Things we enjoyed – September 2025
Staff picks from
Billie Huang, Esther Brandwein, Joe Kurtzman, Maggie Feldmiller, Natalie Soumokil
Ive been wanting to watch Chris Robinson’s ATL since i was a teenager scrolling through scans of Frank Ocean’s Boys Don’t Cry mag back in 2016. I remember ATL being the first movie on his favorite movies list. I finally got around to it almost a decade later. Shoutout Tubi and adblocker. Lowkey Tubi has a really good library...
I love how much Aaliyah’s version of At Your Best plays throughout ATL. Part of End on Channel Orange has dialogue from the car scene with Rashad and New New. Anddd Frank Ocean also covered At Your Best. No shade to the Isley Brothers either, but Aaliyah’s will always be my favorite version.
After watching, i read that ATL is considered to be one of the last documentations of Atlanta pre-gentrification. In my write up for august, i mentioned that rappers in movies are a lost art. T.I. and Big Boi were sick, also Lauren London who i know from the video for That Girl (im sure shes known for more relevant things), was great too. I swear i also saw DJ Drama in a cameo. The movie producers had deep ties to hip hop – T-Boz from TLC and Dallas Austin (mentioned him in my write ups last month for producing the Kelis song, Keep It Down). Speaking of Kelis, all the shit at the roller rink had me thinking of the Roller Rink the roller rink… no cars and minks, no gucci links… no need for shrinks, just roll the rink…
Maggie – Spoonman, Underworld (1994)
Every time I play Born Slippy by Underworld, people say something to the effect of “oh, it’s the Trainspotting song!”. Like, yes, but, like, no. Awesome song, awesome movie, but it feels a bit reductive to me. I don’t like this song because it’s in Trainspotting, I like it because it’s good. And, like, does Underworld not have more to offer? I think they do, so I’ve been diving more into their discography lately and this track really stands out to me. Listen!
Billie: I was obsessed with Dubnobasswithmyheadman this spring. Maggie is right... if you have only heard Born Slippy and like it, you will like more of their discography its fire. It’s so fire that pinkpantheress stole their nachos... also i thought i was going crazy but the Illegal music video reminded me of Run Lola Run. I need to stop going on tangents but the soundtrack for that movie is Underworld and Portishead nachos.
Joe – Big city life, Smerz (2025)
There is something in the water currently in the Nordic region which is now allowing them to export some of the best indie and electronic pop out right now. This new “Copenhagen pop” wave incorporates elements of trip hop, art pop, among other genres that culminate in a subtle yet potent sound. Artists like Oklou (yes I know she’s French) and Erika de Casier have been the frontrunners of this movement, both releasing albums this year to massive critical acclaim. Smerz, (maybe some of the most talented nepo babies out there) take a more alternative and simplistic approach to this genre, with very matter of fact, straightforward, and charming lyrics like ”Baby Can I See you Naked? Even though I love how you dress”. The album incorporates orchestral elements like strings, harpsichords, and pianos which gives it a super unique sonic feel and makes it stand out among the many other works being put out by these artists. “You got time and I got Money” and “A thousand lies” have been on repeat.
Natalie – Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall/Winter RTW 2004
As we get ready for the colder months I’ve been reflecting on one of my favorite shows. Cozy pieces, playful styling, with the classic Marc utilitarian aspects. this show reminds me a lot of what my older sister was wearing during the early 2010’s which is probably why it feels so nostalgic for me. Also Matthew gray gubler walked in this show. Truly an indie girls dream.
Esther: ~~~ by anna roxanne (album) (2019)
I’ve been getting into more ambient music lately. I like to take long walks and hikes when I have the free time because it helps me reset and self-analyze, and ambient music really helps accentuate the time I have outside, especially as I become increasingly more busy with school and work. This EP is very much a melody of nature, filled with fading drones and perfectly positioned spoken word segments that massage your brain. Roxanne was detailed in making every sound matter in its 27 minute runtime. The ambience is soft as silk and the sounds are therapeutic.
