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Hulu’s latest sleeper hit, Paradise, belongs to the mystery box category of TV shows, a genre that explores the puzzling causality of events in the story, building its exclusive mythos set in a controlled environment—occasionally isolated from the rest of the world. A key motif of the genre, reflected in shows like From, Silo, and Lost too, is the way the makers try to use the background score and soundtrack to enhance the narrative treatment—by creating an enigmatic effect or hinting at what’s to come and motivations of the characters. This is most prominently reflected in David Lynch’s masterpiece, Twin Peaks, both the movies and series, where Angelo Badalamenti composed themes and scores that did justice to Lynch’s surreal vision. The importance of music as a suggestive narrative device is also realized in Paradise, as composer Siddhartha Khosla’s usage of background scores and tracks suggests.

Dinosaur Jr. played on the latest edition of NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series, performing several tracks off their new album Sweep It Into Space.

The band filmed the five-song clip, which was directed by Joe Salinas, in the empty Shea Theater in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. The set included three songs from Sweep It Into Space, “I Ain’t,” “Garden,” and “I Ran Away,” as well as “Feel the Pain” from 1994’s Without a Sound and “Freak Scene” from 1988’s Bug.

Dinosaur Jr. released Sweep It Into Space in April via Jagjaguwar.

Dinosaur Jr. have announced a new album Sweep It Into Space, out April 23rd via Jagjaguwar, and dropped its lead single “I Ran Away.”

Originally scheduled for mid-2020, Sweep It Into Space is the band’s first LP since 2016’s Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not, and was recorded at Amherst’s Biquiteen in late autumn of 2019 following a U.S. tour. Kurt Vile co-produced the album, and performs the lead 12-string guitar on “I Ran Away.”

When recording with Vile was disrupted by the pandemic, lead singer J. Mascis...

Last month, Third Man Records launched Third Man Public Access, broadcasting live performances by artists and bands at the label’s headquarters in Nashville.

The series was meant to be a salve to the increasingly dire coronavirus pandemic; as live events were getting canceled left and right, Third Man jumped at the chance to continue showcasing its artists and connecting them to fans.

Since March, though, our understanding of the Covid-19 crisis has changed. Due to the imperative need for social-distancing, those live performances with a full band at Third...

Ahead of the Academy Awards, we’re reviewing each short category. See the Animation section below and the other shorts sections here.

Blind Vaysha – Canada – 8 minutes

I did a double take upon hearing Theodore Ushev‘s name alongside his animated short Blind Vaysha during the Oscar nominations because I’ve watched his work progress the past five years. This Canadian by way of Bulgaria is a Toronto International Film Festival staple, a guy who alters his aesthetic with every new project. Whether rotoscoping, hybridizing Cubism and Constructivism, or dabbling in Abstract Expressionism, though, you always know it’s an Ushev film because of its content and craftsmanship. His latest is no different, the adoption of woodcutting lending an old school storybook feel to a tale that speaks towards today’s climate of hope and despair. Narrated by Caroline Dhavernas, Vaysha’s story begs us to open our eyes and see...

Patrick Osborne definitely likes making animated home movie-like experiences as snapshots in time. The Oscar-winning Disney short, “Feast” (2015), offered a series of eating vignettes in a dog’s life. Now he’s competing again with the 2D version of his Google Spotlight Stories Vr short, “Pearl,” a musical journey between a father and daughter inside their ’83 Chevy Citation.

Made at Evil Eye Pictures and Google Atap, “Pearl” also boasts the original song, “No Wrong Way Home,” written by Alexis Harte & Jj Wiesler and performed by Kelley Stoltz and Nicki Bluhm.

Read More: ‘Go North’ Exclusive Vr Short Film: Two Teens Try To Find a Safe Haven In an Adult-Free Post-Apocalyptic World

“The thing that’s happening now in Vr and Google Spotlight Stories is that the camera’s in the middle of a space and you can look in any direction,” Osborne told IndieWire. “How is that going to limit...