Aesop Rock’s Overdue Blockhead Collaboration Is More Forward-Thinking Than Expected
Aesop Rock finally reunites with his longtime producer Blockhead for a hip-hop record less focused on nostalgia and more about depicting our paranoid present.
Evan Sawdey
Evan Sawdey started contributing to PopMatters in late 2005, and has also had his work featured in publications such as Entertainment Weekly, SLUG Magazine, YardBarker, The Daily Dot, and many more. He has been a guest on HuffPost Live, RevotTV's "Revolt Live!", and WNYC's Soundcheck (an NPR affiliate), was the Executive Producer for the Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle album ( available for free), and wrote the liner notes for the 2011 re-release of Andre Cymone's hit 1985 album A.C. (Big Break Records), the 2012 re-release of 'Til Tuesday's 1985 debut Voices Carry (Hot Shot Records), among others. He is the co-founder and host of The Chartographers, a podcast for pop music nerds, and previously hosted PopTalk for PopMatters. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow him @SawdEye should you be so inclined.
This Hushed Acoustic Pop Duo Say “Hovvdy” to Their Best Album in Years
After a disappointingly bland 2019 album, the hushed emotions of acoustic strummers Hovvdy are back in full force on the stellar new set, True Love.
Spencer Cullum Drops the Twang for a British-Folk Solo Debut Destined to Be a Cult Classic
A peerless session musician looking to branch out on his own, Spencer Cullum mines his British-folk inspirations for a lush and lovely solo album.
The Brilliance of Brothertiger’s Secret Instrumental Masterpieces
After a year of livestreaming and a personal setback, there’s no better time to appreciate the quietly underrated instrumental trilogy Brothertiger created amidst the pandemic.
Guitarist Nate Mercereau Transcends in Finding Solace in Isolation
The pandemic has yielded a number of lockdown musical creations, but guitarist Nate Mercereau captures the sadness and quiet joy better than most.
James Wan’s ‘Malignant’ Is Perfectly HorrorAble
At first you might think that James Wan’s Malignant is striking the same note as his prior horror films. You would be wrong.
‘Red Hot + Free’ Is a Perfect Soundtrack for Summer
Filled with sizzling originals and remixes, Red Hot + Free continues the Red Hot Organization’s legacy of giving us great dance music for a good cause.
CFCF’s ‘memoryland’ Is the Love Letter to ’90s Techno We Didn’t Know We Needed
On memoryland, CFCF builds a time machine to take you back to the sounds of ’90s techno, house, and dance-pop.
The 15 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2020
In a year beset by the most horrid and unusual circumstances, leave it to the hip-hop community to challenge our beliefs and voice our activism. The best records of the year served as rallying cries and made us reconsider the very genre itself.
The 10 Best Ambient Albums of 2020
In a year that felt lonelier than ever, some expected ambient music to be a soothing balm. Yet ambient artists capture the sadness, the bliss, the hurt, and the healing of this wild year better than most.
The 15 Best Pop Albums of 2020
The 15 best pop albums radiate with unstoppable playlist power and much-needed sweet escapism.