BOOKS
Story Just Wrote With Music: Interview with Doug Hoekstra
By Nikki Tranter
[28.Sep.06] :.
"I do believe that, that even when someone is "bothering" the coffee drinkers, you can look around the audience and find folks connecting and digging what he or she is doing, and from those connections, all sorts of good things emerge, immediately or further on down the road."
Cult Fiction: Ayn Rand, Anais Nin, and the Feminist Backlash
By Sady O.
[19.Sep.06] :.
Nin and Rand were both writers of great force, who dared to take on some of the defining issues of their time, and who refused to sacrifice the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of their thoughts for the relative safety of a party line. In that respect, they both approach the feminist ideal of self-determination and confidence.
Behind Impetus Press: An Interview with Jennifer Banash and Willy Blackmore
By Anthony Enns
[7.Sep.06] :.
"We founded Impetus Press because there are a lot of readers who don't necessarily want to choose exclusively between highbrow and lowbrow, who want serious literary fiction that takes popular culture as its muse." PopMatters talks to publishing house revolutionaries Jennifer Banash and Willy Blackmore.
Vigilance: An Interview with Lillian Faderman
By Ellise Fuchs
[17.Aug.06] :.
Lillian Faderman might be described as a cat who roars. Soft-spoken, attentive, and highly intelligent, she's made her name as an academic and activist.
All Guts, All Glory: A Tribute to Mickey Spillane
By Bill Gibron
[25.Jul.06] :.
"You don't read Mickey Spillane. You LIVE him." Bill Gibron's tribute to the author of blue-collar bluster and potboiler poetry.
Cubicle Comedy: Interview with Pete Flies
By Nikki Tranter
[30.Jun.06] :.
"Success is an act. I think it's funny when people say, 'I could never be an actor,' and it's what we do all the time, in work, relationships, life in general." Inspired as much by Voltaire's Candide as Mike Judge's Office Space, Pete Flies talks about Memoirs of a Virus Programmer.
You Don't Know What You Think You Know: An Interview with Museum of Hoaxes Curator Alex Boese
By Glenn McDonald
[28.Jun.06] :.
"The scams that advertisers, politicians, and the media get away with frustrate me enormously, and I often wonder why people allow themselves to be manipulated so easily." Glenn McDonald talks to author and Hoax Expert, Alex Boese.
Lessening the Damage: Interview with Dorothy Allison
By Ellise Fuchs
[16.Jun.06] :.
"I started out as a feminist activist when I was about 18 or 19, marching as an anti-war activist and lesbian feminist. Here I am 55 years old, and I'm having to fight for exactly the same issues all over again, with an enemy, an implacable enemy, who keeps coming back at me as if we have not been fighting for 35 years to establish these rights."
Wherever You Go, There You Are: An Interview with Jen Trynin
By Jon Langmead
[8.Jun.06] :.
"Nobody cares about what motivates me to make music. But what people are interested in are extreme situations. And that's what my book was about. That was my version of climbing a mountain." Jen Trynin talks to Jon Langmead about Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be, a memoir detailing her almost-rise to rock stardom.
Free Culture (While Supplies Last)
By Vince Carducci
[1.Jun.06] :.
PopMatters books writer Vince Carducci takes stock of World Book and Copyright Day and other aspects of the global marketplace for ideas.
Bob Marley Is Still Catching Fire
By Christopher John Farley
[11.May.06] :.
May 11 is the 25th anniversary of the passing of the king of reggae, the day when Bob Marley succumbed to cancer in Miami in 1981 at the age of 36. Today his music is more popular respected than ever. Christopher John Farley, author of the new book, Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley, looks back.
Everymen: An Interview with T Cooper
By James Withers
[10.May.06] :.
"It's weird when everyone decides one person is cool, don't you think? I'm suspicious of that." James Withers talks to Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes author, T Cooper, about writing, reading, coolness, Jennifer Aniston, and why boy bands should never reform.
She Blinded Me With Science: Musing on Opal Mehta
By Maureen Miller
[2.May.06] :.
I imagined Viswanathan, Widener Library, Cambridge, Mass., tapping away on her laptop during freshman finals in a rare moment of silliness: "'It's formulaic 'cause that's, like, the moral, right, that not everything can be reduced to a science? That's soooo "Mehta"!" Maureen Miller reads Opal Mehta.
You Bring the Jack; They'll Bring the Coke: Interviews with Craig Davidson and Brett Alexander Savory
By Nikki Tranter
[28.Apr.06] :.
"Once you finish writing a four-page dog fight scene, or a scene where a guy gets his leg chomped off by an incensed killer whale, or one where an old porn star's penis pump explodes... well, you sort of say to yourself, 'I've effectively eliminated myself from the mainstream.'" Craig Davidson and Brett Alexander Savory want to talk to you about Hell -- real and imagined. (If there's a difference.)
All Pasts: Interview with Lance Olsen
By Scott Esposito
[25.Apr.06] :.
"Historians can tell you what happened and on what day it happened and perhaps something about the larger forces that impinged on the happening. But the only fiction writer can offer the why of the happening, what it might have felt like, smelled like, tasted like." Scott Esposito talks to Lance Olsen about Nietzsche's Kisses.
Worlds of Their Own: Winter Photography Books From Perceval Press
By Melissa Fischer
[14.Apr.06] :.
"Deeply intimate and of a worth that far exceeds their cost, these microcosmic visual universes leave the reader feeling altered by having been exposed to the essence of another person's existence." Melissa Fischer looks at the upcoming releases from Viggo Mortensen's Perceval Press.
Continuum's Cover Lit: The 33 1/3 Series
Edited by Anne K. Yoder
[7.Apr.06] :.
Continuum pays homage to some the most significant albums in pop and rock history with its 33 1/3 series, a thoughtfully curated collection of books about these albums. PopMatters responds to the 33 1/3 series with a set of reviews, essays, and interviews that considers the proper role of music criticism, the vitality of the album, and books written about some smoking good music.
A Long Night's Journey into Light
By Justin Cober-Lake
[30.Mar.06] :.
Half a century after its writing, Elie Wiesel's Night finds a renewed prominence thanks to Oprah, but its importance has never diminished. Justin Cober-Lake looks back at Wiesel's book and recommends others on the Holocaust and its continued relevance.
