A couple of years ago the excellent, trance-inducing Chicago instrumental-rock band Cave quietly vanished. Drummer Rex McMurry moved to North Carolina in November 2015, while Cooper Crain and Rob Frye became increasingly busy with Bitchin Bajas, among other projects. That state of affairs felt like a shame to me, because Cave was on a serious roll; from a Columbia, Missouri, band bent on experimenting and jamming it had grown into an impressively lean and taut combo that mined a mix of Krautrock grooves and ultradry funk redolent of 70s Miles Davis and “Shaft”-era Isaac Hayes—especially on unstoppable rippers such as “Sweaty Fingers,” which opened its last studio album, Threace (Drag City)....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, October 9, 2016. Ken Griffin donates $2 million to Illinois GOP statehouse races Illinois Republicans are trying very hard to win more Illinois General Assembly seats in the November election in order to take away the Democrats’ supermajority. Billionaire Ken Griffin, a major contributor to Governor Bruce Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, recently donated $2 million to GOP house minority leader Jim Durkin’s campaign account to fund legislative races....

The Reader founding member pins are here! You can pick yours up at our office (2930 S. Michigan) Monday through Friday between 9 AM and 5 PM or stop by one of our pin parties to meet Reader staffers, get a members-only deal, and show off your backward-R pride: Wednesday, June 19, 5-7 PM Members picking up pins at the Promontory (5311 S. Lake Park) can meet publisher Tracy Baim and get free entry to the Danny Lerman Experience with Adam Hawley show at 8 PM (for as long as tickets are available)....

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Derrick Rose to undergo major knee surgery Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, alarm, amuse, or inspire us. • About a Maraschino cherry company in Brooklyn that was discovered to be a front for a huge marijuana-growing operation? —Ben Sachs • That Austin, Texas, is the country’s most economically segregated city? —Drew Hunt

Hello, global visitors to the third Chicago Architecture Biennial. Welcome! One of the most disturbing is playing out in real time just three short blocks from the biennial’s main venue. To check it out, exit the Cultural Center on its north side and turn left, where a five-minute walk on Randolph Street will bring you face to face with what looks like an alien space transport vessel—a massive, squat, pink and bluish anomaly plopped down across from City Hall in the midst of Chicago’s towering skyscrapers....

You don’t have to get frosted tips or wear a flame-themed bowling shirt to venture out and enjoy new places, but sometimes it can still be hard to get out of the neighborhood (whether you’re headed to Flavortown or not). Here’s some ideas for local places to “dive” in to and some things to stay in for (in case you just can’t imagine leaving the house this weekend). Enjoy! Fri 4/23, 5-7 PM: DJ Phokiss hosts Farm, Food, Familias, & Fiesta, an online party with a purpose and fundraiser for the Farm, Food Familias mutual-aid meals project that delivers free meals to families in Little Village, Englewood, and South Chicago....

I was at a wedding last week when a rowdy, intoxicated record collector cornered me and exclaimed, “The Rolling Stones! Name another band that’s been going as long!” Usually I don’t play these sorts of games, especially at weddings, but this time I had to admit he’d stumped me—I don’t count reunion tours with only one or two original members (see: the Who). The only possible contender I could think of was ZZ Top, who still have all three founding members, but they started a full seven years after the Rolling Stones formed in 1962—so there’s no contest....

Pandemic life leaves a lot to be desired, but I’m especially unenthused about the extra time I spend on social media for work and . . . well, not pleasure, but to connect with people I care about but can’t physically be around. Doomscrolling creates an anxiety-provoking feedback loop: though I continue to click out of a desire to feel more engaged with my communities, I inevitably feel more isolated the more I partake in it....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, November 15, 2016. Father Pfleger speaks out on the bright side of a Trump win, haters, and more In a short but revealing interview with Chicago magazine, longtime antiviolence activist Father Michael Pfleger sounds off on everything from the recent presidential election to making “people uncomfortable with the status quo.” He even sees a bright spot regarding president-elect Donald Trump: “He rallied the worst elements of America in terms of racism, prejudice, supremacy, and arrogance....

