🎧 Revisit these Reader music longreads

Leor Galil celebrates his colleagues' work. [READER]( The Daily Reader December 27, 2023 Revisit these Reader music longreads: I use this space a lot to reflect on my own work; what brought me to a specific story idea, the specific labor and conversations that I did to shape an article, and what I think that work means. And while I may be the only editorial staffer tasked with focusing on music, I am thankfully far from the only Reader writer who contributes to the music section. In the spirit of reflecting on the past year, I’d like to share the music features my colleagues wrote this year. This is hardly a comprehensive guide to every music story we’ve published the past year. Missing are [the concert previews]( Jamie Ludwig assigns and edits, Steve Krakow’s [“Secret History of Chicago Music” column]( Isiah “ThoughtPoet” Veney and Alejandro Hernandez’s [“City of Win” series]( the [Chicagoans of Note interview series]( our comprehensive [World Music Festival guide]( and [Gossip Wolf]( (which I cowrite with J.R. Nelson). I also didn’t include any of my stories, since I can recommend those pieces any other week. I want to celebrate my colleagues' work because I know the care they’ve taken in reporting and writing these stories. These pieces do so much to shape the culture and identity of the Reader and push it in new directions; that, in turn, inspires me to be a better writer, reporter, and critic. Longtime contributors and first-timers contributed features to the paper this year, and I’m proud that we could offer so many journalists and critics space in the paper. As we lose more local newspapers—an average [two and a half a week, according to a recent Medill study]( remarkable that the Reader gives so many writers a platform to document music phenomena no matter how seemingly arcane. All that in mind, let's jump in: [“Talking music and manifestation with JaefKae,”]( by Alycia Kamil (February 1, 2023) [“The Frequency Festival tunes into music that grows between methods and genres,”]( by Bill Meyer (February 10, 2023) [“Smooth Chicago bluesman Jimmy Burns celebrates 80 years,”]( by Aaron Cohen (February 17, 2023) [“Proposed fee hikes on U.S. visas will hurt independent music and inhibit tours from abroad,”]( by Jamie Ludwig (March 6, 2023) [“The ladies who sing from the back,”]( by Deitra Farr (March 23, 2023) [“Depeche Mode celebrate the endurance of life and music at the United Center,”]( by Jamie Ludwig (April 7, 2023) [“The Chicano futurists of No Sé Discos share cosmic sounds from the working class,”]( by Sandra Treviño (April 20, 2023) [“Shi-An Costello confronts prejudice with the piano in The Orient,”]( by Hannah Edgar (April 25, 2023) [“Tink comes home to thank the fans who’ve stood by her from the start,”]( by Tyra Nicole Triche (April 25, 2023) [“In conversation with music manager Tenzin Dekyi,”]( by Stuti Sharma (May 10, 2023) [“Shawnee Dez lives the dream she’s been waiting for,”]( by Tasha Viets-VanLear (May 17, 2023) [“Chicago trio French Police play darker and tour bigger,”]( by Jocelyn Martínez-Rosales (May 19, 2023) [“Rest in power to the King of Blackabilly,”]( by James Porter (May 22, 2023) [“A Q&A with the directors of blues documentary Born in Chicago,”]( by Jamie Ludwig (May 31, 2023) [“Dave Herrero connects new roots to the blues,”]( by Sandra Treviño (May 31, 2023) [“Being the best Smiley he can be,”]( by Bill Dahl (May 31, 2023) [“The Blues Festival’s unofficial headliner,”]( by James Porter (May 31, 2023) [“Sugar Pie DeSanto returns to Chicago for a Blues Festival tribute,”]( by Jake Austen (May 31, 2023) [“‘This is the kind of stuff I’ve looked for my entire time in America,’”]( by Ankur Singh (June 6, 2023) [“Christopher Riggs finds an uncommon resonance with their students,”]( by Austin Woods (June 28, 2023) [“Ariel Zetina brings an inspiring queer community to Pitchfork,”]( by Joan Roach (July 13, 2023) [“Elastic Arts and Hey Nonny receive Music in Action grants,”]( by Kendall Polidori (July 14, 2023) [“A journey into the unknown at Pitchfork,”]( by Annie Howard (July 27, 2023) [“Juggalo family values,”]( by Micco Caporale (August 10, 2023) [“The Chicago Jazz Festival plays it safe,”]( by Bill Meyer (August 23, 2023) [“Alexis Lombre brings her many-hued sound world to the Chicago Jazz Festival,”]( by Hannah Edgar (August 23, 2023) [“The mightiest double bill at the Chicago Jazz Festival,”]( by Steve Krakow (August 23, 2023) [“The Hyde Park Jazz Festival reached new heights in 2023,”]( by Michael Jackson (October 3, 2023) [“Yvonne Gage is living her best life,”]( by Aaron Cohen (October 4, 2023) [“The good of the night: remembering DJ Teri Bristol,”]( by Jacob Arnold (October 5, 2023) [“When Sly Stone fronted a Chicagoland bar band,”]( by Jack Riedy (November 2, 2023) [“Balikbayan Worldwide takes Filipino dance music global,”]( by Micco Caporale (November 30, 2023) [“Chicago celebrates Peter Brötzmann,”]( by Bill Meyer (December 13, 2023) I want to give a special shout-out to music editor Philip Montoro for publishing all these stories. And if you’ve ever wanted to write a music feature for us, I highly recommend pitching Philip; you can find our [pitch guidelines right here](. Sincerely, [“Hardcore Expanded Its Boundaries in 2023—and the Scene Embraced It,”]( by Nina Corcoran (Pitchfork) [“TikTok Has Made Shoegaze Bigger Than Ever,”]( by Eli Enis (Stereogum) [“The Best Emo Albums Of 2023,”]( by Ian Cohen (Uproxx) Closed Casket, [Death at a Funeral]( Cerberus Shoal, [… And Farewell to Hightide (Deluxe Expanded Edition)]( AyooLii, [Mindstate of Luxury]( ❄️ Leor’s [“Bye 2023”]( playlist [Rapper-singer Hitxion meets a 2023 goal with a birthday show]( Plus: Advance Base plays the Hungry Brain to wrap up a Christmas tour, and Beat Kitchen hosts Punks for Palestine. by [Leor Galil]( | [Read more]( → [Chicago rapper Rell Cash cultivates cannabis and community]( His in-the-works growing operation pushes back against the inequities created by criminalization and perpetuated in the legal marketplace. by [Alejandro Hernandez]( | [Read more]( → [Chicago punks Man-eaters start 2024 with a bang]( by [Jamie Ludwig]( | [Read more]( → [Rap legend Freeway celebrates the 20th anniversary of his debut, Philadelphia Freeway]( by [Cristalle Bowen]( | [Read more]( → Join the Reader Membership Community! 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