How Easily Snow Covers Everything: An Interview with Gregory Galloway
By Steve Horowitz
[23.Mar.06] :.
Steve Horowitz talks to Gregory Galloway, a novelist whose first book explores the mysterious life of teenagers who know too much.
"Writing Illness" Cured: Interview with Paul Levine
By Christine Forte
[28.Feb.06] :.
Thriller author Paul Levine swapped his big-time legal career for the life of a full-time writer. His friends thought his foolish -- he says he had no other choice.
MY FAVORITE THING
Bob Greene's Be True to Your School
By Adam Besenyodi
[22.Feb.06] :.
After exploring Bob Greene's diary of 1964 for the past 15 years, Besenyodi is able to move past Greene's very public fall from grace and maintain an appreciation for the book and its influence on his own origins and high school memories.
SPECIAL SECTION
Deceitful (Above All Things): The James Frey and J.T. LeRoy Scandals
Edited by Nikki Tranter and Anne K. Yoder
[3.Feb.06] :.
The dual deceptions of memoirists James Frey and J.T. LeRoy have raised questions about truth in creative non-fiction, the publicists' role in promoting that truth correctly, and just what "memoir" means when the writer's recall and perceptions are his own. PopMatters' writers and contributors dig into the scandal, finding their own truthful reactions and responses to lit's latest tricksters.
MY FAVORITE THING
Family Circus: Katherine Dunn's Geek Love
By Michael Abernethy
[1.Feb.06] :.
Abernethy learns to look below the surface of appearances with the aid of a book that funhouse-mirrors our own ugliness and holds it up to the light in lurid spectacle.
Folk Explosion: An Interview with Rick Moody
By Anne K. Yoder
[20.Jan.06] :.
"I'm tired of double kick-drumming and death-metal guitar tunings and guys yelling about how much trouble they're having with their girlfriends." Rick Moody talks to PopMatters about his musical life.
Bookmarks For Everyone: The Best Books of 2005
Edited by Nikki Tranter
[3-4.Jan.06] :.
Fiction or non-fiction, censored, scorned or adored, we were captivated and seduced by 2005's offerings, from a surprise death in the new Harry Potter to the "truth" of the afterlife in Mary Roach's Spook. In a list comprising the best graphic novels, short story collections, memoirs, and rants, here are the best of 2005, PopMatters-style.
back to top
MUSIC
NOW HEAR THIS!: Atomic Swindlers: Intergalactic Lesbian Love Songs
By Dave Brecheisen
[6.Oct.06] :.
Glam rock laced with obscure super hero references and sapphic celebration, anyone? Yes, please. But don't get too hung up on the sci-fi sex trappings. At the radioactive core of Atomic Swindlers is a solid rock band that doesn't require gimmicks.
In for the Long Haul: An Interview with The Long Winters' John Roderick
By Sarah Feldman
[4.Oct.06] :.
The singer-songwriter discusses fame, failure, and frequent flier miles, and explains why he's glad it took him this long to get this far.
When Monkeying Around Becomes Serious Business
By Tim O'Neil
[3.Oct.06] :.
More of the Monkees lingered at number one on the Billboard chart for 18 weeks in 1967, later confirmed as the third best-selling LP of the '60s (a higher ranking than any Beatles album), and by some measures the 12th best-selling of all time.
Sugar Hill Records: 25 Years and Going Strong
By Steve Horowitz
[2.Oct.06] :.
Sugar Hill's early recordings possessed an aural purity that met people's hunger for authenticity and also seemed fresh and new. There was something honest about the sounds of the banjo, dobro, fiddle, and mandolin, and the way they mixed together.
Gaining on the Green Man: A Road Odyssey in Four Acts
By Ben Oswest
[29.Sep.06] :.
In an epic cross-hemisphere trek, writer Ben Oswest treads the long road between Cape Town and Wales to consummate a 13-year, 20,000-mile long-distance love affair with the Silver Jews.
Weather Report: Partly Sunny, Then Showers—Looking Back on the Fusion Supergroup
By Will Layman
[27.Sep.06] :.
A new box set encapsulating the jazz group's career causes our jazz critic to reassess his love-hate relationship with Weather Report.
Songs of Faith and Struggle: An Interview with Wovenhand
By Jennifer Kelly
[26.Sep.06] :.
Wovenhand's David Eugene Edwards tells PopMatters about his bleak view of humanity, his love of outsized percussion, his fascination with traditional music, and the difficulties of being a devout Christian in the rock world.
Found Genres #2: The Soundtrack to Satan's Life
By Bill Gibron
[25.Sep.06] :.
Not the demonic metal that pleads for the Dark Lord's favor but genuinely tormented music suitable for clearing all but the truly damned from a party.
The Dogg, The Doctor, & Death Row
By Quentin B. Huff
[22.Sep.06] :.
By consistently giving us addictive beats and hot lyrics, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg have had an undeniable influence on the world of rhyme. This is dedicated to the rapper and the producer who were down from Day One.
Danceable Darkness: The World of the Knife
By Marc Andreottola
[22.Sep.06] :.
The Swedish brother-sister electro-duo speaks with PopMatters about concepts, characters, and adapting to the challenges of the music industry.
Intersections of Musical Directions: An Interview with Keyboard Great Bruce Hornsby
By Greg M. Schwartz
[21.Sep.06] :.
Hornsby looks back on 20 years performing, considering Russian spies, great flukes, and remarkable collaborations.
Indie-Rock Stripes
By Andre Perry
[20.Sep.06] :.
Through tour tribulations and member reconfigurations, San Francisco band Film School has endured.
NOW HEAR THIS!: Kill Hannah
By Nona Willis-Aronowitz
[19.Sep.06] :.
Chicago's hometown modern rock heroes are starting to get some play outside the Windy City, proving that dedication and hard work pays off. And if the same devotion that they've generated in local fans can be instilled in new audiences, then the brand extension is likely to blossom following a new album and tour.
Surround Sound #7 - Souvenir
By Bill Gibron
[18.Sep.06] :.
Back in the days before VCRs and sell-through VHS/DVD titles, a soundtrack was your only tactile souvenir of any entertainment experience. The only real way to relive the moment -- at least in your mind -- was to trot on down to your local record store and pick up the official companion LP.
The Reluctant Chanteuse
By Scott Wright
[18.Sep.06] :.
