Cook County’s chief financial officer claims the government agency never sought to define what art or music is, nor has it tried to tax small venues accordingly. For example, he says, no one in the county would dispute that a live set by famed Chicago DJ Frankie Knuckles constitutes a performance of original music, and the show would be exempt from the amusement tax so long as it occurred in a small venue....

If a downtown building has a piano open to the public, Daniel Knox has probably played it. The Chicago singer-songwriter is a night owl, drawn to in-between places and in-­between times. When he’s not at work, asleep, or in the office where he has his recording studio, he’s wandering around the city, often in the wee hours. It was in downtown hotels in the late 90s, when he was about to drop out of the film program at Columbia, that he taught himself how to play music....

Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, alarm, amuse, or inspire us. Amy Sussman/Getty Images No BS, Bill Simmons is out. • That Hillary Clinton got the all-important Ja Rule endorsement on the Fox Business Channel? —Ryan Smith • That Bill Simmons, the popular ESPN personality, is leaving the network after years of tension? —Drew Hunt

In his typical fashion, reedist, composer, and bandleader Geof Bradfield deployed a veritable notebook of conceptual conceits when writing and formulating his new album Yes, and . . . Music for Nine Improvisers (Delmark). The title refers to a comedic device famously devised by the iconic Chicago improv troupe the Compass Players to propel bits forward and expand them in new directions—actions that are guiding principles in strong musical improvisation too....

In Navot Papushado’s latest feature film, killing is a family business. Gunpowder Milkshake centers on Sam (Karen Gillan) who, after being abandoned by her mercenary mother (Lena Headey) as a teenager, follows in her weapon-wielding footsteps and becomes a killer on her own. But complications arise and a fuse is set off between a powerful group known as “The Firm” and the killer women they’ve taken from, forcing them out of the shadows....

Experimental drone and postmetal outfit Nadja got their start in 2003 as the solo studio project of ambient musician Aidan Baker, but by 2005 he’d enlisted the help of bassist and vocalist Leah Buckareff to bring his music to the stage. They’re a married couple as well as bandmates, and they’ve since relocated from their native Canada to Berlin. Over the years they’ve amassed more than 50 releases, issuing many on their Broken Spine imprint....

As I write this, it’s roughly 8 PM, the polls have closed in half the states, and it’s pretty obvious that the electoral college firewall Hillary Clinton was banking on to prevent the Barbarian from crashing the gates and taking over our country has— The firewall, if you didn’t already know, is made up of the states that have consistently backed Democratic candidates in past presidential elections, including President Obama in his 2012 race against Mitt Romney....

Not only is 2020 the Year of Chicago Music, it’s also the 35th year for the nonprofit Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC), which provides business expertise and training to creatives and their organizations citywide. To celebrate, the A&BC has launched the #ChiMusic35 campaign at ChiMusic35.com, which includes a public poll to determine the consensus 35 greatest moments in Chicago music history as well as a raffle to benefit the A&BC’s work supporting creative communities struggling with the impact of COVID-19 in the city’s disinvested neighborhoods....

Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, alarm, amuse, or inspire us. Aphex Twin/Richard D. James Album Never pass up an opportunity to use this photo. • Or see this list of hateful messages that appeared in a single week on the Twitter feed of Anita Sarkeesian, creator of Feminist Frequency, a site that critiques sexism in video games? —Aimee Levitt • About a treasure trove of unreleased Aphex Twin music that was just released on Soundcloud?...

Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, alarm, amuse, or inspire us. • About Barack Obama as literary critic/explicator of T.S. Eliot? —Kate Schmidt

A pop of color in the shape of a Telfar bag has become a common sighting gracing the outfits of stylish Chicagoans. Made by Queens-based Liberian-American designer Telfar Clemens, the vegan leather totes come in three sizes, multiple colors, and fairly affordable prices ($150 to $257). Since the bag, dubbed the “Bushwick Birkin,” quickly sells out, those willing to partake in the trend are advised to subscribe online for a restock alert at shop....

Normally it bothers me how Christmas invades every facet of life the day after Thanksgiving. The tinsel, lawn ornaments, and other signifiers of the season aggressively underline the point that Jewish people like me have a religious and cultural heritage different from the majority of the country. But my irritation has had an unintended side effect: over the years, I’d grown so annoyed by the jolly chintz that soundtracked my December grocery-store runs that I’d also closed myself off to the strange, compelling, and outright great music that uses the holiday as a framing device....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, February 2, 2016. Key Emanuel council ally stepping down to take Airbnb job The City Council will soon have a vacant seat. Fourth Ward alderman Will Burns is resigning this week to take a job as a senior advisor and director of midwest policy for Airbnb, a website that allows users to rent out their homes for short- or long-term stays. There will be an online application for residents interested in Burns’s seat....

As a food writer, I’m beginning to view the appearance of every new Italian restaurant with existential dread. In terms of word slinging, the battle between steak houses and Italian spots for Chicago restaurant hegemony throughout the last few years has me running low on ammo. While there are fresh things to write and be excited about (Osteria Langhe, Animale), I fear the oversupply of new, formulaic, pan-Italian pizza-pasta-piattini pushers might be creating an impression among unseasoned eaters that one of the world’s greatest cuisines is molto repetitivo....

Dogs and their friends can catch the White Sox play the Mariners tonight.

Seattle postpunks Dreamdecay showed they know how to make brawny noise on their 2013 debut full-length, Nvnvnv. On the follow-up, 2017’s Yú (Iron Lung), they treat that noise like Silly Putty, unloading dilated feedback and clustered, chaotic unison bursts in quick succession, and often mitigating heavy walls of sound with near silences in the same song. Dreamdecay also explore their melodic side on Yú, using bruising, distorting riffs to hypnotize listeners, not just whip them into a mosh pit....

Zipporah Films Aspen Of the ten films playing in the Frederick Wiseman retrospective currently underway at Doc Films (which, full disclosure, my wife Kat Sachs and I programmed), Aspen (1991) is one of the documentarian’s most underrated films, if not one of the most underrated American movies, period. It plays in the series tonight at 7 PM. Like Robert Altman’s comparably novelistic Nashville (1975), Aspen is a both a city portrait and a State of the Union address, a bracing mix of cutting social satire and heartfelt Americana....

Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Friday, May 20, 2016. Have a wonderful weekend! · Investigation: sexual harassment claims against ex-state treasurer Dan Rutherford “unfounded” Onetime Illinois state treasurer Dan Rutherford’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign was destroyed in part by allegations regarding former employee Edmund Michalowski, who sued the then-treasurer claiming that Rutherford had sexually harassed him from 2011 to ’13, and that his own career had suffered as a result....

Windy City Horrorama, 4/26-28, Davis Theater MoonRunners Music Festival, 5/4-5, Reggies Día del Niño, 5/18, Pilsen International Mr. Leather, 5/23-27, Congress Plaza Hotel Bike the Drive, 5/26, Lake Shore Drive

Greetings 2016 Pitchfork Music Festival artists, and welcome to our beautiful, encased-meat-laden city by the lake! Or should I say “Welcome back”? After a quick perusal of the lineup card, I can see that this isn’t the first trip to the salad bar for many of you—by my count, 13 acts are making their second, third, or even fourth Pitchfork appearance this year, with some having played as recently as 2014....