Music

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[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
Shakira: She Wolf

When it works, She Wolf is a sexy modern-day disco stunner. When it doesn't, it's pretty embarassing for everyone involved.

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Sole & The Skyrider Band: Plastique

Plastique utilizes scathing hip hop to bring to light the despondent affairs of America through the use of dark constructs, an irony you can be assured isn’t lost on Sole & the Skyrider Band.

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Carrie Underwood: Play On

Play On is definitely not good, not horrifyingly bad, and precisely what you imagine it to be.

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John Cowan: 8745 Feet Live at Telluride

Cowan was wise in choosing his voice to be at the fore of the set, and he’s given ample room to growl, shout, spit, and shoot off notes with ease, grace, and professionalism.

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Pictureplane: Dark Rift

Frequent HEALTH remixer and tourmate proves why one of our best contemporary bands likes him so much.

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Children of Bodom: Skeletons in the Closet

Children of Bodom mean well, but Garage Days Re-Revisited this is most definitely not.

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J.D. Allen Trio: Shine!

A second saxophone trio recording from a very impressive, if not wholly original, tenor player.

Short Takes
[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
:. Frank Sinatra: Christmas with Sinatra and Friends
:. Quintus McCormick Blues Band: Hey Jodie!
:. Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground: Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground
:. Gene Watson: A Taste of the Truth

Events

[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
David Bazan: 13 October 2009 - Washington, DC
Bazan invites questions from the audience, and inevitably, one or two come from disappointed, even heartbroken fans who want to know for sure if Bazan's given up on God, or put another way, given up on them.

[Mon, 23.Nov.09]
Future of the Left: 29 October 2009 - Washington, DC
Come on, people. Stop sleeping on one of the most invigorating bands to come down the pike in years.

Mixed Media

POPWIRE
News, Reviews and Commentary from the World of Popular Culture

[Mon, 23.Nov.09]
:. Viggo Mortensen went the extra mile to prepare for his role in ‘The Road’
:. Game Day: ‘Boy and Blob’ , it even has a ‘hug’ button
:. 10 excuses to flee ‘New Moon’
:. Ray Park gets plenty of face time on NBC’s ‘Heroes’
:. Oprah’s goodbye is also a hello
:. ‘Buck Rogers’ serial soars again on DVD 70 years later
:. Season’s screenings: TV decks the halls with specials and movies
:. Scalpers find niche in Olympic market

[Fri, 20.Nov.09]
:. INTERVIEW:Adam Goldberg goes avant garde
:. ‘Modern Warfare 2’ video game scores record sales in launch
:. Brad Pitt company buys film rights to Airtight Games’ ‘Dark Void’
:. INTERVIEW:Tom Arnold is a lovable loser , and open about it
:. INTERVIEW:Tony Bennett gives back to his old N.Y. neighborhood with arts school
:. Jazz pianist reflects on his influences in his first piano concerto
:. ‘The Exiles’ rescued from oblivion
:. INTERVIEW:Wes Anderson meets Roald Dahl in ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’
:. INTERVIEW:It’s ‘Tuesday Night’ again for Sheryl Crow
:. Libraries turning a page with cafes, chat rooms and flat screens
:. Oz devotee returns to the land he loves with new Marvel adaptation

 
FEATURES
Re-Meet the Beatles: PopMatters Salutes the Still Fab Four
By PopMatters Staff
[24.Nov.09] :. A comprehensive look at the history and impact of the Beatles over 7 days.
"With Our Love, We Can Save the World": The Beatles Within and Without the Late '60s Zeitgeist
In My Own Life: 20 Indirect Beatle Memories
'Revolution in My Head; The Beatles' Records and the Sixties' by Ian MacDonald

20 Questions: Sandra Brown
By PopMatters Staff
[24.Nov.09] :. Bestselling author Sandra Brown chats about her weep-inducing, wavering confidence and advises that one should be wary of hiring a discount hit man.

COLUMNS
Jazz Today: Spinach and Broccoli Music: An Interview with Composer and Drummer John Hollenbeck
By Will Layman
[24.Nov.09] :. John Hollenbeck recombines the familiar in compositions that are startlingly new. His new Eternal Interlude is among the best jazz of 2009. Here, he explains his quirky, fresh methods.

The Tackle Box: Squanto: The Ultimate Guide
By Chris Justice
[24.Nov.09] :. Even anglers like myself yearn for guides with fishing IQs as rich as Squanto's, a Patuxet Native American who taught the Pilgrims how to fish.

Books

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[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
:.
Chicago: A Biography by Dominic Pacyga

The story of Chicago is an epic one, full of many acts of ingenuity, wonder, greed, and tragedy; all the best and worst characteristics of humanity on a grand scale.

:.
Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster by Tom McSorley

Tom McSorley, executive director of the Canadian Film Institute, cracks the code of Atom Egoyan’s The Adjuster and places it in the context of Egoyan’s other film and of Canadian cinema as a whole.

Multimedia / Comics

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Multimedia

[Mon, 23.Nov.09]
:.
Marvel Super Hero Squad

Deciding whether or not to buy this game is mostly a decision based on who you want to play the game with.

Comics

[Thu, 19.Nov.09]
:.
Batman/Doc Savage One Shot

Azzarello paints a world rapidly out-evolving its legendary pulp heroes, giving way to the newer form of costumed vigilante.

Film / TV

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Film

[Mon, 23.Nov.09]
:.
Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos)

Broken Embraces remains fixed on the ways that men seek control of the not-so-elusive Lena.

:.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

This bad lieutenant's pain is less punishment than righteous realignment, a reflection of the nutty, debased, and utterly chaotic world around him. He's not deviant. He's the new normal.

Television

[Thu, 19.Nov.09]
:.
Terror in Mumbai

Dan Reed's documentary traces the events of those three days in Mumbai last November by using the recorded conversations as well as local footage, some shot by the journalists who arrived on the scene long before police or the Indian Coast Guard or Navy appeared.

DVDS

lead DVD review image
[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
:.
Andy Barker, P.I.: The Complete Series

While Andy Barker, P.I. never really got the chance to fully realize its potential, these six episodes are a good showcase for what could’ve been a very funny series.

:.
Audition: Collector's Edition

“I’d be so happy if people enjoy this movie—it was made ten years ago…this is the new edition. You may regret watching it, though.” -- Takashi Miike, director of Audition

:.
Chops

With its exuberance of youth, the mesmerizing presence of Marsalis, and the music of Ellington for a soundtrack, Chops exudes “soulfulness”.

MOVING CITATIONS

Moving Citations:
Thoughts on Pop That Matter

[20.Nov.09]

Academe and the Decline of News Media (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
The 8 1/2 Laws of Rumor Spread (Psychology Today)
What Is Techno-Immortality? (Institute for Ethics and Emergine Technologies)
Can Bots Feel Joy? (H+ Magazine )

[19.Nov.09]

[17.Nov.09]

Addicted to Cute (Vanity Fair)
Publicly, a Whole New Lewdness (The Washington Post)

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