PopMatters Picks

W. E. B. Du Bois’ Unfinished WWI History Speaks Volumes About America

W. E. B. Du Bois’ Unfinished WWI History Speaks Volumes About America

W. E. B. Du Bois hoped that WWI would help Black Americans make gains at home after serving their country abroad. His work for racial progress, like America itself, remains unfinished.

The 15 Best Americana Albums of 2013

The 15 Best Americana Albums of 2013

Jump back a decade and visit one of the best years for Americana albums ever, including Jason Isbell, Neko Case, the Devil Makes Three, and the Lone Bellow.

Beach Fossils Commence Summer with the Excellent ‘Bunny’

Beach Fossils Commence Summer with the Excellent ‘Bunny’

Beach Fossils have progressed in their songcraft on Bunny and it gives you a lift, some time to recover, a soundtrack for good memories, and a desire for more.

Gia Margaret Perfects Her Voice on ‘Romantic Piano’

Gia Margaret Perfects Her Voice on ‘Romantic Piano’

Gia Margaret’s Romantic Piano is informed by innocence and experience, and has gorgeous moments replacing silence by reorganizing background sounds of everyday life.

Water From Your Eyes Glance at Stardom with ‘Everyone’s Crushed’

Water From Your Eyes Glance at Stardom with ‘Everyone’s Crushed’

Water From Your Eyes traffic between experimental music of the krautrock period of the late 1960s and early 1970s and today’s feminine pop sensibility.

JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of April and May 2023

JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of April and May 2023

Our jazz columnist chooses the best new jazz albums of the past two months while reflecting on the passing of Ahmad Jamal and highlighting Walter Smith III.

Paul Simon Is Still a Rock on ‘Seven Psalms’

Paul Simon Is Still a Rock on ‘Seven Psalms’

Seven Psalms is Paul Simon’s 15th solo album and in it, he confronts his mortality head-on and wonders about God, the reasons for existence, and death.

Joy Oladokun Offers Healing Hymns For Fraught Times in ‘Proof of Life’

Joy Oladokun Offers Healing Hymns For Fraught Times in ‘Proof of Life’

Joy Oladokun’s Proof of Life attempts to connect with others struggling, hanging in, and moving forward, an invitation traversing musical genres in its call.

Doug Levitt Rides the Bus to the ‘Edge of Everywhere’

Doug Levitt Rides the Bus to the ‘Edge of Everywhere’

Doug Levitt is a journalist with a guitar, and Edge of Everywhere tells the tales of his 12 years and 120,000 miles riding the Greyhound bus all over America.

RP Boo’s ‘Legacy Volume 2’ Reminds of Chicago Footwork’s Radical Origins

RP Boo’s ‘Legacy Volume 2’ Reminds of Chicago Footwork’s Radical Origins

Anyone coming to RP Boo or footwork in general via this release needs to be prepared to have their bones rearranged and their senses overloaded.

Fatoumata Diawara Creates African Pop-Soul From the Diaspora

Fatoumata Diawara Creates African Pop-Soul From the Diaspora

On her strongest album yet, London Ko, Fatoumata Diawara demonstrates how music from today’s African diaspora can be “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.

Dave Scanlon’s ‘Taste Like Labor’ Is Quietly Intense

Dave Scanlon’s ‘Taste Like Labor’ Is Quietly Intense

Dave Scanlon’s Taste Like Labor straddles a line between dark folk and fractured indie pop on his first solo album in more than two years.

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