PopMatters Picks

PopMatters picks the best pop culture for your enjoyment, including music, film, TV, books, games, comics, and more.

The Greyboy Allstars Drop a ‘Grab Bag’ of Goodies

The Greyboy Allstars Drop a ‘Grab Bag’ of Goodies

The Greyboy Allstars’ Grab Bag: (2007-23) is a vibrant collection of previously unreleased tunes showing off the mad skills of these San Diego groove masters.

Brueder Selke and Midori Hirano Unite for Unique and Striking LP

Brueder Selke and Midori Hirano Unite for Unique and Striking LP

Celebrated Berlin-based composers Brueder Selke and Midori Hirano form a trio for this spellbinding new collaborative release.

Boom.Diwan Use Jazz for Kuwaiti Pearl Diving Music

Boom.Diwan Use Jazz for Kuwaiti Pearl Diving Music

Boom.Diwan’s new LP is gorgeous, deeply personal work that emerges from encounters between performers with diverse backgrounds and expertise.

Lilly Hiatt Puts Love in Motion on ‘Forever’

Lilly Hiatt Puts Love in Motion on ‘Forever’

Listening to Lilly Hiatt’s Forever, her first album in four years, one can’t help but get swept along in her romantic bliss and the music’s hypnotic pulse.

Bad Bunny Creates an Astonishing (Inter)cultural Moment

Bad Bunny Creates an Astonishing (Inter)cultural Moment

Bad Bunny uses nostalgia to spark a connection with the fans and denounce the risks of a future without the people or the culture they love.

Zzzahara Combines Thrills and Chills on ‘Spiral Your Way Out’

Zzzahara Combines Thrills and Chills on ‘Spiral Your Way Out’

zzzahara’s new LP is about making the best of a bad situation, of transforming darkness into light. It’s a bittersweet testament to the spirit of Los Angeles.

Heather Maloney Channels Joni and Father’s Death Into Music

Heather Maloney Channels Joni and Father’s Death Into Music

Heather Maloney’s latest release, Exploding Star, suggests the benefits of empathy and mourning when one is not bereaved. Sadness can bring us joy.

Brian John McBrearty’s New Album Exudes Warmth and Mystery

Brian John McBrearty’s New Album Exudes Warmth and Mystery

With his latest LP, Brian John McBrearty is ably assisted by stellar fellow musicians and has begun another artistic chapter with beauty, grace, and passion.

Natalia Lafourcade Is Brilliant at Carnegie Hall

Natalia Lafourcade Is Brilliant at Carnegie Hall

Listeners should love this chance to luxuriate in Natalia Lafourcade’s beloved songs and spend an intimate evening with this gracious spirit.

The Bongo Hop Visit Colombia on the Brassy ‘La Pata Coja’

The Bongo Hop Visit Colombia on the Brassy ‘La Pata Coja’

For all the Bongo Hop owe to Sevet’s time in Colombia, La Pata Coja centers less around abstract ideas of place than it does around people.

Women in 1990s Rock Music Are Far from Dead

Women in 1990s Rock Music Are Far from Dead

Tanya Pearson’s Pretend We’re Dead is both hopeful and challenging, and proves that the spirit of 1990s women in rock music is still alive and fighting.

Roger Célestin’s ‘The Delicate Beast’ Will Devour You

Roger Célestin’s ‘The Delicate Beast’ Will Devour You

Prolific writer Roger Célestin presents in his debut novel, The Delicate Beast a timely tale of how autocracy will devour you once the process has begun.