Salem Collo-Julin

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Savannah Ray Hugueley |Salem Collo-Julin

I’ve never been very good at soccer, but I love it. In the summers, and even sometimes on snowy winter days, I play weekly with a queer and trans soccer club. The group formed about two years ago with the central tenets of being safe, fun, and free. The title of Sai Selvarajan’s short documentary about Swish—Chicago’s first QTBIPOC-centered basketball group, which inspired our soccer club—captures their, and our, central conceit perfectly: We Clap for Airballs.

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Salem Collo-Julin |Salem Collo-Julin

Singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens has dedicated much of her career to exploring folk and roots music, including old-time, blues, Celtic folk, country, and gospel. In April, she teamed up with fiddler Justin Robinson, her former bandmate in old-time string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, to release the banjo-and-fiddle duo album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (Nonesuch).

2 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Salem Collo-Julin

Trader Joe’s remains unchallenged when it comes to intriguing food combinations (apple pie cheddar cheese, chocolate hummus), and its stores are just as remarkable for their patrons’ style. It’s not uncommon to spot savvy dressers patiently navigating the narrow aisles, often unaware of how good they look. Case in point: Keenyn Perry, 22, aka Garçon Glamour (@garconglam0ur on Instagram).

3 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Salem Collo-Julin |Salem Collo-Julin

So my father died in January. He was 75, within the range of U.S. mens’ average life expectancy (it’s anywhere from 74 to 77 years old depending on if you believe the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank, or Johns Hopkins University). It still feels like too soon. He was living with a heart condition and some mental health concerns, including PTSD from serving in Vietnam and Cambodia.

3 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Salem Collo-Julin |Salem Collo-Julin

Bobby and Bobbie Vylan aren’t siblings, but as the duo Bob Vylan, these London artists hammer together punk, hip-hop, and drum ’n’ bass to make music that could soundtrack a radical brotherhood. The title track of last year’s Humble as the Sun (released on their Ghost Theatre imprint) combines an easy-listening groove with an increasingly emphatic narrative that moves between personal and political.