Life Sentence bassist and vocalist Joe Losurdo says his 80s hardcore band is probably better known for its T-shirt than for its music. It’s not as iconic as the Black Flag bars, but Life Sentence’s logo is one of the best of the era: the word “life” is stamped in huge white capital letters on a red background (an obvious nick from Life magazine), while “sentence” appears in black lowercase directly beneath....

In 2010 Gossip Wolf reported on a forthcoming album called One in Two Parts by local industrial-metal duo Plague Bringer—and fans of the band’s turgid, squalling blasts are still waiting for it! Last week on Bandcamp, Plague Bringer dropped “A Dismal Creep,” the first new track since 2013 of their distinctive “cyber-grind” (to quote the Reader‘s Luca Cimarusti). Guitarist Greg Ratajczak promises he’s “going to finish this 90-­minute two-disc set sometime in 2016” and that he “hopes to include a personal musical hero on guest vocals....

If Gerry Hemingway had retired from music in 1994, at the end of his 11-year-long tenure as the drummer with Anthony Braxton’s quartet, he would have been assured a lasting place in the annals of jazz and improvised music. But his contributions to that combo—which used its preternatural rapport to realize Braxton’s concept of superimposing and alternating between multiple compositions in real time—turned out to be an early chapter in a long career that has encompassed diligent explorations of lyrically expressive jazz, rigorously cohesive free improvisation, and empathetic pairings of his acoustic percussion and electronic sounds with theatrical and video works....

It had been over ten years since I’d visited this institution devoted to celebrating and promoting Afro-Latin arts and culture in Chicago. So when I wandered into the Hermosa space to vote last month at an ungodly early hour and was immediately greeted by live music and center volunteers there just to hang out, I was delighted to be flooded with memories of visits to a previous location during my first days in the city nearly three decades back....

It’s hard at this point to even imagine a world without television and film. Instead of viewing parties for Breaking Bad or a Star Wars marathon, families and friends gathered around an old-timey radio waiting to hear the thrilling conclusion to the soap opera Clara, Lu, and Em or the latest headlines on NBC (pre-peacock). But this weekend the local audio-storytelling organization hosts the Third Coast Festival’s Filmless Festival—the “Sundance for radio” according to Third Coast founder Johanna Zorn—to prove that the days of communal audio experiences are far from over....

It happened in the store before I got there. Paul was cleaning already and badgered me until I gave up my smoke break and clocked in early too. The man was a regular, weekly refill of his toilet paper, applesauce, rye bread. Fell into an end cap of cans. A pyramid of corn and beans busted onto the floor and rolled into produce. “They called it a ‘widowmaker,’” Paul said, “but they said his wife died last year, right?...

Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies There are no big surprises in Jessica Sherr’s 60-minute solo, no novel insights. Yes, Bette Davis faced sexism in the movie industry. Yes, it was lonely at the top. Even if you didn’t see Feud, the recent FX series about her war with Joan Crawford, you likely know already that Davis drank to excess, smoked like a chimney, had a sharp tongue, and earned two Oscars, arguably getting robbed of a third by Vivien Leigh and the 1939 Gone With the Wind juggernaut....

Last week the Pitchfork Music Festival made its first lineup announcement, revealing almost two dozen acts—including headliners Beck, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Kendrick Lamar. In January this wolf correctly predicted that Sun Kil Moon would end up on the bill, and now it’s time for a second round of guesses: Philly indie-rockers Swearin’, black-metal darlings Deafheaven, Smogless singer-songwriter Bill Callahan, and celestial folk outfit Mutual Benefit. Gossip Wolf rides pretty hard for the swinging, bluesy stomp of Chicago duo Redgrave—their National Act EP was one of our favorites of 2012!...

National Center for Jewish Film Lili Lliana (not my grandmother) in Kol Nidre There was no way I could have missed last night’s screening of Kol Nidre, which played as part of Doc Films’ free series of Yiddish-language American films from the late 1930s. The movie features an appearance by my maternal grandmother—her one and only screen appearance, in fact. How she came to be in Kol Nidre is a well-established piece of family lore....

Alison Green Marijuana possession laws in Illinois are confusing and unfair, says Roosevelt University’s Kathie Kane-Willis. You don’t have to be stoned to end up dazed and confused about the pot laws in Illinois. A hodgepodge of rules and enforcement practices has created an inconsistent system of justice across the state, according to a study released Monday by the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy at Roosevelt University. More than 100 cities and towns in Illinois have passed laws allowing police to issue citations for marijuana possession....