Charlotte Gainsbourg talks about the perils of having famous parents and the films that inspired her new album.
How Cigarettes Killed My Youth, and The Killers Made Sure It Was Dead
By Emily Thomas
[15.Sep.06] :.
A requiem for Toronto's Dance Cave, emblematic of underage dance nights everywhere, and the dark 1980s dance music entombed there.
NOW HEAR THIS!
Casey Kessel: Patiently Biding Her Time... for Now
By Roger Holland
[14.Sep.06] :.
An independent artist in the truest sense of the word, Casey Kessel may call Nashville her home, but she writes and performs country music on her own terms and at her own expense. Kessel's talents may only currently find their way to public ears in the mouths of others, but odds are that situation won't last long.
A Little All Over the Place: An Interview with Anathallo
By Dave Brecheisen
[11.Sep.06] :.
Matt Joynt of Anathallo talks about the band's unusual journey to its finest work to date, Floating World.
Crüe'd and Tattüe'd
By Adam Williams
[8.Sep.06] :.
After catching nearly a dozen live dates, PopMatters' Adam Williams explores the rising ranks of a new class of Crüehead.
Last No Longer: An Interview with Wu-Tang Clan's Masta Killa
By Steven J. Horowitz
[8.Sep.06] :.
"Maybe they thought Masta Killa couldn't even have what it takes to be a solo artist," the rapper says of himself, but he didn't want to rush to prove anyone wrong.
NOW HEAR THIS!: The Little Ones
By Jennifer Kelly
[7.Sep.06] :.
The Little Ones capture the sweet/sad, just beginning and already wistfully nostalgic vibe of perfect power pop. Frontman Ed Reyes talks about his journey from emo Sunday's Best to the hand-clapped, euphorically harmonized Little Ones.
All Aboard the Mule Train: An Interview with Gov't Mule's Warren Haynes
By Greg M. Schwartz
[5.Sep.06] :.
Are you an entertainer or are you a musician? Warren Haynes discusses the expanding rift between art and entertainment in a climate that champions celebrity over integrity.
The Sadies Come Out in Front: An Interview
By Jennifer Kelly
[28.Aug.06] :.
Toronto's Sadies have backed up rock and alt.country's best-known acts -- everyone from Neko Case to Jon Langford to Jon Spencer -- but for two nights in February 2006, this lanky, hyper-skilled musical outfit took center stage at Lee's Palace, recruited 27 friends and admirers, and recorded the live album of the decade.
Trippin': The Cure 1983-1987
By Adam Besenyodi
[22.Aug.06] :.
The third wave of Cure Deluxe Edition releases track Robert Smith's ascent from a murky personal and professional crisis to far-reaching commercial heights.
A Lazarus Taxon: the Definition of "Tortoise" Continues to Change Before Our Eyes (An Interview)
By Will Layman
[21.Aug.06] :.
Tortoise have reached the stage where they are the remixers of their own legacy -- by creating their own prism (in the form of A Lazarus Taxon) with which to bend their sound.
Crash Landing in Los Angeles
By Jon Garrett
[23.Aug.06] :.
Now a full six years removed from the release of his former outfit's first and only album, the erstwhile frontman for Crashland now finds himself halfway around the world, looking for a fresh start in southern California.
Riffing on Elvis
By Various Writers
[17.Aug.06] :.
Everywhere you look these days, you're seeing traces of Elvis. Whether you know it or not.
Today: Elvis and food, Elvis the Pelvis vs. Peaches' crotches, and Viva Las Vegas baby.
Brilliant Colors: The Jesus and Mary Chain Beyond Psychocandy
By Dave Heaton
[8.Aug.06] :.
Conventional wisdom says that Psychocandy will stand as the Jesus and Mary Chain's ultimate statement. Listening to five of their now-remastered albums in a row might make you wonder why.
On a Bus Named Desire: An Interview with Soul Asylum
By Greg M. Schwartz
[7.Aug.06] :.
Frontman Dave Pirner discusses loss, music, and how their new album The Silver Lining has Soul Aslyum back in the rock 'n' roll game.
Walkin' the Long Road
By Danny Marroquin
[4.Aug.06] :.
At first, Woody Guthrie's birthplace tried to forget his name, but Okemah, Oklahoma has become home to a growing Guthrie festival, now in its ninth year.
That Jingle-Jangle Sound: An Interview with Roger McGuinn
By Michael Franco
[31.Jul.06] :.
Roger McGuinn's spent the last 10 years uncovering and distributing folk gems, but it's not as if he just started doing that. "What makes the Byrds stand up all these years is the basis in folk music," he says, while explaining what's really gone on.
The Goal Achieved: An Interview with Matt Costa
By Eddie Ciminelli
[27.Jul.06] :.
Despite a gift for words, the singer-songwriter can't explain how things have turned out like this for him, not that he's complaining.
The Hard Sell: Making Sense of Metalcore's Marketing Madness
By Adrien Begrand
[24.Jul.06] :.
Mastodon, As I Lay Dying, Shadows Fall, and Between the Buried and Me: a guide to which of these bands most deserves your money for their CDs crammed with old crap, studio remnants, and toss-offs to help keep them afloat until the next album surfaces.
Feathers Flock Together
By Jennifer Kelly
[19.Jul.06] :.
Eight members, multiple songwriters and dozens of instruments coalesce in one indefinable, all-natural sound for Vermont's folk collective Feathers. "Each of us has our own philosophy of how we make music and we all get to practice it in parallel," said Feathers' Meara O'Reilly. "It happens to all coincide in some way."
"Plush Safe He Think": Shaping the Black Modern Rocker
By Andre Perry
[17.Jul.06] :.
Black rock musicians live in the shadow of Hendrix, but perhaps they'd be better off looking to Basquiat as well.
Tears of an Outlaw: Willie Nelson's The Complete Atlantic Sessions
By Dave Heaton
[14.Jul.06] :.
Willie Nelson's mid-'70s albums for Atlantic -- "concept albums" built out of heartache -- offer a sense of what it really means to be an outlaw.
The Slow-Burning Songs of Vetiver: An Interview with Andy Cabic
By Jennifer Kelly
[13.Jul.06] :.
Devendra Banhart's favorite songwriting partner, Andy Cabic, is back with a darker, more percussive second album that will take more than a couple of spins to sink in.
