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Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam

The Dinner Party Download featuring Ishmael Butler

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Icebreaker: The Low Anthem

Ben Knox Miller of Rhode Island indie rockers The Low Anthem walks right into a eye-opening joke.

Small Talk: Just What the Court Ordered

Jake Silverstein, editor of the Texas Monthly, tells us why a regional bottler of Dr. Pepper needs a J.D.

A History Lesson with Booze: The Disco Bash & the "The Disco Smash"

This week back in 1979, Chicago rock DJ Steve Dahl took revenge on the disco craze by holding a massive disco bash — literally. Hear about the riotous event at Comiskey Park, and then douse the disco inferno with a flashy blue custom cocktail from Mike Ryan, bar manager at Sable in Chicago.

Guest of Honor: Shabazz Palaces' Ishmael Butler

The buzziest hip-hop act around right now is Seattle's Shabazz Palaces. Lots of critics are calling the band's debut "Black Up" the best album of the year, and this weekend the group performs at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival — mecca for the musicarati. But the spotlight isn't new for the group's driving force, Ishmael Butler: he won a Grammy with one of his earlier groups, Digable Planets. Butler talks about his new avant-garde sound, mental soup, and Seattle's other best.