to think beyond the typical boundaries for women in music, and last month, nearly a decade later, she released her first album under her own name, a meditative montage of voice and found sound titled In My Dreams I’m There (American Dreams)....

A Reader staffer shares three musical obsessions, then asks someone (who asks someone else) to take a turn. Salem is curious what’s in the rotation of . . . AMON DUUL II – “Dreams” – Made In Germany — WZRD Playlist Log (@WZRDPlaylist) June 1, 2019 Maryanne Amacher “Sound Characters (from 2021 the Life People)” from The Throne of Drones (comp) — WZRD Playlist Log (@WZRDPlaylist) May 30, 2019 Afro-Latin PartyAfricando featuring Amadou Balake – Betece (Africa/Latin America)...

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Among the many accomplishments of Herb Alpert—which include cofounding A&M Records, releasing 28 Billboard-charting albums (including five that reached number one), and being the only artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 as an instrumentalist and as a vocalist—the easy-listening legend has nine original sculptures on permanent display at the Field Museum. But that isn’t even the trumpeter’s most important connection to Chicago: for nearly five decades he’s been married to a local native, Grammy-winning vocalist and former Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66 member Lani Hall, who’s joining him for tonight’s show at City Winery....

In April, downstate-Illinois indie label Polyvinyl released the second album from Louisville power-pop act White Reaper, The World’s Best American Band. Regardless of whether or not there will ever be a clear consensus that any group is worthy of such a title (probably not), White Reaper certainly play like they believe they’re the greatest band from these 50 states. Their frictionless melodies, muscular riffs, and triple-horsepower propulsion could pass for the type of heartland 70s rock ‘n’ roll that still pumps blood into otherwise listless Clear Channel “classic rock” stations....

Since it opened two years ago, Sleeping Village has become a hub for some of the city’s best (and most affordable) local shows. A fine example is this concert, headlined by Chicago underground stalwarts Mako Sica. They’ve been at it since 2007, with core members Przemysław Drążek (formerly of intense rockers Rope) and Brent Fuscaldo steering the band’s expansive ship. Drummers and collaborators, including legendary percussionist Hamid Drake, have come and gone over their numerous LP releases (via adventurous labels such as La Société Expéditionnaire, Feeding Tube, and Permanent), but Mako Sica have always retained a certain fluid consistency in their sound....

Chicago singer-songwriter Kelso Ashby makes whimsical bedroom pop as New Goo, stacking lo-fi percussion, spectral synths, and featherweight vocals. On their new self-released album, Picture of a Picture, they draw from the magnetic, euphoric throb of house music, which dovetails with the raw underpinnings in their intimate material. “Tension” cycles among several threadbare drum loops that hustle the song’s limber funk bass line through wobbly keyboard notes and electronic froufrou. Ashby relies on a limited palette of synthetic sounds, which lends a comforting familiarity even to their strange, unpredictable rearrangements of blinking keys and cracked percussion....

The hottest date I ever brought to Guthrie’s Tavern was my dad. It was the day before Christmas Eve and we decided to hit the bar prior to White Christmas at the Music Box. My dad insisted on playing Battleship and I snuck a look at his board every time he went to buy us drinks. I apologized when I won and he assured me he was already winning by spending time with me....

On their brand-new fourth full-length, High Anxiety (Thrill Jockey), Chicago’s Oozing Wound have finally reached peak ooze. Formed in October 2011 by three Chicago noise rockers with a taste for heavy metal, Oozing Wound have come to be loved for their salty lyrics as much as for their off-kilter take on breakneck thrash. Kicking off with a cheery little number titled “Surrounded by Fucking Idiots,” High Anxiety takes everything great about Oozing Wound and multiplies it by ten....

Even compared to twee icons such as Belle & Sebastian or Camera Obscura, Indian singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad is very twee. His vocals are light, high, and breathy. His music is smooth, melodic folk-pop—think Donovan without the weirdness or the rock influences, or John Denver without the country twang. And his lyrics are steeped in sweet nostalgic indecision. On “Cold/Mess,” the title track of his 2018 EP on Artist Originals (AO), he warbles, “I wish I could leave you, my love / But my heart is a mess / The days they begin with your name and the nights end with your breath....

The last time I crossed paths with Jennifer Herrema, the former Royal Trux vocalist reminded me that she’d grown up in D.C. And digging through the band’s online text archive of interviews from 1998-2001 [http://www.royaltrux.wolfzen.com/rtx_ints_needs_formatting.txt], it occurred to me that Royal Trux is nearly as much a D.C. area band as any of the punk and hardcore acts celebrated in the wave of documentaries hitting the indie small screen soon. Guitarist/singer Neil Hagerty also hailed from D....

There’s nothing like a block party to bring neighborhood folks to the yard. And Eric Williams, owner of the Silver Room boutique, throws a block party that can’t be beat. In 2002, the Silver Room put on its first block party, catering primarily to its most loyal customers and friends. Over the years, the event gradually expanded until attendance reached the thousands. With larger crowds came a larger lineup, and the free festival became more and more difficult for the Silver Room to manage on its own....

Now still being the winter of our discontent, it feels unwarranted for the Goodman Theatre to run its air conditioner on high, as if we could forget for a moment the urban tundra that encircles its new production of The Winter’s Tale, directed by Robert Falls. But a chilly excess characterizes this rendition of Shakespeare’s romance about the destructive jealousy of Sicilian king Leontes (played with muttering intensity by Dan Donohue) and his Job-like redemption, with a comic interlude of song and so forth in the pastoral land of Bohemia....