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.
Music Features
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.
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.
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.
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.
Headlong Into the Dirty ’70s with the Rolling Stones’ ‘Goats Head Soup’
Is the Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup an underappreciated classic or a reckless work marking their descent into a misunderstood and chaotic era – and should we care?
The 10 Best Peter Buck Collaborations in Song
Peter Buck is revered for his work with R.E.M., but he’s made brilliant music with Billy Bragg, the Decemberists, First Aid Kit, and Eyelids. We pick ten of the best.
Filling Hearts With Diamonds: An Interview with Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy
Exemplified by the new album 93696, Liturgy have moved ever further out into space all their own, tethered only by a slender cable to their sonic point of origin.
Céline Dion’s ‘Falling Into You’ Was a Triumph of 1990s High Camp Pop Art
Falling Into You could only be made by an artist like Céline Dion, who knows that whatever she puts out will be slammed by critics but adored by her audience.
