Music Reviews
Kelly Lee Owens trades Brat Summer for Dreamstate Autumn
DJ, singer, and producer Kelly Lee Owens takes the opposite path from Charli XCX, yet meets her at the crossroads of pop and electronic music on Dreamstate.
Music Features
Pop, Populism, and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”
The contradictions in Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” makes it ripe for co-opting for Republican political campaigns from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump.
Film
In Memory of Maggie Smith, the Stealth Comedy Queen
Maggie Smith had the most expressive face. She could say and do more with a roll of an eye or purse of her lips than most of her peers with pages of dialogue.
Books
Whatever Happened to That Amazing British Punk Band Buzzcocks?
Steve Diggle’s Buzzcocks autobiography Autonomy is a refreshing take in an era when punk’s political and social consequences tend to be over-analyzed.
Games
Video Games Set in the 19th Century and Their Literary Allusions
It’s fitting that these video games set in 19th century England transform reading into a form of socializing, as reading in the 19th century was communal.
Interviews
Amadou & Mariam Merge Tradition with Innovation
Malian blues duo Amadou & Mariam just dropped a greatest hits album while noting how they’re intrigued by the sounds of Billie Eilish.
Lists
The 15 Best Electronic Albums of 2014
The best electronic music of 2014 could be found in thoughtful experimentation and dancefloor-ready fun. But the ones who led the way were the pioneers.
Television
Deadwood’s Moral Optimism
Individualism was not the dominant force on the American frontier, as most Westerns would have you believe. Deadwood explores the era’s cooperation and moral optimism.
PopMatters Picks
Kelly Lee Owens trades Brat Summer for Dreamstate Autumn
DJ, singer, and producer Kelly Lee Owens takes the opposite path from Charli XCX, yet meets her at the crossroads of pop and electronic music on Dreamstate.
