Music

Mos Def Lands on 'Yo Gabba Gabba' (video)

01 Apr 2010

Mos Def makes a "super" appearance on the hip children's TV show Yo Gabba Gabba. Somehow this just doesn't feel like that much of a stretch.

Video Mos Def

Debut Novel 'Older Brother' Straddles France, Syria, and Sibling Suspicions

In Mahir Guven's debut novel, Older Brother, a young Frenchman's return to his country from war-torn Syria derails his older brother's life.

Books

MetalMatters: October 2019 - What's That Noise?

October is dominated by heavyweight returns from noise rock pioneers Swans and Lightning Bolt, while also filled with the black metal bleakness of Blut Aus Nord and the Great Old Ones, while Vastum continue 20 Buck Spin's death metal master class streak.

Music

Hana Vu Shows Sincerity and Polish on Double EP 'Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway'

Indie pop singer-songwriter, Hana Vu's second release Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway is a fantastically polished double EP but could have made an even better album.

Music

Mark Erelli's Infectious New Single, "Her Town Now" Echoes Tom Petty and John Prine (premiere + interview)

Mark Erelli collaborates with singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet and poet Klipschutz on "Her Town Now". "I think co-writing is best when it helps you do things you wouldn't normally do. I have to sacrifice some of my sensibility so that I can bring in a fresh perspective," Erelli says.

Music

David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' Loosens Our Grip on What and Whom We Think We Know

We move through life among strangers whom we try to make less strange by identifying repetitive behaviors as identity. At some point, we might even say we "know" a person. Lynch's Lost Highway shows that we don't know anything about each other.

Film

Floating Points Goes From Jazzy Ambient to the Dancefloor with 'Crush'

Floating Points' Crush is an album of profound contrasts. For every track designed to electrify the dancefloor, there is a gentle sweeping orchestral piece.

Music

Art Pop's Elk City Explores Truth and Beauty With "Pity of a Rose" (premiere + interview)

Art pop group Elk City share their latest video "Pity of a Rose" and discuss their latest EP, Souls in Space. "My goal in directing the video was to illustrate a human being incapable of emotion, who is navigating the prison of her mind," says co-founder Renée LoBue.

Music

Bremer/McCoy's 'Utopia' Is the Soundtrack for an Overcast Day

Danish duo Bremer/McCoy's Utopia could be the score to an imaginary Peanuts special, in which Charlie Brown and his pals exchange occasional contemplative remarks, but don't dance much.

Music

Ted Gioia's 'Music: A Subversive History' (By the Book)

"Sound," writes musician, author, and historian Ted Gioia in Music: A Subversive History, "is the ultimate source of genesis... A song can contain a cataclysm." In this beguiling excerpt, Gioia leads us to the sound of the universe itself.

Ted Gioia

Books

Sarah Peacock's "Lady MacGyver" Celebrates Female Ingenuity (premiere)

Inspired by a friend, Sarah Peacock's "Lady MacGyver" is an empowering Americana anthem that celebrates self-made women.

Music

Mike Zito Taps Walter Trout For Cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" (premiere)

Blues rocker Mike Zito pairs with axeman Walter Trout for an incendiary version of Chuck Berry's seminal rock 'n' roll song, "Johnny B. Goode".

Music

On Making Sense of the World at Jack Kerouac's Directive

Reading Kerouac, I saw in living flesh all of the Cody Pomerays, Dean Moriartys, Sal Paradises, and Alvah Goldbooks in each and every sailor I bunked with, each and all from every corner of America, revealing all and true as only comrades can do in the cocoon of shared experience.

Books

"I Knew I Wasn't Alone": An Interview with Everclear's Art Alexakis

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis steps out for his solo debut and tackles everything from parenthood to his 2016 multiple sclerosis diagnosis. "There will be somebody there for you and often it's not the people you think."

Jedd Beaudoin

Music

Battles Keep the Loops Going on 'Juice B Crypts'

Going from a trio to a duo doesn't affect Battles' dedication to chirpy synths and deep grooves on their latest, Juice B Crypts.

Music

Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel's Essays Make It Fun to Ponder, 'Am I a Jerk?

Eric Schwitzgebel's excellent and accessible philosophy in A Theory of Jerks and Other Philosophical Misadventures would be great at parties—just open up to any random three-page essay, read it aloud, and let the conversation flow.

Books

'All Encores' Is Nils Frahm, Beautifully Deconstructed

German composer/producer Nils Frahm has compiled his last three EPs into a varied and satisfying full-length release, All Encores.

Music

For Ben Goldberg It's a 'Good Day for Cloud Fishing'

Composer and clarinetist Ben Goldberg writes tunes inspired by the poetry of Dean Young for a shimmering trio, which in turn inspired new poems.

Music

'The Lighthouse' Finds Lynchian Beauty in the Terror of Pitiless Nature

In Robert Eggers' brutal but lyrical 19th century horror show, The Lighthouse, there is a lot of David Lynch in the looming soundtrack and the steam-powered, proto-industrial feel in the scenes of tending the lighthouse machinery.

Film

'The View from Somewhere' Exposes the Dangerous Myth of 'Objective' Reporting

'Objectivity' in journalism has become a shield for privilege and a weapon for right-wing pundits, argues Lewis Raven Wallace in his work, The View from Somewhere: Undoing the Myth of Journalistic Objectivity.

