Jon Damaschke is a Chicago animator-turned-photographer whose work blows us away. He has an incredible vintage aesthetic, which is easy to love, and a unique photographic perspective. Considering how amazing his work is, it’s stunning that he’s only been pursuing photography for a few years.

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Chicago musician James Swanberg (under the moniker Today’s Hits) is in the midst of a song-a-day project running on two years. That’s right, for 685 consecutive days (and counting) he’s written and home-recorded a new song, without exception. His mostly garage rock songs are usually around a minute long. They get to the point and get out, but not before implanting themselves in the part of the brain that recognizes catchy melodies.

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Recently, some folks at the Chicago Tribune headed down to the basement and found a bunch of glass-plate negatives from the 1920s and 30s. Some of these glorious old photographs were of famed mobster Al Capone during his 1931 trial for tax evasion. At one time a populist hero, Al brought booze to the people when uptight sycophants thought it best to keep everyone sober and agitated. Now his legend lives on in black and white.

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I recently had the pleasure of listening to Chicago-based band The Congregation in a small venue near my studio in Pilsen. The brass was sharp, the guitars were bluesy, and Gina Bloom really knows how to belt out some gut wrenching material. The Congregation is what happens when you combine that undefinable soulful presence with humble talent. Their sound comes from a genuine place that one can’t fake and can only feel.

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Vivian Maier has one of those bodies of work that is hard to overlook. The mysterious, and only recently discovered, nanny-photographer has left behind an incredible collection of photographs from the streets of Chicago and New York during the late 50s and 60s. I’m invariably refreshed when I stumble across a strong female photographer, and Maier’s impressive legacy of work is no exception.

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Chicago-based artist and illustrator Travis Lampe’s work is highly influenced by the old-timey cartoons and animations. Despite the fact that unicorns and rainbows are a big part of his visual imagery, his works are usually pretty sad, but in a fun kind of way.

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Audiotree is one of my favorite companies to discover new music. Based out of Chicago, the company wears many belts, including live sessions, band interviews, sponsorships and artist management. Since the recent inception of the company, they have interviewed and recorded a hundred great bands and counting, both local to Chicago and touring acts.

We had the opportunity to record a live set this past summer at the Audiotree studios. Before the session, I had never heard of this young company, but I was impressed by the genuine interest of the staff in local talent. Audiotree records their live blog posts with multiple studio mics and a group of very talented film kids to give bands live, professional studio concerts at no cost. Check out Audiotree TV to discover the most talented and undiscovered bands coming from Chicago.

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Chicago band The Kickback performs Scorched Earth (Do-Da) at Goodtwin, a branding and design firm in Omaha, Nebraska. This is The Kickback’s second Love Drunk session. The first was shot on the roof of Sandy’s in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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Adi Baltazar is a very visual person, so when he gets funny text messages, he tend to envision them occurring in a literal sense, which adds to the hilarity. He’s also a big user of Google docs.

It was only a matter of time that he began to illustrate his morning messages using the Google drawing tool and posting them to a tumblr blog. Apart from the more outrageous illustrations, like “James Franco riding a tandem bike with a horse(with) hands”, the daily entries give you a feel for the mood and weather in Chicago each morning.

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Loyal Divide are a criminally unknown band from Chicago. They have a sound all their own: soft, almost sensual male vocals, paired with intense electronic noises and underpinned by triphop style rhythms. The video for their single Vision Vision is secretly live action.

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Chicago-based photographer Adam Ekberg has a knack for transforming the mundane into the poignant. He creates minor spectacles by carefully positioning and capturing his subjects.

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If you think the world of fried pastry starts with Dunkin Donuts and ends with Krispy Kreme, then you need to hop on the next plane to Chicago. As of about three weeks ago, the Windy City is now home to a tiny underground shop called The Doughnut Vault, where “fat and delicious” doughnuts are made fresh every morning.

Working in small batches, the owners bake up goodies like gingerbread stacks, buttermilk old-fashioneds, and of course the classic chocolate- and vanilla-glazed. But be sure to set your alarm. The Vault starts selling between 8 and 9am and only stays open ‘til that morning’s batch runs out. So get out of bed already and get over there. A piping-hot doughnut is calling your name.

