Music Reviews

Melvins’ ‘Tarantula Heart’ Marks Their Strange Trip

Melvins are masters of their craft, still able to make songs that stand with their finest work precisely because they’re never trying to recapture that past.

Dawn Landes Presents ‘The Liberated Woman’s Songbook’

Hour’s ‘Ease the Work’ Is Hypnotic and Beautifully Strange

Cloud Nothings’ ‘Final Summer’ Is a Masterclass in Indie Rock

Shabazz Palaces Resist Profiling on Elusive ‘Exotic Birds of Prey’

Sunday League Resurrect Competent Britpop

METZ Embrace Melody ‘Up on Gravity Hill’

Poland’s Coals Seek Solace in Relaxing Melancholy on ‘Sanatorium’

Avalanche Kaito’s ‘Talitakum’ Is a Jagged, Electroacoustic Dream

Music Features

25 Years of Tom Waits’ ‘Mule Variations’

With Mule Variations, Tom Waits tamed his vaudevillian guises and showed that he was aging gracefully, while retaining his integrity towards his artistry.

The 100 Best Alternative Songs of the 1980s

Six Organs of Admittance’s Ben Chasny Chats About How ‘Time Is Glass’

Hit the Road: 10 Fresh Driving Songs

The Fiery Furnaces’ Songs on ‘Widow City’ Are Multiverse 45s

The Eagles Were ‘On the Border’ of Greatness 50 Years Ago

Built to Spill’s ‘Keep It Like a Secret’ Still Surprises at 25

Film

Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’ Refuses Righteousness

Alex Garland’s Civil War refuses righteousness. Instead, it takes a hard, unflinching look at the true costs of war for everybody and everything it touches.

‘Dirty Dancing’ in Pre-Roe v. Wade America

’10 Things I Hate About You’ Is a Revolutionary Riot-Grrl Inspired Teen Comedy

Love in a Caste-less World in Romance Films ‘Origin’ and ‘Sairat’

Hell and Limbo Are Reimagined in Sci-Fi Horror ‘Desert Road’

‘This Is Spinal Tap’ Turns the Volume All the Way Up to 40

‘Robot Dreams’ Quietly Encourages You Not to Be Afraid

Books

‘Dirty Dancing’ in Pre-Roe v. Wade America

Andrea Warner’s book on Dirty Dancing in pre- Roe v. Wade America, The Time of My Life, is the deep dive into the film we need in these times.

‘The Art of Darkness’ Unburies Goth Music’s Beginnings

Who Will Be the Next Harry Hole? The 5 Best Norwegian Actors for the Role

Dreaming As a Radical Act: Bebop Demands We Listen Again

Disillusion and the Glimmer of Hope for American Suburbs

Television

‘Sugar’ Is an Intoxicating Celebration of Classic Hollywood

Crime thriller Sugar, starring Colin Farrell, is an intoxicating celebration of Classic Hollywood that will keep you guessing about what’s really going on.

Who Will Be the Next Harry Hole? The 5 Best Norwegian Actors for the Role

Three TV Shows That Promise an Intriguing Viewing Experience

Who Dare Portray Truman Capote?

The Fine Art of Bootlegging

Interviews

Six Organs of Admittance’s Ben Chasny Chats About How ‘Time Is Glass’

Six Organs of Admittance’s Ben Chasny discusses late 1990s folk, music journalism, his independent publication, and new record Time Is Glass.

Elbow Stay “Guerilla”: An Interview with Guy Garvey

Ratboys Seize ‘The Window’ of Opportunity

Happiness in Kurdistan: An Interview with ‘Transient Happiness’ Director Sina Muhammed

Feeling “Seventeen”, Ruth Moody Goes Solo Again with ‘Wanderer’

Lists

The 100 Best Alternative Songs of the 1980s

The best alternative songs of the 1980s span punk, post-punk, new wave, college rock, underground, goth, new romantic, ska, power pop, hardcore, and indie rock.

Hit the Road: 10 Fresh Driving Songs

Who Will Be the Next Harry Hole? The 5 Best Norwegian Actors for the Role

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of March 2024

Ambient Matters: The 15 Best Ambient Albums of March 2024

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