10. Battles – La Di Da Di [Warp] It seems like just yesterday Battles released their striking debut Mirrored. In the mid-2000s, Battles spearheaded a new generation Continue Reading
John Lewis, C.T. Vivian, and Their Fellow Freedom Riders Are Celebrated in 'Breach of Peace'
It is tempting to think America, and the world, lost something precious on 17 July 2020, with the passing of Rep. John Lewis and Rev. Continue Reading
Mike Mentz Looks to Adventure in "Ain't That the Life" (premiere + interview)
Mike Mentz has worked his way around the world time and again to garner inspiration for his songwriting, right down to the point where he’s Continue Reading
Unwed Sailor's Johnathon Ford Discusses Their New Album and 20 Years of Music
Look Alive, the latest release from Oklahoma instrumental rock outfit Unwed Sailor, finds the veteran band in fine form more than 20 years into their Continue Reading
Jazz Trombonist Nick Finzer Creates a 'Cast of Characters'
Are we in the midst of a trombone renaissance in creative music? Young and not-so-young voices on the instrument suggest so—with recordings from Ryan Keberle Continue Reading
Datura4 Travel Blues-Rock Roads on 'West Coast Highway Cosmic'
“The desert is a spiritual place and the sea the mere playground of our hedonism.” These words are from Land’s Edge: A Coastal Memoir, a Continue Reading
Old Man Gloom Mourns Loss on 'Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning' and 'Seminar IX: Darkness of Being'
Aaron Turner has been a staple of the Boston metal and hardcore scene throughout the 1990s and early 2000s as a musician and entrepreneur. He Continue Reading
Murder Is Most Factorial in 'Eighth Detective'
Alex Pavesi’s debut novel, The Eighth Detective, posits mathematical rules defining ‘detective fiction’ and serves up a fresh and multi-layered homage to that well-worn genre. Continue Reading
Eyedress Sets Emotions Against Shoegaze Backdrops on 'Let's Skip to the Wedding'
The gradual emergence of more and better low-barrier tools for the creation and dissemination of media has reached unprecedented heights in recent years, and the Continue Reading
Of Purges and Prescience: On David France's LGBTQ Documentary, 'Welcome to Chechnya'
“Imagine in the 21st century, in a supposedly secular country, you have cases where people are killed, simply because they are homosexual…” —David Isteev, LGBTQ+ Continue Reading
Track By Track: Safari Room – Look Me Up When You Get There
Following the premiere of Safari Room’s ‘Young Water’, the boys recently dropped their debut album, Look Me Up When You Get There. The Nashville-based trio reflects Continue Reading
Padma Lakshmi's 'Taste the Nation' Questions What, Exactly, Is American Food
In the era of peak TV, food shows have become a popular fixture on streaming services. Hulu’s latest entry into the genre, Taste the Nation, Continue Reading
Performing Race in James Whale's 'Show Boat'
Whether you are discussing the 1926 Edna Ferber best-selling novel, the stage adaptation by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern first produced in 1927 by Continue Reading
The Beatles' 'Help!' Redefined How Personal Popular Music Could Be 55 Years Ago
“When Help! came out in ’65, I was actually crying out for help. Most people think it’s just a fast rock ‘n’ roll song.” That’s Continue Reading
Porridge Radio's Mercury Prize-Nominated 'Every Bad' Is a Wonderful Epistemological Nightmare
How do we know what others think of us? How do really know that we truly understand each other? There is no real answer other Continue Reading
Beyoncé's 'Black Is King' Builds Identity From Afrofuturism
“Let Black be synonymous with glory,” says Beyoncé in the opening sequence to her visual album Black Is King. The album amplifies the voices and Continue Reading
Colonial Pandemics and Indigenous Futurism in Louise Erdrich and Gerald Vizenor
In 2012, Grace L Dillon (Anishinaabe), a professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies program at Portland State University, coined the genre “Indigenous futurism” to recognize Continue Reading
John Fullbright Salutes Leon Russell with "If the Shoe Fits" (premiere + interview)
Back to Paradise: A Tulsa Tribute to Okie Music is out 28 August via Horton Records. The sprawling collection gathers some of the finest music Continue Reading
Roots Rocker Webb Wilder Shares a "Night Without Love" (premiere + interview)
Webb Wilder’s latest album is Night Without Love. Released in April 2020, the collection captures the Mississippi native in fine form, including on the titular Continue Reading
Beyonce Releases ‘Black Is King’ Visual Album
Beyoncé has debuted her captivating new visual album, Black Is King. The "Brown Skin Girl" hit-maker released the film exclusively via Disney+ on Friday (July Continue Reading