Q: I’m a 36-year-old straight woman. I was sexually and physically abused as a kid, and raped in my early 20s. I have been seeing a great therapist for the last five years, and I am processing things and feeling better than I ever have. I started dating this past year, but I’m not really clicking with anyone. My problem is that I’d really love to get laid. The idea of casual sex and one-night stands sounds great—but in reality, moving that quickly with someone I don’t know or trust freaks me out, causes me to shut down, and prevents me from enjoying anything....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Thursday, July 21, 2016. What’s up with the Chicago Police Department’s mysterious robot? The Chicago Police Department has a rarely seen tool to fight crime and respond to emergencies: a robot. The robot was on standby when police were called to a north-side motel Monday regarding a man inside who was threatening to kill himself. Dallas police used a similar-looking machine, the Remotec Andros Mark V-A1, to detonate an explosive during the standoff with Micah Xavier Johnson, who killed five officers earlier this month....

Gossip Wolf has loved local five-piece I Kong Kult for years—their funky fusion of new wave and prog sounds like a collaboration by the Waitresses, drummer Tony Allen, and Soft Machine! They’ve been quiet for a while, but drummer Areif Sless-Kitain (a onetime Reader staffer) says that I Kong Kult—whose lineup also includes his Eternals bandmate Wayne Montana—are ending a three-year hiatus by celebrating their debut album, Warnings, at the Burlington on Saturday, December 10....

You know it’s a bleak scene when your team’s victory song makes “Chelsea Dagger” sound like “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The Blackhawks’ celebration soundtrack seems straight-up nuanced and sophisticated when compared to the dopey, hokey strains of “Go, Cubs, Go.” Chicago-born folksinger and songwriter Steve Goodman wrote “Go, Cubs, Go” in 1984, the same year he died of leukemia at age 36. Over the years his music has been recorded by an impressive cast of singers, including Willie Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez....

Polls had suggested that Hillary Clinton would trounce Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary in Illinois, but last Tuesday’s contest ended up practically a draw. A poll in mid-February had Clinton beating Sanders by 19 points; a Tribune poll in early March showed Clinton winning by 42 points. Ultimately she snuck by Sanders, 50.5 percent to 48.7 percent. Since delegates in Illinois are awarded in proportion to the vote, Clinton and Sanders will wind up with nearly the same number: according to the latest estimate, Clinton will get 73 and Sanders 70....

A life in the theater, on- or offstage, is so notoriously difficult that it’s become romanticized. Young, aspiring actors and crew members expect long hours, late nights, and hard physical labor, all for little or no pay. It’s the price of joining a profession that many in the industry say is still not well regulated, despite recent efforts. Jack Hickey, the theater’s artistic director, says he and his colleagues “were genuinely surprised” by the complaints and resignations and were unaware of any problems until Grow announced her resignation....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Wednesday, November 9, 2016. Here’s some non-election-related news, for those of you who’d rather crawl back in bed. Kendall County judge rules against dismissing lawsuit against Dennis Hastert A Kendall County judge has ruled that an abuse victim of former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert can continue his lawsuit against Hastert. Hastert is currently in jail in Minnesota after pleading guilty to violating federal banking laws by making hush-money payments to the plaintiff, whom Hastert sexually abused when he was a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School....

A few days after Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot raised the white flag on Mayor Rahm’s $2.4 billion TIF deals, I happened to see Knock Down the House, an uplifting documentary about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset triumph in last year’s Democratic House primary in New York City. Lightfoot argued that she didn’t have the City Council votes to stop the deals and so, having wrung concessions on minority hiring, signed on to them with a word of warning....

Time to plan the week. Here’s some of what we recommend: Tue 3/15: The classical Chinese dance company Shen Yun explores the lost civilization of the Middle Kingdom in a new performance at the Civic Opera House (20 N. Wacker). 7:30 PM For more stuff to do this week—and every day—check out our Agenda page.

Melodic hardcore isn’t known for indulging pleasantries, and Boston-based five-piece Defeater dare you to enter a universe that’s as bleak as it is complex. Derek Archambault (vocals), Adam Crow (guitar), Jake Woodruff (guitar), Mike Poulin (bass), and Joe Longobardi (drums) write concept albums that tell the story of a Depression-era working-class family as they struggle with adultery, treachery, poverty, and death. Archambault refers to the characters he’s created as his own “Glass family” (a reference to recurring characters in the fiction of J....

Welcome to the Reader‘s weekday news briefing. Daniel Biss-J.B. Pritzker rivalry highlighted in televised debate One of the biggest stories to emerge from the NBC Chicago Democratic gubernatorial debate Tuesday night is the emerging rivalry between state senator Daniel Biss and billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker, according to the Tribune. Biss and Pritzker sparred with each other frequently during the debate. After the debate ended, Biss questioned why Pritzker spent so much time attacking him....