Philip Montoro
Chicago Reader
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Philip:
The Reader’s guide to World Music Festival Chicago 2022
The World Music Festival's 11 free concerts, spread out over ten days and 11 venues, offer more than inspiration and fun—they invite us to forge new bonds of community and care. → Read More
The tastes of home
It’s a common refrain in the city: Chicago summer is so worth the wait. Newbies and transplants can feel the buzz of opportunity in the air when the weather starts to turn. Visceral summer memories fuel locals through even the coldest, darkest months. And many of those memories involve food and drink—cookouts, summer cocktails, farmers’ […] → Read More
Flowers for an unsung casualty of the post-Nirvana feeding frenzy
Steel Pole Bath Tub made lurid, thrilling, messy noise rock that didn’t sound quite like anybody else. → Read More
Sublime Frequencies releases an entrancing field recording of traditional Ghanaian gyil music
First things first. The gyil is a traditional West African xylophone with dried gourd resonators hung below most or all of its hardwood keys. → Read More
A slice of sunshiny soukous for spring
Revisiting an old favorite by Sam Mangwana’s 80s band Tiers Monde Cooperation → Read More
The pandemic pushed indoor music into the parks
Saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Tyler Damon played regular concerts in Margate Park this past summer and fall. → Read More
Indonesian avant-garde duo Senyawa confront the apocalypse with community
“Ideas that are seen as progressive, modern, or radical always have these associations that come from the West,” said Senyawa vocalist Rully Shabara in a... → Read More
Time to dissolve your brain with ridiculous noise rock
The new album from Austin “supergroup” USA/Mexico is the musical antidote to consciousness. → Read More
This carousel calliope has a message for you—and you’re not going to like it
Sometimes you learn more from a machine when it stops working. → Read More
A music poll to start 2021
Did 2020 set the bar low enough that it’s safe to hope this year will be better? → Read More
Make some joyful noise with 79rs Gang
This Mardi Gras Indian troupe play music for staying loud in the streets. → Read More
Secret Drum Band build their beats as an act of collective strength
The Portland ensemble’s latest record makes a wordless case for environmentalism and antifascism. → Read More
São Paulo big band Bixiga 70 cook up a life-giving brew
The Afro-Brazilian grooves on Quebra Cabeça could get your feet moving on a mortuary slab. → Read More
HHY & the Macumbas soundtrack the bonfire at the end of the world
This Portuguese collective’s new live album captures their entrancing flood of percussion, brass, and “skull cave echo.” → Read More
Once Riot Fest has you, how does it treat you?
The festival grounds themselves provide a pretty different experience than, say, Lollapalooza or Pitchfork. → Read More
Why to get to Riot Fest early
If your lunch runs late, you’ll miss some great acts—including Mongolian metal warriors the Hu, “ugly pop” trio Skating Polly, garage monsters Drakulas, and folk-pop wild card Caroline Rose. → Read More
Unsolicited advice for Riot Fest’s bookers
The festival has its traditions, and it’s hard to hate Andrew W.K. or Gwar—but here are some bands we’d like to see. → Read More
Hopping the Riot Fest nostalgia train
Reunions and full-album sets are the festival’s specialty—so what does it have to offer this year, besides Bikini Kill? → Read More
Riot Fest’s elephant in the room
Does a for-profit festival with a majority-white audience have any business taking over a public park in a largely Black and Brown neighborhood? → Read More
Photos from Ruido Fest’s dazzling opening day
Last weekend this ambitious festival brought together several generations and even more genres of Latinx music. → Read More