How many times, how many ways, could we tell the force and effect of the cultural-political winds throughout the years not by simply reading the news or the trends on social media, but by observing, and feeling, what is going… Read More
Susan Alcorn – Pedernal (Relative Pitch) By now, creative music folks know Susan Alcorn for her feat in bringing the pedal steel guitar to the downtown music scene, with guitarist Mary Halvorson’s Octet, and with other knotty improvising collectives. But… Read More
15. Love Fame Tragedy – Wherever I Go, I Want To Leave [Good Soldier] Matthew “Murph” Murphy of the Wombats somehow finds time to eat and sleep, which is honestly amazing given that it appears he spends 24 hours a day writing… Read More
Anyone familiar with PopMatters knows that, but for our playful moments (well, even within our playful moments) we put great emphasis on the matters of Culture. The political and economic forces of our times have shaped PopMatters since we first… Read More
December 6, 2015: Fonzi Thornton is standing onstage at the Kennedy Center. The Queen of Soul holds court at the piano. It’s the ultimate manifestation of a lifelong dream. As a teenager, Thornton sang Aretha Franklin songs while strolling through… Read More
20. Black Curse – Endless Wound (Sepulchral Voice) In 2015 members of acclaimed acts Primitive Man, Khemmis, and Blood Incantation discussed their love for the early days of extreme metal. That was the time when the lines between black and… Read More
We tend to think of beauty and harshness, sensitivity and anger as opposites. While it’s understandable that language hews towards a dichotomous model for sorting our day-to-day experiences, music allows us to touch on sensations that aren’t so easily pinned… Read More
There are some who confer beatitude – or, at the very least, that quality that the Argentine fabulist Jorge Luis Borges called everness – simply by touch. In Christian iconography, the Lactation of St Bernard is a miracle experienced by… Read More
15. DJ Cactuar – Bolsonaro Obaluaê [Independent] We naturally take comfort in the familiar. Likewise, we often turn away from forms and concepts we cannot easily identify. But for some, these curiosities just as well may draw us in. It’s why Bolsonaro… Read More
Sometimes, a book aims such a blow to the guts I have to put it down and come back to it after a few deep breaths. Kiss Myself Goodbye:The Many Lives of Aunt Munca (Bloomsbury) is Ferdinand Mount’s account of… Read More