Billie – Can’t Take Me Home, Pink (2000)
I was in Alton over the summer getting dinner at some random restaurant downtown with Oberlin friends Jake, Jacob, and Kevin. This awesome r&b track came on and i was like… who the fuck is this? Jake shazamed it for me and it was There You Go from Pink’s debut, Can’t Take Me Home. I listened to this whole album for the first time early September and was obsessed. I didn’t know Pink had a whole r&b album. After some Googling i discovered that Pink had a stacked producing team, including Babyface (produced for Madonna and Ariana Grande) and Kevin Briggs (produced No Scrubs and a handful of tracks on The Writings on the Wall. The production on every track is incredible, and the bridges on all of these sound amazing. This has become one of my favorite r&b albums after obsessive nonstop listening over the past month.
I enjoyed the music videos from this album directed by Dave Meyers. He directed a lot of favorites from this era of pop culture.
Maggie – Save Me music video, Aimee Mann directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (1999)
This is kind of a stolen rec… Like everyone else with a Twitter account, some pals and I went to see One Battle After Another (which was amazing, by the way) which then prompted Jake to show us this music video PTA also directed. He did it while shooting Magnolia, so it’s this weird amalgamation of actors from the movie in different vignettes while Aimee Mann stands off to the side, staring and singing into a slowly moving camera. It’s all very bizarre and I don’t know if I’ve seen anything else like it. Thanks, Jake.
Joe – Bank Head, Kelela (2013)
This song is perfection. Everything Kelela makes is perfection. I want her to soundtrack my life.
Natalie – In My Lifetime, Volume 1, Jay-Z (1997)
Esther – 333 by Bladee (2020)
This album came out at a very formidable time in my life. I was going into my senior year of high school, and had also recently gotten into a lot of Bladee’s earlier work, such as “Icedancer” and “eversince”. This album reinvented how I approached Bladee’s music and what cemented him as one of my favorite artists. Combining the bounciness of previous Bladee outfits with a calm softness. Both introspective and dreamy, there is not a single song on this one that I don’t absolutely love. Also… the album cover is beyond awesome.
Billie – Magic City: An American Fantasy, Starz (2025)
I went to Magic City for the first time over this summer while in Atlanta. I have been wanting to eat their wings for a while. Between listening to Future and Drake, to seeing Lou Will break the NBA bubble quarantine to ‘get some wings,’ i’ve been curious about what the hell goes on in there. Their wings are actually fire and i would go back and pay cover to order more food. Besides the food and strippers, Magic has turned into Atlanta’s hottest networking spot. I asked a regular there about some of the things he’s seen. He pointed at a chair and said he saw Samuel Jackson sitting there. He also told me something about Chris Brown but i forget.
I watched the Magic City GQ documentary a while ago, and from that gained some understanding that it’s more than strip. It’s been a significant place for the Atlanta rap scene and hip hop culture in general. My goats DJ Esco eskimo city the coolest dj in the world and Future had a mutual come up and gained notoriety from their music playing in Magic. JD said that “hearing your song play in [Magic] is like hearing your song on the radio. You feel like you actually made it.” The music in strip clubs were songs the dancers requested and wanted to hear, what they wanted to dance to. If a song played in Magic, it was most likely going to become a hit.
The Starz docuseries was super interesting. There’s a so-so amount of information about Magic City online, but there’s never anything from the dancers themselves or the people who were involved in its creation, or much from rappers directly, outside of songs. Jermaine Dupri and Drake were executive producers and Nelly, T.I, Quavo, 2 Chainz, and Big Boi were other rappers that made appearances in the doc. I liked how the docuseries showed all angles of Magic, from its origin to controversies and opposing viewpoints and black feminists against objectification of black women, to the dancers themselves who feel empowered through it. There’s a lot of viewpoints and people speaking in this, and it’s very cool to gain perspective from just about every angle.
