Nickel Creek Repeat Themselves Anew on ‘Celebrants’
Celebrants finds Nickel Creek returning after nearly a decade. Sean and Sara Watkins tell PopMatters about finding creativity in repetition and their ambitious new album.
Features
Succession’s Final Season of Satire and Calamity Offers No Parting Panacea
Succession, HBO’s most lauded release of the decade solidifies its place as one of TV’s best dramas, even though it shares nothing positive about our capitalist world.
The 10 Best Early Billy Bragg Songs
In his first records, Billy Bragg slashes and burns his way through the political and personal struggles of early adulthood with youth’s passion and idealism.
Depeche Mode’s ‘Songs of Faith and Devotion’ at 30
While 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion is rightfully recognized as one of Depeche Mode’s best, the experience came close to being their last as a group.
Fregonese’s ‘Marco Polo’ Traveled a Twisty Road to Production
Hugo Fregonese’s 1962 Italian-French production of Marco Polo is a film whose history is more twisty than the spaghetti Marco Polo discovered in China.
Suicide’s Music in Film: An Interview with Martin Rev
Suicide’s music is used in films from the comedy Mistress America to the documentary The Red Orchestra. Martin Rev shares memories of the films and the sci-fi that he and Alan Vega loved.
Liza Minnelli Hung Up Her Feather Boa and Sequins for ‘Gently’
Gently is, in Liza Minnelli’s own words, a “make-out” album. The 1996 record reaches for the kind of rueful, ruminative romance found in a smoky bar.
Jayne Mansfield Outsmarts the “Dumb Blonde” Role In Steinbeck Adaptation ‘The Wayward Bus’
Jayne Mansfield’s dramatic performance in the John Steinbeck-adapted drama The Wayward Bus disproves the notion that she was only capable of playing a “dumb blonde”.
Maggie, What Have We Done: Pink Floyd’s ‘The Final Cut’ at 40
The final album of the Roger Waters Pink Floyd era is a difficult, challenging meditation on war and death. The Final Cut is undeniably ambitious and moving.
Tom Waits’ ‘Closing Time’ and the Myth of the Eponymous Debut Album
Tom Waits’ Closing Time serves as the “Swim at Your Own Risk” sign hanging above his musical swimming pool. There’s a whole world waiting beneath that water.
Will the TV-Adaptation of ‘The Power’ Persuade Viewers?
The characters’ prospects in the upcoming TV adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s The Power are dubious, considering it’s an idea-driven dystopian novel that fries them with an over-abundance of imagery and biblical allusion.
10 Songs That Will Make You Love U2
If you don’t finish this article with a newfound love of U2, at the very least, maybe you’ll leave with a newly-earned respect for the lads.