For years the Northbrook Public Library has offered the best repertory film screenings in Chicagoland outside the city limits. Every Wednesday the library presents a different classic film free of charge; as an added bonus, movies are often projected from 35-millimeter celluloid (though in recent years the library has screened films from DCP and BluRay as well). The diverse selections showcase the best of every decade of American cinema, with lesser-known titles and foreign films often thrown into the mix....

This Sunday the pop-up dining series Hungry as F*ck will take over Kimski—a Bridgeport restaurant that normally serves Korean-Polish street food—for its Hawaiian-inspired Ono Brunch. Organizers Amy Lecza and Kelly Ijichi are creating takes on Hawaiian classics that include butter mochi, kalua pork, lomi-lomi salmon, and ube pancakes. It’s their third event, but the first that isn’t ticketed, which opens it up to a wider audience. “Anyone off the street, anyone that typically goes to Kimski for brunch will see us and eat our food,” Ijichi says....

Last night’s Democratic presidential debate viewing party at Happy Village wasn’t very partylike. About 100 people—mostly fervent Bernie Sanders supporters—gathered to spend a couple hours watching the candidates express their points of view on TV, but the noise in the cozy East Village pub rarely rose above murmuring-at-a-book-club level. Slices of pizza were consumed, the Tamale Guy popped in for a visit, and a handful of pointed remarks from Sanders and Clinton earned mild whoops, but otherwise it felt only slightly more exciting than watching a WWII documentary in a library....

In our gluten-averse society, a gluten-free grain that’s virtually unknown sounds all but impossible. Job’s tears, which have been consumed for centuries across Asia, are technically not a grain (the plant is part of the grass family), but that didn’t stop Bon Appetit from declaring them “the next cult gluten-free grain” last year. In the case of the wild strain, Job’s tears are often dried and used as beads, while the softer domesticated version can be steamed like rice, ground into flour, boiled to make tea, and brewed into beer....

Scott Olson / Getty Images New Jersey governor Chris Christie joined Bruce Rauner, the GOP candidate for Illinois governor, to engage in a little Pat Quinn bashing. Bruce Rauner wanted to talk about how Governor Pat Quinn’s policies have allowed corruption and crime to become “rampant” in some parts of Illinois. It’s also a state that’s hundreds of miles from the bridge where his aides reportedly jammed traffic for days to retaliate against a political foe....

J. Joseph Cox’s play, receiving its world premiere at the 16th Street Theater, is about a lot of things. It’s about a preteen who was born female and now identifies as a boy. It’s about a father, a conservative gulf war vet who can’t accept that his Natalie wants to be called Nate. It’s also about his anger issues and PTSD and his fear that he may lose shared custody of Nate....

My first week in Chicago, in February 1995, I was driving around exploring the city when I turned my girlfriend’s juddery little red Hyundai down Fulton Market between two delivery trucks backed up against opposite-facing loading docks. I was slowly squeezing my way through when around the corner whipped a forklift piloted by a wild-eyed berserker with Lemmy-length hair and a bloodied white work coat who stopped on only the briefest beat before hitting the gas, well aware that I was already putting the car in reverse and getting the fuck out of his way....

After hosting underground bands for five years Avondale’s Auxiliary Arts Center says good-bye tonight with one final show, which doubles as a release party for a cassette compilation, Aux Mix Tape Volume 1. The album’s title gives me hope that Auxiliary Arts Center’s organizers will be able to continue flying the flag for Chicago’s DIY scene beyond tonight; at the very least the folks at Powell Brew House, who frequently collaborate with the Auxiliary Arts Center crew, aim to continue their annual “Arts N Drafts” minifest....

An avid researcher of fashion and art history, Alma Wieser takes classic ideas and translates them into original contemporary designs for her line, Renovar. She got her start back in junior high, when she altered vintage garments to suit her sophisticated taste, and currently offers a lower-priced line of reworked vintage items, but her latest high-end collection—inspired by legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland—also includes new items. Her aesthetic is “complex simplicity,” clothes that seem minimal but have an elaborate construction....

DJ Rashad was on course to guide footwork music to a crossover breakthrough when he died in April at age 34; he’d performed in Europe, opened for Chance the Rapper on his U.S. tour last fall, and played at many high-profile festivals, including Pitchfork in July. On last year’s Double Cup, Rashad pushed footwork toward pop while retaining its eccentric, fluttering beats, hyperactive pace, and strange internal tension among syncopated layers....