The new jazz of the last 20 years is an exciting and mutable thing—a combination of composition and improvisation that draws from the rich 20th-century Continue Reading
Music Dose
Meridian Brothers Get Funky and Experimental on 'Cumbia Siglo XXI'
Cumbia seems to be around every corner in today’s broadly-construed folktronica scene, a versatile base for plugged-in pop music from the atmospheric to hard-hitting dancefloor Continue Reading
H.C. McEntire Delivers Her Masterpiece with 'Eno Axis'
The Eno River flows through Orange and Durham Counties in North Carolina, settling at Falls Lake in Wake County. For 40 years, the Festival for Continue Reading
Katy Perry's Coming-of-Age Album 'Teenage Dream' at 10 Years Old
Like it or not, three things are certain: we are born, we will die, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream is a perfect album. These are Continue Reading
'Gender Explorers' Offers Insight into Youth Perspectives on Gender
Juno Roche’s previous two books – Queer Sex: A Trans and Non-Binary Guide to Intimacy, Pleasure and Relationships (2018) and Trans Power: Own Your Gender Continue Reading
'The Lady Eve' Indulges Preston Sturges' Humor, Both Literate and Broad
Writer-director Preston Sturges is the model subversive of classic Hollywood comedy, and The Lady Eve (1941), one of his biggest hits, serves that legacy better Continue Reading
Manga 'The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud' Is a Superb Collection of Kuniko Tsurita's Works
Concomitant with the explosive global popularity of manga and its permeating global markets and languages, have been efforts to plumb the genre’s archives for forgotten Continue Reading
A New Erasure Album Is Precisely What This Pandemic Needs
Erasure to the rescue once more. Stuck in lockdown, barricaded in our homes, fearful of contact with strangers, every expedition to the grocery or drug Continue Reading
Less Bells Offer Poignant Post-Classical Ruminations on 'Mourning Jewelry'
There is a visible, conscious process of decision-making, maybe even a brand of self-reflection, behind the constructions on Mourning Jewelry, the sophomore outing by post-classical Continue Reading
Cajun Popsters Sweet Crude Get Deep and Emotional with "Impuissance" (premiere)
Louisiana’s Sweet Crude released their latest album, Officiel-Artificiel earlier this year and now offer a video for “Impuissance”, which accentuates the groups devotion to Louisiana Continue Reading
The Pretenders' 'Hate for Sale' Maintains a Formidability That Rejects Compromise
The Pretenders’ 11th studio album, Hate For Sale, is a return to their musical base. Rejecting the overly adorned styling of their 2016 release, Alone, Continue Reading
The Deep and Distant Roots of the Ska-Punk Hybrid
In Jamaica reggae came after ska; conversely, when hybridizing with punk in late 1970s Britain this historical succession was reversed. The main appeal of reggae Continue Reading
A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean
It can be easy to ignore the many ways in which nature and culture are ultimately inextricable, humans, animals, and other aspects of the environment Continue Reading
Neu!'s Michael Rother Talks About Experimentation and Chance
Coincidence has played a major role in Michael Rother’s musical life. While working at a mental hospital in Düsseldorf in the early 1970s, a colleague Continue Reading
Joe Sacco's 'Paying the Land' Reflects Journalistic Nuance in a Way Other Media Does Not
If anyone doubts the urgency of the subject matter in Joe Sacco’s latest work, his career trajectory ought to underscore its importance. The pioneer comics Continue Reading
Apocalypse '45 Uses Gloriously Restored Footage to Reveal the Ugliest Side of Our Nature
On more than one moment in Erik Nelson’s Apocalypse ’45 viewers will likely find themselves gaping in awe at the splendor of what you are Continue Reading
'Eight Gates' Is Jason Molina's Stark, Haunting, Posthumous Artistic Statement
It’s hard not to see Jason Molina as a tragic figure. His music – under his own name or as part of the projects Songs: Continue Reading
Washed Out's 'Purple Noon' Supplies Reassurance and Comfort
Ernest Greene’s new Washed Out album is about a breakup, which might seem strange for such an orthodox chillwave album. But when you think about Continue Reading
Phil Elverum Sings His Memoir on 'Microphones in 2020'
Phil Elverum is both a pariah and a hero. This position is pretty typical in the pariah/hero-rich world indie rock. Still, Elverum’s circumstance is unique, Continue Reading
Michael McArthur's "How to Fall in Love" Isn't a Roadmap (premiere)
Michael McArthur releases his second EP of 2020, How to Fall in Love today. The EP consists of acoustic versions of some tracks first heard Continue Reading