The PopMatters Music Blog 2009-07-10T12:09:29Z Copyright (c) 2009, PopMatters.com ExpressionEngine tag:popmatters.com-sound-affects,2009:07:10 tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107951 2009-07-09T15:33:53Z 2009-07-09T15:33:53Z Courtney Young tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107914 2009-07-09T06:41:22Z 2009-07-09T06:41:22Z Diepiriye Kuku tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107870 2009-07-08T11:09:29Z 2009-07-08T11:09:29Z G E Light Sorry but I couldn't find a video of Little Milton doing his signature tune (don't worry he takes his well-deserved bow later anyway). So you go to a blues festival for the music and 'cuz you're some... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107601 2009-07-03T13:00:15Z 2009-07-03T13:00:15Z Tommy Marx tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107153 2009-06-29T16:00:14Z 2009-06-29T16:00:14Z Chris Conaton tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107325 2009-06-26T11:37:43Z 2009-06-26T11:37:43Z Jonathan Garrett Hotel California and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. And given how many soccer practices, guitar... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107248 2009-06-25T11:45:43Z 2009-06-25T11:45:43Z Tommy Marx tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107134 2009-06-24T16:00:05Z 2009-06-24T16:00:05Z Michael Kabran File this under "Two more reasons John Zorn's Tzadik is one of the coolest record labels around" and "can't an hombre kvetch?" We're only halfway through 2009 and Tzadik has seen the release of two... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.107102 2009-06-23T16:13:42Z 2009-06-23T16:13:42Z Sarah Zupko Where last week was a major drought, save for some stellar Americana from Ha Ha Tonka, this week is an embarrassment of riches. Even records that wind up being a disappointment like Mars Volta's... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.102331 2009-06-21T18:32:08Z 2009-06-21T18:32:08Z PopMatters Staff tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.102171 2009-06-19T06:00:00Z 2009-06-19T06:00:00Z Tommy Marx In 1981, five gay men in Los Angeles suffered from an unknown disease that the press labeled GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention referred to as the... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.95288 2009-06-16T15:07:24Z 2009-06-16T15:07:24Z Sarah Zupko Blame it on a Bonnarroo hangover perhaps or the weak economy, but this week is one of the lightest new music release weeks in recent memory, rivaling the deserted graveyard that is the post holiday... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.95026 2009-06-15T11:35:49Z 2009-06-15T11:35:49Z Rich Kassirer tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.95014 2009-06-12T14:13:23Z 2009-06-12T14:13:23Z Robin Cook tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.94885 2009-06-11T19:00:49Z 2009-06-11T19:00:49Z Vijith Assar tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.94893 2009-06-11T11:10:07Z 2009-06-11T11:10:07Z Adrien Begrand Over the last three decades, not much has changed in the way of heavy metal music videos. While cutting-edge filmmakers like Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, and Jonathan Glazer created... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.94502 2009-06-04T13:04:18Z 2009-06-04T13:04:18Z PopMatters Staff The UK's Starsailor recently released their fourth album All the Plans and have been touring the new music. In between, lead singer James Walsh answered our 20 Questions. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.94368 2009-06-02T15:00:10Z 2009-06-02T15:00:10Z Sarah Zupko Rancid - Let the Dominoes Fall Rancid have been gone for a regrettably long time, having not put out new studio material since 2003's Indestructible. Their raw and poppy brand of smart punk... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.94178 2009-06-01T11:00:09Z 2009-06-01T11:00:09Z Mike Deane tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.94085 2009-05-28T14:00:50Z 2009-05-28T14:00:50Z PopMatters Staff Paul Noonan, the lead singer for Ireland's Bell X1, drops by 20 Questions and tells us why the Beatles killed music. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93986 2009-05-27T10:34:23Z 2009-05-27T10:34:23Z Joseph Carver After a rash of solo albums, film scores, and an infamous incident doing the theme to a noted TV show, Clem Snide frontman Eef Barzelay is back, his band in tow, and unafraid to face his future. