Music Top 5: July 2018

1
BLACK STAR
(Taste of Chicago)
Yasiin Bey (the former Mos Def) and Talib Kweli have announced a second album, ten years after their first. Odds are, you’ll get a taste at Taste.
July 13

2
FOO FIGHTERS
(Wrigley Field)
The Foos and Radiohead are the arena gods competing for attention this month. The Friendly Confines give the Foos the edge.
July 29, 30

3
THE JAMES HUNTER SIX
(City Winery)
The British bandleader-soul singer has a new album, “Whatever It Takes”—and a full decade of proving that Motor City chops are a prime Yank export.
July 8

4
BEN HARPER AND CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
(Thalia Hall)
The enduring blues men tour their uncannily authentic and searingly intimate new album, “No Mercy In This Land.”
July 30, 31

5
VAGABON
(Schubas)
The Cameroon-born singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist is as idiosyncratic a talent as she is lyrically arresting. A major new voice.
July 20

Robert Rodi

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,” and 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