On Top of the World: An Interview With Martha High

Vocalist Martha High spent three decades with James Brown, and she tells PopMatters about her resurrected solo career as well as her path through the music industry.

Album Reviews

EDEN Creates an Achingly Beautiful Modern Pop Album with 'No Future'

No Future finds Dublin's EDEN furthering his distinctive vision as he expands his sonic palette and broadens his perspective on an achingly beautiful modern pop album.

Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio Create a Potent Mix on 'Nomad'

Vancouver guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina joins forces with two stellar New York jazz players to create a snapping blend of free improvisation, sharp fusion, and jabbering polyrhythm.

Scantron's 'Electric City' Is a Four-Song Blast of Engaging Garage Rock

Philadelphia garage rockers Scantron continue their "single-slinging" tradition on the satisfying, riff-heavy new EP, Electric City.

Sunny Jain's Impressive 'Wild Wild East' Is a Compelling Call for Human Rights

Brooklyn bhangra heavyweight Sunny Jain draws on jazz, rock, and folk in a new, anti-xenophobia album Wild Wild East.

Always the Bridesmaid? Laura Nyro's Debut Is Ready For Reappraisal

An album full of hits for other people, Laura Nyro's More Than a New Discovery showcases the artist behind the songs.

Ben Watt Turns Middle-aged Angst Into Gold on 'Storm Damage'

For solo album #4, Ben Watt makes second age musings on mortality and introspection sound beautiful.

Shopping's Brand of Post-Punk Will Get You Moving

On All or Nothing, Shopping continue their hot streak of fiery straightforward "back-to-basics" post-punk with some added keyboards in the mix.

Plugging Into the Third Mind

Alt-rock supergroup the Third Mind launches a musical adventure that brings Alice Coltrane and Roky Erickson together and doesn't forget the guitar solos.

French-Algerian Rocker Rachid Taha Leaves 'Je Suis Africain' As His Final Work

Algerian rock legend Rachid Taha's legacy of innovation lives on in the posthumous release Je Suis Africain.

Parachute For Gordo's New Post-Rock LP Is Driven By Percussion, Not Guitars

Parachute For Gordo's new LP, Best Understood By Children and Animals, diverges from the band's art-punk past. The result is an enthralling, throbbing, and incredibly percussion-driven document.

Euglossine Creates a Gleaming Electronic Vista with 'Psaronius'

Underground electronic artist Euglossine's latest album, Psaronius, contains surprising warmth among the digital flash.

Brooding Goth Meets Post-Punk on Bambara's 'Stray'

On Stray, Bambara peel the curtain back further on their reality. Haunting and deeply evocative words are sewn into a dark tapestry of atmospheric, brooding goth meets post-punk on an album that lingers like the rough outline of an aging scar.

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In 'Downhill', Getting Dark Just Means Getting Harsh

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's comedy, Downhill, paints in broad strokes and peaks early, never matching the clever satire of its source material, Force Majeure.

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On Top of the World: An Interview With Martha High

Vocalist Martha High spent three decades with James Brown, and she tells PopMatters about her resurrected solo career as well as her path through the music industry.

Books

Black. Queer. Southern. Women.

Conveyed with urgency and mindfulness, Johnson's Black. Queer. Southern. Women. creates a space for revisioning critical race and sexual ideologies while affirming the voices of queer black women.

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EDEN Creates an Achingly Beautiful Modern Pop Album with 'No Future'

No Future finds Dublin's EDEN furthering his distinctive vision as he expands his sonic palette and broadens his perspective on an achingly beautiful modern pop album.

Music

Scantron's 'Electric City' Is a Four-Song Blast of Engaging Garage Rock

Philadelphia garage rockers Scantron continue their "single-slinging" tradition on the satisfying, riff-heavy new EP, Electric City.

Music

Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio Create a Potent Mix on 'Nomad'

Vancouver guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina joins forces with two stellar New York jazz players to create a snapping blend of free improvisation, sharp fusion, and jabbering polyrhythm.

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'Sports Is Hell' Narrows the Field to Identity Politics

Ben Passmore's Sports Is Hell is an apocalyptic parody of racism in US sports and politics.

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The Ghostliness of Mark Jenkin's Post-Brexit Parable, 'Bait'

Mark Jenkin's haunting Bait exhibits a ghostliness that complements the film's transient landscape of seasonal capital and short-term holiday lets.

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'American Dirt' Now That the Dust Has Settled

Though the bluster has asserted the opposite, Jeanine Cummins' prose in American Dirt washes away the gore and grime to show the human faces that make up the migrant crisis of the Western Hemisphere.

