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This is our chance to look back at 2020, breath a sigh of relief and look to the future. To a time when we will get to see all these great bands once again. Some amazing music was released this year.

REad the second half of our year in review

December is always a somewhat quiet month in music, but here are four singles and one EP that came out of Chicago this month. We hope you had an illuminating pandemic holiday, we sure did. Plug into these fresh tracks and enjoy the sounds of the local scene to bring in the new year.

Check out this months singles out of Chicago

This is our chance to look back at 2020, breath a sigh of relief and look to the future. To a time when we will get to see all these great bands once again. Some amazing music was released this year.

Read the first half of our Year in Review

Civlization - Episode 4

The final of four virtual episodes in this series to help raise awareness and funds for CIVL SAVE Emergency Relief Fund. Please visit the CIVL sight to to make a monthly or one time only donation.

Hosted by DJ and Artist Sadie Woods, this entry features the one of a kind Avery R. Young and The Deacon Board from Rosa’s Lounge, Xoe Wise at Avondale Music Hall, and the series finishes with an excellent set from the David Boykin Expanse on the one and only Empty Bottle stage. A true representation of the breadth of the Chicago scene and it’s many, many vital venues and musicians. We can’t recommend this whole series enough and it’s a reminder of what we will loose if we don’t all chip in to help save our independent venues. Please donate and support CIVL and their SAVE Emergency Relief Fund.

After months of releasing staggered sets of singles, Sonny Falls finally gives us the cherry-on-top by releasing the full, double-LP All That Has Come Apart/Once Did Not Exist. This album showcases the mature efforts of songwriter Ryan “Hoagie Wesley” Ensly, with lyrics clever and light-hearted, to the score of well composed garage-indie flourished with horns, violins, and tambourines.

Read the Review

Wreath of Hogs is four parts talent fronted by a visionary poet named Andrew Rolfsen. A band that is very much in love with the Chicago scene, Wreath of Hogs time in front of music-goers might be limited, but that hasn’t stopped them from being creative, putting out an EP (They’re Not Paintings, May 2019) and full-length (Green House, Green Couch, Sep 2020). We had a chance to talk with frontman, Andrew Rolfsen and pick his brain about the band, COVID, and art as he sees it.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW

⬐ In depth ⬎

One of the Chicago scene’s last releases of 2020 finally hits the airwaves in full this week when Sonny Falls new album All That Has Come Apart​/​Once Did Not Exist makes its full debut on Tuesday, December 15th. A sixteen month journey that was hampered by restarts, delays, and of course the pandemic. Once the record was finished in April, it was released over the course of the summer and fall as singles and two EPs, with only three songs saved for the final record. But now fans can experience the full journey as it was meant to be, a rolling escapade of city life filled with personal experiences and emotive confessions; rocking guitar vibes offset by deftly stirring story songs reminiscent of Elliott Smith or Sun Kil Moon.

Read the Feature

Civlization - Episode 3

The third of four virtual episodes in this series to help raise awareness and funds for CIVL SAVE Emergency Relief Fund. Please visit the CIVL sight to to make a monthly or one time only donation.

Hosted by Metro/Smartbar/G-Man founder Joe Shanahan, this entry features the incomparable SuperKnova in Schubas, Quin Kirchner’s new jazz project at Sleeping Village, indie rockers Minor Moon on the Lincoln Hall stage, and closing with producer/singer/songwriter AMI in Hyde Park’s The Silver Room. A true representation of the breadth of the Chicago scene and it’s many, many vital venues and musicians. We can’t recommend this one enough and it’s a reminder of what we will loose if we don’t all chip in to help save our independent venues. Please donate and support CIVL and their SAVE Emergency Relief Fund.

We combed even deeper into the time we were on hiatus and found a few more excellent projects to share. Make sure to click on the title links to find the album on bandcamp, and give these artists your support and hard earned green backs.

REad About our Selections

Dogs At Large bring us another 2020 release with My Epihpone, departing slightly from their psychedelic sounds for a more synthy, experimental indie rock collection.

Read the review

There is no shortage of killer music coming out this week. As we start diving more into upcoming release lists, singles and endlessly scrolling through Instagram, we are still very much interested in hearing from you about Chicago music on the horizon. Head below to read about a couple albums coming out this week that we’re seriously excited about.

Check Out our Selections

Civlization - Episode 2

The second of four virtual episodes in this series to help raise awareness and funds for CIVL SAVE Emergency Relief Fund. Please visit the CIVL sight to to make a monthly or one time only donation.

