All Things Reconsidered

Magazine: The Correct Use of Soap

[20.Oct.09] :. Magazine's The Correct Use of Soap is such a wayward, iconoclastic record, so willfully out of kilter with its own time, that its sound-world and emotional landscape remain unique in pop.
 

Hey Buddy, Got a Spare Time Machine? Ask Pepe Deluxé

[1.Oct.09] :. The day will come when Spare Time Machine is revered as the masterpiece it is by the crowd it deserves. Luckily, Tomi Paajaanen and James Spectrum have this happy pill to keep them sane until that day arrives.
 

No Sympathy for the Devil

[18.Sep.09] :. Over time, "Sympathy for the Devil" has been treated with huge fanfare and has become the common denominator fan favorite, but in actuality "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" gets to the core of what the Rolling Stones were.
 

In Circles: Sunny Day Real Estate Reconsidered

[15.Sep.09] :. In anticipation of a reunion tour, the two albums produced by the original Sunny Day Real Estate lineup get remastered and repackaged with extra tracks and expanded liner notes. They are ripe for revisiting.
 

Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um 50th Anniversary (Legacy Edition)

[8.Jul.09] :. Mingus Ah Um sounds like the 20th Century: it is a self-portrait of a man who helped define the direction of post-bop jazz, commenting on the country that created him.
 

Remembering the Orphan: Final Fantasy VIII

[27.May.09] :. Warts and all, the ambitious push to expand video game storytelling found in Final Fantasy VIII deserves a closer look at this too-often neglected franchise entry.
 

Who Needs an Oscar Anyway?: Mickey Rourke’s Homeboy

[6.May.09] :. Dismissed as too depressing in 1988, Mickey Rourke's self-penned turn in Homeboy brings an aura of sorrow more nuanced and poetic than that of his celebrated performance in The Wrestler.
 

Jigsaw Falling Into Place: Revisiting Radiohead’s ‘90s Output

[16.Mar.09] :. With deluxe reissues of Radiohead's first three albums in stores next week, PopMatters takes a look back at Pablo Honey, The Bends and Ok Computer.
 

It Starts with an Earthquake: R.E.M.‘s Monster

[26.Feb.09] :. I have spent half my life being an R.E.M. fan, and I’ve consumed just about every album in their catalogue. So, at this point, I feel confident saying that Monster is unfairly maligned, and truly stands as one of their best.