by Joshua Minsoo Kim

With The Killing of Two Lovers, Robert Machoian constructs a difficult balance between simple-yet-impressive visual techniques and more frenzied audio compositions to drive an underwhelming narrative. Robert Machoian’s The Killing of Two Lovers begins with a close-up of David’s (Clayne Crawford) face. His stern and…

Heaven Reaches Down to Earth Tebogo Malebogo’s Heaven Reaches Down to Earth begins with red embers dancing. Their subtle flickers, alongside the pulsing buzz of insects, lead into the sounds of two men’s footsteps. They belong to Tumelo (Thapelo Maropefela) and Tau (Sizo Mahlangu),…

Poster Girl once again demonstrates Larsson’s potential, but not nearly as much as it illuminates her lack of depth as a pop performer. Ever since Zara Larsson broke through in 2015 with “Lush Life,” her career has been defined by a hit-or-miss anonymity. To…

Kate NV, ever-chameleonic and relentlessly curious, released one of the most dazzling pop albums in recent memory this year with Room for the Moon. While it reflects the same gloss as her previous albums under the moniker — as well as the tight precision…

Wong Ping’s Fables 2 The first of two fables in Wong Ping’s Fables 2 is entitled “Cow the Super-Rich.” It’s an amusing anti-capitalist tale about a cow who was, early in his life, a “radical social activist.” He believed violence was necessary for meaningful…

There are fewer than 45 government-funded emergency ambulances in Mexico City — far from the sufficient number of vehicles needed to provide for the capital city’s nine million residents. This inadequacy has resulted in private, family-run businesses providing the same service, one of which…

Egyptian producer Amr El-Alamy has been involved with his country’s dance music scene for years, but his debut album under the 1127 moniker is the first time many will get a chance to hear his own original work at length. Those who listened to…

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is at his best when he’s unabashedly romantic. For more than a decade, he’s crafted ambient tracks that tend to brim with overwhelming sentimentality. In hearing his works, one gets the sense that every single melody has the uncanny ability to lure…

Zhu Shengze’s Present.Perfect. is preceded by information about the state of live-streaming in China, making clear its overwhelming popularity in the country — there were 422 million users (known as “anchors”) in 2017. On June 1st of that year, the Cybersecurity Law of the…

Most everything one hears on Juice WRLD’s debut, Goodbye & Good Riddance, can be gleaned from its title: a phrase laden with bitterness and condescension, but also one that’s horribly hackneyed. Which is to say that Juice WRLD’s music greatly suffers from unimaginative lyrics and…