Hip-Hop Matters: The Best Hip-Hop of January 2023
The best hip-hop of January focuses on albums from underground veterans, viral upstarts, and hyper-productive modern masters.
PopMatters Picks
JazzMatters: The Best New Jazz of January 2023
Will Layman rounds up the best new jazz albums and cocoons with jazz documentaries, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues and Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes.
Young Fathers Are Back and Getting ‘Heavy Heavy’
Young Fathers declare their awareness of what’s going on but take it a step further. Heavy Heavy urges the audience to do the heavy lifting and “have fun”.
Junior Boys Move in a Gentler Direction with ‘Waiting Game’
On Junior Boys’ Waiting Game, the sounds are slowed down significantly, and we’re pulled into a far tighter space than in the past, reflecting our melancholy.
In ‘How Far the Light Reaches’ Ocean Science and Memoir Make Magic
How Far the Light Reaches weaves struggles with identity – gender identity, sexuality, ethnicity, and body image – with the immense diversity of marine life, revealing new ways to think about ourselves.
Samia Searches for Sincerity on Sophomore Record ‘Honey’
With ample self-awareness and a keen sense of the surreal, Samia delivers a sonically dynamic voyage through the monstrous and merciful extremes of intimacy.
CORLYX’s ‘Blood in the Disco’ Combines Nostalgia and Innovation in Their Gothic Rock
Blood in the Disco isn’t just CORLYX’s best album yet, it’s one of the best goth rock albums to emerge yet this decade.
Fucked Up Are Just Fine on ‘One Day’
Fucked Up’s One Day possesses a brightness and sense of happiness that’s addictive and optimistic, even if the lyrics at times insinuate the opposite.
The Music of the Singing Fireman Howdy Glenn Is Ripe for Rediscovery
Howdy Glenn possessed a smooth, rich voice that lent itself to nostalgic ballads, songs about hard times, and easy-listening songs about love lost and found.
Reissues of Tinariwen’s Early Albums Recall the Saharan Group at Their Most Iconic
Unimpeachable in both technique and sincerity, Aman Iman and Imidiwan are potent assemblages of the qualities that make Tinariwen’s music evergreen.
Freedom Is an Endless Meeting: The Utopian Vision in ‘Women Talking’
In Women Talking, director Sarah Polley masterfully illustrates how new futures can be possible by reckoning and wrestling with the past and present.
The High Before the Fall: Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’
Stranger than Terry Gilliam’s 1990s hits and less aggressive than his later work, the glorious fantasy The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was the last film where his talents fully flowered.