Divergence in Technicolor: An Interview With Christian McBride
By Dennis Cook
[12.Jul.06] :.
The bandleading bassist pulls together a cast of violins and trumpets and turntables for complex exploration, and he makes it sound fun.
Herself, Her Characters: An Interview with Regina Spektor
By Stephen Stirling
[12.Jul.06] :.
The storyteller explores some new sides of her music while continuing to reserve the explicit "Truth".
FOUND GENRES #1
The Royal We
By Zeth Lundy
[10.Jul.06] :.
The one-man studio album: Multitracked heroism or egomaniacal self-indulgence? This first of series of features on the idiosyncratic genres we invent for ourselves as listeners looks at what happens to musical geniuses when the studio becomes their most virtuosic instrument.
The Many Facets of Ice Cube
By Quentin B. Huff
[10.Jul.06] :.
Ice Cube's been livin' large off his gangsta boogie and movies like Boyz-N-the-Hood and Friday. So why does he want to be a "microphone master"?
A Thousand Different Keys: A Lunchtime Conversation with Matthew Herbert
By Tim O'Neil
[7.Jul.06] :.
The electronic artist speaks about his politics, the state of sampling, and Radiohead. And he's having the duck.
Into the Cupboard: Thom Yorke Goes Solo
By Joseph Tate
[5.Jul.06] :.
With his first solo album Thom Yorke shrugs off his idolaters and modestly mulls over the desire to disappear.
Still Got a Hold on Us: An Interview with Smokey Robinson
By Jason MacNeil
[5.Jul.06] :.
After a lifetime of remarkable success, Robinson explains why you might be better off with a gumbo shop than with a microphone.
Just Like Me: An Interview with DMC
By Michael Frauenhofer
[30.Jun.06] :.
DMC is, like any good writer, aware of the power of words and names. Which explains his considerable shock when he discovered that Darryl "DMC" McDaniels had, in fact, been adopted.
The World on a Damn, Damn Leash: An Interview with Be Your Own Pet
By Jennifer Kelly
[29.Jun.06] :.
Be Your Own Pet's debut full-length bristles with an old school punk fury, all spit and sputter and splatter-spazz energy. It's the kind of ferocious assault you'd expect from a foursome that's been playing together since high school... oh, two, three years ago.
(Just) Boys from Basildon: The Depeche Mode Reissues
By John Bergstrom
[29.Jun.06] :.
Were the modern rock heroes masters of their own brand of Socratic irony, or were they just what they claimed to be -- fortunate working-class boys? This excellently-packaged set of remasters offers some fascinating clues.
Sometimes It Does Take Two: An Interview with Ellen Allien and Apparat
By Liz Ohanesian
[28.Jun.06] :.
East meets West in an Orchestra of Bubbles.
I Have Been Floated: An Oral History of the Elephant 6 Collective
By Brian Heater
[23.Jun.06] :.
Rock and roll thrives on romanticism, and one would be hard pressed to imagine a music story with more romance than that of Elephant 6, and the genre-defining music that sprung from a group of four teenagers trading overdubbed tapes recorded on boom boxes in the bedrooms of their parents' homes in a rural southern town.
In the End We All Want Balance: An Interview with Strange Fruit Project
By Nona Willis-Aronowitz
[20.Jun.06] :.
The hip-hop trio overcomes the dreaded "positive" tag and a residency in the Texas underground to make their first trip east.
The Globalization of Beats & Rhymes
By Quentin B. Huff
[20.Jun.06] :.
Now this is a story all about how hip-hop got flipped, turned upside down. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, as we talk about Jeff and his friend in Bel-Air.
A Rake to the Mind: An Interview with Will Johnson
By Dennis Cook
[19.Jun.06] :.
The Centro-matic songwriter finds humor in dark situations, big words, and touring challenges, and still isn't sure what happens when he crosses the Atlantic.
Also Make Great Pets
By Sarah Feldman
[16.Jun.06] :.
Halifax's Dog Day effortlessly combines intensity and apathy, passivity and aggression. Does that make it the perfect punk band?
Gettin' the Goods: Thrilladelphia Festival 2006
By Andrew McGowan
[15.Jun.06] :.
Andrew McGowan explores the local indie underground, leading a hands-on tour of Thrilladelphia, the city of brotherly rock. Shhh, no talking!!
Mirror Man: An Interview with Alejandro Escovedo
By Matt Gonzales
[13.Jun.06] :.
PopMatters documents the rebirth of Alejandro Escovedo, once named Artist of the Decade by No Depression in the '90s.
Death to the Dream Catcher
By Megan Milks
[13.Jun.06] :.
Whimsicality is one thing, but Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus has started branding dreams. And not just my dreams or your dreams, but the dreams of our nation's children.
Secret Girl: An Interview with Kim Gordon
By Jennifer Kelly
[12.Jun.06] :.
One of rock's most iconic women talks about music, art, the quick genesis of Sonic Youth's 20th album, and why she doesn't worry too much about how people perceive her.
Finally Getting Somewhere: An Interview with Allison Moorer
By Michael Franco
[9.Jun.06] :.
Nobody's little darling, Moorer says what she needs to, whether she's talking politics or getting personal."
Chance Meeting with Aaron Dugan
By William Glasspiegel
[7.Jun.06] :.
The Matisyahu guitarist talks about working in the studio with Bill Laswell and finding his style in New York's jazz scene.
Obliterate... Reiterate: Mission of Burma's Exhilarating Return
By Jennifer Kelly
[5.Jun.06] :.
Two years after their astonishing return to music, Mission of Burma raises the ante with The Obliterati, playing harder and louder than ever... but this time with a lopsided grin. "This is all pure gravy, unexpected and unsought," says bass player Clint Conley, a statement that is as true for fans as it is for the band.
Clap Your Hands Say No: An Interview with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
By Andy Tennille
[2.Jun.06] :.
With the white-hot hype behind them, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth looks back on the Talking Heads comparison, the glare of overexposure and the two-letter word no record-company suit ever wants to hear.
One Mic, One Take, One Dollar: The World of Fonotone Records
By Whitney Strub
[30.May.06] :.
In these days of easy file-sharing and unlimited access to information, the Fonotone box set provides a welcome respite, a point of entry to a bygone era when people had to put effort into chasing their passions, when the thrill of the hunt meant more than a Google search.
