Monday Afternoon Quick Fix runs every Monday afternoon to showcase the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.

• • Maps & Atlases curated the latest Schubas/Lincoln Hall office mixtape.
• • Steve Johnson at the Tribune wrote about the Hideout’s fifth annual SXSW send-off show.
• • WBEZ’s lovable crank Jim DeRogatis is unhappy yet again with Rahm Emanuel – this time for his arts & culture committee picks.
• • The Chicago Reader’s Miles Raymer got the down low on Numero Group’s big Record Store Day plans including a show over at Stop Smiling on North Milwaukee.
• • The Chicago Sun-Times’ Thomas Conner sits down with Lupe Fiasco about his latest album Lasers.

By Audrey Leon  \  comments

Three I-partied-too-hard-on-Wednesday-so-I-need-some-music-to-kick-back-and-get-lost reasons to mosey on over to Schubas tonight…

1. Few people can say “love sucks” as eloquently as Louis & The Hunt mastermind Ryne Estwing. Legend has it the Scattered Trees vocalist turned to Louis & The Hunt as a way to express views on love and death that wasn’t possible with his other musical outlets. Estwing’s solo project, which features a rotating cast of musicians, features heartfelt and extremely relatable lyrics sung over beautifully strummed, gentle melodies. The greatest “fuck yous” are the most delicately expressed.
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By Audrey Leon  \  comments

Three it-seems-to-go-from-sunny-to-overcast-in-the-matter-of-seconds reasons to get out, just get out already, and head to Schubas tonight…

1. It seems like months since I reviewed Project Film’s debut, Chicago. It’s time for a refresher. You can go read up, but I suppose I can paraphrase myself. Project Film make twee indie pop the way it used to be made. It’s intimate, a bit sad, but ultimately poppy enough to be memorable. It’s good stuff, folks.

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By Ross Meyerson  \  comments

Last time we saw Chicago atmospheric indie rockers Sonoi, they had just released their self-titled debut last April. But the band posted a music video to their Facebook page earlier this month for an experimental, ambient track titled, “Etude D.” The video, produced and edited by Joy Whalen, uses some great naturalistic footage of a leaf and, uh, other stuff? Expect to her more ambient Sonoi tracks in the future as the band wrote on their Facebook wall that this is video one of three, and maybe a release coming later this year. Plus, check’em out on March 30 at Schubas, but check out the video for now:

By Richard Giraldi  \  comments

Three reasons to….wait, a minute. There’s a potentially life threatening blizzard on the approach. I won’t ask that you leave the house, but if you choose to, there are music options…

1. Everything’s closing – schools, work, even Lou Malnati’s! But as far as we can tell, Schubas will remain open, and Scott Lucas & the Married Men being their Midwestern, folky rock sounds there tonight. Honestly, if there’s one person for whom you brave a blizzard for, it’s Scott Lucas, right? Also, Kevin Tihista will open with his warm, melodic pop sounds. Even better, if you get snowed inside Schubas, they have food and liquor! Score!

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By Richard Giraldi  \  2 comments

Whoa, dude. It’s the weekend. Better get your groovy self out to some shows! There’s plenty o’options including the mind-altering two days at the Hideout, better known as PSYCH FEST II, Pilsen’s swinging duo Ornery Little Darlings at the Empty Bottle, singer-songwriter Sad Brad Smith at Schubas and so much more.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

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By Staff  \  comments

Who knew a record about agonizing heartbreak could be so groovy? On his debut album Love Is Not What You Need, Chicago singer-songwriter Sad Brad Smith shows that not all sad songs need equally depressing music to accompany them.

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By Audrey Leon  \  comments