Other Music
Directed by Rob Hatch-Miller and Puloma Basu

TICKETS

$12 | $8 Speed members

“Other Music demonstrates the real virtues of those spaces for creating a sense of community and inspiring people to make art, not just sell it.”—Steve Erickson, Trouser Press

In the summer of 2016, New York City lost a beloved and influential hub of independent music culture. Other Music–located on East 4th Street between Broadway and Lafayette in the heart of Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood–was more than just a store that sold CDs, records, tapes, and magazines. It was a place where bands were formed, record labels were born, and careers were launched. And it was THE place where a generation of New Yorkers at the dawn of the Internet age went to discover groundbreaking music by artists who would go on to become household names and underground icons: Animal Collective, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, the National, Interpol, TV On the Radio, Regina Spektor, William Basinski, and countless others.

With more and more record stores, bookstores and video stores closing everywhere, the communities that have built up around shops like Other Music are slowly dissipating and migrating to online forums. Nowadays most people are streaming music online rather than purchasing it digitally to download, much less going to stores to buy physical media. As the music industry continues to move in that direction and community hubs like Other Music struggle to remain in existence, we think it is important to celebrate what spaces like these have meant to people in the past–and how their spirit can live on in an increasingly digital world. 2019, U.S., DCP, 83 minutes. Recommended for 15+.