Monday, November 17 2008
Hamburg: Germany’s Port of Rock ‘n’ Roll
PopMatters shoulders its backpacks and treks to Hamburg to check out Germany's pop music capital, to partake of four days of Kunst und Kultur, historical wanderings, and indulge in a bit of Gemütlichkeit.
Friday, November 14 2008
Voodoo Music Experience Festival
The Voodoo Experience brings national acts to New Orleans and highlights the city’s uniquely diverse music scene. Such is the ethos of the city: Anything goes, as long as there’s dancing.
Thursday, November 13 2008
Where Music is Written, or Dapper LeChampagne’s Unraveling at Austin City Limits
Dapper was going to disintegrate today. He would see her during Band of Horses. She was wearing white. Her eyes were round and soft when they met his.
Friday, November 7 2008
Personal Epics: The 46th Annual New York Film Festival
Shafted by the current events taking place outside its theaters, the New York Film Festival was agreeably low-key this year, demonstrating that art, at its best, can serve as valuable provocation when we try to make sense of a bewildering world.
Wednesday, November 5 2008
CMJ Music Marathon 2008: From Top Draw to Taco Bell
Whether they were looking for a quick blast of blog action or a record deal, over 1,000 bands poured into New York City looking for that elusive ounce of praise that could elevate them from a gaggle of fans to the Gossip Girl soundtrack. Here are the best 20 and the worst 10 artists.
Friday, August 29 2008
Horses for Courses: Virgin Mobile Festival 2008, Part Two
Sandwiched between Lil Wayne’s lyrical wizardry and Kanye West’s globetrotting techno-populism, Bob Dylan gave one of the festival’s rare encores on a day when nearly every band deserved one.
Thursday, August 28 2008
Horses for Courses: Virgin Mobile Festival 2008, Part One
With a line-up that read like a quick scroll through an FM radio dial, the Virgin Mobile Festival attempted to please every faction of the musical market and had more successes (Rodrigo y Gabriela, Sharon Jones, Wilco) than shortcomings (The Offspring).
Friday, August 8 2008
Noise Bleed
The surfeit of noise in the modern world demands a genre of music that can match it, squall for squall. Humphrey reports on San Francisco's noise music scene.
High Sierra Music Festival 2008
Despite the forest fires that plagued Northern California, the festival went off without a hitch, providing its own smoking performances and hot jams along with inventive instrumental interplay and socially conscious songs.
Thursday, August 7 2008
Comic-Con 2008: Bigger Than Ever, But Does That Mean Better?
Comic-Con 2008 was a long weekend of geeked-out bliss and a chance to rub elbows with everyone from tiny independent comic artists trying to sell their books to big Hollywood stars. But it also meant gigantic crowds and impossibly long lines.
Monday, July 21 2008
Pathways to Creation: Exploring Sacred Music in Fes, Morocco
PopMatters goes to Morocco for the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music to honor and share the world’s great spiritual music traditions. At this 14th annual festival, Derek Beres would hear the indigenous sounds of Vietnam, Tunisia, Norway, Pakistan, Belgium, America, and much more.
Friday, July 18 2008
Don’t Forget Your Wellies: Glastonbury 2008
With only a flimsy $15 tent and wellington boots for protection, PopMatters’ Cole Stryker avoided Amy Winehouse’s punches, the mud, and John Mayer, at the annual global gathering that is the Glastonbury Festival.
Friday, June 27 2008
High and Low: Film Forum Presents: Nakadai
New York’s Film Forum offers an ambitious and inspired film series this summer, dedicated to the films of Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai. The series is as entertaining, provocative, and intricate as its subject.
Monday, June 23 2008
Brilliance and Boredom in Barcelona
There are many different ways of achieving greatness when playing live. Of course you have to have great songs, but that is not the only variable to take into account for real stage success.
The Gaudí, the Bands, and the (Not So) Muddy
You know there's a music festival in the city when fedoras and scarves outnumber baseball caps and gold chains.
Monday, June 16 2008
Memory of a Free Festival
The carefully curated lineups at the big multiday summer music festivals promise an unforgettable experience for fans -- those who can afford to go, that is.
Thursday, May 29 2008
Fuse Box 2008 Part I
Etiquette breaks down that fourth wall, invites you in, sits you down at its table, and serves you a glass of confusion that implies you are witnessing a suicide.
Tuesday, May 6 2008
Winter Music Conference 2008
In his account of the nation's premier techno festival, David Tatasciore captures the good, the bad, and the ugly that made the Winter Music Conference such an unforgettable experience.
Friday, March 21 2008
Pink Floyd Is Actually Australian
In which a skeptic attends his first tribute band concert and comes out the other side convinced that not only is the Australian Pink Floyd Show the real deal, it may be even better than the real thing.
Friday, March 9 2007
Scandinavia’s Hot Music from the Cold North
Held deep in the ice-bitten annals of Trondheim, Norway, By:Larm 2007 gathered hundreds of Scandinavian musicians for a massive, three-day music-and-arts festival. PopMatters covers the best new Scandanavian talent emerging from the festival and offers 20 exclusive MP3s and an exclusive mix.
