Features

K-Pop Finally Has Its Meta-Moment with the Dynamic Art of ARTMS

K-Pop Finally Has Its Meta-Moment with the Dynamic Art of ARTMS

The K-pop market is oversaturated, but ARTMS cuts through the technicolor noise by remixing and defying lore conventions to create something drastically new.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of June 2024

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of June 2024

In June’s best metal, Crypt Sermon offer hooks in doom form, Insect Ark stay on the experimental path, and Ulcerate offer despair with technical death metal.

The Art of Psychological Warfare

The Art of Psychological Warfare

From marketing manipulation to all-out psychological warfare, Stories Are Weapons clarifies how our world – and worldview – is seldom our own.

Retro Monsters and Sexual Politics Dominate These Three Sci-Fi Movies

Retro Monsters and Sexual Politics Dominate These Three Sci-Fi Movies

Sci-fi movies Unknown Terror, The Colossus of New York and Destination Inner Space inject monsters into personal melodrama for masculine redemption.

The 50 Best Albums of 2024 So Far

The 50 Best Albums of 2024 So Far

The 50 best albums of 2024 offer sublime music as major artists return with new work and brilliant new sounds bubble up from the underground and worldwide.

If You Love Her, Let Her Know: How Olivia Newton-John Became a Country Star

If You Love Her, Let Her Know: How Olivia Newton-John Became a Country Star

Olivia Newton-John’s chart-topping 1974 album remains a touchstone for 1970s culture, bringing the best of country music into mainstream pop.

‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy

‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy

In adapting the alternative history The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins and his crew made cinema – a medium with origins in white supremacy – work for them.

Joan of Arc Are Resurrected at Last (Just Ask Tim Kinsella)

Joan of Arc Are Resurrected at Last (Just Ask Tim Kinsella)

By putting Joan of Arc’s collected works in a dynamic box set, Tim Kinsella gauges how fans and critics are reconciling with the band’s work with modern ears.

Pretty When She Cries: Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence’ at 10

Pretty When She Cries: Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence’ at 10

Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence used rock to kickstart a new career direction that culminated in autobiographical work without spoiling the mystery of her persona.

‘The Boys’ Season 4 Is a Bloody Descent into Hell

‘The Boys’ Season 4 Is a Bloody Descent into Hell

Erik Kripke’s gory superhero satire The Boys takes a visceral plunge into political and personal tragedy, showing there’s more to fear than just corrupt superheroes.

2 Tone: Race, Music, and Pop Culture in Thatcher’s UK

2 Tone: Race, Music, and Pop Culture in Thatcher’s UK

2 Tone found a sweet spot between punk anger and pop sensibility that mirrored the myriad poles they were trying to bridge in their band members and audiences.

Songs: Ohia’s ‘Magnolia Electric Co.’ Remains a Dark Triumph

Songs: Ohia’s ‘Magnolia Electric Co.’ Remains a Dark Triumph

Songs: Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co. remains a dark triumph in the face of adversity. It was the turning point and apex of Jason Molina’s brief life and career.