new york

Before Ru Paul and Trixie Mattel There Was the Ball Circuit: ‘Paris Is Burning’
Film/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Before Ru Paul and Trixie Mattel There Was the Ball Circuit: ‘Paris Is Burning’

By
 / 21 April 2020

Told through the voices and movements of the legends and pioneers of the '80s Harlem drag-ball scene, Paris Is Burning is an indispensable look at one of America's most influential subcultures of the last half-century.

Huddled Masses and New Media: ‘How the Other Half Looks’
Books/Reviews

Huddled Masses and New Media: ‘How the Other Half Looks’

By
 / 3 August 2018

How America's ur-ghetto, New York's Lower East Side, changed the way we see ourselves.

Nafkote Tamirat’s ‘The Parking Lot Attendant’ Is a Triumphant Debut
Books/Reviews

Nafkote Tamirat’s ‘The Parking Lot Attendant’ Is a Triumphant Debut

By
 / 16 May 2018

It's fairly astounding just how gracefully a very small, very personal story can turn into something much bigger, as Tamirat has done here.

The Grid Beneath the Grid in Joshua Cohen’s ‘Moving Kings’
Books/Reviews

The Grid Beneath the Grid in Joshua Cohen’s ‘Moving Kings’

By
 / 14 November 2017

A visceral, intelligent look at the economy of evictions in New York's outer boroughs.

Stuck in the Middle: Relationship Tangles in ‘Somewhere in the Middle’
Featured: Top of Home Page/Film/Short Ends and Leader

Stuck in the Middle: Relationship Tangles in ‘Somewhere in the Middle’

By
 / 15 March 2017
This, here, is 90 minutes spent with the kinds of people you take special care to avoid in your workplace, your neighbourhood, or just about anywhere in your everyday life.
Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 3
Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 3

By
 / 2 February 2017
Run the Jewels 3 is the sound of one hip-hop's most significant groups channeling their feelings of frustration, alienation, and rage into a radical call to arms.
Lewis Del Mar: Lewis Del Mar
Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Reviews

Lewis Del Mar: Lewis Del Mar

By
 / 5 November 2016
Rockaway Beach, NY folk experimenters Lewis Del Mar release a debut album which, in places, justifies much of the hype surrounding the group but ultimately fails to truly captivate throughout.
Swet Shop Boys: Cashmere
Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Reviews

Swet Shop Boys: Cashmere

By
 / 25 October 2016
Cashmere is a transatlantic hip-hop album that challenges representation of South Asian people in pop culture.
Making a Sene: The Rise of Brian Marc
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Interviews/Music

Making a Sene: The Rise of Brian Marc

By
 / 21 September 2016
Brian Marc, AKA Sene, manages a minimal but heavy discipline of turntablist groove; his dream-washed music appropriates the rhythms of a casual stroll through city streets.
Big Ups: Before a Million Universes
Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Reviews

Big Ups: Before a Million Universes

By
 / 17 March 2016
Before a Million Universes might at times sound like Slint, but Big Ups have their own union and calamity to make their bleakness something of their own.
‘Ava’s Possessions’ Is a New Spin on Possession Horror
Featured: Top of Home Page/Film/Reviews

‘Ava’s Possessions’ Is a New Spin on Possession Horror

By
 / 3 March 2016
While underdeveloped in character and story, the originality of Ava's Possessions, as well as its decadent visual aesthetic, go a long way towards making it a unique and interesting take on a stale genre.
Buttoned Up: Clothing, Conformity, and White-Collar Masculinity by Erynn Masi de Casanova
Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Buttoned Up: Clothing, Conformity, and White-Collar Masculinity by Erynn Masi de Casanova

By
 / 6 January 2016
Office culture is full of passive aggressions and radical uncertainties. Buttoned Up is a delightfully firm hook on which to hang your hat, if hats are your thing.