From Dr. Jocelyn, cultural anthropologist: “The assumption that these are not intelligent, thinking, consensual women who are deciding to be in these spaces renders the woman, particularly the black woman, powerless. And these aren’t powerless black women.”
“I think a place like Magic City is absolutely necessary. I love that women can make bank. I love that black women in particular can make bank off the fantasies they produce, because the economy stole off our bodies for so long.”
Maggie – The Living End, Gregg Araki (1992)
At this point in my life, I’ve knocked a good few Araki movies off my list. The Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy, Mysterious Skin, etc. For a long time, The Living End has eluded me… I finally watched it and it really blew me away. It’s one of his lower budget earlier films, and it is still so relevant, poignant, uniquely stylish, etc. etc. It’s one of his angriest movies, but that quality is balanced by its campiness and lust for life. I could go on and on–just watch it.
Joe – Cookie Mueller and Nan Goldin, Walking through clear water in a pool painted black (1990) and All the Beauty and the Bloodsheed (2022)
After I had finished reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, I was on a non-fiction kick and wanted to read something similar. Upon a recommendation from a friend, I stumbled upon Walking through clear water in a pool painted black by Cookie Mueller. This book is a collection of Mueller’s writings spanning all the way from her teenage years til her untimely death from AIDS in 1989. Mueller (1949-1989) is a relatively lesser known actress, writer, and cultural figure best known for her writing and starring in several of John Waters’ films. Mueller has one of the most interesting, chaos-filled lives but often offers a lot of good insight from her spontaneous and bohemian outlook on life, serving as an antithesis to the conservative societal expectations of the Reagan era in which she lived but also of today. One of my favorite essays in the book details a clusterfuck of a day that she experienced while living in the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood of San Francisco in the 60’s. Within one day she manages to narrowly escape being abducted by the Manson family, escape from a satanic ritual gone wrong while high on LSD, and fights off a rapist. In this essay, she notes her address (1826 Page St) where she lived in Haight with a gaggle of other hippie LSD dealers who would produce capsules in their living room. This summer, I took it upon myself while visiting the city to see what the house looked like today. What I found was a surprisingly mundane house. I have to wonder if the people living there know the history of it.
After researching Cookie, I began to learn more about her friend Nan Goldin who shot the picture which is featured on the cover of Walking Through… . Nan’s work intrigued me, her intimate photography took a radical approach to pure self expression and offered viewers a look into her own as well as others’ romantic and sexual relationships. In her magnum opus slideshow The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (which I inherited a physical copy of thanks to my aunt!), Goldin explores these relationships through photos as well as documenting her own abusive relationship. This work features several photos of Cookie as the two worked closely alongside one another. One of the most powerful photos is a self portrait of her in a mirror holding her camera with two black eyes, shortly after she had been beaten by her current boyfriend Brian. She features several photos of her after enduring this abuse as an act of reclamation of what she experienced. After viewing these photos in this book I became even more intrigued in Goldin. I watched the 2022 documentary which centers around her titled All the Beauty and The Bloodshed which follows the career of the artist as well as her battle with the art world to remove funding and naming rights to galleries which were funded by the Sackler family, who developed oxycontin and largely manufactured the opioid crisis in America, which Nan was victim of at one point. The doc includes Nan talking about Cookie and some great archival footage of her. Walking through clear water… and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed make great companion pieces to each other and I highly recommend checking them out.
Natalie – Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) - Raps over Alter Ego by Tame Impala at a festival in Russia (2017)
Billie – The Blueprint 2, Jay-Z (2002)
I’ve never understood why sequels are so common in hip hop… calling something “______ 2” but nothing seems to be connected between projects. I had this thought a couple months ago about Supreme Clientele 2. It’s been a quarter of a century since Supreme Clientele… fellow Wu Tang member Raekwon has the sequel Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2… no rap sequels ive heard seem to be better than preceding original works (exception is Tha Carter IV) (But then again im proven right since Tha Carter V flopped). Also recently there was the sequel Alfredo 2 that was pretty fire and honored the first one. While on the topic of sequels, it’s funny there’s a sequel to Dr. Dre’s The Watcher on this album titled The Watcher 2. The original Dre version is a classic and there’s also The Watcher 3 with Snoop Dogg.
