Nick Hakim, Show Me The Body, Jimmy Whispers, Amani Fela & Strangelove w/The Budo Kiba Band

Raised in Washington, D.C. in a household overflowing with musical diversity ranging from soul, hip-hop, go-go, folk music and more from his Chilean and Peruvian parents, it comes as no surprise that Nick tends to blend genres, mixing the ambient airy sound of psychedelic, with the raw gut-wrenching emotion of the blues.

Nick recorded these EP's with engineer Andrew Sarlo while living in Boston with his band, with an early admiration for Marvin Gaye and Harry Nilsson seeping through these introductory recordings. The vulnerability of Nick's vocals, intimate and silken, is a powerful instrument in its own right that never pushes itself to excess.

NY SLUDGE.

Former Light Pollution main man James Cicero has hit upon something special with his new solo project, Jimmy Whispers. He sings sincere songs about love and loss with just a chintzy organ recorded straight to an iPhone, and what the music lacks in fidelity it more than makes up for in unself-conscious heart, blissful melodies, and enchanting hooks. He's finished an album, but you can't get it just yet—a proper release is in the works. Cicero plays out often enough, though, that the tunes will stick with you till his next show—and you can still walk away with a copy of his Summer in Pain zine. It builds on themes that also turn up in his music, in his stage banter, and in the crude "Summer in Pain" street art he's plastered around town: there's a collage about Chicago's gun violence, a letter to a woman selling a wedding gown via a flyer, doodles of sharks, non sequiturs about finding inspiration in sadness, and an image that superimposes Cicero on a photo of Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen. Summer in Pain is pretty scatterbrained and not always easy to understand, but it feels entirely earnest—which makes it a great companion to Cicero's songs.

-

CHICAGO READER BEST OF 2013 ISSUE