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Counterbalance No. 3: Nirvana's 'Nevermind'

Our Counterbalance team takes on the "Greatest Albums of All Time". This time it's Nirvana's Nevermind. Dust off your flannel shirt... it's going to be a grungy good time!

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Always the Bridesmaid? Laura Nyro's Debut Is Ready For Reappraisal

An album full of hits for other people, Laura Nyro's More Than a New Discovery showcases the artist behind the songs.

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Sunny Jain's Impressive 'Wild Wild East' Is a Compelling Call for Human Rights

Brooklyn bhangra heavyweight Sunny Jain draws on jazz, rock, and folk in a new, anti-xenophobia album Wild Wild East.

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Jenn Grinels and Marc Broussard Examine Love on "Evidence" (premiere)

Jenn Grinels and Marc Broussard join forces for the catchy, new soul-pop single, "Evidence".

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The 43 Group and the Moral Imperative to Fight Fascists

Anti-fascist militants have played an important role in protecting community and democracy. Daniel Sonabend's We Fight Fascists brings light to that battle against fascism in post-war Britain.

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Daniel Krikke's 'Scared of Revolution' Brings Forth the Last Poet

Hip-hop, the most lasting and revolutionary contribution to popular music in the post-War period, does not exist without the Last Poets Umar Bin Hassan's work.

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Ben Watt Turns Middle-aged Angst Into Gold on 'Storm Damage'

For solo album #4, Ben Watt makes second age musings on mortality and introspection sound beautiful.

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Shopping's Brand of Post-Punk Will Get You Moving

On All or Nothing, Shopping continue their hot streak of fiery straightforward "back-to-basics" post-punk with some added keyboards in the mix.

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British Art-rockers Zooni Debut Video for "Dissolve" (premiere)

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Cajun music legend and BeauSoleil founder Michael Doucet releases a video for "Water Water", recorded with his new adventurous, roots music quintet, Lâcher Prise.

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Plugging Into the Third Mind

Alt-rock supergroup the Third Mind launches a musical adventure that brings Alice Coltrane and Roky Erickson together and doesn't forget the guitar solos.

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For Valentine's Day, the End of Anti-Miscegenation Laws: 'The Loving Story'

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Parachute For Gordo's New Post-Rock LP Is Driven By Percussion, Not Guitars

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The 10 Best Sappy Love Songs of the 1970s

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Vocalist Martha High spent three decades with James Brown, and she tells PopMatters about her resurrected solo career as well as her path through the music industry.

No Future finds Dublin's EDEN furthering his distinctive vision as he expands his sonic palette and broadens his perspective on an achingly beautiful modern pop album.

Vancouver guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina joins forces with two stellar New York jazz players to create a snapping blend of free improvisation, sharp fusion, and jabbering polyrhythm.

Philadelphia garage rockers Scantron continue their "single-slinging" tradition on the satisfying, riff-heavy new EP, Electric City.

Brooklyn bhangra heavyweight Sunny Jain draws on jazz, rock, and folk in a new, anti-xenophobia album Wild Wild East.

An album full of hits for other people, Laura Nyro's More Than a New Discovery showcases the artist behind the songs.

For solo album #4, Ben Watt makes second age musings on mortality and introspection sound beautiful.

On All or Nothing, Shopping continue their hot streak of fiery straightforward "back-to-basics" post-punk with some added keyboards in the mix.

Alt-rock supergroup the Third Mind launches a musical adventure that brings Alice Coltrane and Roky Erickson together and doesn't forget the guitar solos.

Algerian rock legend Rachid Taha's legacy of innovation lives on in the posthumous release Je Suis Africain.

Parachute For Gordo's new LP, Best Understood By Children and Animals, diverges from the band's art-punk past. The result is an enthralling, throbbing, and incredibly percussion-driven document.

Underground electronic artist Euglossine's latest album, Psaronius, contains surprising warmth among the digital flash.

On Stray, Bambara peel the curtain back further on their reality. Haunting and deeply evocative words are sewn into a dark tapestry of atmospheric, brooding goth meets post-punk on an album that lingers like the rough outline of an aging scar.

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's comedy, Downhill, paints in broad strokes and peaks early, never matching the clever satire of its source material, Force Majeure.

"Oh Society" is an infectious indie pop single from Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Sarah Isabella DiMuzio (Whim), who releases Abuzz in the Abyss this spring.

Vocalist Martha High spent three decades with James Brown, and she tells PopMatters about her resurrected solo career as well as her path through the music industry.

