There are glimpses of many unique and illuminating human stories in Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno. But this elegantly lensed yet emotionally frigid documentary (screening at the mostly virtual New York Film Festival) about people trying to find their way in the… Read More
17th century England: King James II (Sam De Grasse) enjoys being entertained by his court jester, Barkilphedro (Brandon Hurst), who is a cruel and Machiavellian individual. It’s Barkilphedro who suggests that a rebel lord’s young son, Gwynplaine Clancharlie (Julius Molnar),… Read More
It’s no exaggeration to say that Napalm Death are one of the most important acts in popular music history. In fact, it’s an understatement, because if you were to tell the more general story of humanity’s relationship with sound, from… Read More
IDLES don’t care what you think. Or at least they don’t care what you think about them. Or they care enough to make sure you know they don’t care. After a couple stunning punk albums (most notably 2018’s Joy As… Read More
“Someday Miss You” is taken from Winter Clothes, the latest release from New York City-based singer-songwriter Brian Cullman. Tracked with a core band featuring Ollabelle’s Byron Isaacs and (also the Lumineers), Glenn Patscha, and the late Jimi Zhivago, the LP… Read More
Des Moines, Iowa, has long been best known to Midwesterners for its luxurious truck stops and proliferation of corporate restaurants, which line the fertile interstate terrain that wraps itself like a thick blanket around the city’s fringes. There is also,… Read More
Jersey-born, New York-raised, and Nashville-based, the Grahams subvert genre expectations on their upcoming album, Kids Like Us. Released last March, Kids Like Us is equal parts cinematic pop, heartfelt indie folk, and beyond, finding its place in-between the geographical influences… Read More
The first beats of “Ngavele Ngagaxela” are crisp and bare; the vocals atop them nimble and bold. Such straightforward musical bones are the foundation of Durban-based Phelimuncasi’s signature brand of gqom, a plugged-in musical genre with minimalist aesthetics and high… Read More
When David Byrne, still reedy and diffident as a silver-haired 68-year-old, says to the audience at the beginning of American Utopia, “Thank you for leaving your homes,” the moment is touchingly sincere. After the Broadway show, which this film documents… Read More
Landowner’s second LP, Consultant, is a beautiful bundle of chewed-raw nerves, with intensely geometric post-punk motifs providing the razor to scrape back and forth over them. Vocalist Dan Shaw fronts the western Massachusetts quintet, bizarrely obsessed with cleanliness, mechanics, and… Read More