Books

Terry Riley Shoots the Kronos Quartet into Space with the Beautiful, Moving 'Sun Rings'

The decades-long partnership between composer Terry Riley and the Kronos Quartet continues – with a little help from NASA – on the brilliant new album, Sun Rings.

Music

Old Crow Medicine Show Feel Right at Home on 'Live at the Ryman'

Old Crow Medicine Show honor history on Live at the Ryman, while continuing to show more interest in new, charged versions of tradition.

Justin Cober-Lake

Music

Hannah Williams & the Affirmations' '50 Foot Woman' Is Full of Soul

Hannah Williams & the Affirmations, given a boost by Jay-Z, successfully negotiate the hazards of retro-soul on 50 Foot Woman.

Music

Eddie Murphy Returns to Form (and Fun) in 'Dolemite Is My Name'

Director Craig Brewer helms his breezy tribute to Rudy Ray Moore, the '70s Blaxploitation icon who influenced an entire generation of young Black performers, with Dolemite Is My Name.

Film

Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

MetalMatters: October 2019 - What's That Noise?

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

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Mixed Media

Collapse Expand Mixed Media

PM Picks

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Mos Def Lands on 'Yo Gabba Gabba' (video)

In Mahir Guven's debut novel, Older Brother, a young Frenchman's return to his country from war-torn Syria derails his older brother's life.

October is dominated by heavyweight returns from noise rock pioneers Swans and Lightning Bolt, while also filled with the black metal bleakness of Blut Aus Nord and the Great Old Ones, while Vastum continue 20 Buck Spin's death metal master class streak.

Indie pop singer-songwriter, Hana Vu's second release Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway is a fantastically polished double EP but could have made an even better album.

Mark Erelli collaborates with singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet and poet Klipschutz on "Her Town Now". "I think co-writing is best when it helps you do things you wouldn't normally do. I have to sacrifice some of my sensibility so that I can bring in a fresh perspective," Erelli says.

We move through life among strangers whom we try to make less strange by identifying repetitive behaviors as identity. At some point, we might even say we "know" a person. Lynch's Lost Highway shows that we don't know anything about each other.

Floating Points' Crush is an album of profound contrasts. For every track designed to electrify the dancefloor, there is a gentle sweeping orchestral piece.

Art pop group Elk City share their latest video "Pity of a Rose" and discuss their latest EP, Souls in Space. "My goal in directing the video was to illustrate a human being incapable of emotion, who is navigating the prison of her mind," says co-founder Renée LoBue.

Danish duo Bremer/McCoy's Utopia could be the score to an imaginary Peanuts special, in which Charlie Brown and his pals exchange occasional contemplative remarks, but don't dance much.

"Sound," writes musician, author, and historian Ted Gioia in Music: A Subversive History, "is the ultimate source of genesis... A song can contain a cataclysm." In this beguiling excerpt, Gioia leads us to the sound of the universe itself.

Inspired by a friend, Sarah Peacock's "Lady MacGyver" is an empowering Americana anthem that celebrates self-made women.

Blues rocker Mike Zito pairs with axeman Walter Trout for an incendiary version of Chuck Berry's seminal rock 'n' roll song, "Johnny B. Goode".

Experimental electronic producer Meemo Comma shares the top 10 things that influenced her stunning, new album Sleepmoss, as we premiere the video for the title track.

Reading Kerouac, I saw in living flesh all of the Cody Pomerays, Dean Moriartys, Sal Paradises, and Alvah Goldbooks in each and every sailor I bunked with, each and all from every corner of America, revealing all and true as only comrades can do in the cocoon of shared experience.

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis steps out for his solo debut and tackles everything from parenthood to his 2016 multiple sclerosis diagnosis. "There will be somebody there for you and often it's not the people you think."

Going from a trio to a duo doesn't affect Battles' dedication to chirpy synths and deep grooves on their latest, Juice B Crypts.

Eric Schwitzgebel's excellent and accessible philosophy in A Theory of Jerks and Other Philosophical Misadventures would be great at parties—just open up to any random three-page essay, read it aloud, and let the conversation flow.

German composer/producer Nils Frahm has compiled his last three EPs into a varied and satisfying full-length release, All Encores.

Composer and clarinetist Ben Goldberg writes tunes inspired by the poetry of Dean Young for a shimmering trio, which in turn inspired new poems.

In Robert Eggers' brutal but lyrical 19th century horror show, The Lighthouse, there is a lot of David Lynch in the looming soundtrack and the steam-powered, proto-industrial feel in the scenes of tending the lighthouse machinery.

'Objectivity' in journalism has become a shield for privilege and a weapon for right-wing pundits, argues Lewis Raven Wallace in his work, The View from Somewhere: Undoing the Myth of Journalistic Objectivity.

The decades-long partnership between composer Terry Riley and the Kronos Quartet continues – with a little help from NASA – on the brilliant new album, Sun Rings.

Old Crow Medicine Show honor history on Live at the Ryman, while continuing to show more interest in new, charged versions of tradition.

Hannah Williams & the Affirmations, given a boost by Jay-Z, successfully negotiate the hazards of retro-soul on 50 Foot Woman.

Director Craig Brewer helms his breezy tribute to Rudy Ray Moore, the '70s Blaxploitation icon who influenced an entire generation of young Black performers, with Dolemite Is My Name.