‘Tuner’ Recalibrates the Disability Narrative
Tuner illustrates a critical paradox within the disability narrative: the condition of being inherently valuable yet socially devalued.
music
The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’ Signaled the Death of Rock Journalism
Steven Hyden’s book on the Strokes, Is This It, is an entertaining and often amusing defence of a band whose importance has always been easier to understand as a cultural phenomenon than as a straightforward commercial success.
Heading Down the Same Bob Dylan Road
Although How Many Roads isn’t an essential Bob Dylan biography, not all books have to be necessary to be effective and rewarding.
How Afropunk’s James Spooner Punked the Movement
DIY Afropunk James Spooner tells how he stuck to his guns and helped alter the punk genre in his memoir, It Starts with Anger.
Jesse Malin’s Memoir Is the Tale of an Extraordinary Everyman
Jesse Malin’s adventures through NYC take Almost Grown‘s readers through hallowed music landmarks where he is found rubbing shoulders with legends with almost comic frequency.
Malcolm Todd Has a Vision for the Future of Pop
On Do That Again, Malcolm Todd turns personal misadventures into psychedelic jams, proving his singular vision for the future of pop.
‘Slow Stories’ Combines Brian Eno’s Music with Bette A.’s Ambient Fiction
Brian Eno and Bette A. are on the same aesthetic page with Slow Stories, wherein the two form a kind of high-concept ASMR experience.
The Best Books of 2025
Our Best Books of 2025 draws from inventive authors and scrappy publishers. Has there ever been a better time to be a reader than these tumultuous times?
Gen X’s Nostalgia for 1980s Music Is a Memory Problem
Gen X nostalgia for 1980s music like Starship’s “We Built This City” and Toto’s “Africa” is built on old forgotten words and ancient melodies – and faulty memory.
‘Streets of Fire’ as Global Myth
Streets of Fire boldly rejects conventional genre boundaries, merging action, rock opera, MTV video, and neo-noir into an audacious and stylized urban myth that resonates globally.
British Identity Interrogated in Three Films
Where Roddam’s Quadrophenia asks of British identity, “Who am I?” and Anderson’s If…. asks “Can I be myself?”, Cammell and Roeg’s Performance declares, “There is no self.”
James Cotton Blues Documentary Is Pitch Perfect
Harmonicist blues musician James Cotton was a powerhouse performer, and Bestor Cram’s documentary Bonnie Blues captures his essence with great admiration.