Pop Culture

The Red Hangar (Hangar Rojo) narrows its focus to the first day of Chile’s 1973 coup and follows one man through the speed and confusion of institutional collapse. Directed by Juan Pablo Sallato and based on Fernando Villagrán’s autobiographical chronicle published in 2002, Disparen a la bandada (Shoot the Flock), it follows Air Force captain

The diverging black metal strands prevail in April. On one side, Black Hurst take up the mantle of Necromantia and Varathron, imbuing their sound with a classically metallic tinge. On the other hand, Evil Warriors continue to blossom from their proto-black/death dreams into an overarching, hallucinogenic extreme metal beast, their third full-length being their most

Since their inception, there hasn’t been a band that sounds like the Afghan Whigs. Sure, you can play spot the reference like you can with any other band, but they create something so singular that if you are part of the Congregation, you know you can’t get a hit like this anywhere else. “House of

The Rolling Stones released the song “Gimme Shelter” in 1969 when the Vietnam War was at its height, there was the ever-present threat of violence in city streets caused by racial tensions, and the 1960s ideals of peace and harmony seemed overtaken by gloom and doom. While guitarist Keith Richard reportedly was inspired to write

How the Mighty Have Fallen Master’s Ashes Time to Kill 17 April 2026 Master’s Ashes sees 1990s underdogs join together. The two prominent figures here are Eric (E-Force) Forrest and Afzaal Deen. The former is best known for his time with Voivod, on two criminally underrated records: Negatron and Phobos. The latter navigated novel intersections

Stephen Becker loves to find poetry and eloquence in the inane activities of everyday life. “Bad Idea”, the first song on his new album, Gravity Blanket, begins: “Had a bad idea again / So I remain uncertain for a while / Took some time to breathe again / And thrift a collared shirt to find

HOPE!! Angélique Kidjo Parlophone / Warner Music 24 April 2026 Joy radiates from every aspect of legendary Beninoise performer Angélique Kidjo’s newest release. It is, firstly, visible on the cover, on which a luminous Kidjo grins, eyes shut in serenity and hands clenched beside her face in an expression of anticipation. Wrapped around her silhouette

Emo has been a huge part of my life since my early 20s, and I just turned 50, so you better believe I am the target demographic for the new American Football release. Truth be told, they are a band I’ve always liked, but only came to love years later. At the time of their

For Dale Watson, music started at home, not on a stage. It came from the next room, early in the morning, when his father picked up a guitar. “I would wake up to my dad playing,” Watson says. That introduction opened the door to a lifetime of listening. Records spun by George Jones, Hank Williams,

Peter Gabriel’s engagement with indigenous cultures and music became a defining moment in both his artistic trajectory and the broader musical landscape of the 1980s. Rooted within a more political and experimental approach, this fascination matured into a refined peak inSo (1986), where diverse global influences were stylized and seamlessly integrated into a sophisticated pop

There is a fine line between nostalgia and re-enactment. Mechanically channeling earlier times might be easy, but if the feeling isn’t right, the effort feels pointless. Poison Ruïn have always danced around this dichotomy, at times offering tribute to the old greats, but at their best seeming to step directly into their skin. Their new

Guy Clark’s debut, Old No. 1, did not sell many records upon its original release in 1975. However, over time the album has earned a reputation as a masterpiece that has inspired a zillion songwriters since. The list of notables influenced by Clark and this LP includes a host of prominent singer-songwriters, including Rodney Crowell,

Weller at the BBC: Vol. 2 Paul Weller Warner / Parlophone 24 April 2026 Paul Weller may be something of a cult artist in the United States, but in his native UK and across Europe, he’s a well-deserved living legend. As a founding member of the Jam in the 1970s and the Style Council in

If there is a statement you didn’t expect to hear, it’s that one of the best TV shows in a meaty while happens to be a comedy about an ensemble of ludicrous, salacious upper-crust Brits (and Hibs) slamming into one another genitals-first in a deliciously mischievous rat race.Such is the intoxicating charm of Rivals, the

