PORTFOLIO
MEET TOASTY DIGITAL, THE DJ BRINGING CLASSIC KANYE TRACKS INTO THE FUTURE
February 21, 2021
"While many Kanye fans have attempted to make remixes, no one else has designed immersive universes around them. By inventing new songs by his favorite artists, Toasty is essentially creating musical fan fiction, a new multimedia form complete with bizarre origin stories, dope visuals and astonishing mashups."
PINEGROVE BRING AN INDIE ROCK DREAMSCAPE TO LIFE IN ‘AMPERLAND, NY’
January 22, 2021
"Evan Stephens Hall is a world builder.
Over the past decade, New Jersey alt-folk band Pinegrove has cultivated a community of fans, lovingly called Pinenuts, who not only listen but actively participate in the band’s music."
EXPLORE KANYE 2049, A FUTURISTIC MASHUP ALBUM THAT SAVES A DOOMED IMAGINARY PLANET
January 23, 2021
"It’s been over a year since the fabled rapper has released a full-length album, but fans can find solace in artists like toasty digital, who are able to conjure ways to tap into Kanye's future by living vicariously through his past."
ODE TO WEEZER'S WHITE ALBUM
September 16, 2020
"The debate over which one is Weezer’s best album has been ongoing for decades and will never be settled, but no one has considered that maybe it’s neither. I’m here to argue that Weezer’s magnum opus was not Blue or Pinkerton but rather one that came out 20 years later. Yes, Weezer’s best album is indeed 2016’s White Album."
ALBUM REVIEW: FIELD MEDIC GROWS UP ON 'FLORAL PRINCE'
October 8, 2020
"Listening to Field Medic is like sitting in a room with a close friend, a few beers deep, playing hollow-eyed confessionals on a storied acoustic guitar. His latest project, Floral Prince, is so up close and personal, it almost feels as if you’re the only person listening."
INTERVIEW: FIELD MEDIC REFUSES TO LOOK BACK IN ‘FLORAL PRINCE’
October 30, 2020
"When Field Medic's tour was interrupted by the pandemic, he returned home, quilted together old and new songs and released Floral Prince. On the folk artist’s latest album, he laments his youth but celebrates growth. Newly sober and coming to terms with aging, Field Medic refuses to look back."
LIANNE LA HAVAS BRINGS NEWFOUND SOUL TO RADIOHEAD’S “WEIRD FISHES”
September 28, 2020
"In the original, Yorke seems to get swallowed by his despair, surrendering his voice to the towering synths and steadfast drums. La Havas, however, soars over the song’s climaxing groove. Backed by a heavenly choir, she is triumphant, giving listeners the feeling that she may, one day, actually escape."
WHITNEY AT THE ADLER PLANETARIUM
September 25, 2020
"It’s been over six months since I felt other people’s sweat on my body, packed tightly into a hot concert venue, dancing with strangers. I didn’t get any of that on Sunday, when Whitney played a drive-in show at the Adler Planetarium parking lot. But I did get the thrill of live music, the communal joy of singing along with a crowd."
A CONVERSATION WITH
JENSEN MCRAE
April 13, 2020
"In her new single, 'The Plague,' Jensen McRae, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter, poet and screenwriter, croons, 'Killed with no rules/We’re shot in church and elementary schools/With guns not even foreign soldiers keep.' Her rich, soothing voice complements the poised rebellion rooted in her socially and politically conscious lyrics."
SHAKEY GRAVES AT SPACE
March 28, 2020
"The show was beautifully intimate, with the majority of the audience seated at candlelit tables close to the stage. It felt as if there were a campfire in the middle of the venue, Shakey Graves playing the cool camp counselor singing songs and telling stories and the audience playing his eager group of kids staying up past their bedtime."
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND AT THE CHICAGO THEATRE
January 19, 2020
"Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are rock ‘n’ roll royalty. Married for over 20 years, the couple had each been successful as solo artists before uniting musically in 2010, creating Tedeschi Trucks Band. With four studio and two live albums, the group has proven to be one of the leading forces in the roots revival movement, bringing their signature blend of blues, soul, jam rock and funk to stages around the world."
CAAMP AT THALIA HALL
December 2, 2019
"The lights shut off, the band strolled on stage and the smooth rasp of Taylor Meier fell over the audience like a cozy blanket. On Nov. 17, Caamp delivered the second of two sold-out shows at Thalia Hall, bringing their beer-soaked, denim-clad indie folk to Chicago."
NICK MURPHY AT METRO
July 6, 2019
"Murphy, a rebranding of his former persona Chet Faker, graced the stage of Chicago’s Metro on May 29. The multi-instrumentalist bounced around the stage, alternating between piano, guitar and a variety of synths, all while carrying around a string of bells that bridged the songs together."
ICEAGE AT LINCOLN HALL
May 16, 2019
"Danish punk outfit Iceage reek of rock ethos and testosterone-fueled carelessness. On Thursday, May 7, the band brought its thunderous, guitar-driven sound to Lincoln Hall. As frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt gazed into the pit, commanding the audience’s attention, the crowd acted like dogs held on leashes during Iceage’s first few songs."
