Andy Downing

Metal, oft-overlooked for its experimental nature, has slowly evolved into the most inventive genre in music, encapsulating bands as diverse as Dimmu Borgir, Boris and Sunn O))). The latter two...

You might never guess from hearing her music that Martha Berner is a seasoned traveler: There are no tales of sparkling island seas or galaxies of Anchorage stars in her...

Anybody who saw the final evening of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" weeklong residency at the Chicago Theatre was treated to appearances by Chicago luminaries such as U.S. Sen. Barack...

Between recording the Hush Sound's sophomore album "Like Vines" (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) and playing arenas in the United States and England while opening for Fall Out Boy, vocalist Greta Salpeter...

Things tend to happen slowly for Russian Circles. The band approaches songwriting the way most people approach their day-to-day existence; its tunes, which take anywhere from two weeks to five...

The lo-fi aesthetic is nothing new in indie rock, with four-track and basement recordings largely defining the genre since its infancy. So when Nick Wright, who performs under the name...

With all three band members dressed head-to-toe in black and frequently reduced to silhouettes by backlighting and the constant belching of a fog machine, the Secret Machines cut a shadowy...

The idea of "ones and zeroes" is something that author Thomas Pynchon explored on more than one occasion, writing in "Vineland": "If everything about an individual could be represented in...

Joe and Amanda Ziemba of the Like Young have grown used to disappointment. After the release of their debut album, "Art Contest," the two quit their day jobs in order...

On the Low Skies first album, "Bed," frontman Chris Salveter demonstrated a knack for penning bleak murder ballads. With the band's sophomore effort, "All the Love I Could Find" (Flameshovel),...