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Articles tagged "popmatters pick"PopMatters Pick TV ReviewDamages: Season Three Startby Lesley Smith[8.Feb.10] :. Patty’s actions, rather like those of Jack Bauer in 24, dramatize the fundamental contradiction at the heart of any democratic society. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewCharlotte Gainsbourg: IRMby Michael Miller[1.Feb.10] :. Charlotte Gainsbourg gets in the studio with Beck to record a collection of pop songs that surpasses both artists' previous work. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewPatty Griffin: Downtown Churchby Steve Leftridge[27.Jan.10] :. One of the great songwriters in the business lays down the pen to go to church and rides off with a classic. Oh, she writes a couple of these, too, and wait'll you hear them. PopMatters Pick Comics Review45by shathley Q[26.Jan.10] :. 45 tables two issues that linger on from the previous century, the story of fatherhood and the story of journalism, and allows these to interact in the crucible of a comics narrative. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewLos Campesinos!: Romance Is Boringby Jordan Sargent[26.Jan.10] :. Prolific British seven-piece show how sonic exploration can actually go right, and in the process prove that romance isn't all that boring after all. Music ReviewVarious Artists: Ghana Specialby Michael Kabran[25.Jan.10] :. Following the success of the Ethiopiques compilations, here's another stellar collection of popular African music recordings from the '60s and '70s. Highly recommended. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewVampire Weekend: Contraby Anthony Lombardi[19.Jan.10] :. Contra's songs offer sharp, bracing takes on modern life and the album could strengthen their core audience, while netting them some new fans at the same time. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewAlan Lomax: Alan Lomax in Haitiby Craig Carson[14.Jan.10] :. An important historical document, a master class in Haitian music from a bygone era, and an entertaining, life-affirming listen. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewSweetgrassby Cynthia Fuchs[8.Jan.10] :. Sweetgrass features images ranging from magnificent to stark, most often observing sheep in motion -- trekking along dirt roads, up and down mountainsides, through densely green forest trails or snowy fields. PopMatters Pick Film Review35 Shots of Rum (35 rhums)by Cynthia Fuchs[7.Jan.10] :. If 35 Shots of Rum doesn't spell out all of Lionel or Jo's relationships or choices, it does reveal the emotional fabrics that connect them. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewFela Kuti: Fela: The Best of the Black Presidentby Michael Miller[6.Jan.10] :. A thorough document of the greatest moments of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewElvis Presley: Elvis 75: Good Rockin Tonightby Steve Horowitz[16.Dec.09] :. There are no unreleased cuts or alternate takes on this collection, just 100 of the King’s best songs pristinely recorded. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewA Serious Manby Chris Barsanti[11.Dec.09] :. The Coens might be having a good time riffing on their Job's hyperbolic cluelessness, but for almost the first time in their careers, they have twined that jabbing satire with a deeper sense of the tragic. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewVarious Artists: BalkanBeats: A Night in Berlinby Mike Schiller[9.Dec.09] :. A Night in Berlin allows us to hear a BalkanBeats set with a specific -- that is, specifically German -- audience. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewBeat Circus: Boy from Black Mountainby Richard Elliott[2.Dec.09] :. You are left with a memory of thrills and spills, daring and speculation, worlds visited and obstacles overcome. Beat Circus have provided one of the highs of the year. Will Stratton: No Wonderby Evan Sawdey[12.Nov.09] :. Following his quiet stunner of a debut album, this 22-year-old folk artist just proved that lightning, indeed, can strike the same place twice. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewSlayer: World Painted Bloodby Adrien Begrand[5.Nov.09] :. Not surprisingly, World Painted Blood is, well, a Record Made Metal. Comics ReviewMadame Xanadu: Disenchantedby Kevin M. Brettauer[3.Nov.09] :. Reminiscent, in all the best ways, of Neil Gaiman and Kurt Vonnegut’s finest works, Matt Wagner’s opening salvo of his new Vertigo series shows the world still has need for the archetypes inherent in Wagner’s Parsifal. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewLootby Cynthia Fuchs[2.Nov.09] :. A treasure hunter who has travelled far and wide looking for long-lost fortunes, Lance Larson's questing serves as point of departure for the beguiling documentary, Loot. PopMatters Pick Film DVD ReviewSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Diamond Editionby Bill Gibron[22.Oct.09] :. For Walt Disney, it was the realization of a dream, nearly a decade of wondering if his already successful short film style could actually be expanded to feature film length. White Denim: Fitsby Evan Sawdey[20.Oct.09] :. Fits is an electic, sprawling, amps-to-11 rock excursion that revels in nostalgia almost to the point of outright defiance. White Denim have crafted one of the best rock albums of 2009. