Welcome back to AVC Sessions. This week, we’re getting a taste of Michelle Zauner’s solo project, Japanese Breakfast. A.V. Club contributor Brian Shultz recently commended her sophomore effort, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, calling out its “confidence and crispness,” and naturally, we were excited to have her share…

The A.V. Club went to Pitchfork Music Festival and met up with a dozen bands, musicians, and artists while there. In the spirit of the festival’s parent site, we asked the acts we met with to rate everyday things using the Pitchfork scale (0.0 to 10.0). In our final video from the festival, we’re joined by William…

Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to review sites and release calendars, it’s hard to know what’s coming out…

The A.V. Club went to Pitchfork Music Festival and met up with a dozen bands, musicians and artists while there. In the spirit of the festival’s parent site, we asked the acts we met with to rate everyday things using the Pitchfork scale (0.0 to 10.0). In this video, punk band Priests joins The A.V. Club to talk raw…

Even if you’re not familiar with the name The Exciters, there’s a very good chance you know their 1962 pop hit “Tell Him,” given it’s been featured in roughly a thousand movies and TV shows in the intervening years. The group is a superb example of ’60s R&B pop mixed with girl group brio, the kind of soul music that…

The A.V. Club went to Pitchfork Music Festival and met up with a dozen bands, musicians, and artists while there. In the spirit of the festival’s parent site, we asked the acts we met with to rate everyday things using the Pitchfork scale (0.0 to 10.0). In this video, we’re joined by Jason and Mikey from Chicago rock…

Arcade Fire’s fifth LP Everything Now opens with its title track, twice. The first version, logged under the name “Everything_Now (Continued),” lasts for just under one woozy minute, and it in no way prepares the listener for what’s to come. When the dirgelike intro gives way to the full five-minute “Everything Now,”…

Tyler, The Creator, Flower Boy
Grade: A-

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya is one of the weirdest—and sweetest—rappers to emerge from Chicago’s vibrant hip-hop scene. His music is often punctuated by odd vocal distortions, synthesizers, and sound effects that might be more appropriate on a video game soundtrack. But all this works to Ogbonnaya’s advantage. He blends all…

For the latest installment in our Pickathon video series, Ty Segall & The Muggers get the crowd going with a performance of “They Told Me Too.”

I have no idea what the fuck Mark E. Smith is talking about. Of course, this has long been part of The Fall’s appeal: Since 1976, Smith has composed some of the most delightfully labyrinthine lyrics ever written, flecked with reference to H.P. Lovecraft and old Twilight Zones, filled with regional British slang I’m…

For The A.V. Club TV show, host John Teti interviewed Rhymefest about the state of music in Chicago. The rapper, writer, and social activist had more to say than we could fit in the episode, so here’s the unabridged conversation in written form, alongside some outtakes. The A.V. Club Hosted By John Teti airs Thursday…

You look for two things out of a weekend-long festival. The first is good headliners, which this month’s Pitchfork Music Festival had in the form of A Tribe Called Quest and Solange. The second is to stumble across some mid-afternoon set that is way, way better than you expected. I’ve seen Grizzly Bear and the Clipse…

Welcome back to AVC Sessions, our new series where we bring in an artist, band, musician, singer, rapper, etc. to perform three of their own tracks. This week, we’re joined by fellow Midwesterner Pokey LaFarge. Originally from Bloomington, Illinois, LaFarge brings his classic folk stylings to the big city. Today, he’s…

The A.V. Club went to Pitchfork Music Festival and met up with a dozen bands, musicians, and artists while there. In the spirit of the festival’s parent site, we asked the acts we met with to rate everyday things using the Pitchfork scale (0.0 to 10.0). In this video, we’re joined by singer-songwriter Kilo Kish, who…

Summer is concert season, and these past few months have brought out a variety of outfits that all fall on the scale somewhere between reinvention and nostalgia. I have been on a bit of a tear this summer, kicking off with the Hall & Oates/Tears For Fears double bill, bookending that with Violent Femmes/Echo And The…

The A.V. Club went to Pitchfork Music Festival and met up with a dozen bands, musicians, and artists while there. In the spirit of the festival’s parent site, we asked the acts we met with to rate everyday things using the Pitchfork scale (0.0 to 10.0). In this video, the guys from American Football joined us to give…

Welcome back to AVC Sessions, our new series where we bring in an artist, band, musician, singer, rapper, etc. to perform three of their own tracks. This week, we’re joined by Midwesterner Pokey LaFarge. Originally from Bloomington, Illinois, LaFarge brings his classic folk stylings to the big city. Here he performs…

The A.V. Club went to Pitchfork Music Festival over the weekend and met up with a dozen bands, musicians, and artists while there. In the spirit of the festival’s parent site, we asked the acts we met with to rate everyday things using the Pitchfork scale (0.0 to 10.0). Today, the members of Frankie Cosmos try to find…

Welcome back to AVC Sessions, our new series where we bring in an artist, band, musician, singer, rapper, etc. to perform three of their own tracks. This week, we’re joined by a fellow Midwesterner Pokey LaFarge. Originally from Bloomington, Illinois, LaFarge brings his classic folk stylings to the big city. Today, he…