Isabel Crabtree

• Notions Video
  Exploring auto-exoticism in Belfast's poetry for the Seamus Heaney Writing Centre.
  
  
• Souvenir and Mirror
  Belfast's poets characterise their changing home.
  
  
• Meet Horsegirl, Three Teenagers Keeping No Wave Alive in Chicago 
  The race is on to finish their album before they head off to college. 
  
  
• The Cost of Live Music's Virtual, Hybrid Future
  What goes into sustaining this new model of digital nightlife and performance?
  
  
• Music, Freedom, and the Anti-Capitalism of 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist' Being young and a music fan in the 2000s, even as recently as the mid 2010s, meant pirating.
  
  
• The New Normal For Independent Venues
  As plans to reopen stay on hold, venues across the country are working with artists to figure out "the new normal."
  
  
• Missed My Transfer, Found a Connection [Print Only]
  Immersing yourself in the setting of a well-thumbed book can be the key to finding your niche in a new city. How one girl learned to be a New Yorker, rock and roll style. 
  
  
• 8 NYC Books For When You Miss New York (Even Though You're Quarantined Here...)
  Sink into your comfiest chair and follow the footsteps of New Yorkers (real and fictional) from the safety of your living room.
  
  
• When Two Bands Realize They Can Make Music with Vacuum Cleaners if They Want To
  In New York, the DIY scene has flourished once again. 
  
  
• Impress Your Date With This Valentine's Day Playlist of Underrated Love Songs
  Relax and have a good night. We curated the playlist for you.
  
  
• The Real Story Behind Amazon's The Report Starring Adam Driver as Daniel J. Jones
  The new film dives into the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation of the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.
  
  
• One Child Nation Explores China's One-Child Policy--and Offers a Familiar Warning
  Nanfu Wang's documentary on its birth-restriction program unpacks the same sort of calculated rhetoric that led to family separations at our border.
  
  
• The King Might Not Be Totally Historically Accurate, But Timotheé Chalamet's Bowl Cut Sure As Hell Is
  We’ve rounded up what’s true and what’s legend in Netflix's adaptation of Shakespeare's battle epics.
  
  
• How Shia LaBeouf's Honey Boy Delves Into His Arrest, Trauma, and Time on Even Stevens
  The actor's semi-autobiographical new movie addresses his real-life struggles.
  
  
• What to Read, Watch, and Listen to In Preparation For the Robot Apocalypse
  With 'Terminator: Dark Fate' out this weekend, we've rounded up the books, movies, and shows to prep you for the day we get terminated.
  
  
• Spotlight: Wooing
  Something about the fact that Rachel Trachtenburg, 25-year-old frontwoman of Brooklyn band Wooing, used to collect dust bunnies isn’t exactly surprising.
  
  
• Robert Mapplethorpe, Master of Lasting Impressions
  “Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now,” shows the artist’s influence on contemporary photography in the haute art world at the Guggenheim Museum, beginning January 25.
  
  
• Up-and-Coming Voices of New York: Hilton Dresden
  "Dressing and being myself, I know it’s not the norm, but it helps other people take risks and be who they really want to be.”

• HEALTH: The Noise Band Trade Their Sonic Variety of Old with a Lingering Anxiety
  Review of Rat Wars.
  
  
• Aïsha Devi: The Swiss Raver Gets Spiritual
  Review of Death is Home.
  
  
• On the Sweet Spot Between Crunchy Granola and Beachy Psychedelics
  Review of Perennial.
  
  
• Sardonic Indie-Pop Aussies The Goon Sax are Back, and Feeling Emotional
  Review of Mirror II.
  
  
• Sad Girl Album Fans Rejoice! Lucy Dacus Returns
  Review of Home Video.
  
  
• Follow the New Spellling Album Down the Rabbit Hole
  Review of The Turning Wheel.
  
  
• The New Current Joys Record is One For All You Sad Ex-Indie Kids Out There 
  Review of Voyager.
  
  
• Forgotten What Fun Feels Like? Allow this Du Blonde Record to Remind You 
  Review of Homecoming.
   
• For Those I Love: Grief and Friendship in Contemporary Dublin 
  Review of For Those I Love.
   
• Step Inside Lael Neale's Meditation on 'Acquainted With Night' 
  Review of Acquainted With Night. 
  
  
• Of Course Sigur Rós Have Made an Orchestral Album 
  Review of Odin's Magic Raven.
   
• Belurasian Goths Molchat Doma Ride the Wave of Their TikTok Success into Fertile New Territory 
  Review of Monument.
   
• Kevin Morby is Seeing the World Through New Eyes 
  Review of Sundowner.
  
  
• Will Butler Contemplates His Place in the World on 'Generations' 
  Review of Generations.
  
  
• Angel Olsen's Songwriting on 'Whole New Mess' Has Staggering Power  Review of Whole New Mess.
  
  
• Future Islands Man William Cashion Has Made an Ocean-Based Solo Album  Review of Postcard Music.
  
  
• Come and Hang Out in Alex Izenberg's Luxurious 'Caravan Château'  Review of Caravan Château. 
  
  
• NZCA Lines is Trying to Work Things Out – With the Help of Some Chunky Basslines  Review of Pure Luxury.
  
  
• Retreat Into the World that Black Bordello Have Built for Us  Review of Black Bordello.
  
  
• Many Artists Spend Entire Careers Trying to Get Close to the Brilliance of Christian Lee Hutson – He's Just Starting Out  Review of Beginners.
  
  
• Westerman's Debut Album is Very Accomplished – But is There Much Else of Substance Here?  Review of Your Hero Is Not Dead.
  
  
• When They Have the Courage of Their Convictions, I Break Horses are Hard to Resist  Review of Warnings.
  
  
• Car Seat Headrest Might Have Made the Most Human Record of the Year So Far  Review of Making a Door Less Open.
  
  
• Sufjan Stevens & Lowell Brams Aim for Transcendence on 'Aporia'...and Miss  Review of Aporia.

• Godspeed 
  Short story featured in issue 14 of Channel, Spring 2026.

• The Kitchen 
  Short story featured in 'Debauchery 63' by Roi Fainéant Literary Press.
  
  
• How to Be a Groupie in the Digital Age
  Short story featured in the first issue of Groupie Mag. 

I'm a writer based in New England. My work has been published by Channel, Esquire, Loud & Quiet, Honest Ulsterman and other arts and culture publications. I love reading and writing about art, culture and entertainment.