In the 90s, New York City crime and drug rates soared and squatters were moving in to refurbish tenements on the Lower ... More

Kill City

Book by Ash Thayer

Kill City

Book by Ash Thayer

In the 90s, New York City crime and drug rates soared and squatters were moving in to refurbish tenements on the Lower East Side that sat vacant, uninhabitable and forgotten by the city. Ash Thayer was a 19-year-old photography student at the time and could no longer afford school and rent. She found herself taken in by the squatter community at See Skwat, where she lived with punks, outcasts and others like her who were poor and needed shelter.

Thayer moved freely among the residents of the squats, who were forced to isolate themselves or else face eviction. For a total of seven years, she photographed their homes, construction projects and punk shows, capturing the DIY spirit and idealism of their community. “Kill City” is her memoir of those years and an intimate documentation of the fringe-dwellers who took a neglected city into their own hands.

Published by powerHouse Books

›› Buy Book

David Cronenberg turns his weird and wacky sensibilities to the weirdest and wackiest of cities – Los Angeles. Yet he hasn’t met ... More

Maps to the Stars

Film by David Cronenberg

Maps to the Stars

Film by David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg turns his weird and wacky sensibilities to the weirdest and wackiest of cities – Los Angeles. Yet he hasn’t met his love match, rather he gives the city a grotesque sheen while providing his own take on all the usual Hollywood tropes. He picked Robert Pattinson again here (last in Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis”) to play alongside Mia Wasikowska and Julianne Moore. It’s unsettling to watch, but not because he is particularly truthful about the lives of the rich and famous. A film best enjoyed by those who know there are many more notes to La La Land, but still embrace its unique excesses.

›› View IMDB

What happens when Canadian jazz/hip hop band BADBADNOTGOOD and Wu-Tang Clan’s founding member Ghostface Killah get together to make some music? Inspired ... More

BADBADNOTGOOD + Ghostface Killah

Album “Sour Soul”

BADBADNOTGOOD + Ghostface Killah

Album “Sour Soul”

What happens when Canadian jazz/hip hop band BADBADNOTGOOD and Wu-Tang Clan’s founding member Ghostface Killah get together to make some music? Inspired by production techniques from the 1960s and 70s, the collaborative studio album “Sour Soul” plugs live instrumentation and free improvisation. BBNG’S soulful bass lines, soft snare drums and building orchestral arrangements set a sophisticated stage for Ghostface’s hypnotising gritty flow. Sonically, nothing is pushed back or left to die. On the contrary, what emerges is probably the most elegant and cinematic hip hop poetry that you most certainly have never heard before.

“Sour Soul” is out Feb 24th via Lex Records

›› Buy Album

In the mid-60s and 70s art community, photographer Joel Meyerowitz was a revolutionary. Together with William Eggleston, Garry Winogrand and Stephen Shore, ... More

Joel Meyerowitz

Retrospective, book

Joel Meyerowitz

Retrospective

In the mid-60s and 70s art community, photographer Joel Meyerowitz was a revolutionary. Together with William Eggleston, Garry Winogrand and Stephen Shore, Meyerowitz championed the New Color Photography movement, seeing it through from general resistance to general acceptance. A New York native, Meyerowitz has now exhibited his street photography in over 350 museums and galleries worldwide. “Joel Meyerowitz Retrospective” canonizes the shrewd, sui generis eye that first began capturing New York streets in 1962. It is an anthology of every sort of milestone in Meyerowitz’s career, including his “blue hour” experimentations at Cape Cod, “Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks,” “After September 11: Images from Ground Zero” and his renowned early work, including his 1967 foray to Europe and his seminal transition from black and white to color photographs.

Published by D.A.P. / Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König

Ending a ten year hiatus, the essential late-90s/early-aughts classic and punk rock trio Sleater-Kinney have dropped their eighth studio album, “No Cities ... More

Sleater-Kinney

Album “No Cities to Love”

Sleater-Kinney

Album “No Cities to Love”

Ending a ten year hiatus, the essential late-90s/early-aughts classic and punk rock trio Sleater-Kinney have dropped their eighth studio album, “No Cities to Love”. Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss formed Sleater-Kinney in 1994 Olympia to record a total of seven albums regarded as defining principle rock albums of the decade. “No Cities to Love” sustains the band’s rock finesse right where it left off, while sweeping over lost years to push its relevancy as already one of 2015’s best rock albums. Its lyrics resume Sleater-Kinney’s signature leftist tone and feminist discourse on fear, power and capitalism.

“No Cities to Love” is out via Sub Pop.

›› Buy Album

Pennsylvania born rock band, Dr. Dog has released “Live at a Flamingo Hotel”, featuring 19 (fan favored) songs cut during their 20-show ... More

Dr. Dog

Album “Live at a Flamingo Hotel”

Dr. Dog

Album “Live at a Flamingo Hotel”

Pennsylvania born rock band, Dr. Dog has released “Live at a Flamingo Hotel”, featuring 19 (fan favored) songs cut during their 20-show stretch last year. The album, unlike their previous seven studio albums, fully embraces their more raw, electrically energized side; a characteristic that has come to distinguish their onstage performances and has prompted their cult-like following for the past 15 years.

“Live at a Flamingo Hotel” out via Anti Recordings

›› Buy Album

California X debuts “Nights in the Dark”, their much anticipated second LP following 2013’s self-titled album. Formed by member Lemuel Gurtowsky, the ... More

California X

Album “Nights in the Dark”

California X

Album “Nights in the Dark”

California X debuts “Nights in the Dark”, their much anticipated second LP following 2013’s self-titled album. Formed by member Lemuel Gurtowsky, the band quickly gained spotlight as a best new garage band in punk owing to their progressive interpretation of 70s rock, 90s garage pop and post-hardcore. “Nights in the Dark” proves to be another break through, as California X’s sound has matured into a more brooding, textured, and overall lush version of itself.

“Nights in the Dark” is out January 13, 2015 via Don Giovanni Records
›› Buy Album 

Shirin is just trying to figure it out – but between a breakup with former girlfriend Maxine, coming out to her traditional ... More

Appropriate Behavior

Film by Desiree Akhavan

Appropriate Behavior

Film by Desiree Akhavan

Shirin is just trying to figure it out – but between a breakup with former girlfriend Maxine, coming out to her traditional Iranian family and navigating Brooklyn’s bisexual politics, she’s appropriately confused about how (or who) to be. “Appropriate Behavior” is writer, director and star Desiree Akhavan’s first feature film and unmistakably informed by her own life. Handled with intelligence and ease, the result is simply honest. It’s the kind of film that makes its home in the gray area of love, sex and adulthood without sacrificing sharp, deadpan wit. The kind that makes you want to stay with Akhavan for what comes next.

›› View IMDB

Congratulations to Robert Greenwald and everyone at Brave New Films on 10 years of tenacious filmmaking. With the support of over 100 ... More

Brave New Films

Celebrating 10 Years

Brave New Films

Celebrating 10 Years

Congratulations to Robert Greenwald and everyone at Brave New Films on 10 years of tenacious filmmaking. With the support of over 100 million viewers, Brave New Films creates critical, investigative documentaries challenging corporate media, encouraging volunteerism, and educating America on social justice and freedom issues.

›› View Films