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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Based on the NY Times bestselling book by Andrew Solomon, Far from the Tree is a staggering documentary directed by Rachel Dretzin ... More

Far from the Tree

Film by Rachel Dretzin

Far from the Tree

Film by Rachel Dretzin

Based on the NY Times bestselling book by Andrew Solomon, Far from the Tree is a staggering documentary directed by Rachel Dretzin that examines the experiences of families in which parents and children are profoundly different from one another a variety of ways. The film explores the inner workings, struggles, and triumphs of families with children who have Down syndrome, autism, dwarfism, and more. (IFC Films)

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From photographer and documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield and based on her 2017 retrospective of the same name, Generation Wealth investigates our societal ... More

Generation Wealth

Film by Lauren Greenfield

Generation Wealth

Film by Lauren Greenfield

From photographer and documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield and based on her 2017 retrospective of the same name, Generation Wealth investigates our societal obsession with wealth, fame, and status through personal stories from a variety of her past and present subjects. The intimate yet expansive film, which also finds Greenfield turning the camera on herself and her family, is part cultural anthropology and part redemption tale, ultimately attempting to deconstruct whether our addiction to wealth indicates a society in rapid decline. (Amazon Studios)

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LA-based Valley Queen’s urgent and intimate live performances have earned them a reputation as the new standard for California country music, and ... More

Supergiant

Album by Valley Queen

Supergiant

Album by Valley Queen

LA-based Valley Queen’s urgent and intimate live performances have earned them a reputation as the new standard for California country music, and their anticipated debut, Supergiant, finds them honing their scrappy and nuanced sound. Brash guitars merge with lead singer Natalie Carol’s dreamy twang to create a soul-stirring album reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac and Florence Welch. (Roll Call Records)

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Following the openhearted intensity of 2014’s Cool Choices, Single Rider finds musician Jenn Champion bringing her technical skill and convention-shattering vulnerability to ... More

Single Rider

Album by Jenn Champion

Single Rider

Album by Jenn Champion 

Following the openhearted intensity of 2014’s Cool Choices, Single Rider finds musician Jenn Champion bringing her technical skill and convention-shattering vulnerability to a new arena, resulting in a collection of anthemic and utterly danceable pop songs infused with her signature incensed emotion. (Hardly Art)

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