Posts by Mac Lockett

Pilsen has long served as a historical haven for Chicago immigrants on the lower west-side of Chicago, first for the German and Czech population who gave the neighborhood its name, and then most notably as the Mexican American cultural center of the city in the second half of the 20th century. Gentrification, however, has pushed […]

Besides a near-fatal collision between two bicyclists and claims of a broken femur just outside the front gate, the third show (The Wild Hearts Tour) to kick off at the newest venue (The Salt Shed) in Chicago began without a hitch on August 10th. It was only 5:30 and the bumper-to-bumper rush hour parked on […]

Beyoncé – “Virgo’s Groove” Probably the most anticipated release of the year, Renaissance does not disappoint. For over an hour Beyoncé guides herself through glitchy disco and dance pop, always surprising with her left turns and the ease at which she makes them. “Virgo’s Groove” unfolds like a Jessie Ware leftover, with its groove consistently […]

2019’s Heard It in a Past Life is the kind of album that seems destined to define a career. An album built on the virality of a novice songwriter being discovered in a classroom; an album building from that initial song well enough to become a breakthrough in its own right. As these stories go, […]

Ty Segall – “Saturday Pt. 2” First Taste and Harmonizer were interesting experiments to be sure, but that’s exactly what they were, experiments. “Hello, Hi”, even if more understated, is true to Segall’s ethos in ways he hasn’t addressed in a long time. “Saturday Pt. 2” in particular, features what at this point is a […]

Ty Segall, for all of his versatility and the abundance of his work over the last fifteen years, tends to follow a very simple pattern. Every year or so, he releases a truly great album, with a lot of pleasant and sometimes very good filler between. At least that was the pattern until 2018’s Freedom’s […]

Black Midi has proved themselves to be one of the most forward-thinking rock groups of the decade, so forward-thinking in fact, that even classifying them as “rock” seems reductive. 2019’s Schlagenheim and 2021’s Cavalcade are not perfect albums, but they are, completely unique and singular in their fields; album’ that seemed destined for cult status […]

Delicate Steve – “I Can Fly Away” Steve’s breezy and virtuosic playing has only gotten better, and his ability to captivate with these guitar-driven instrumental jams should have the same hold on the public as Khruangbin, or at least the same hold on college kids cramming for finals. The difference might be that Delicate Steve […]

In a new weekly roundup, Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from release day Friday. Martin Courtney – “Sailboat” Coming off the slight pastoral flicker of his solo debut, Magic Sign feels like more of a success than it is, partly because, unlike Many Moons, it sounds like it involved effort, and partly because […]

When Andy Butler released his self-titled debut as Hercules & Love Affair back n 2008, it was met with critical acclaim, partly because Butler’s disco revival pastiche was somehow ahead of its time, but mostly because collaborator Anohni was in the midst of her creative peak. “Blind” topped plenty of critical lists at the end […]

Joyce Manor – “Souvenir” This kind of snotty punk pop doesn’t normally leave me this cold, but aside from the sole cover, Joyce Manor has been better before. Maybe I’m predisposed to anything OMD adjacent, but it’s hard not to admit how well the track slides into the band’s garage rock vibe. Somehow Joyce Manor […]

On 2019’s 2nd, Grace Ives debuted her take on synth-pop – stringing together a series of programmed instrumentals that seemed to support her as a singer more out of necessity than purpose. What Ives made was really bedroom pop, and each track benefited from a sort of DIY charm, one where the tracks would float […]

What is Kurt Vile supposed to do? He reliably releases a good record every couple of years and then he moves on, should he fixate on the greatness of Wagonwheel Blues or Wakin On a Pretty Daze or pour everything into whatever new material is flowing through the pipe? Bottle It In and (watch my […]

In a new weekly roundup, Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from release day Friday. Dehd – “Empty in My Mind” On this new album, Dehd leans slightly away from the bright guitar rock of their previous releases, in favor of an only slightly less bright guitar rock. It’s a good record, one that […]

Chicago’s Dehd has carved out a particular niche for themselves with their male/female vocal jumps, distinct guitar tones, and unnatural knack for melody. Their 2019 breakout, Water is a great little piece of alt-rock, even if in retrospect it reads like a warm-up to the unsung miracle of 2020’s Flower of Devotion. That record, did […]

In a new weekly roundup, Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from release day Friday. Porridge Radio – “Splintered” I don’t know if Porridge Radio keep getting better or if I just keep forgetting how good they are. Dana Margolin’s vocals should be grating, but they’re not. The catharsis of “Splintered” should not be […]

Back in 2018, a few of Barrie’s first singles began to creep up out of the woodwork. They were eventually passed around with enough word-of-mouth fervor, that the five-piece was able to put out a full-length debut only a year later. Almost simultaneously, Happy to Be Here, one of the best albums of 2019, alienated […]

In a new weekly roundup, Glide drops caustic commentary on selected tracks from release day Friday. Kendrick Lamar – “Die Hard” The most hotly anticipated release of the year, both critically and commercially, doesn’t disappoint. It seemed hard to believe that Damn. came out five years ago, based on that record’s lasting shelf life but […]

Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten, the two co-touring headliners who collaborated on last year’s “Like I Used To”, have a lot in common. They both carry the same alt-singer-songwriter torch, even if neither is really that alternative, and they’ve both developed rabid fan bases that singer-songwriters rarely manage anymore. Most of that can be […]

The Old Town School of Folk Music started in Dawn Greening’s dining room in 1957, just as the burgeoning folk scene began to take shape in America. It soon developed into a Chicago institution, one that weathered the decline of the original folk boon and the closing of its original location. Now, the school’s main […]