Favorites from this album: The Bounce (featuring Kanye West), What They Gonna Do (featuring Sean Paul), A Ballad For the Fallen Soldier (featuring DJ Clue), ‘03 Bonnie and Clyde (feating Beyonce). Not a favorite from this album but All Around The World has a Bmore sounding break that makes me think of Gaz’s Sing Sing. Either it is a sample of something similar to that, or my brain is fried from East Coast club.
Maggie – @climaxbooks on Instagram
I recently learned that Isabella Burley, the former Editor-in-Chief of Dazed, founded an art/rare book store in New York called Climax Books. The books they have are very artsy and design-heavy, and their Instagram is always featuring new finds and books seen in television/film which is neat. Hoping to make a pilgrimage there one day.
Billie: i love looking at her account and the celebrities that come into the store. Maggie that will be you one day inshallah
Joe – World Keeps Turning, OSSX (2025)
Equiss and Lektor Scopes make up the New Jersey duo OSSX. The two are true masters of production but also flipping Dance music classics into even more elevated bmore and jersey flips. I truly have not been able to play one DJ set since this album came out where I don’t play a song from this album or from OSSX themselves. I hope to see OSSX become huge this year, as their work is already at such a high level of quality that it only makes sense that popularity will follow. (Stay tuned for an interview with Equiss by Billie!)
Billie: yesss we wrote these write ups a few weeks ago, the interview has been posted here, check it out. also have to mention real quick that the cover art from this was originally by Nate Sullivan
Natalie – The Lonny Breaux Collection, Frank Ocean (2011)
Esther - The Adam Friedland Show (2023-)
At first glance, I was hesitant to tune into an internet talk-show hosted by the punching bag of the podcasting trio formally known as “cumtown.” However, Adam Friedland has gone from obscure internet personality to the modern century's answer to Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett. Friedland’s style of interviewing and down-to-earth personality feels extremely authentic, there isn’t a page that goes unturned. Friedland doesn’t need gimmicks, the contrast between his laser-focused approach to interviewing and his experience as the court jester of podcast fame has created some incredible moments with some of pop culture and politics’ biggest clowns. Friedland knows when to turn up the comedy and when to keep it serious, as seen in one of the most passionate interviews with a sitting politician I’ve ever seen.
Billie – Welcome Back, Ma$e (2004)
Listened to this and Mase’s other two albums a bunch this month. Fire and he should un-retire. Favorites from this one are The Love You Need and Keep It On.
Maggie – The Metrograph Magazine, Second Edition (2025)
My dad is really obsessed with subscribing to various art and literary magazines for like a month or two and then moving on, which is honestly a great way to get exposed to what different groups are up to, culturally. The latest is Metrograph’s new print magazine, and it’s so cool. I love an excuse to ~interact with physical media~ and this nicely-designed magazine with various content about film is kind of just perfect for me. Highlights that I’m looking forward to: a piece by Whit Stillman, a David Lynch tribute entitled “Ominous Woosh” and discovering how unqualified I am for solving their cinema-themed crossword.
Joe – Girls HBO (2012)
Since watching this my freshman year of college, this show has become a constant in my life, whatever is happening to me has probably happened in Girls. I am currently in the middle of my third or fourth rewatch which I am doing with my roommate. There is some sort of telepathic connection I have with Lena Dunham which allows me to just get her. Despite Dunham being universally hated by the internet, she managed to write one of the best TV shows of the 2010’s. Every character in this show makes you want to yell at the screen practically every episode, but I think that’s what makes it so addictive, you can’t help but watch in horror as Hannah Horvath makes yet another questionable “twee”? fashion choice or says some out of pocket shit to a man she is dating.