Conveyed with urgency and mindfulness, Johnson's Black. Queer. Southern. Women. creates a space for revisioning critical race and sexual ideologies while affirming the voices of queer black women.

No Future finds Dublin's EDEN furthering his distinctive vision as he expands his sonic palette and broadens his perspective on an achingly beautiful modern pop album.

Curtis Mayfield's Curtis was the first R&B concept album to tackle social consciousness, beating Marvin Gaye's What's Going On by a year.

Philadelphia garage rockers Scantron continue their "single-slinging" tradition on the satisfying, riff-heavy new EP, Electric City.

Vancouver guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina joins forces with two stellar New York jazz players to create a snapping blend of free improvisation, sharp fusion, and jabbering polyrhythm.

Ben Passmore's Sports Is Hell is an apocalyptic parody of racism in US sports and politics.

Mark Jenkin's haunting Bait exhibits a ghostliness that complements the film's transient landscape of seasonal capital and short-term holiday lets.

Though the bluster has asserted the opposite, Jeanine Cummins' prose in American Dirt washes away the gore and grime to show the human faces that make up the migrant crisis of the Western Hemisphere.

Our Counterbalance team takes on the "Greatest Albums of All Time". This time it's Nirvana's Nevermind. Dust off your flannel shirt... it's going to be a grungy good time!

An album full of hits for other people, Laura Nyro's More Than a New Discovery showcases the artist behind the songs.

Brooklyn bhangra heavyweight Sunny Jain draws on jazz, rock, and folk in a new, anti-xenophobia album Wild Wild East.

Jenn Grinels and Marc Broussard join forces for the catchy, new soul-pop single, "Evidence".

Anti-fascist militants have played an important role in protecting community and democracy. Daniel Sonabend's We Fight Fascists brings light to that battle against fascism in post-war Britain.

Hip-hop, the most lasting and revolutionary contribution to popular music in the post-War period, does not exist without the Last Poets Umar Bin Hassan's work.

For solo album #4, Ben Watt makes second age musings on mortality and introspection sound beautiful.

On All or Nothing, Shopping continue their hot streak of fiery straightforward "back-to-basics" post-punk with some added keyboards in the mix.

Stirring visuals for "Dissolve" capture the essence of Zooni's slowly unfurling gem.

Glam Punk is "Rock 'n' roll with lipstick on," sneered John Lennon.

Cajun music legend and BeauSoleil founder Michael Doucet releases a video for "Water Water", recorded with his new adventurous, roots music quintet, Lâcher Prise.

Alt-rock supergroup the Third Mind launches a musical adventure that brings Alice Coltrane and Roky Erickson together and doesn't forget the guitar solos.

The Loving Story's tale of this Supreme Court victory lays out both its legal and moral import, and then turns back to Richard and Mildred Loving in intimate, evocative images.

Donovan Quinn's (Skygreen Leopards) first solo album in seven years explores memory, love, and loss in no uncertain psych-folk terms.

What do evolutionary biology and its founding father, Charles Darwin, have to do with love songs? As it turns out, quite a lot. Enjoy this excerpt of Ted Gioia's Love Songs: The Hidden History, courtesy of Oxford University Press.

Algerian rock legend Rachid Taha's legacy of innovation lives on in the posthumous release Je Suis Africain.

Parachute For Gordo's new LP, Best Understood By Children and Animals, diverges from the band's art-punk past. The result is an enthralling, throbbing, and incredibly percussion-driven document.

Underground electronic artist Euglossine's latest album, Psaronius, contains surprising warmth among the digital flash.

Although it's fair to state that Jerry Hopper is no Douglas Sirk, it's also true that their careers tangoed around each other, as seen in Hopper's Naked Alibi.

On Stray, Bambara peel the curtain back further on their reality. Haunting and deeply evocative words are sewn into a dark tapestry of atmospheric, brooding goth meets post-punk on an album that lingers like the rough outline of an aging scar.

We determine what song is worthy of the "A" or "B" side -- not the music industry. On Will Stockton and D. Gilson's 33 1/3 B-Sides.

Ohio-based producer Jacoti Sommes creates a warm sonic world where trippy vibes coexist with funky jams on his typically strange, lovable new album, Travel Time.

Never Not Together is the best record Nada Surf have made in quite a while, as it sees the indie rock/power pop group stress the need for more empathy in the world.

If you need to know what the boundaries of diction are, listen to my reformed ghetto-ass.

Just in time for Valentine's Day... If you were a child of the 1970s, you no doubt grew up hearing these tunes on your parents' eight-track player and car radio. The songs on this list are sappy, high-drama love ballads -- and for that they're being celebrated.