There is a moment about three minutes into the title track of the fourth SLIFT album when they stop what they have been doing and let the bass and drums hold the room alone for two long beats. Jean Fossat, the guitarist and singer who has been carrying a melody up till now in a

Almost Grown: A New York Memoir Jesse Malin and Debra Devi Akashic April 2026 In the past few years, punk rocker Jesse Malin’s health issues have been a focus of press coverage, but they are not the focus of his memoir,Almost Grown. His story opens with him going out to dinner to commemorate the anniversary

In 2021, the Montreal-born, Los Angeles-based Mike Silver, often recording under his CFCF moniker, released a wildly unexpected album titled Memoryland. Having spent years working in the ambient/instrumental space, Memoryland was a leap into a new realm and an attempt to capture a new audience, where he swapped his tenderly rendered calm soundscapes for alt-dance

2ŁØT are one of those brilliant bands blending R&B and electronic music into soulful blends that share music DNA with brilliant UK groups like Rudimental and Jungle. I call it “electrosoul”, and it fills dancefloors with delicious funkiness. On top of that, 2ŁØT have the honourable goal of social advocacy, including criminal justice reform and

Congratulations, the new album from songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Ungerleider, is the result of the casual playing of his demo tracks in the home of musicians Jenn Wasner and Alan Good Parker. Wasner, a member of Flock of Dimes and Wye Oak, kept asking Parker who was singing those songs on their Los Angeles stereo,

Based in the Thai province of Phetchabun, the multi-generational Khun Narin ensemble made their official global debut back in 2014 with Electric Phin Band. The group’s first release on Los Angeles label Innovative Leisure featured four tracks and 40 minutes of live performance centered around a plugged-in version of a phin, a lute that comes

Dead Pioneers’ Wagon Burner arrives just in time for the United States’ 250th birthday, and it is the gift the country deserves and needs right now: An indigenous voice of reason taking the actual history of the country to task and rallying those of us who aren’t licking boots to unite and fight back. The

You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So in Love Olivia Rodrigo Geffen 12 June 2026 In an interview with Dazed, Olivia Rodrigo said the title of her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, is a phrase her producer, Dan Nigro, said to her during a songwriting session. The

Before discussing Anne Hellman’s new novel, The Indecipherables, an understanding of Alfred Hitchcock’s concept of “pure cinema” is in order. In a 1964 interview for the CBC television series Telescope, Hitchcock conflates “pure cinema” with the editing technique called montage, which is when “complementary pieces of film [are] put together, like notes of music, [to]

Adam Weiner released a public statement regarding the release of the latest Low Cut Connie album, Livin in the USA. His declaration is too long to quote here, but I recommend that observers interested in the role of artists during war and hard times check it out. Weiner is angry, energetic and eloquent. So is

Trumpets of Michel-Ange Vol. 2 Ibrahim Maalouf Mister Ibe 12 June 2026 Joy radiates from Trumpets of Michel-Ange Vol. 2, the newest release from acclaimed trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf. It celebrates music and community, full to bursting with collaborators of many stripes and bright melodies, led by Maalouf‘s signature quarter-tone trumpet, an invention of his father’s

In one of the Baroque galleries at the Cleveland Museum of Art, two paintings hang side by side. On the left is Murillo’s The Immaculate Conception, a picture of an ascended Virgin Mary in the clouds. Her eyes are heavenward, her head is adorned with rays of light, and her feet rest upon the moon.

Memorial Day weekend has become a particularly festive holiday occasion in the San Francisco Bay Area, thanks to the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival. The annual event at the Napa County Fairgrounds always heralds “the first taste of summer”, a signature tag line that’s grown undeniable. BottleRock has become a regional tradition for celebrating the

Paul McCartney thinks of life in sounds. Not just notes and chords, as one might expect of the lifelong musician. He sees the world as an aural library of memories. “I still remember that sound,” he sings in his latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. Now exactly two decades older than his once far-away

Here we are; summer has arrived with all its unbearable heat, and once again, I am very happy with the amount of extreme music out there to cool things down. On the grimmer side, Auzawandils continue the psychedelic experiments of the mighty Skaphe, Grave Pilgrim return to their off-kilter guitar playing (albeit with a touch