The Cut-Out Bin #6
Edited By Rob Horning
[19.May.06] :.
This month: This month, Conor Oberst's philosophical investigations, how Too Much Joy was cursed with comedy, and a humble offering from Styx's Dennis DeYoung.
If You Hear Any Noise...: An Interview with Beastie Boys
By Dan Nishimoto
[18.May.06] :.
Beastie Boys take you to the stage with their concert film Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That!.
Practice Makes Imperfect
By Roger Holland
[17.May.06] :.
Yet another reissue of Wire's early albums presents a chance to reappraise the band's vaunted reputation -- were they punk-inspired innovators or canny and cynical manipulators of their audience's pretensions?
The Apocalyptic Visions of Current 93
By Jennifer Kelly
[16.May.06] :.
David Tibet talks about the frightening images and transcendent beauty at the heart of his new album Black Ships Ate the Sky in a rare interview with one of experimental music's most intriguing characters.
The Most Basic of Statements: An Interview with Richard Hawley
By Steve Horowitz
[15.May.06] :.
How many musicians does it take to put in a light bulb? Englishman Richard Hawley doesn't know, but he's willing to pull the switch and illuminate the room.
In on the Buzzkill?
By Megan Milks
[15.May.06] :.
PopMatters' Megan Milks deconstructs the speedy rise of one of Canada's (and America's) newest "it" acts (Wolf Parade), finding out what's left when the buzz is stripped away.
Get Fuckin' Real: An Interview with Hank Williams III
By Nikki Tranter
[12.May.06] :.
"America needs to get a little less anal, 'cause you got kids fighting this big war, supposedly dying, and you're gonna get upset over shit, fuck, and goddamn? Come on! It's 2006. Get fucking real -- wake up, grow up, catch on to some of the European ways, and quit being so goddamn uptight." PopMatters kicks her boots off for a balls-out natter with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hank III.
A World of Limestone: Grant McLennan 1958-2006
By Justin Cober-Lake
[12.May.06] :.
With the passing of Grant McLennan, the world loses one of the best songwriters it never knew it had.
Behind the Key Club: An Interview with Mark "Barney" Greenway of Napalm Death
By Whitney Strub
[11.May.06] :.
Discussing impeachment and Margaret Thatcher, examining horror music and feminists, and listening to Journey. It's just the typical stuff for this hardcore band.
From Classy to Ashy
By Josette Compton
[9.May.06] :.
Though they are said to celebrate "urban luxury", why are hip-hop CD covers so dull and unappealing?
Running a Different Race
By Andre Perry
[8.May.06] :.
The Walkmen faced down a writer's block crisis and the constant pressure to tour in order to craft their latest album, A Hundred Miles Off.
MY FAVORITE THING
The Necks' Sex
By Mark W. Adams
[8.May.06] :.
In an hour-long marathon session, Adams revels in the intricacies and slowly building intensities of Sex.
Dancing in the Face of Adversity: The New Orleans JazzFest After Katrina
By Jason Gross
[5.May.06] :.
Our reporter covers the first week of JazzFest and partying to those great NOLA tunes within a national disaster zone.
Minimize to Maximize: An Interview with Misstress Barbara
By Cosmo Lee
[4.May.06] :.
As artforms change, artists within them must decide whether to change also. On one hand, there's staying up-to-date. On the other hand, there's maintaining individual identity. How do artists stay relevant as their cultural contexts shift?
Folk Goes Interplanetary with Espers
By Jennifer Kelly
[2.May.06] :.
The Philadelphia folk collective's Greg Weeks and Meg Baird talk about their new larger band, the tantalizing possibility of an all-planetarium tour, and their delicate balance of space-age drone and pristine folk.
The Busy Boy Buys Box Sets: Billy Bragg Revisited
By Roger Holland
[1.May.06] :.
Billy Bragg has been described elsewhere as a one-man Clash, but that's the sort of arrant nonsense that gets music journalists a bad name. No, what Bragg is, is an English Bob Dylan. Cross-bred with a cockney Morrissey who learned how to box.
Snap Music Is Hope: An Interview with Dem Franchize Boyz
By Michael Frauenhofer
[28.Apr.06] :.
Rapper Jizzal Man of snap music crew Dem Franchize Boyz speaks on leaning wit it and rocking wit it.
You Smell Me?: An Interview with E-40
By Michael Frauenhofer
[27.Apr.06] :.
Bay area hip-hop legend and slang encyclopedia E-40 is in the mix like Bisquick and never late like FEMA... do you smell him?
Wonderlands: An Interview with Jewel
By Nikki Tranter
[26.Apr.06] :.
"The things that thrill me are that I can afford medication, go to the movies whenever I want, get on a plane whenever I want. It just thrills me, you know?" Jewel talks to PopMatters about the joys of writing, the perils of ultimate perfection, and how Plato shaped her vision of love.
NOW HEAR THIS!: Silversun Pickups
By Josh Berquist
[26.Apr.06] :.
Something special is happening in Los Angeles, but a band with a sound this big can't be kept secret for long. Silversun Pickups are ascending artists of raucous splendor and inspiring vitality.
The Boogie Monster Meets His Match: An Interview with Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley
By Steven J. Horowitz
[24.Apr.06] :.
"It's good clean fun, nothing more complicated than that," says Cee-Lo. Who'd have thought that approach could make music history?
Sounds Better in a Song: An Interview with Drive-By Truckers
By Dennis Cook
[24.Apr.06] :.
Drive-By Truckers guitarist Mike Cooley talks with us about the blood and guts inside the Southern rock band's rollicking new album.
So I Decided to Take My Work Underground: A Conversation with the Prodigy's Liam Howlett
By Tim O'Neil
[21.Apr.06] :.
Howlett's excitement and musical kleptomania bubble back up, aiding the assembly of a greatest hits and visit to the US.
Lost in the Last Attack: Recovering the Comsat Angels
By Whitney Strub
[20.Apr.06] :.
The retro-postpunk wave seems to have crested, but the Comsat Angels at their best transcended trends and flew the genre coop, traveling on their heavenly wings straight for greatness.
Long Live Scott McCaughey: An Interview with The Minus 5
By John Kenyon
[19.Apr.06] :.