Natalie – Paprika, Satoshi Kon (2006)
Esther - Blonde Death (1984)
I love a good DIY film about a woman who is crazyyyy, but unlike other films in its lane, this felt very well structured and very coherent. Infinitely quotable dialogue and an extremely clever take on homogeneity and suburban anxiety. I could never hate a diva on a spree! The Citizen Kane of John Waters inspired shot-on-film media
Billie – Paid In Full (2002)
I love a classic rags to riches story and also Cam’ron is an awesome villain. I watched a good chunk of Dame Dash’s Breakfast Club crashout to fall asleep to over multiple nights. I wonder what my subconscious is doing with all that information. Anyways it’s funny everything came together because i had no clue Dame was gonna go off on the intellectual property of it all… also Dame Dash reacting to 50 Cent Paid In Full rights
I was reading someone’s Substack article about the impact of Paid In Full and saw the words ‘Money’ and ‘Mitch’ in the same sentence and that made me realize that one of my favorite Uzi songs Money Mitch is about Mitch from this movie... omg... Hip hop culture and hip hop movies feed off each other and it’s cool to put the pieces together.
Maggie – The Most Dear and The Future, ear (2025)
Any time someone I know tells me their friends make music, I get kind of scared. But this recommendation came from a pretty reliable source: my friend Leyna who studies poetry at Bard College in Upstate NY (I know). A few months ago they showed me this song, “Nerves,” that her friends had made. It rocked, and now I’m seeing them gain some traction. They just dropped this album and they’re opening for yung lean right now. I’m going to start placing more trust in my friends’ tastes now.
Natalie – Fight The Power music video, Public Enemy directed by Spike Lee (1990)
Esther - Cities Aviv (2012-)
Cities Aviv is a Memphis-based artist who has been making some of my favorite experimental music since his 2018 album, “raised for a better view.” Since then, Aviv has released 11 albums, and an ambient side project called “African-American Sound Recordings.” Throughout the past month, his discography has been heavily in my rotation. From songs that provide short but immense energy to surreal 45-minute tracks that span multiple genres, Cities Aviv is always finding new ways to innovate and constantly evolve his sound with his anguished rapping style and impressive sampling skills. His new album “Electric Chair” came out in August, and has continued a successful run for Aviv.
Billie – Wait a Minute music video, Ray J, Pharrell, Lil Kim (2001)
First time watching this month. Pharrell looks awesome with a mustache. Kim’s part also fire. Wait a minute aint that Brandy’s brother?
Maggie – Absolution, Muse (2003)
Bear with me. This summer I spent a lot of time speculating about the resurgence of early-2000s Internet and alternative culture, and this moody, emo-adjacent album by a maybe lesser version of Radiohead is the perfect representation of that. After listening to this album on repeat for like two months, I’ve declared the coming season to be Myspace Fall. Set aside an hour of your time to listen to Matt Bellamy whine about dying, jealousy, yearning and feeling useless, and you’ll know what I mean.
Esther - Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse (2006)
I think if I could time travel to anytime ever, I would choose the day in 2006 this album came out, and you got to turn on your iPod nano and listen to Pharrell’s production over prime Pusha T and Malice. This one is so fun and is one of those rare albums where not a single second is wasted. Just one of those where everyone involved is perfectly honed in on their craft. “Momma I’m So Sorry,” is up there for some of my favorite songs ever.
Billie – Diplomatic Immunity, The Diplomats (2003)
Got this rec from Nadir after bitching to him about the current state of hip hop. I think a lot of the things i enjoyed this month were intertwined. I watched Cam’ron’s Oh Boy music video, awesome song. I also watched Mariah Carey’s version.
