Steady Holiday, the noir-pop project from LA-based actor, singer, songwriter, violinist and guitarist Dre Babinski, follows up 2016’s deeply personal debut Under ... More

Nobody’s Watching

Album by Steady Holiday

Nobody’s Watching

Album by Steady Holiday

Steady Holiday, the noir-pop project from LA-based actor, singer, songwriter, violinist and guitarist Dre Babinski, follows up 2016’s deeply personal debut Under the Influence with Nobody’s Watching, which explores conceptual and universal themes such as greed, fear, and self-interest with witty lyrics, ominous undertones, and a charmingly light touch. (Barsuk Records)

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Hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock following the breakout success of 2016’s Puberty 2, Mitski returns with Be The Cowboy. ... More

Be the Cowboy

Album by Mitski

Be the Cowboy

Album by Mitski

Hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock following the breakout success of 2016’s Puberty 2, Mitski returns with Be The Cowboy. Her carefully crafted songs have often been portrayed as emotionally raw, overflowing confessionals from a fevered chosen girl, but in her fifth album, Mitski introduces a persona who has been teased before but never so fully present until now—a woman in control. (Dead Oceans)

›› ISSUE Feature: Interview with Mitski

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Actress and musician Lola Kirke, who is best known for her roles in Mistress America, Gone Girl, and Amazon’s award-winning Mozart in ... More

Heart Head West

Album by Lola Kirke

Heart Head West

Album by Lola Kirke

Actress and musician Lola Kirke, who is best known for her roles in Mistress America, Gone Girl, and Amazon’s award-winning Mozart in the Jungle is releasing her full-length debut, Heart Head West, two years after her well-received and Americana influenced self titled EP. Recorded in Los Angeles, the record is an experimental exploration into Kirke’s self-doubt, family matters, social concerns and personal loves: “the goal of making things for me is to be as intimate as possible with myself.” (Downtown Records)

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›› ISSUE Feature: Live Performance & Interview with Lola Kirke

›› ISSUE Feature: Fashion Series & Interview with Lola Kirke circa 2016

From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), an African-American police ... More

BlacKkKlansman

Film by Spike Lee

BlacKkKlansman

Film by Spike Lee

From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), an African-American police officer from Colorado, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white surrogate (Adam Driver), who eventually becomes head of the local branch. He even cultivates a relationship with the Klan’s Grand Wizard, David Duke (Topher Grace), who praises Ron’s commitment to the advancement of White America. BlacKkKlansman offers an unflinching, true-life examination of race relations in 1970s America that is just as bracingly relevant in today’s tumultuous world. (Focus Features)

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Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline, which marks her third directorial feature after 2014’s Butter on the Latch and Thou Wast Mild and Lovely ... More

Madeline’s Madeline

Film by Josephine Decker

Madeline’s Madeline

Film by Josephine Decker

Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline, which marks her third directorial feature after 2014’s Butter on the Latch and Thou Wast Mild and Lovely follows a complex and vulnerable teenager in a prestigious physical theater troupe as she navigates her rocky relationship with her anxious mother and her ambitious theater workshop director. The film, which stars Miranda July, Molly Parker, and breakout newcomer Helena Howard, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival to an overwhelmingly positive response and poses bold and thorny questions about race, mental illness, and exploitation. (Oscilloscope Films)

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The first narrative feature from The Wolfpack writer/director Crystal Moselle,Skate Kitchen tells the story of Camille, (newcomer Rachelle Vinberg) an introverted teenage ... More

Skate Kitchen

Film by Crystal Moselle

Skate Kitchen

Film by Crystal Moselle

The first narrative feature from The Wolfpack writer/director Crystal Moselle,Skate Kitchen tells the story of Camille, (newcomer Rachelle Vinberg) an introverted teenage skateboarder who falls in with an all-girl, New York City-based skateboarding crew. With a fresh-faced cast of real life friends and skate crews, rounded out by co-stars Jaden Smith and Elizabeth Rodriguez, the immersive and authentic film captures the importance of self-discovery and the experience of being a woman in male-dominated spaces. (Magnolia Pictures)

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New Zealand quartet The Beths consists of longtime friends who formed the band while studying jazz in college, yet their exuberant debut ... More

Future Me Hates Me

Album by The Beths

Future Me Hates Me

Album by The Beths

New Zealand quartet The Beths consists of longtime friends who formed the band while studying jazz in college, yet their exuberant debut album, Future Me Hates Me, is an exhilarating and road trip ready collection of high energy guitar pop. Guitarist, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter Elizabeth Stokes layers self-deprecating and often dark lyrics about love and anxiety over catchy power-pop harmonies, and the resulting debut is summery and energetic with an invigorating lyrical depth.(Carpark Records)

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Winnipeg-born Taylor Janzen is just 19 years old, but her music has a depth well beyond her years, as glimpsed on her ... More

Interpersonal

Album by Taylor Janzen

Interpersonal

Album by Taylor Janzen

Winnipeg-born Taylor Janzen is just 19 years old, but her music has a depth well beyond her years, as glimpsed on her painstakingly vulnerable debut EP Interpersonal. The singer-songwriter also co-produced the debut, which was mastered by Greg Calbi (Julien Baker, Arcade Fire, Big Thief). The intimate and diaristic release chronicles her religious upbringing and struggles with mental health, and the first track, “Stations,” which finds her breaking her silence against emotional abuse, was recently featured in the New York Times.

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›› ISSUE Feature: Live Performance & Interview with Taylor Janzen

Folk darling Julia Jacklin along with musicians Elizabeth Hughes and Ryan K Brennan form Phantastic Ferniture, giving her new room to play. ... More

Phantastic Ferniture

Album by Phantastic Ferniture

Phantastic Ferniture

Album by Phantastic Ferniture

Folk darling Julia Jacklin along with musicians Elizabeth Hughes and Ryan K Brennan form Phantastic Ferniture, giving her new room to play. “I’d gone straight into folk music,” says Jacklin, “so every experience I’d had on stage was playing sad music with a guitar in my hand. I thought, I would love to know what it’s like to make people feel good and dance.”

Phantastic Ferniture’s spiritual home may be the garage but they were born in a bar, specifically the hallowed basement of Frankie’s Pizza in Sydney. One late night in 2014, on Jacklin’s birthday, a group hug manifested amid the pinball machines, with all ten participants vowing to form a band. “Only four of us remembered the next day,” notes Hughes.

United by fern puns and a love of leisurewear, the band met up whenever schedules would allow, writing songs and playing smatterings of dates to an increasingly devoted audience. Eventually, it was decreed that this was no side project and an LP should follow.

The result is one of the most enjoyable albums of 2018. “It feels really good,” Jacklin says with satisfaction. “It’s like having an alter ego.” (Polyvinyl Records Co)

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