Wednesday, May 1 2013
20 Questions: Denison Witmer
What started as a collection of songs for a class project in Engilsh has turned into a career that has garnered comparisons to the wounded-soul recordings of Elliott Smith. Now, Denison Witmer celebrates his new album with a 20 Questions feature full of profound insight for songwriters.
“Emphasize That New Beginning”: An Interview with Young Man
His second album was called Vol. 1. He's retiring the Young Man moniker given that he's getting older. Yet songwriting wunderkid Colin Caulfield is more than such simple plays on words: he's a DIY bedroom composer who is finishing his last album as Young Man, and tells PopMatters all about it.
Tuesday, April 30 2013
Armin van Buuren (Interview): 30 March 2013 - New York
Armin van Buuren sat down for an interview before his sold-out New York City "'A State of Trance 600" show, where compatriots Ferry Corsten and Markus Schulz would be debuting their project New World Punx, to discuss Intense.
Monday, April 29 2013
Keep It in Motion: An Interview with Guided by Voices’ Tobin Sprout
Tobin Sprout has been one of the most important songwriting voices for a long while, part of Guided By Voices' "classic lineup" if you will. Now, with the band's fourth post-reunion album just getting released, Sprout talks to PopMatters about why he left the band to begin with, being inspired by Brian Epstein's death, and his surprising side-career with children's literature.
Friday, April 26 2013
All That Turns to Gold: The Post-Punk Alchemy of My Gold Mask!
Chicago's artfully embellished trio My Gold Mask deliver style, panache, and otherworldy grooves with eerie ease.
Thursday, April 25 2013
Aetheric Vehicle: An Interview with Matmos
After having released an EP of "psychic" music, Matmos are back with even more expansive results on their latest full-length, and talk to PopMatters about sensory deprivation, Buzzcocks covers, and how they managed to make this album despite not really being musicians ...
Wednesday, April 24 2013
On the Band That’s Pelted with Frozen Fish Fingers: ‘Get Ready to Be Boyzvoiced’
Though it’s earned the tagline, “Norway’s This Is Spinal Tap”, Get Ready to Be Boyzvoiced is far more subtle than that, and much closer in tone to BBC’s The Office.
Tuesday, April 23 2013
The Stubborn Speed of Sound Advice
We should have more thinking in our writing, even if it slows the normal process of reading to a useful crawl. Intellectual death has already claimed the distracted reader. May vital writers and their dwindling audiences always remain one paragraph ahead of the goon squad.
Monday, April 22 2013
“I Really Wanted to Break People’s Expectations”: An Interview with Olafur Arnalds
He started out as a teenage drummer in punk bands, and is now using his lush sense of symphonic melodies to score films, TV shows, and create haunting music of his own. With his new album drawing raves, the one and only Ólafur Arnalds speaks to PopMatters ...
Friday, April 19 2013
Every Mile of the Ride: An Interview with Lindi Oretga
A country traditionalist that stands out with own unique brand of slow-burn ballads, critical favorite Ortega discusses her new album, touching on the secret Nashville scene of alt-country up-and-comers, and why Social Distortion's fans prove genre differences aren't as vital as we're led to believe.
Wednesday, April 17 2013
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling: An Interview with Gama Bomb’s Philly Byrne
On 7 May, Gama Bomb will release their fourth album, The Terror Tapes, in North America. Ahead of this, PopMatters caught up with Gama Bomb's affable mouth-mouth comedian, Philly Byrne, to discuss the struggles around creating the new album, singing fast, the band's recent departure from Earache, being a geek and his hopes for The Terror Tapes.
Major Label Debut: Kevin Drew and 10 Years of Arts & Crafts
When Kevin Drew co-founded Arts & Crafts, his label was intended simply as a way to get out the music of his band, Broken Social Scene. Now, ten years later, Drew gives PopMatters an unflinching look at the ups and downs of running one of the most influential labels out there today.
Tuesday, April 16 2013
Music That Hits You in the Body: An Interview With the Thermals’ Westin Glass
Thermals drummer Westin Glass talks about touring, staying D.I.Y. and the group’s back-to-basics approach on their new record.
Life Is Brutal and It’s Not Always Sunshine: An Interview with the Flaming Lips
Now, with the release of the Flaming Lips' darkest record yet, Steven Drozd takes us through the creation of The Terror, its inspirations, and explains how the host of a children's TV show completely changed his life.
Monday, April 15 2013
Now Hear This!: Jetman Jet Team - ‘We Will Live the Space Age’ (album premiere)
PopMatters premieres We Will Live the Space Age, the debut by Seattle noise-pop act Jetman Jet Team.
Constant Forward Motion: An Interview with Wire’s Graham Lewis
The bassist and lyricist for the seminal post-punk band talks about the unique inspiration for their new album and why he has no time for nostalgia.
Thursday, April 11 2013
Mixtarum Metallum V: 10 Great Metal Albums from Early 2013
Welcome back to Mixtarum Metallum, where PopMatters' takes a look at some notably loud releases from early 2013.
Wednesday, April 10 2013
Momus in the Aftermath of the End of History
Momus may be the musician who most consistently makes me laugh and his wordplay and his logician’s ability to follow a funny premise to its often troubling culmination are as admirable as any comic’s.
Tuesday, April 9 2013
No Flamenco: An Interview with Mice Parade’s Adam Pierce
Seven albums and 15 years into his career as Mice Parade, Adam Pierce refuses to be pigeonholed, hemmed in or even defined by critical expectations.
The Pop Culture Death Trap, Part 4: Projections
Who will be our next dead celebrity? Does it matter? Regardless of who, as Joseph Conrad suggested, we each remain loyal to the nightmare of our choosing.