Then i also watched Paid in Full, where Cam’ron plays Rico. I miss skits on albums #bringbackskits #shoutoutnadir. Dipset forever
Natalie – Jenny Nicholson’s Youtube channel
Esther - One Battle After Another (2025)
Got to catch this opening night at Ragtag Cinema. I can admit that I really didn’t want to love this due to how much hype it was getting. To my chagrin, this is truly the movie of the moment. So much happened in this film, yet it felt like it was half of its runtime. Paul Thomas Anderson did a fantastic job of really immersing the audience and combining the political with the blockbuster. Leo, Teyanna Taylor, Del Toro, Sean Penn, and Hollywood newcomer Chase Infiniti put on a 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors-type performance. Future instant classic.
Billie – Instructions, Jermaine Dupri (2001)
This month i learned that JD is a nepo baby, the son of some music exec. That doesnt take away from his music. I like this album and how it makes me feel like a real baller #bringbackskits... This track wasnt on Instructions, but i also watched the video for Money Ain't a Thang off Life in 1472 for the first time. I was watching some Starz promo material for the Magic City: An American Fantasy doc. It was funny hearing JD trying to claim that he ‘started’ making it rain.
He claimed that before the Money Ain’t a Thang video, no one was throwing money. In the Starz documentary, a bunch of people from strippers to rappers like Nelly were asked who started making it rain in their confessionals. Everyone separately came to the conclusion that it was Big Meechie/BMF. I was actually dead that no one said JD. But Instructions is cool. This album does hold quite a lot of instructions…
Honorable mention i keep going on side tangents, but i love revisiting the Hype Williams video for Sweetheart with Mariah Carey. The video is so simple but so fly. Some scenes were filmed at the Guggenheim in Spain. If you point a camera at that building, it’s impossible to get something that looks boring. I love the color grading, dissolve transitions, and fisheye used in some shots. I literally say those three things about every Hype Williams video, but Sweetheart in particular feels so effortlessly cool.
Esther – Quarrel by bar italia (2020)
Bar Italia is a collaboration project out of London featuring World Music signee “NINA” and Double Virgo vocalist Sam Fenton. Their debut album, “Quarrel,” has been one of my most visited albums of the 2020s so far. Quarrel is short and simple, running at only 14 minutes. Despite this, the debut album from Fenton and NINA maintains an utter uniqueness that contributes massively to the world music scene, and serves as one of the quintessential influences to the current Copenhagen renaissance
Billie – rl stine, tagabow (2025)
Ive been listening to They Are Gutting a Body of Water’s new single from Lotto, rl stine. The other ones are pretty good too, but this one is my favorite single.
It’s taken me such a long time to upload this that Lotto just came out today (10/17) crying emojik
Esther – Today i lied down by bl4ck m4rket c4rt (2023)
Whenever fall rolls around, I like to trade in the energetic and brash music that dominates my playlists for more somber and slow tunes. Bl4ck M4rket Cr4t’s dreamy debut tape fills all these boxes for the autumn backdrop, and then more. “Today I Lied Down,” is easily one of the most mature and well-developed shoegaze projects I’ve ever heard from anyone, let alone a 17-year-old. While the artist unfortunately passed away shortly after the release of the album, “Today I lied down,” serves as a shrine for how impactful music can be. There isn’t a lot of music that makes me feel as emotional as the claustrophobic lyricism and lonesome chord progressions on this one, yet it somehow leaves you feeling cathartic and bittersweet. Rest in peace.
Billie – What’s Up, Xscape (2005)
I found this fire track from the ATL soundtrack. It’s not on streaming for some reason but it’s awesome and features a Planet Rock sample. DJ Swisha hello
Esther – The Most Dear and The Future by ear (2025)
Easily one of the most under-the-radar releases of 2025, I discovered glitch-pop outfit Ear based on the “you may also like” section of the Bandcamp page for JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown’s 2022 project “Scaring The Hoes.” This album has some great vocal soundscapes, as well as the classic glitch-pop production that I have to really embrace. I am excited to see dwhere the two artists who make up “ear,” go next.