The Minus 5 frontman is probably only a few degrees of separation away from you, and McCaughey is as happy working with long time pals as with brand new ones.
Offending Two Camps: An Interview with Controller.Controller
By Pierre Hamilton
[18.Apr.06] :.
The X remains a mysterious placeholder for a band that won't stay still.
Fest by Midwest: An Interview with Rhymefest
By Matt Gonzales
[17.Apr.06] :.
Radio needed that last single, and Rhymefest explains why this whole album is essential.
The Therapeutic Philosophy of Matthew Barber
By Sarah Feldman
[12.Apr.06] :.
The Canadian singer-songwriter may seem like another Jack Johnson-y AOR man purveying soporific pseudo-soul background music. But considering his degree in philosophy, could it be he's trying to find a way to bring Wittgenstein to the masses?
Revolution Now: An Interview with Queensryche
By Greg M. Schwartz
[11.Apr.06] :.
Queensryche's 1988 masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime was one of the most ambitious and subversive concept albums ever recorded. With the recently released sequel, leader Geoff Tate explains the genesis of the new album, while his daughter Miranda explains a little about him.
Ironman Vs. the Devil: An Interview with Ghostface Killah
By Lee Henderson
[10.Apr.06] :.
One of hip-hop's top MCs won't run from anything, and while he might not want to punch you in the face anymore, he still wants to be the best.
Insinuating Voices: An Interview with Mark Kozelek
By Dennis Cook
[5.Apr.06] :.
The songwriter who led Red House Painters explains the curious contours of his solo career and his recent decision to record an album of Modest Mouse covers with his new band, Sun Kil Moon.
The Not-So-Freewheelin' Vashti Bunyan
By Andrew Phillips
[4.Apr.06] :.
After being on break for nearly half a lifetime, the singer returns to make sure it's her vision on record and tells PopMatters the story.
Balance and Options: An Interview with Bubba Sparxxx
By Ian Cohen
[31.Mar.06] :.
In the new New South of hip-hop, Bubba Sparxxx is banking on a mixture of contemplation and club-hopping to make his third album, The Charm, true to its name.
SURROUND SOUND #5
Grab Bag
By Adam Besenyodi
[31.Mar.06] :.
In this hodge-podge mix of soundtracks, we find some exceptional scoring, competent storytelling, tween packaging, and some poor reissues and television compilations.
Thriving Away From the Straight Line
By Will Layman
[29.Mar.06] :.
If Scientology is all you know about Chick Corea, you are missing out on one of the best pianists in jazz history. Here he talks with PopMatters about his eclectic career, his most recent record and his passion for improvisation.
Back to Happy Times Again: An Interview with Tommy Keene
By David Weigel
[28.Mar.06] :.
The dangerous use of power pop, the big label mistake, and the joys of being and not being a sideman.
The State of the Ark in the United States, or Why a Glam Rock Band Could Change Your Life
By Elisabeth Donnelly
[27.Mar.06] :.
Ola Salo explains his band's semi-political, melancholic, and eternal rump shakers.
DIY for Life: An Interview with Eric Gaffney
By Jennifer Kelly
[24.Mar.06] :.
The Sebadoh founder talks about life after that band, home recording, self-promotion, and the worst roommate he ever had.
True Fictions: An Interview with Two Gallants' Adam Stephens
By John Davidson
[23.Mar.06] :.
Already a master storyteller and folklorist at 23, Stephens brings us to the frontier, Thomas Edison, and the drunk tank.
This Is Life: An Interview with Jarboe
By Liz Ohanesian
[22.Mar.06] :.
The singer opens up on love, abuse and art.
POPMATTERS @ SXSW 2006
By Terry Sawyer, Zeth Lundy and Tobias Peterson
[14-20.Mar.06] :.
PopMatters covered the 20th annual SXSW music and film festival from start to finish. Catch up on the highs and lows.
The Happy Songwriter: An Interview with Kelley Stoltz
By Jennifer Kelly
[21.Mar.06] :.
San Francisco's best-kept songwriting secret on influences, old pianos, optimism, career breaks in biker bars and the stacks of tapes in his apartment closet.
SURROUND SOUND #4
The Power of Film Music
By Marco Lanzagorta
[15.Mar.06] :.
The 10 soundtracks discussed in this installment of Surround Sound reflect a variety of styles, genres and approaches to film music. But in the end, all of them are similar in the way they try to enhance our viewing experience.
Fat with an 'F': Talking to Beth Ditto of the Gossip
By Matt Gonzales
[14.Mar.06] :.
It's a long way from squirrel-eaters to punk activism, but Ditto's taken it all in.
Get Steady
By Michael Spies
[13.Mar.06] :.
Championed by the NME but totally unknown in America, Jonny Dubowsky's band Jonny Lives! may be on the brink of fame. Or are they on the road to nowhere?
Louisville Born, Brooklyn Based
By Justin Vellucci
[10.Mar.06] :.
How post-rock forefather David Grubbs paved the road from punk to the American avant-garde.
An Encounter with Tropicalia's Trickster: The Tom Zé Interview
By Jennifer Kelly
[10.Mar.06] :.
Under a pragmatist's influence, Zé says occasionally explicable things.
The Sound: A Musical Missing Link, Waiting to Be Rediscovered
By Michael Keefe
[9.Mar.06] :.
It's difficult to imagine in today's environment of light speed information dissemination, but there was once a band whose debut album received five-star reviews from both NME and Melody Maker, and yet that group never blew up like contemporaries U2. Still The Sound were one of the very finest bands of the post-punk era.
Talking Oceans Apart: An Interview with Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens
By David Weigel
[8.Mar.06] :.
From the other side of the world, one of pop's best songwriting duos slowly gets their music heard.
Ramblin' Across the Seas: An Interview with Isobel Campbell
By John Kenyon
[7.Mar.06] :.
The Scottish singer explains how she paired up with Mark Lanegan for a new album, and why that's slightly easier than partnering with Gram Parsons.
Talking Bollocks: An Interview with Test Icicles
By Robert Collins
[6.Mar.06] :.
The British rockers don't rehearse, have never cut a demo, and cite nu-metal as an influence. So how exactly does this work?
Kicking Against The Pricks!: An Interview with Half Man Half Biscuit
By Roger Holland
[3.Mar.06] :.
