1 KING KRULE (Riviera Theatre) This ferociously gifted twenty-three-year-old British singer-songwriter-rapper has pulled a gorgeous sonic arsenal from postmillennial media onslaught. April 27
2 KEB’ MO’ (City Winery) Decades of mainstream success haven’t scrubbed the gravel from the Delta bluesman’s performances. Listen to him, and hear the decades fall away. April 26-27
3 KEVIN MORBY (Thalia Hall) The former Babies frontman is crafting languid, liquid, desolate music that recalls Dylan and Leonard Cohen at their most irresistibly introspective. April 28
4 SUBRAMANIA (SPACE) Indian singer-songwriter Bindu Subramaniam and violinist-composer Ambi blend traditional and popular musical forms with uncanny freshness and wit. April 23
5 KATE NASH (Park West) The British singer-songwriter tours her new album, “Yesterday Was Forever,” a self-described “teenage diary” that manages decidedly adult bite and brio. April 20
Robert Rodi is an author, spoken-word performer and musician who has served as Newcity’s Music Editor since 2014. He’s written more than a dozen books, including the travel memoir “Seven Seasons In Siena.” His jazz quintet recently completed a two-year residency at Uncommon Ground, and he regularly hosts a jazz singers’ jam at Lizard’s Liquid Lounge. His literary and music criticism has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, The Huffington Post and many other national and regional publications. Contact: robert@newcity.com
Music Top 5: April 2019 Van Morrison, the grand old man of folk-rock, returns, both pipes and passion still intact, to celebrate the deluxe reissue of his seminal 1997 album, “The Healing Game.”
Music Top 5: April 2020 Thom Yorke's third album is a collective of complex, often cinematic material, ranging across the compositional landscape from songs to suites.
Music Top 5: August 2018 Jay-Z and Beyoncé's appearance possibly qualifies more as a royal progress than a musical event; but there’s no discounting the ample gifts of each, however much their personal lives tend to distract from it.
Music Top 5: September 2018 Touring his final Childish Gambino album—and on the wave of his viral music video "This Is America," a commentary on race and gun politics—Donald Glover leads the wave of must-see acts in Chicago this month.
Music Top 5: July 2018 Hip-hop legends Black Star hit Taste of Chicago; Foo Fighters take Wrigley Field; British soul band The James Hunter Six slips into City Winery; blues travelers Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite play Thalia Hall; and riveting singer-songwriter Vagabon galvanizes Schubas.