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93717 2009-05-26T13:00:19Z 2009-05-26T13:00:19Z PopMatters Staff Former drug store clerk Elliott Yamin scored high on the American Idol charts. His first album, Elliott Yamin (Hickory, March 2007) went gold in the US and Japan, and was the highest independent debut for a new artist on the Billboard charts. His sophomore album, Fight for Love, released this month. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93554 2009-05-23T18:20:02Z 2009-05-23T18:20:02Z Sean Murphy tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93713 2009-05-21T13:41:10Z 2009-05-21T13:41:10Z Robin Cook Last autumn, this vidblogger caught Ha Ha Tonka's stunning show at a Bloodshot Records showcase in Brooklyn. They didn't disappoint in Austin, either. Here, guitarist Brett Anderson talks a little... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93327 2009-05-19T15:15:37Z 2009-05-19T15:15:37Z Joseph Kugelmass tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93256 2009-05-14T16:14:35Z 2009-05-14T16:14:35Z PopMatters Staff The Royal College of Music trained Jon Hopkins released his latest album Insides on Domino on May 5th and he tells us about his inspiration. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.93166 2009-05-13T16:00:43Z 2009-05-13T16:00:43Z Mike Deane tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.92669 2009-05-12T10:55:56Z 2009-05-12T10:55:56Z Diepiriye Kuku Though I could not put a name to this queerness then, I knew that my ability to be free-to-be me was somehow connected to Michael Jackson’s ability to be free-to-be as bizarre as he wanted to be and still have people respect his life’s work. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73678 2009-05-07T11:00:48Z 2009-05-07T11:00:48Z Christian John Wikane Snoop Dogg and Donna Summer, doo-wop and disco. Brooklyn Dreams have had an anything but predictable career trajectory since their 1977 debut. Nearly 30 years after their last album, Bruce Sudano and Joe "Bean" Esposito remember the long, winding, and sometimes bumpy road from Flatbush to Hollywood. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.92730 2009-05-06T11:01:01Z 2009-05-06T11:01:01Z PopMatters Staff Ken Stringfellow is a well-known figure in the world of smart pop music, having worked with the likes of the Posies, R.E.M., the Minus 5, and Big Star. These days he's playing with the Disciplines and their new album Smoking Kills released just last week. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73912 2009-05-04T13:00:06Z 2009-05-04T13:00:06Z Joseph Kugelmass Dylan's new album of rough-and-ready love songs, Together Through This, is proof that he needs a little nudge back onto a darker path. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73890 2009-05-01T12:52:32Z 2009-05-01T12:52:32Z PopMatters Staff Donny Blum, drummer for the Von Bondies, tells us why Star Wars rules, you ought to try yoga and how inspirational Hieronymus Bosch is. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73620 2009-04-30T10:25:12Z 2009-04-30T10:25:12Z Diepiriye Kuku Even on the interpersonal level, there is no forgiveness in forgetting, and there is no progress in regret. When we promise to funk, to face truth unheard, and trust evidence unseen but known, we commit ourselves to a broader path of liberation, and therein resides our potential for progress. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73719 2009-04-28T12:00:24Z 2009-04-28T12:00:24Z Michael Edler I really do. I love Death Cab for Cutie, but their uninspired and relatively unimpressive show at Chicago's Aragon Theater on April 13th demonstrated that the band, which is an indie rock mainstay, deserves to be able to alter their songs and recreate the musical experience for their fans. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73677 2009-04-27T12:00:04Z 2009-04-27T12:00:04Z Mike Deane tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73493 2009-04-23T10:00:24Z 2009-04-23T10:00:24Z Sean Murphy tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73505 2009-04-23T09:55:57Z 2009-04-23T09:55:57Z PopMatters Staff tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73478 2009-04-22T14:32:52Z 2009-04-22T14:32:52Z Robin Cook tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73421 2009-04-21T10:34:29Z 2009-04-21T10:34:29Z Evan Sawdey tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73163 2009-04-20T12:00:38Z 2009-04-20T12:00:38Z Sean Murphy Herbie Hancock Is Cooler Than Us And He Always Has Been ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73181 2009-04-17T13:23:23Z 2009-04-17T13:23:23Z Mike Deane tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73147 2009-04-16T10:51:49Z 2009-04-16T10:51:49Z PopMatters Staff Georgia indie pop group Venice Is Sinking has released a few records that PopMatters rated pretty highly, Sorry About the Flowers in 2006 and AZAR earlier this year. Lucas Jensen, the band's drummer, sits down with 20 Questions to explain his theories about Star Wars and more. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73041 2009-04-15T11:00:09Z 2009-04-15T11:00:09Z Michael Kabran Two years ago, CunninLynguists, a group little known outside underground hip-hop circles, dropped Dirty Acres, easily one of the best hip-hop albums of 2007 and arguably one of the best albums... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.73025 2009-04-14T14:07:36Z 2009-04-14T14:07:36Z Robin Cook tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72964 2009-04-13T13:10:09Z 2009-04-13T13:10:09Z Robin Cook tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72920 2009-04-10T15:00:10Z 2009-04-10T15:00:10Z PopMatters Staff L.A. pop band Eulogies released their latest album Here Anonymous this week on Dangerbird and stopped by 20 Questions to talk about their inspiration and tennis. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.71919 2009-04-09T14:10:10Z 2009-04-09T14:10:10Z Diepiriye Kuku Madonna was as contradictory as Uncle Tom, except in reverse. She claimed to challenge the institution and dominance of the church while worshiping at the mantle of capitalism and white supremacy in ways that only reinforced the nexus of gender, race and class oppression and mutual exploitation. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72836 2009-04-08T13:40:06Z 2009-04-08T13:40:06Z PopMatters Staff Jennifer Kelly raved about L.A. indie pop group the Little Ones back in a 2006 Now Hear This piece for PopMatters. "Not since the Spinto Band has a young musical outfit burst onto the scene with the level of infectious joy that the Little Ones exhibit on their Sing Song EP. Spinning out exuberant harmonies and indelible hooks, yet under-girded with strong, eccentrically plotted beats, the EP had the irrepressible optimism of early summer -- the smell of new mown grass and suntan lotion was practically built right in." Frontman Ed Reyes answers our 20 Questions in the midst of working on a new record. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72361 2009-04-07T11:35:15Z 2009-04-07T11:35:15Z Diepiriye Kuku Seeing these moves come home confirms that they’ve always been the source of B.’s latest trends. This pop diva has managed an effective way of reproducing stardom, like Madonna, mining our dance floors, hiring us sissies to teach them how to assert their masculinity and femininity at the same time. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72474 2009-04-06T10:00:52Z 2009-04-06T10:00:52Z Sean Murphy Jethro Tull ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72599 2009-04-03T19:00:36Z 2009-04-03T19:00:36Z Sean Murphy April is the cruelest month. Apparently someone once pulled an April Fools’ Day joke on him too. What’s really sad is I saw this one coming... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72435 2009-04-03T13:50:26Z 2009-04-03T13:50:26Z Mike Deane tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72639 2009-04-03T05:01:24Z 2009-04-03T05:01:24Z Robin Cook tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72603 2009-04-02T16:02:56Z 2009-04-02T16:02:56Z PopMatters Staff The garage-soul group Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears put on one of the best shows at SXSW this year, as anyone who has witnessed one of their incendiary sets can attest to. The Austin band released their debut EP and full-length recently on Lost Highway and also stopped by 20 Questions. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72533 2009-04-02T10:35:55Z 2009-04-02T10:35:55Z Matt White tag:popmatters.com,2009:pm/blogs/sound-affects/34.72508 2009-04-01T10:30:03Z 2009-04-01T10:30:03Z Jer Fairall The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences handed out their annual awards on Sunday night. The Junos -- essentially Canada's equivalent to the Grammys -- have been awarding achievements in... ]]>