Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore Gets Primal on ‘The Third Chimpanzee’
Depeche Mode's primary songwriter and sonic architect Martin Gore gets primal on his new EP of instrumentals, The Third Chimpanzee.
John Bergstrom
John Bergstrom has been writing various reviews and features for PopMatters since 2004. He has been a music fanatic at least since he and a couple friends put together The Rock Group Dictionary in third grade (although he now admits that giving Pat Benatar the title of "first good female rocker" was probably a mistake). He has done freelance writing for Trouser Pressonline, Milwaukee's Shepherd Express, and the late Milk magazine and website. He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife and two kids, both of whom are very good dancers.
James Yorkston’s ‘The Wide, Wide River’ Is Warm, Cozy, and Expansive
The beauty of James Yorkston's The Wide, Wide River allows the coziness back in without making concessions to his continued development and desire to push beyond traditional folk music.
‘The Great Dismal’ Is Nothing’s Sharpest and Most Consistent album
After a big lineup change, Philadelphia metal-gazers Nothing play to their strengths on their fourth album, The Great Dismal.
Every Song on the Phoenix Foundation’s ‘Friend Ship’ Is a Stand-Out
Friend Ship is the Phoenix Foundation's most personal work and also their most engaging since their 2010 classic, Buffalo.
Floodlights’ ‘From a View’ Is Classicist Antipodal Indie Guitar Pop
Aussie indie rockers, Floodlights' debut From a View is a very cleanly, crisply-produced and mixed collection of shambolic, do-it-yourself indie guitar music.
The Psychedelic Furs’ ‘Made of Rain’ Is Their First Album in Nearly 30 Years
The first album in three decades from the Psychedelic Furs beats expectations just one track in with "The Boy That Invented Rock and Roll".
The Charlatans’ ‘Between 10th and 11th’ Gets a Deluxe Edition
Not even a "deluxe" version of Between 10th and 11th from the Charlatans can quite set the record straight about the maligned-but-brilliant 1992 sophomore album.
DMA’s Go for BritElectroPop on ‘The Glow’
Aussie Britpoppers the DMA's enlist Stuart Price to try their hand at electropop on The Glow. It's not their best look.
The Durutti Column’s ‘Vini Reilly’ Is the Post-Punk’s Band’s Definitive Statement
Mancunian guitarist/texturalist Vini Reilly parlayed the momentum from his famous Morrissey collaboration into an essential, definitive statement for the Durutti Column.
Meet Malawi’s Katawa Singers via the Retrospective ‘Ufulu 1991-1997’
The electro-gospel choir, Katawa Singers, are legendary in their native Malawi, and the retrospective Ufulu 1991-1997 helps show why.
The Wants Make Post-Punk That Matters on ‘Container’
Brooklyn post-punk trio, the Wants deal in 21st-century dread but do so in a most danceable way on Container.