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMungolian Jetset: We Gave It All Away… Now We’re Taking It Backby Jordan Sargent[13.Oct.09] :. Norwegian duo's debut album plus remix collection is a remarkably singular entry into the Scandinavian dance canon. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewBrother Ali: Usby Andrew Martin[9.Oct.09] :. Say hello to one of hip-hop's best albums of the past 10 years. Brother Ali and Ant have done it again. Comics ReviewSecret Warriors Vol. 1: Nick Fury, Agent of Nothingby Kevin M. Brettauer[8.Oct.09] :. Jonathan Hickman blasts into the Marvel Universe, and he brings Nick Fury with him, as the super-spy popularized by Steranko maintains his classic sense of “cool”, refuting the modern-day “kewl” methods of cinema spies like James Bond and Jason Bourne as he attempts to take down his greatest threat to date. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewArayaby Cynthia Fuchs[7.Oct.09] :. Reimagined here, Araya is at once endless and utterly finite. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewOctober Countryby Cynthia Fuchs[5.Oct.09] :. October Country focuses on the Mosher family to explore the many ways that patterns shape lives and expectations. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewThe Avett Brothers: I and Love and Youby Steve Leftridge[29.Sep.09] :. They might remain too folk-fringe-y to be pop's Next Big Thing, but the Avetts' latest fully delivers on this band's considerable potential. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMiranda Lambert: Revolutionby Tom Useted[28.Sep.09] :. It's hard to follow one of the decade's finest albums. But you can't really fault Miranda Lambert's music, even when she makes a long and uneven record. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewSlavic Soul Party!: Taketronby Andrew Dietzel[25.Sep.09] :. Think Parliament mixed with Gogol Bordello and a dash of Beirut and you’ll have a fairly clear benchmark by which to judge Slavic Soul Party! PopMatters Pick TV ReviewFringe: Season Two Premiereby Lesley Smith[24.Sep.09] :. Unlike her TV predecessors, Olivia is not moved by transcendent belief or duty. Uncertainty hurts her. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewCapitalism: A Love Storyby Todd R. Ramlow[23.Sep.09] :. In Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore is on target in his indictment of the top 1% of the population, those who own or control 95% of U.S. wealth. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewGuy Clark: Somedays the Song Writes Youby Stuart Henderson[23.Sep.09] :. Guy Clark’s best songs are so wise, so sneakily didactic that they can seem to blow on the wind of fable. Comics ReviewAstonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxesby Kevin M. Brettauer[22.Sep.09] :. The newest creative team is doing tremendous work on the series that redefined the X-Men -- so why some fans won’t accept it? PopMatters Pick TV ReviewCommunity: Series Premiereby Daynah Burnett[17.Sep.09] :. Before you can say "The Breakfast Club," Community begins challenging stereotypes while also arguing that community college is one of the great equalizers. Comics ReviewGeorge Sprott: 1894-1971, A Picture Novella by the Cartoonist Sethby Oliver Ho[17.Sep.09] :. An almost overwhelmingly beautiful book-as-art-object, George Sprott also tells an intriguing story with an intense and pervasive mix of melancholy, nostalgia, introspection and gags. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewCirculatory System: Signal Morningby Anthony Lombardi[16.Sep.09] :. Signal Morning is not only a vital part of Elephant 6's continued excellence; it's one of the best damn albums of the year. PopMatters Pick Yesterday's Jukebox FeatureThe Stone Roses: The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collector’s Editionby Evan Sawdey[10.Sep.09] :. Imagine if you will: an album re-release that actually gets everything right, making an already-classic album sound even better than before, deepening our understanding as to what made it so iconic. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewBLK JKS: After Robotsby Michael Kabran[4.Sep.09] :. Vowels or no vowels, this arty post-punk band from South Africa rocks with an intelligence and sensitivity sorely missing in pop music today. PopMatters Pick TV ReviewSoul of a People: Writing America’s Storyby Rodger Jacobs[3.Sep.09] :. Federal funding for the arts in the U.S. was a contentious issue for FDR's Works Progress Administration. PopMatters Pick Film DVD ReviewKatynby Stuart Henderson[28.Aug.09] :. Legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda tackles a very personal subject in the harrowing Katyn, the long-denied Soviet massacre of the Polish officer corps in WWII. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMount Eerie: Wind’s Poemby Thomas Britt[28.Aug.09] :. The true achievement of Mount Eerie's Wind's Poem is the redemptive arc Elverum finds within the black metal context. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMadness: The Liberty of Norton Folgateby David Smith[21.Aug.09] :. The North London Nutty Boys return with an ambitious, nostalgia-tinged effort -- and hit a new career high. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMegafaun: Gather, Form & Flyby Matthew Fiander[21.Aug.09] :. By shifting focus on this new record, fitting the experiments into more traditional structures instead of the other way around, Megafaun has produced one of the best records of 2009. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewLorna’s Silence (Le silence de Lorna)by Cynthia Fuchs[14.Aug.09] :. Even as the camera follows Lorna, it never quite keeps up, though it's unclear whether she's eluding your interpretation or her own. PopMatters Pick Film DVD ReviewRepulsionby Matt Mazur[14.Aug.09] :. This is the culmination of two artists upping their personal antes to produce greatness, two burgeoning legends of cinema testing their seemingly-limitless powers. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewRichard Thompson: Walking on a Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009)by Tom Useted[14.Aug.09] :. It took long enough, but there's finally a great way to sample Richard Thompson's long and prolific career. PopMatters Pick TV DVD ReviewTorchwood: Children of Earthby Evan Sawdey[10.Aug.09] :. It'll be hard for the show to ever be darker than Children of Earth, and even harder for it to ever be more compelling. PopMatters Pick Books ReviewInherent Viceby Christopher Guerin[7.Aug.09] :. Pynchon’s latest combines elements of The Big Lebowski, Dashiell Hammett, John Garfield’s movies, and the TV cop shows and Hollywood movie bikinis-and-surfboards grooviness of the early ‘70s. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewKronos Quartet: Floodplainby Mike Schiller[7.Aug.09] :. Floodplain is a worldly album in every sense of the word, appropriating styles, melodies, and even musicians from spots around the globe. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewBeeswaxby Cynthia Fuchs[6.Aug.09] :. If it's rare to see sisters at the center of a smart, mature, and artful movie, it's even more surprising to see them so keenly in tune. PopMatters Pick Film ReviewThe Girl by the Lake (La Regazza Del Lago)by Cynthia Fuchs[30.Jul.09] :. The mystery of The Girl by the Lake revolves around fathers, struggling to live in between eras, when their authority is questioned, their desires challenged, and their efforts deemed inadequate. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewGoran Bregović: Alkoholby Jayson Harsin[30.Jul.09] :. Mournful, frenzied, and ecstatic -- Alkohol seems a fitting title indeed. PopMatters Pick TV ReviewPOV: Hold Me Tight, Let Me Goby Cynthia Fuchs[28.Jul.09] :. In Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, the difference between "normalcy" and "deviance (or between feeling safe or hurting) is, at some fundamental level, a matter of performance. Comics ReviewThe Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Bordersby Sara Cole[28.Jul.09] :. So what is it about The Photographer that makes it seem so particularly effective in its story-telling? One reason may be that it is not exactly a comic book. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMaxwell: BLACKsummers’ nightby Christian John Wikane[24.Jul.09] :. Only Maxwell can explain the gap between Now (2001) and, well, now, but all you need to know is that BLACKsummers'night is truly one of this year's best albums. Featured Article TV ReviewPOV: The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)by Cynthia Fuchs[21.Jul.09] :. Nerakhoon looks forward to an unknown future as it also looks back on events obscured by history and media images. PopMatters Pick Music ReviewMagnolia Electric Co.: Josephineby Matthew Fiander[21.Jul.09] :. Years from now, we should look back at Magnolia Electric Co. and say that, at the height of their powers -- as they are on Josephine -- they were one of the finest bands going. Featured Article TV ReviewIn Their Boots: Silent Partnersby Cynthia Fuchs[16.Jul.09] :. Silent Partners, like other other documentaries of In Their Boots, offers its subjects a chance to share their experiences with the current U.S. military. Featured Article Music ReviewVarious Artists: Legends of Beninby Deanne Sole[14.Jul.09] :. At the heart of Legends of Benin lies the spiral, the curve, the unfinished circle that leads to its replica. PopMatters Pick Books ReviewNear Death in the Desert, ed. Cecil Kuhneby Chris Barsanti[10.Jul.09] :. The insights into desert nomad culture make the always present possibility of death almost pale in insignificance. |
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