💘 Reader Matches and Missed Connections

Plus: Bob Nanna writes a song for your valentine [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | February 14, 2024 By now I suspect you’ve already made your Valentine’s Day plans. I sure hope you make time to share joy with people you care about, regardless of your marital status; we could all use a little pick-me-up in this cold and gray stretch of the year. I wanted to write about a love song for today’s newsletter, but pop music has no shortage of great options and I’m afraid I’m stifled by option paralysis. But I remembered one special love song I had a hand in: a decade ago, I hired Bob Nanna to write a song for my friend Matt on behalf of his partner, my friend Anne, [for a Valentine’s Day story](. It’s one of my favorite Reader features, partly because no other news outlet would’ve given me so much room to write a story about a niche business that’s also about a great musician making a surprise gift for one of my closest friends. All these years later, I’m not sure I can think of a better song I associate with Valentine’s Day. ◈ [“Palestinian American brothers from Lombard taken in Israeli raid of their Gaza shelter, family says,”]( by Nader Issa (Chicago Sun-Times) ◈ [“The ‘Spontaneous Power’ of Damo Suzuki,”]( by Joshua Minsoo Kim (Rolling Stone) ◈ [“Ye and Ty Dolla $ign preview ‘Vultures’ at a Chicago listening party full of devotion and contradiction,”]( by Jessi Roti (Chicago Tribune) ◈ Ike Yard, [1982]( ◈ Damo Suzuki with Defender, [“An Oracle Appeared From A Tree and His Name Was Damo Suzuki”]( ◈ Mope Grooves, [Desire]( ◈ Asian Glow, [Unwired Detour]( [Like Tinder in print]( A look back at the love stories that started in the pages of the Reader, no swiping necessary by [Taryn Allen]( | [Read more]( → [Romance in the 90s (or lack thereof)]( As seen through the lens of vintage Missed Connections. by [Kevin Warwick]( | [Read more]( → [Varsity collect a year of monthly singles on the new Souvenirs]( Plus: Lapgan produces the first album in nine years from fellow Punjabi Heems, and Patrick Jasper celebrates the first song from a new rock-leaning record. by [DMB (Debbie-Marie Brown)]( and [Leor Galil]( | [Read more]( → [The Kills return to Chicago on the 22nd anniversary of their first show]( by [Shannon Nico Shreibak]( | [Read more]( → Never miss a show again. [GET ON THE LIST: EARLY WARNINGS]( Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, February 8, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 9]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Become a member of the Chicago Reader.]( [Twitter icon]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [YouTube icon]( [Website icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616