In the northeast of Kyrgyzstan, perched in high mountains, Lake Issyk Kul is one of the five deepest lakes in the world. On its shores, dark constructions of cement and steel meddle with olds wrecks. It is the port of Balyktchy, abandoned for years and slowly starting now its conversion into a resort. Here lies the pride of an admiral of the Soviet navy : Boris Vassilievitch Chumakov. Joyful, restless, yet terribly melancholic figure, the Admiral reveals himself to be some sort of allegory of what remains of the soviet man 30 years after the fall of USSR.

MONUMENTAL DIVIDE is about a small rural town divided over politics, and follows a young couple as they come to terms with the social forces that drove them out. Stephanie, an outdoor enthusiast, moved into town two years ago with her boyfriend seeking recreation and a place to call home. Taking a job at the local non-profit, she inadvertently took sides in a bitter 20-year-old battle over land management. Now, four months pregnant, Stephanie navigates a town stuck in perpetual breakdown and questions whether she’s found the ideal community for her new family.

Daniel's a typical sarcastic teenager. He's into football and video games. But for most of Daniel's life, he's assisted his family as a caregiving youth, providing essential care for his younger brother Nate. Daniel is one of 3.4 million children between the ages of 8 and 18 that act as caregivers for a family member.

"""Dark Thoughts, one of the few pop-punk bands it’s OK for hardcore folks to like."" Dark Thoughts: Must Be Nice 12” (Stupid Bag) Dark Thoughts’ 3rd LP is out, and I think it’s their best one yet. If you heard the first two, this one is a little different, with less of a stylized, Ramones-influenced sound. There are very few bells and whistles (except for the literal bells on the climactic closing track), and an apparently simple formula: take some smart and heartfelt lyrics, find a 3 or 4-chord progression that goes along with their tone, and bash it out as power chords with Ramones-style drums playing at an appropriate tempo (mid-paced to super fast, depending on the tone). For most bands, that would be a fast track to a bunch of generic and boring songs, but for Dark Thoughts the minimal ornamentation highlights how great these songs are. The lyrics give me all the feels (as the kids were saying in the not-too-distant past), and every track has the fist-pumping, energetic and anthemic sound that makes Dark Thoughts one of the few pop-punk bands it’s OK for hardcore folks to like. The overall tone and vibe is similar to what I consider the peak period of Screeching Weasel, i.e. their run of LPs from My Brain Hurts through How to Make Enemies and Irritate People, but if you whittled those records down to the faster, darker tracks like “Hanging Around,” “The Science of Myth,” “Every Night,” etc. Like most of the individual tracks, the LP is short, but it's such a thrilling listen that I often play it a few times in a row, something I rarely do with other records. I’ve been playing Must Be Nice since the digital version first went online back in December, and it shows no signs of leaving the “current listening” pile any time soon. - Daniel Lupton, Sorry State Records"

A look inside the raw world of New England east-coast surfing through the eyes of three men who have dedicated their lives to the ocean.