Music

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[Wed, 25.Nov.09]
The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out (40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set)

Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! showcases the Rolling Stones stepping into the spotlight and becoming the undisputed alpha dogs of rock and roll.

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John Mayer: Battle Studies

It would be unfair to call Battle Studies an outright misfire, but it's undoubtedly a regression on Mayer's winding, forward-moving path toward artistic maturity.

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Duran Duran: Rio Special Limited Edition / Live at Hammersmith '82!

Duran Duran in the 1980s: Not just yachts and supermodels.

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Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard: One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Music From Kerouac's Big Sur

Almost every song on the album sounds like a Grade A piece of Americana, but it’s almost impossible to distance these songs from their whole.

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Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2

Musically and lyrically, Raekwon has topped himself, removing the stigma of Immobilarity and The Lex Diamonds Story to drop what may be the hip-hop record of the year.

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Heavy Trash: Midnight Soul Serenade

The rockabilly/trash rock titans keep it goofy on album number three.

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Otto: Certa Manhã Acordei de Sonhos Intranquilos

Otto's fourth album continues the process of hybridization inaugurated by the Brazilian mangue beat pioneers Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, while moving the singer and multi-instrumentalist in subtle new directions.

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

[Wed, 25.Nov.09]
Galactic + Mike Dillon's Go-Go Jungle: 6 November 2009 - Austin, TX
Galactic is a band that can always be counted on to pull in any possible special guests to enhance a show, as well to tailor their set lists based on location and vibe, so you never know exactly what you'll get.

[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.

Mixed Media

POPWIRE
FEATURES
The Story of a Soul Survivor: ‘Private Dancer’ at 25
By Christian John Wikane
[25.Nov.09] :. On the eve of Tina Turner's 70th birthday, PopMatters salutes the 25th anniversary of Private Dancer. Join us as we celebrate the making of a modern classic while David Bowie, Nona Hendryx, Janelle Monáe, Bryan Adams, and more than 20 artists and producers pay tribute to the girl form Nutbush who conquered the world stage.

Re-Meet the Beatles: PopMatters Salutes the Still Fab Four
By PopMatters Staff
[25.Nov.09] :. A comprehensive look at the history and impact of the Beatles. 20 Beatles Buried Treasures 25 Classic Beatles Songs The Records: 1963-1964, 1964-1965, 1966-1967, 1968-1969, and 1970 and Beyond ALL ESSAYS.

COLUMNS
Lowbrow Literati: Are We All Mythtaken About Star Wars?
By Monte Williams
[25.Nov.09] :. Fans are mistaken about Return of the Jedi and Luke Skywalker (dismissing the Ewoks, and Skywalker is deemed a wuss). Might they also be wrong about the prequel trilogy? And how.

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.

Books

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[Wed, 25.Nov.09]
:.
Writing in the Dark, by David Grossman

Most aspects of culture, Grossman argues, teach us to resist our innate urge to identify with the Other, but writing fulfills our wonder.

:.
Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

This reads very much like a leisurely ride, full of brief, thoughtful observations that open a window onto the thinking process of a restless artistic spirit.

Multimedia / Comics

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Multimedia

[Wed, 25.Nov.09]
:.
Where the Wild Things Are

Developer Griptonite devised an entirely new narrative, whose sole purpose is to allow Where the Wild Things Are a clear conflict, quest, and resolution, for the sake of fitting it into the typical pseudo-platformer licensed game template.

Comics

[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
:.
From Wonderland with Love

Just trying to make it through these thoroughly-other works, makes one believe that either they are the last living rubes who do not understand what is a now common tongue or that the comics were made by the craziest of crazy artists.

Film / TV

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Film

[Wed, 25.Nov.09]
:.
The Road

As father and son make their way across what's left of the land, they embody myth and the harshest of realities at once, the apparent end of possibility, hope, and imagination.

:.
Ninja Assassin

All the bloody splatting and fast editing mean that it doesn't matter what's real or not real in Ninja Assassin.

Television

[Tue, 24.Nov.09]
:.
Independent Lens: Objectified

In Objectified, designers submit their interests are altruistic as well as personal: they want to design and be known for designing; they want to change how objects function.

:.
Frontline: The Card Game

One aggrieved credit card user sums up, "It's not fair. It's deceptive."

DVDS

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[Wed, 25.Nov.09]
:.
The L Word: The Final Season

Showtime's long running lesbian drama/comedy/soap opera transforms itself for its last season into a murder mystery... And then abruptly terminates in one of TV history's most unsatisfying series finales.

:.
Frailty

As the film unravels in a series of shocking twists and turns, the audience’s perception of morality and faith is put to the test.

:.
The Monster Squad: 20th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

The juggling act of comedy, horror, and children mostly works because Dekker was able to find a group of kids to carry the film who, while not quite Abbott and Costello, are neither cutesy nor campy.

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)
RECENT FEATURES

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By Evan Sawdey
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20 Questions: Sandra Brown
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The Gospel According to Butch: Part 2—The Performer
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[18.Nov.09] :. The ever-prolific producer/songwriter Butch Walker notes how live shows lack a genuine mystique these days, his secret for surviving a tour, and why he'll probably never see Third Eye Blind in concert again ...

20 Questions: Alison Brie and Donald Glover of ‘Community’
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The Iconographies: We Few, We Happy Few, We Bandaged Brothers: Jeff Lemire’s The Nobody and the Quest for Self
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[13.Nov.09] :. A touching, heartfelt meditation on identity and isolation in a small town, Jeff Lemire is able to redress an H.G. Wells classic and make it as timely and disturbing as ever.

The Gospel According to Butch: Part 1—The Producer
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[11.Nov.09] :. Butch Walker talks with PopMatters about the music industry, the problems that young bands frequently succumb to in the studio, and why it's more important to write songs than design T-shirts.

RECENT COLUMNS

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[23.Nov.09] :. Much as Ebony and Vibe crackled with the sense of discovery in their heydays, Arise feels like the magazine that’s got its finger on the pulse of today’s black pop.

The Rockist: We All Know the Way to Sesame Street
By Michael Brett
[20.Nov.09] :. In the 2008 presidential election, America crossed the Henson Point -- the point where we are a post-Baby Boomer society. The Rockist calls for a champagne toast.

Worlds in Panels: What We Talk About When We Talk About Supergirl’s Shorts
By Shaun Huston
[20.Nov.09] :. Supergirl's summer costume change -- which included concealing shorts under her skirt as she flew about, kicking butt -- reveals a lot about our changing superheroes.

Deconstruction Zone: Strange Muse: Jack London and Ernest Gallo
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[19.Nov.09] :. One bad novel, gallons of cheap red wine, and spring-fed creeks of sweat.

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[18.Nov.09] :. What started out a back-to-basics project has turned into one of the coolest, most forward-thinking American metal bands of this decade.

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[17.Nov.09] :. Hip-hop, as a culture and a musical genre, moves at lightning speed. Keeping up requires an awareness of our expectations and a willingness to revisit our assumptions.

Backslash: What’s More Dangerous on the Web—Hackers or Hacks?
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Suffragette City: An Education: Carey Mulligan Comes of Age
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[13.Nov.09] :. Danish director Lone Scherfig spares audiences the trite clichés of a young woman's coming of age, directs a magnificent cast of actors, and defends her film against allegations of inappropriate sexuality.

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