Devendra Banhart has never shied away from the esoteric. On “Für Hildegard von Bingen,” from 2013’s Mala, he recast the eponymous 12th-century Christian mystic as a “VJ on rotation” over a playful disco-rock groove. “María […]
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Alain Goraguer: La Planète Sauvage (Expanded Original Soundtrack)
While René Laloux’s 1973 animated film La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) is celebrated for its enduringly shocking, Dali-esque visuals, Alain Goraguer’s soundtrack is a surrealist triumph in itself. Composed for the French-language story of a […]
A Shazam for People: Clearview’s AI App Was a Hit Among the Rich and Powerful
When I first broke the story of Clearview AI in The New York Times in January 2020, people were shocked. Some were horrified. The tiny start-up had scraped 3 billion faces from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo […]
Doja Cat: Scarlet
Doja Cat’s arachnidemonic no-features rap album would like a word with anyone who ever said that she’s not really a rapper. Scarlet asserts Doja’s ability to rap, and her right to be multi-talented and difficult—“difficult […]
Mykki Blanco: Postcards From Italia EP
It took Mykki Blanco years to bloom into their current arc. After almost a decade of putting out raucous, multi-modal hip-hop collections, the artist’s sound softened and brightened for 2021’s Broken Hearts and Beauty Sleep. […]
Föllakzoid: V
Föllakzoid’s V begins like an incoming transmission from a distressed spaceship. The barbed remnants of a synth tone modulate and wriggle; low-slung bass notes throb with menace; a kick lumbers into the mix as spiky […]
Soccer Mommy: Karaoke Night EP
Sophie Allison might be exactly the type of person you don’t want to do karaoke with: Instead of screeching off-key high notes four vodka crans deep, she’s making it good and making you think. On […]
How Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Distort Reality to Sell Fantasy
Jonathan Taplin has had more careers than most folks — Bob Dylan and The Band’s tour manager, film producer (the Last Waltz and Mean Streets) Wall Street entrepreneur, teacher at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and […]
Sam Cooke: One Night Stand! Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
About three-quarters of the way through One Night Stand! Live at the Harlem Square Club, the beat stops and Sam Cooke says he’s gotta tell us about his baby right now. Backed by drumrolls, clattering […]
Trans Boxers Are Stepping Into the Ring. Will the Sport Let Them Stay?
P atricio Manuel sits silently backstage at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. He’s in the back corner of the white-tarpaulined gazebo as he waits to be called to the ring of the 3,000-seater events center […]
The Replacements: Tim (Let It Bleed Edition)
By late 1984, the Replacements were transforming from a shoddy Minneapolis barroom punk band into the biggest prospect in the underground alternative rock scene. They had just released their third album, Let It Be, a […]
They Gossiped At Brunch. Now There’s a Mob After Them
“Whoever Sarah is, your friends [are] over there talking about you.” When TikTok influencer Kellie Yancy overheard a group of women gossiping about their friend while out at brunch, she immediately got on TikTok. “They […]