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Ben Rubenstein
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Ben is a part-time writer and full-time editor who rarely misses a Seinfeld rerun if he can help it. He lives in Chicago.

 

 

 


Features

Tuesday, August 1 2006

Windtalkers: Chicago's own finally going for the almighty dollar.

Some of the artists living the life talk about Chicago's rap scene. Plus, PopMatters names the top 10 Chicago hip-hop up-and-comers.


Columns

Tuesday, January 24 2012

Navigating the SOPA Soap Opera

The most frustrating thing about the controversial new copyright legislation making its way through Congress? It lacks creativity.


Wednesday, December 7 2011

Walkin' to the Beat, the Rhythm in My Feet

Walking around a new city is a good way to get to know its nuances -- the sights, the smells, and especially, the sounds. Boston taught me its rhythm, and I kept in step.


Monday, October 3 2011

What's the Word? With Obscure Language Like Music Speak, It’s Hard not to Feel Like a n00b

Music writers and IT guys have a lot in common – at least when it comes to their cultivated, insular jargon.


Thursday, July 14 2011

I Was Dreamin' When I Wrote This: A Trip to Tribute Land

For some fans, legendary artists of the past offer a fun diversion from the present. But what happens when that turns into an obsession?


Wednesday, May 25 2011

What's the Value of Ownership in the Age of Cloud Computing?

My fiancée and I will soon move across the country with whatever will fit in our Honda Civic. This has brought up some discussions about which possessions are truly worth keeping.


Jukebox Justice [7.Dec.10]
Sing, Memory [1.Aug.10]
'Girls' Gone Wild [11.Mar.10]
Wedding Players [30.Sep.09]
Just Eat It [2.Sep.09]
Vinyl Spin Cycle [18.Aug.09]
Concert Overload [3.Feb.09]
Sold on the Street [17.Dec.08]
Event Etiquette [2.Sep.08]
Gone Festin' [28.Jul.08]
Getting Schooled [1.Jul.08]
I'm With the Band [27.May.08]
Mic'd Up [4.Dec.07]
Nine to Five [30.Aug.07]
Out in the Cold [31.Jul.07]
Family Matters [12.Jul.07]
Mixed Messages [1.Jun.07]
Behind the Music [27.Mar.07]
Moping Around [12.Feb.07]
Tapping the 'Wire' [17.Jan.07]
Jock Jams [29.Nov.06]

Reviews

Friday, July 8 2005

Jill Cohn: Seven Year Surrender

The kind of album that can make even the most hardened cynic think twice before issuing judgment.


Now on PopMatters
A Painting Come to Life: 'The Mill & the Cross' (Short Ends and Leader) [Fri, 4:00 pm]
A Far Too Safe... and Strained... 'House' (Short Ends and Leader) [Fri, 9:00 am]
'Safe House' Is Ersatz Edgy (Reviews) [Fri, 8:06 am]
The 10 Greatest Shakespeare Film Adaptations of All Time (Short Ends and Leader) [Fri, 7:50 am]
  1. 'Nebraska': Bruce Springsteen's 'Heart of Darkness' (Columns)
  2. The 10 Greatest Shakespeare Film Adaptations of All Time (Short Ends and Leader)
  3. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 1: From 13Ghosts to Friendly Fires (Features)
  4. The Best Games of 2011 (Features)
  5. Not-So-Central Casting: Kevin Smith and the Birth of the Reality Podcast (Features)
  6. The 10 Greatest Movie Spies Ever (Short Ends and Leader)
  7. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 2: From the Go! Team to the Phoenix Foundation (Features)
  8. Slipped Discs 2011 - Part 3: From Real Estate to Youth Lagoon (Features)
  9. Lana Del Rey: Born to Die (Reviews)
  10. The Top 15 Madonna Singles of All Time (Sound Affects)
  11. Get Off of My Cloud!: 'Collecting' Music in the Digital Age (Features)
  12. Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas (Reviews)
  13. Google and the Production of Curiosity (Marginal Utility)
  14. Carole E. Barrowman’s Authorial Journey to Hollow Earth (Features)
  15. Tower Songs: Townes Van Zandt (Columns)
  16. “Don’t Let Me Fall”: Hip-Hop in the Age of Austerity (Features)
  17. Black Bananas: Rad Times Xpress IV (Reviews)
  18. The Gay Ole Countryside (Columns)
  19. Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom (Reviews)
  20. Of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks (Reviews)
  21. Counterbalance No. 67: John Coltrane’s 'A Love Supreme' (Sound Affects)
  22. The 10 Best John Coltrane Solos (Sound Affects)
  23. A Look to the Past, An Insight Into the Present: The Use of Gender in 'Mad Men' (Features)
  24. A Tale of How Great Journalism Became Revisionist History: Grambling State U Football (Columns)
  25. Chairlift: Something (Reviews)
  26. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - "Heart Attack" (Cosmic Kids Remix) (PopMatters Premiere) (Mixed Media)
  27. Mark Lanegan Band: Blues Funeral (Reviews)
  28. The Barbaric (and Poetic) Yawp of Shelby Lynne (Notes from the Road)
  29. After Cease to Exist: The Far-from-Final Report of Throbbing Gristle (Features)
  30. Mitt Romney Can Reside at Today's Proverbial 'Downton Abbey'... Newt Gingrich Cannot (Features)
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