On a gray overcast afternoon in Wicker Park, a line snakes through the side streets. I followed it, with my roommate, past the park, under the L. We found the start at Honore and Milwaukee, across the street from the old Bom Bolla spot. Some folks grouped together in clusters while others stayed the recommended 6 feet apart. Some brought their dogs, some brought their family, their children. Everyone came to partake in the Lee Initiative’s Restaurant Workers Relief Program.

LIFE BEFORE (No. 1) is an hour-long soundbath—an audio-collage compiling voice memos, field recordings, reflections, and expressions of life before social distance and self-isolation.

As part of the Quarantine Times, a new music program, Soothing Sounds, will premier on Lumpen Radio at 9 am every Tuesday. Curated by the fine folks at UNCANNEDmusic, this special hour-long series aims to present calming tones for our stressed-out times.

A number of media sources and organizations are keeping track of virtual events and letting us know which Chicago or National events are postponed or flat out cancelled. This is a list of some notable sources and articles that have caught our collective eyes:

We want to know: How are you responding to the pandemic?

We’re creating a collective audio archive of worries / hopes / discoveries / actions / inactions during these strange times.

Our first batch of calls are in! Take a listen to hear from artists, parents, neighbors and strangers. It’s an audio meditation on a new normal.

Today a playlist called "Social Desolation and the End of the World" was sent to me from a dear friend. The playlist includes Spanish and Latinoamerican pop etéreo, folk, post-punk, and electronic bands and projects, from Hidrogenesse, La Casa Azul, Chico y Chica, Matorralman, Triángulo Amor Bizarro, and Ultraplayback, to Javiera Mena and Las Bistec y Pelada. My friend and I have a rare but special emotional connection.

As this shit show ramps up, with shortages of toilet paper, gloves, sanitizers, and masks, we seek help from each other in many forms. It seems that every bar and restaurant has set up a GoFundMe or a virtual tip jar site for donations to be split amongst affected employees. The hospitality industry is really coming out in full force during these trying times.