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Jessica Labatte received a Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her photography of ‘everyday objects and materials focus on color and shape while emphasizing a collage aesthetic grounded in both the illusionistic tendencies of photography and the still life tradition’. One of her images was recently featured on the cover of Fantom, and her joint show with Ali Bailey recently concluded at the Poppy Sebire Gallery in London.

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James Pobiega aka Little Howlin Wolf was an iconic figure in Chicago, playing sax and blues on the streets of the Windy City for decades until he moved to Baltimore. Now he’s a fixture here, and he’s quickly become one of the many unforgettable characters that makes this city so amazing.

His Twitter feed will give you a glimpse of the amazing stuff he says all the time, and if you ever meet him, he’ll tell you how he invented street theater or all the movies he’s been in. Also, check out his album from a few years ago, Brave Nu World.
[audio:http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/JI/ch/Little_Howlin_Wolf_-_02_-_Shes_Too_Fat.MP3]

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In her latest series of large-scale abstract paintings, Chicago-based artist Kelsey Shultis looks to emotional and physical structures to capture ‘strength’ within physical chaos. An emphasis on texture and physicality of the medium, along with the use of industrial materials and touches of bright color, result in these fierce images that impart a feeling of strength and empowerment upon the viewer.

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Second in the series of hip hop instrumentals with a different producer on each side of the LP comes Sword for Fieldwerk Recordings. Something about hypnotic rhythms paired with spacey synth samples and R&B] vocals just adds up to a cold-ass winter for me. Meaty Ogre takes side A, showing off his craft for sampling, timing, and bringing a hook home without wearing it out. The flip follows the dark theme, with more sweeping beats aimed at the ‘banging head’ by producer and label owner Crushcon7. This record beats as hard as an ice cold pavement.
[audio:http://mp3.imposemagazine.com/Meaty-Ogre_Cloudy-Head.mp3]

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Anyone who’s had the pleasure of tucking into a sumptuous 72 percent dark French chocolate or zippy cinnamon hot cocoa at Mindy’s HotChocolate’s dark wood-paneled bar can attest to the Chicago eatery’s sensuous spin on the beverage. Now, designer Kyle Tezak’s soon-to-be-rolled-out interactive pinup gal packaging makes it easier to harness its libidinous energy in the comfort of your home. Stir up a couple of mugs of HotChocolate’s mixes, and then decide who gets to peel back the sticker from the box. The rest, we’ll leave up to you.

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After selling some 3,000 pieces out of the 4,000 or so that he has produced in the past decade, Chicago artist Derek Erdman is getting out of dodge. Moving westward has not stopped him from putting together one final show at High Concept Laboratories. Without Wax will feature over 1,000 paintings and drawings of this poignant Ohio-born, Chicago-bred genius.

As if that’s not enough, there will be hot dogs with fortunes inside, and over twenty pounds of gummi bears. Odd Obsession Djs will be treating peoples ears to rare Jamaican tunes, whilst this carnival of full circle Erdman ensues. All things considered, this is the most important opening in Chicago this summer.

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Call it the tomboy truffle. Take those classic manly snacks — pretzels and beer — and wrap them up in a little ball of smooth, rich milk chocolate ganache. There you have it: the beer and pretzel truffle from Chicago’s own Truffle Truffle chocolate shop. Feeling a little more gourmet? Check out their pinot truffle — a scrumptious little ball of red-wine infused dark chocolate ganache, covered in another layer of dark chocolate.

In the mood to celebrate? The champagne-soaked truffle might be just what you need. A couple of weeks ago we stumbled on some luscious tipsy ice cream. Now we’re gushing over truffle truffle’s alcohol-loving treats. This booze plus dessert trend is definitely something we could get used to.

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Here’s something you can’t get on a Kindle: handcrafted art zines. Chicago-based Parking Block Publishing specializes in small-run, inexpensive books created by local artists, photographers, and printers.

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