PopMatters talks to the most complete and authentic British group since the Clash -- Half Man Half Biscuit.
Indie in Tweenville: TRL Awards 2006
By Andrew Phillips
[3.Mar.06] :.
Four doors (and one burly guard) separate the outside world from America's prime purveyor of teeny pop. PopMatters' Andrew Phillips walks cautiously through all four to face his demons at MTV's TRL awards.
A Man Named J'Aime: An interview with Islands' Jaime Thompson
By Hartley Lin
[2.Mar.06] :.
The ex-Unicorn explains his new project, remixing for Beck, and African guitar.
Escena Social Quebrada: An Interview with Apostle of Hustle
By Ryan Henriquez
[1.Mar.06] :.
Broken Social Scene guitarist and amateur musicologist Andrew Whiteman talks about his Latin-influenced band, Apostle of Hustle, which he hopes won't be mistaken as 'indie'.
Words from the Exit Wound: An Interview with Albert Mudrian
By Cosmo Lee
[28.Feb.06] :.
What happens when one music journalist interviews another? On the other end of the microphone, Albert Mudrian, editor of Decibel, talks about death metal, John Peel, and those pesky interview transcriptions.
Don't Stop Now: An Interview with Robert Pollard
By John Kenyon
[27.Feb.06] :.
The prolific songwriter puts his Voices behind him but still has plenty to say.
China Syndrome
By Jon Campbell
[27.Feb.06] :.
The garage-punk band Subs are from China, and they wish that didn't interest you.
Running Thoughts: An Interview with Deerhoof
By Matt Gonzales
[23.Feb.06] :.
Deerhoof's latest, The Runners Four, has garnered praise from The New York Times and helped usher the band into larger arenas. Here, guitarist John Dieterich discusses how the band has responded.
Citizen Wilson: An Interview with the Editor of XXL
By Pierre Hamilton
[21.Feb.06] :.
"I'm concerned with selling my magazine and doing it with integrity." Elliott Wilson, editor-in-chief of XXL Magazine, wants his props for rising to the top of the music publishing world, and oh yeah, please buy the compilation CD.
The Profiler: Prestige Deserved and Revived as a Welcome Name
By Robert R. Calder
[21.Feb.06] :.
With a deep catalog spanning a specifically fertile period in jazz and including performances from some of the greatest names in jazz history, the revival of the Prestige label is celebrated with a massive simultaneous release of artist-specific compilations and samplers. But do the releases prove the vitality of the vaults? Results may vary.
Docility and Power
By Dave Howell
[17.Mar.06] :.
Circle II Circle's Zak Stevens just can't leave the business.
From Inner Sounds to Astro Sounds
By Barry Stoller
[20.Feb.06] :.
Not only did the arrangers and session musicians behind 1950s mood music pioneer psychedelia's studio tricks, they also produced a few of the most mind-blowing discs of the era. Here, the story of how the Id, a pseudo-band of session musicians, inadvertently joined forces with a few small-time-scammer record execs to produce not one but three classics -- from the same recordings.
Martian Dreams and Carolina Blue: An Interview with Chris Stamey
By David Tatasciore
[20.Feb.06] :.
A discussion with the dB's co-founder about most anything except the dB's.
Leaders of a Powder Blue World: An Interview with Elbow
By Eddie Ciminelli
[17.Feb.06] :.
Elbow takes some time to show us a high-class hangout, but end up proving they've stayed grounded.
B-Boys Will Be Boys: An Interview With Byron Hurt
By Stephen Stirling
[17.Feb.06] :.
The documentary filmmaker takes on some of hip-hop's untouchable subjects, but he knows it might be a small part of a large struggle.
"Dude, What's Happening?": An Interview with Greg Behrendt
By Nikki Tranter
[16.Feb.06] :.
"The one cool thing with getting older is that you can actively choose to be an eccentric. When people ask you what are you listening to you go, 'You know I'm not really listening to anything, I'm really into Japanese furniture right now.'" Greg Behrendt talks about Jerry Maguire, Sarah Silverman, his new DVD, and the importance of bringing the rock.
Future Funk Soldier: Looking Back on Jay Dee by Looking Forward
By Dan Nishimoto
[16.Feb.06] :.
Though many of his production techniques had been innovated by other producers, Dilla arranged them in a new fashion and took them to a logical extreme. In a sense, he helped bridge hip-hop's transition from Pete Rock, Prince Paul and Premier to Pharrell and Timbaland.
From Concert Halls to Rock Dives: An Interview with Padma Newsome of Clogs
By Jennifer Kelly
[15.Feb.06] :.
A longstanding collaboration between classically trained musicians bears intricate, improvised fruit in Lantern.
24: A Day on Tour with the Subways
By Robert Collins
[13.Feb.06] :.
The British trio takes us along on their unusual business as usual.
Coast to Coast with a Camera and the Wrens
By Jon Langmead
[13.Feb.06] :.
The Wrens surmounted record-industry woes to finally achieve national recognition with The Meadowlands. Little Quill Productions set out with the New Jersey band on its ensuing tour to document how success is treating them. Here, the filmmakers tell us how the project is coming along.
Process and Substance: An Interview with Richie Hawtin
By Cosmo Lee
[10.Feb.06] :.
From mixing with three turntables, to granulating and recombining tracks into new shapes, to making techno mashups in 5.1 surround sound, to scoring the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics, Richie Hawtin has consistently pioneered how music is made.
The Cut-Out Bin #5
Edited By Rob Horning
[9.Feb.06] :.
This month: George Michael demands the impossible with Listen Without Prejudice, John Phillips's mid-'70s muse, and sweet suffocation from the Carpenters.
No Sleep 'Til Anaheim
By Lauren Rosenthal
[9.Feb.06] :.
A road trip with the teen punk-pop band the Willowz, Orange County's answer to Redd Kross.
Soul Enigma: Lewis Taylor Comes
to America
By Mark Anthony Neal
[8.Feb.06] :.
For much of the last decade, arguably the most brilliant R&B artist of this generation has toiled in relative obscurity in Britain. With the release of Stoned, the North London neo-soulster should finally attract the audience that his music deserves.
Superstar Tourism: An Interview with Carrie Underwood
By Nikki Tranter
[8.Feb.06] :.
"I keep my camera with me everywhere I go," says American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. "I try not to be too annoying with it."
