In this edition of Staff Picks: the Simmerkane II Bundle from songwriter and founding member of Dispatch and State Radio, Chadwick Stokes.  Originally released in 2011, Simmerkane II is a collection of songs inspired by Stokes’ time spent hopping freight trains through the backwoods and small towns of the United States.  Stokes assumes the ever…

In this edition of Staff Picks: a “past futuristic rhyme animal”. French rapper Mattic blends touches of jazz and classic soul to create a hip hop aesthetic that is just as much a throwback as it is a step forward. The Intro to Dr. Outer bundle provides a taste of what can be found on…

In this edition of Staff Picks: Great Expectations, a new mixtape that might just live up to its name. Irangeles (Iran X Los Angeles) lyricist Malkovich’s album was written around the world. And it sounds that way. Unlike a lot of hip hop, it’s defiantly anti-regional: not East Coast or West Coast; a sound that’s…

In this edition of Staff Picks: an inside look at the Oscar-shortlisted film The Road Home, Rahul Gandotra’s exploration of identity and otherness in the Himalayas. A young boy of Indian descent escapes from a remote boarding school, plane ticket to London in hand. In running away, he learns he can’t run from everything; especially…

In this edition of Staff Picks: punk and rock and friendship; all, maybe, in equal measure. Download Radical Friends, February’s forty-track mixtape Bundle, courtesy of the fine people over at Tangled Talk Records. Consider it your crash course in UK hardcore, which feels about right for an end-of-Monday. Listen up: new music from Gnarwolves, The…