Jockstrap’s ‘Wicked City’ Is an Unfolding of Boundaries
On Wicked City, UK art-pop duo Jockstrap run through a gamut of styles and sounds, sometimes gracefully, sometimes forcefully, but always seductively.
Hans Kim
Hans Kim is a cultural criticism writer and teaching candidate in Chicago. After graduating with a BA in cultural anthropology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, he is now completing a double BA in English and secondary education at Northeastern Illinois University. His publications includes several album reviews, contributions to list articles, and literary criticism. You can reach him on twitter @hans_kim
Amnesia Scanner’s ‘Tearless’ Aesthetically Maps the Failing Anthropocene
Amnesia Scanner's Tearless aesthetically maps the failing Anthropocene through its globally connected features and experimental mesh of deconstructed club, reggaeton, and metalcore.
10 Essential Releases from 10 Years of Tri Angle Records
Tri Angle comes to an end as a label but begins as an important archive of electronic music. To celebrate these legendary 10 years of Tri Angle, here are 10 of their many essential releases.
The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours’ Sets Cinematic Vignettes of Hollywood and Las Vegas Nights
The Weeknd's After Hours naturally weaves together cinematic vignettes of debauched Hollywood and Las Vegas nights, following a new filmic tie to Uncut Gems and a prior decade of character building.
Celebrating 20 Years of Ghostly International, Art, and Community in Chicago
Ghostly International took over three of Chicago's best artistic spaces, the Metro, Smart Bar, and Notre Shop, to celebrate the culture and communities that supported their legendary 20-year creative mission.
Loraine James’ ‘For You and I’ Glitches and Queers the Spaces of IDM and London
On For You and I, Loraine James rightfully claims the title "Glitch Bitch" to explore what it means to be queer in the spaces of IDM and one of its places of origin, London.
JPEGMAFIA’s ‘All My Heroes Are Cornballs’ Humanizes His Visceral Online Image
On All My Heroes Are Cornballs, experimental rapper and producer JPEGMAFIA broadens his visceral online image and sounds into a more vulnerable, humanizing, and melodic project.
Salami Rose Joe Louis’ ‘Zdenka 2080’ Tells a Dystopian But Still Hopeful Allegory of Ecocidal Capitalism
On the 22-track concept album Zdenka 2080, Bay Area musician and planetary scientist Salami Rose Joe Louis shuffles nu jazz, dream pop, and hip-hop vibes into the soundtrack for a dystopian sci-fi allegory of ecocidal capitalism.
Blanck Mass’ ‘Animated Violence Mild’ Critiques Excess with Excess
Blanck Mass' Animated Violence Mild drops unrelenting electro-industrial melodies, practicing excess to explore personal grief and the global devastation of consumerism.
Lingua Ignota’s ‘CALIGULA’ Continues Her Powerful Wailings Against Misogyny
Lingua Ignota's second full-length CALIGULA continues her blend of opera, neoclassical darkwave, and death industrial. She transforms shattering lamentations into empowered declarations against misogyny, while also complicating the dominant narratives of women's trauma.
Carmen Villain’s ‘Both Lines Will Be Blue’ Explores Andean Melodies Through Ambient Dub
Carmen Villain's latest album Both Lines Will Be Blue veers hard from her last two albums, trading her psychedelic roots for spacious ambient dub.
Félicia Atkinson’s ‘The Flower and the Vessel’ Focuses on Small Gestures
Experimental composer and French poet Félicia Atkinson creates The Flower and the Vessel "with pregnancy", using small gestures to explore questions of ontology and becoming.