One of Chicago’s best singer-songwriters drops a new EP

Isabel “Izzy” Olive, aka Half Gringa Credit: Isabel Olive

Isabel “Izzy” Olive of Half Gringa is one of Chicago’s finest singer-songwriters and most dynamic performers, so it’s always a red-letter day when she drops new jams into the universe. Gossip Wolf is especially fond of the gently searing rocker “Miranda” and the outstanding ballad “Sevenwater,” the two singles Half Gringa released in 2021 and 2022—the one thing wrong with them is that they’ve been the only new music she’s put out since her acclaimed 2020 album, Force to Reckon. Thankfully, Half Gringa dropped a new EP, Ancestral Home, on Friday, January 27. It collects both of those singles and three new tracks, including “Some Curse,” a sparse lament with the intimate feel of a quiet conversation in a room lit by slowly dying firelight. On Sunday, April 30, Half Gringa will celebrate with a record-release show at Sleeping Village, so put that on your calendar now! 

The new Half Gringa EP, Ancestral Home, includes two previously released singles.

In November 2022, local indie-rock trio Patter caught Gossip Wolf’s attention when YouTube music-performance channel Puddle Splashers posted a three-song live session from the band. Guitarist Wilson Brehmer, bassist Joe Suihkonen, and drummer Seth Engel adroitly blend cyclical guitar patterns, unobtrusive math-rock rhythms, and ringing choruses that sparkle with a touch of emo grandeur almost in spite of themselves. Their five-song debut EP, Patter Theme, which dropped January 20, is already sold out on cassette via Bandcamp, but downloads are still available for five bucks. Brehmer is the son of late WXRT host Lin Brehmer, and last week Patter canceled their Empty Bottle show so the two of them could spend their last time together. Patter don’t have a future gig posted yet on Bandcamp or Instagram, but it’s definitely worth the effort to keep checking for the next one.

Patter play three songs live in the studio for a Puddle Splashers session in November 2022.

Patter Theme came out on cassette less than two weeks ago, but the tapes are already sold out through Bandcamp.

This winter, veteran Chicago rapper and promoter Aztec Dinero has been filming a romantic comedy, and he aims to wrap it up in the spring. On Saturday, February 4, he’s throwing a fundraiser at Subterranean for his production company, Malcolm Mex Pictures, and to fill out the lineup he’s called on his friends—some of whom have been shaping the Chicago hip-hop scene for 30 years or more. Triple Darkness rapper DaWreck, Newsense of Psychodrama, D.A. Smart, Akbar of Mental Giants, E.Y.E, Color One, and DJ Ceez will join Aztec Dinero onstage. If that lineup doesn’t get you out of your seat, you definitely need to brush up on your local hip-hop history. Tickets are $20, and the show starts at 10 PM.

The 2011 video for D.A. Smart’s best-known track, “Walk Wit Me,” originally released in 1997

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