Music

'We Don't Need Another Black Woman in Rock 'n' Roll': How Betty Davis Challenged the Music Industry

On the legacy of the ‘70s singer and the important influence of iconic black women. 

'A Pep Talk for People in the Grip of Decay': An Interview with Dan Bejar

Talking with the Destroyer songwriter about his new album, Poison Season, how his writing evolved past "ranting in a notebook," and the uncertain state of aging indie-rockers.

Heavy Metal Feminism

Fighting for diversity in a genre mostly known for angry white men.

My Double Album

Inspired by real-life events.

a painting
Dreams Are Boring

We attribute divine inspiration to madness, but escaping the cycle of mania for the comfort of a calmer mind doesn't mean abandoning artistic greatness.

'Life Itself Was Following Some Conventions': An Interview with Mia Hansen-Løve

Talking to the director and co-writer of Eden about authenticity in portraying electronic music on film, refusing to moralize about partying, and the masterpiece that is Showgirls.

Alanis in Chains

The pressured pop career that led to Jagged Little Pill.

Flamboyance and Ruin: On the Mountain Goats' 'Beat the Champ'

John Darnielle has always been sensitive to people living in various states of collapse; in hindsight, a Mountain Goats album about wrestlers might have been inevitable.

Odds and Sods: On Rachel Kushner, Roberto Bolaño, and Literary B-Sides

As interviews, explanatory essays, and other process-focused publishing artifacts become inescapable parts of the literary package, do we have to reckon with novels on terms other than our own?