SURROUND SOUND #3
The Oscar Influence
By Kevin Jagernauth
[7.Feb.06] :.
The latest Surround Sound installment takes a closer look at the effect of the Oscar season push on their related soundtracks.
Full Circle: Interview with Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina
By Nikki Tranter
[7.Feb.06] :.
"The very first audience we played to, we walked out onto the stage and got a three-minute standing ovation before we even played a note." Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina talk about their return to the stage after 30 years apart.
Man Man Lets Its Demons Out of the Bag: The Interview
By Jennifer Kelly
[6.Feb.06] :.
Members of Man Man come clean about the reconfigured band, the new tour, and the new record (that draws inspiration from, among other things, Furbies!) -- proof that the band's darkest days may be behind them.
Looking for a Spark: An Interview with Russell Mael
By Adam Besenyodi
[6.Feb.06] :.
Russell Mael shows why Sparks have lived on the fringes of musical culture for the better part of their 25-plus-year career.
To Hell and Back: An Interview with Cage
By David Morris
[3.Feb.06] :.
Having survived a nightmarish upbringing and bouts of mental illness, underground rapper Cage went on to make a career of glorifying drugs, violence and insanity on records that even offended himself. Now, with Hell's Winter, he's trying to rid himself of the horror-core tag.
Kanye Walks
By Mark Anthony Neal
[2.Feb.06] :.
By making public his struggles with living a devout life, Kanye West makes such a lifestyle so much more accessible and valuable to the very folk that need spirituality to get them through the day to day. West becomes the receptacle for the folk to think of a "Jesus" that is truly of the people.
Love is the Tender Trap: An Interview
By Roger Holland
[2.Feb.06] :.
Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey explore the challenges of putting out an album and a baby at the same time.
The Mythbuster: An Interview with Bill Withers
By Dan Nishimoto
[31.Jan.06] :.
A middle-aged man with a heart full of songs makes a career change and leaves an indelible print on pop music. Over 30 years later, he's still Bill Withers. And thank goodness for that.
Electric Desert Refugees
By Nate Seltenrich
[31.Jan.06] :.
Melding aboriginal rhythms of the Sahara with raw electric blues, Tinariwen spreads the rallying cry of the oppressed Tuareg people.
No Elvis, Beatles, or the Rolling Stones
By Michael Patrick Brady
[30.Jan.06] :.
When the baby boomers finally relinquish control of pop culture, who will replace their sacred cows on the perennial 'best bands ever' lists?
Third Impressions of the Strokes: An Interview with the Strokes
By Jason MacNeil
[30.Jan.06] :.
Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond explains why the new album needed its own studio.
Gritty Soul Men: Remembering Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett
By Mark Anthony Neal
[27.Jan.06] :.
Grit was not just about the "sound" of soul, but also the grittier social and political realities that soul music offered transcendence from. The recent deaths of Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett mark the passing of two of the grittiest Soul Men to walk the earth.
Less Smooch, More Dance: An Interview with The Clientele
By Matt Gonzales
[27.Jan.06] :.
The Clientele's Alasdair Maclean tells us everything we need to know, from A to K.
Bring on the Major Leagues
By Ryan Gillespie
[26.Jan.06] :.
When major labels promote indie bands, sucking up the air that truly independent music needs to breathe, will the music stop developing altogether? Will we be stuck with Strokes and Rilo Kiley retreads forever?
Breathing Jazz
By William Glasspiegel
[25.Jan.06] :.
Trumpeter Maurice Brown on surviving Hurricane Katrina.
Giving It Back to the Kids: An Interview with Broken Social Scene
By Eddie Ciminelli
[24.Jan.06] :.
Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew takes a bubbly approach to making an album under the microscope.
The Last Temptation of the Completist
By Zeth Lundy
[23.Jan.06] :.
As record companies empty their vaults and bring forth an unending supply of alternates, remixes and studio-session outtakes, even the most definitive pop masterpieces can seem provisional. But as our curiosity about these works gets sated, is our pleasure in their greatness diminished?
Your Hair, Your Bassist, and Your Sense of Humor: An Interview with the Darkness
By Dan MacIntosh
[19.Jan.06] :.
Dan Hawkins of the Darkness describes how he's got to keep one of those three on his hellish creative path.
Write On! Musings on Music Journalism
By Adam Williams
[18.Jan.06] :.
Think you have the skills to be a music journalist? Take this test and judge for yourself.
Slightly Bigger: Interview with James Blunt
By Nikki Tranter
[17.Jan.06] :.
"Most humans are quite similar and we're just trying to get through the world together." James Blunt talks about touring America, writing songs, and his new life as one of music's most successful newcomers.
Ritual Improvisation: An Interview with No-Neck Blues Band
By Jennifer Kelly
[16.Jan.06] :.
A member of the No-Neck Blues Band makes a rare foray into public conversation.
PopMatters Picks: Slipped Discs
Edited by Justin Cober-Lake
[13.Jan.06] :.
Rather than pulling out their hair over our year-end list, our writers make sure those overlooked albums from 2005 get their due.
Living the Martian Dream
By Nicole Schuman
[12.Jan.06] :.
Tomo Milicevic of 30 Seconds to Mars tells you how to go from nameless fan to unpretty rock star in a few easy steps.
Rainbow and Flower Talk: An Interview with Morcheeba
By Stephen Stirling
[11.Jan.06] :.
Morcheeba's Ross Godfrey travels the world, gets the band back together, and speeds through singers.
Next Phase, New Wave, or Still Rock 'n' Roll?: An Interview with Nouvelle Vague
By Nick Gunn
[10.Jan.06] :.
Nouvelle Vague combines periods and geography in its album of covers.
Of Anger and Twitching: An Interview with John Cale
By Andrew Phillips
[9.Jan.06] :.
John Cale talks about his driving impulses, experimental art, and catchy songs. One gets the sense that he's searching (and has long searched) for the place where rock and the avant-garde meet in perfect harmony.
Things Living: Interview with Don McLean
By Nikki Tranter
[6.Jan.06] :.
"We don't need to have our art be ugly. But it is; a lot of it... Basically, you're making it worse and number one, the artist's job is to elevate people and to lift people up and to give them a place to go, something to hold on to." Don McLean speaks to PopMatters about art, love, and Britney Spears.
back to top