Hosted by Comedian and Producer Brain Babylon, this entry features two step masters Wild Earp and The Free For Alls at The Concord, the one and only TALsounds from Martyrs’, and jazz maestro Frank Catalano at Dorian’s. A true representation of the breadth of the Chicago scene and it’s many, many vital venues and musicians. We really enjoyed this one and it’s a reminder of what we will loose if we don’t all chip in to help save our independent venues. Please donate and support CIVL and their SAVE Emergency Relief Fund.

Benefit compilations have been springing up everywhere during 2020. Every scene across the country and the world has been trying to raise funds for a cause or just to keep a roof over their artists heads. However, Warm Violet is something special.

Read the Interview with CCJS volunteer Don Lyons

Buy Warm Violet on Bandcamp Friday

There is no shortage of killer music coming out this week. As we start diving more into upcoming release lists, singles and endlessly scrolling through Instagram, we are still very much interested in hearing from you about Chicago music on the horizon. Head below to read about a couple albums coming out this week that we’re seriously excited about.

Check Out Our Selections

As we comb through the endless emails and PR announcements over the months that we’ve been away, some gems came to light that we just could not keep to ourselves. Here are some singles from the last two months that we are itching to share with you.

⬐Make sure to click on the playlist button to listen to these tunes. ⬎

Read about the last two months in Chicago singles

CIVLIZATION - EPISODE ONE

The first of four virtual episodes in this series to help raise awareness and funds for CIVL SAVE Emergency Relief Fund. Please visit the CIVL sight to to make a monthly or one time only donation.

This first episode features performances from Dos Santos at The Hideout, Beats Y Bateria from The Chop Shop, Half Gringa in The Tonic Room, and ÉSSO at Subterranean. Hosted by Lin Brehmer of WXRT, it’s a strong representation of what we will loose if we don’t all chip in to help save our independent venues. Please donate and support CIVL and their SAVE Emergency Relief Fund.

There is no shortage of killer music coming out this week. As we start diving more into upcoming release lists, singles and endlessly scrolling through Instagram, we are still very much interested in hearing from you about Chicago music on the horizon. Head below to read about a couple albums coming out this week that we’re seriously excited about.

Check Out Our Selections

⬐ Amplify ⬎

Multi-tasking is a way of life for Brianna Tong, the former community organizer turned librarian is a member of three bands, belongs to several organizations, and dabbles in crafts and graphic design in her down time. As the charismatic vocalist for Cordoba, who released their debut full length Specter this month, after delaying the release due to covid, she was ready for the world to hear the record.

Read The Amplify Feature

There is no shortage of killer music coming out this week. As we start diving more into upcoming release lists, singles and endlessly scrolling through Instagram, we are still very much interested in hearing from you about Chicago music on the horizon.

Check Out Our Selections

As with all of the artists on Sooper Records, Luke Titus is an innovator. To say his debut full length record Plasma is a genre mash is to simplify the complex layers of aural magnificence that streams from the glossy, synth fueled pop tunes.

Read The Review

There is no shortage of killer music coming out this week. As we start diving more into upcoming release lists, singles and endlessly scrolling through Instagram, we are still very much interested in hearing from you about Chicago music coming out. Head inside to read about a couple of Chicago bands with albums coming out this week that we’re seriously excited about, and other records we can’t wait to hear.

Check Out Our Selections

Letting Go takes from the traditions of Bakersfield and Nashville to make a soup of Chicago country that is as thick as the lake Michigan fog on a spring night.

READ THE REVIEW

Atalanta is the second installment from our friends, Boundary Waters. This sophomore effort stands true to their sound offering flowing vox, math-like instrumental precision, and an unending dreamscape of harmony.

READ THE REVIEW

Flower of Devotion came out on the very weekend DEHD should’ve been taking Union Park by storm. Hearing Jason Balla singing the refrain “Do you wanna disappear with me?” over Eric McGrady’s bouncing beat was like meeting back up with an old friend.

Read the review

We at CCS may have stepped away for a few months, but the Chicago music scene kept on churning. So many stellar records and projects dropped while we were on hiatus, and we would be remiss if we didn’t feature some of them here. So kick back, plug into the playlist we made, click those links, and buy these artist’s work. All of them are deserving of your hard earned bucks.

READ ABOUT THE MUSIC FROM CHICAGO WE MISSED

We are delving into upcoming release lists. We are keeping tabs on singles. We are scrolling endlessly through Instagram. We are looking for submissions. All to help connect you to the best new music.

CHECK OUT OUR SELECTIONS

A haunting vibe emmenates off the songs of Specter, a fitting soundtrack to the season, in more ways than one. Another crossroads for our culture draws days away and Cordoba has produced a record of poetic journeys wrapped in warnings, protests, coping, and twisted hypnotic sonics that didn’t need a national catastrophe to be topical.

READ THE INTERVIEW