Single Review: Sinai Vessel – “Swimming”

North Carolina rock trio Sinai Vessel are no stranger to doing a lot with a little. Last year’s excellent and understated Ground Aswim feels like a master class in the use of sparse instrumentation and minimal production to achieve an impactful sound. Track after track is carefully composed and executed beautifully, culminating in what is undoubtedly one of the best indie rock records of 2020. Great news: there’s more. 

Q&A: Beach Girl (Marcy Adams formerly of Athens)

Former Athens-based EDM producer Beach Girl, AKA Marcy Adams, is set to drop three singles in June, starting with their reimagining of Alice Deejay’s “Better off Alone” on June 2. “Let U Down” drops June 17, followed by “i can’t stop myself” on June 30. The singles follow two tracks Adams released in March, “I Do It Like That… You Love It?” and “SADNALONE” in addition to their recent move from Athens to Atlanta. ACRN spoke with Adams to inquire about the move, the new songs, the new place and how Krewella’s “Alive” fits into all of that:

Album Review: Giant Claw – Mirror Guide

By Kiah Easton, Editorial Director[Orange Milk; 2021]Rating: *_??//@@#$*&/10 Key tracks: “Earther”, “Disworld (Vocals: NTsKI)”, “Mirror Guide, Pt. II (you and me)” Published by am spritzer and ACRN Media Experimental electronic music often finds itself positioned opposite to the idea of organic sound. While electronic production has allowed for the abstraction of “traditional” sounds, it has…

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Single Serving No. 1

Hey, hey, wake up. You had a pretty wild night, huh? Well, I mean, as wild as nights can get with *everything* that’s been happening. 

Album Review: Phoebe Bridgers – Copycat Killer

Several months after the release of her sophomore album, Punisher, in June, indie artist Phoebe Bridgers uses her new EP Copycat Killers as a fresh take on four songs from the album. The EP is a collaboration with Grammy-winning string musician Rob Moose, known for his work with artists such as Paul Simon, Taylor Swift and John Legend. The new versions of the songs are well-produced but don’t stray much from the source material.

Movie Review: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

The sequel is growing in popularity, and most of the time, these movies feel like a cash grab or a lame attempt to make the original work relevant again. Luckily, this is not the case with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which brings Borat back at the perfect time and feels like a natural next step from the first movie.

Movie Review: Malcolm & Marie

By Ben Lindner, Staff Writer
[Little Lamb Productions; 2021]
Rating: 4/10
The first 10 minutes of Malcolm & Marie are pretty interesting. The two characters have a realistic argument with strong performances from Zendaya and John David Washington. The black and white cinematography is cool. The title card hits and I thought “maybe I’ll like this.” Then it was the same 10 minutes I had just watched over and over again for another hour and a half.

Movie Review: Zack Snyder’s Justice League

By Ben Lindner, Staff Writer
[Warner Bros.; 2021]
Rating: 8/10
The time has come. Zack Snyder’s behemoth, a 4-hour director’s cut of Justice League has arrived after over 3 years of calls from fans. After the immense hype and speculation, with the film being stitched together under the worst circumstances, Zack Snyder’s Justice League miraculously delivers a satisfying and engaging epic that is sure to be a hit for the fans who waited so long for it.

Preview: ACRN LobsterFest with Jetty Bones, Sun Boats, Warp and Wastemen

Rock Lobsters, what could that be lingering around the station at ACRN? Is it hope? We’d like to think so. The music world seems to be slowly on its way back from the standstill of the pandemic due to the massive vaccine rollout and the joy that summer tends to bring to everything. Unfortunately, we won’t be back in person for this year’s Lobsterfest. Instead, we’ll again be sticking to the virtual format that we adopted for the Battle of the Bands and ACRN Prom. Four artists will be featured on the bill: Jetty Bones, Sun Boats, Warp and Wastemen. You won’t want to miss what these groups will bring to the table. The sets will be released one at a time on ACRN’s YouTube channel, starting on April 23 and going until May 1.

Album Review: Xiu Xiu – OH NO

By Venus Rittenberg, Contributor
[Polyvinyl; 2021]
Rating: 8/10
Key tracks: “One Hundred Years”, “A Bottle of Rum”, “OH NO”
Xiu Xiu’s 15th album is an album of duets that sees them returning to the sounds that frequent their discography prior to 2019’s experimental Girl with Basket of Fruit. A perfect example of this return to the olden days of Xiu Xiu is the title track, which sounds like something from Xiu Xiu’s fifth album, The Air Force, but with a poppier hook.

Movie Review: Zack Snyder’s Justice League

The time has come. Zack Snyder’s behemoth, a four-hour director’s cut of Justice League, has arrived after over three years of calls from fans. After the immense hype and speculation, with the film being stitched together under the worst circumstances, Zack Snyder’s Justice League miraculously delivers a satisfying and engaging epic that is sure to be a hit for the fans who waited so long for it.

Fiddlehead releases new single, “Heart to Heart”

Fiddlehead released their newest single “Heart to Heart” on Tuesday. The track is the second single from the punk supergroup’s upcoming sophomore album, Between the Richness, which is due out May 21 via Run For Cover Records. The song follows the initial single, “Million Time,” which came out in March.