One Shot: Remembering Michael Cimino’s Masterpiece, ‘The Deer Hunter’
The Deer Hunter gets war, yes, but it also nails the beautiful, if banal simplicity of working class existence.
Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy has been publishing fiction, reviews (music, movie, book, food), and essays on the technology industry for almost twenty years. During his time at PopMatters he has written extensively about music, movies, and books, and his column "The Amazing Pudding" celebrates all-things Prog-Rock. His memoir Please Talk about Me When I'm Gone was published in 2013; his novel Not To Mention a Nice Life in 2015. Murphy is currently the writer-in-residence at the Noepe Center for Literary Arts on Martha's Vineyard. Visit him online at @bullmurph and http://seanmurphy.net/.
None More Black: Reassessing Black Sabbath’s First Three Albums
The sound Black Sabbath cultivated remains, at once, neither derivative nor capable of duplication.
Edgar Allan Poe’s 10 Best Stories
Edgar Allan Poe endures as an artist who made his life's work a deeper than healthy dive into the messy engine of human foibles, obsessions, and misdeeds.
Reappraising Ian Anderson’s ‘Minstrel in the Gallery’
Minstrel in the Gallery seems as autobiographical as any Jethro Tull album, before or after, and there is a vulnerability and sensitivity that the songwriter was simply growing into.
‘Five Easy Pieces’ Must Be Appreciated on Its Own Cantankerous Terms
As the hippie hangover from the ‘60s begins in earnest in ‘Five Easy Pieces’, Jack Nicholson’s Bobby Dupea has neither tuned in nor entirely dropped out.
‘Pedro’ Is a Glorious Romp Full of Stories That Only Pedro Martinez Can Tell
No one can say Pedro did not walk the walk.
Schizophonia: Cantorial Recordings Reimagined
Schizophonia set a new bar for ways we can imagine intersections between the old school, the spiritual, and the evanescent.
Jethro Tull: Back to Basics (Sort Of)
After the back-to-back-to-back brilliance of their previous three albums, a letdown seemed inevitable; amazingly, Ian Anderson & Co. raised the bar, instead.
A Portrait of the Boss As a Young Man: On Bruce Springsteen’s First Seven Albums
The go-for-broke inspiration Bruce Springsteen became legendary for providing in his songs initially sprang from the most authentic source: himself.
This Collection of the Band’s Memories Makes Led Zeppelin Actually Likeable
No matter how grandiose the Led Zeppelin legend gets, hearing the golden gods tell their tale is both astounding and more real than anything anyone could ever make up.
Mathias Kunzli: Playground
Playground is a happy reminder that now remains the time, as always, to hear our world from a fresh perspective.