big star

/ 1 November 2019

Step back 10 years when we presented our 20 best re-issues of 2009, highlighted by the long overdue remastering of the Beatles oeuvre, a number of '80s and '90s classics, and one of the most storied catalogues in electronic music.

Interviews/Mixed Media/Music/News/Premieres

Those Pretty Wrongs Remind Us “It’s About Love” (premiere + interview)

PopMatters Staff

/ 8 August 2019

Big Star's Jody Stephens reflects on his music past as well as the future of his current project with Luther Russell, Those Pretty Wrongs. Hear their latest single, "It's About Love".

Mixed Media/Music/News/Premieres/SAVE/ IGNORE: popular

Lost Memphis Music Legend Van Duren Getting His Due With New Documentary (premiere)

PopMatters Staff

/ 27 September 2018

Obscure even by Big Star standards Van Duren's legacy is one of heartbreak and setback. But as a new film and soundtrack reveal, there's plenty to celebrate about an artist who sounds fresh, vital more than 40 years after cutting his debut.

Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Chris Bell: I Am the Cosmos (Deluxe Edition)

Chris Ingalls

/ 22 September 2017

With Big Star, Chris Bell helped invent power pop as we know it. I Am the Cosmos is his brilliant posthumous solo masterpiece, and the definitive edition is out now.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Chris Bell: Looking Forward – The Roots of Big Star

Ed Whitelock

/ 30 June 2017

Definitive proof that there was more than one genius behind the rise of Big Star.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Podcasts/Sound Affects

Brace Yourself: An Interview With Allen Thompson

Sloane Spencer

/ 28 December 2016

Two members of Allen Thompson's band broke their backs last year. Brace yourself for their new sound.

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Big Star: Complete Third

Kevin Korber

/ 19 October 2016

The premiere cult band's strangest record is reissued with every recording from its legendary sessions, presenting a story of its creator's descent into madness.

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Big Star: Live in Memphis

Matthew Fiander

/ 16 January 2015

Live in Memphis is ultimately unassuming but effective, an honest account of Big Star's mid-'90s chapter and a reminder of the group's considerable talent and charms.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music

The Best Album Re-Issues of 2014

PopMatters Staff

/ 15 December 2014

The music world saw reissues from all over the genre map, spanning classic rock titans to electronic music legends.

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Big Star: #1 Record / Radio City

Zachary Houle

/ 3 October 2014

If you don’t have these two albums, your record collection has a massive hole.

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Counterbalance: Big Star’s ‘Third/Sister Lovers’

Jason Mendelsohn and Eric Klinger

/ 7 March 2014

Lo they did rejoice, the bright and pure of voice. And the wrong shall fail and the right prevail. A 1978 (or 1974) cult classic is this week's Counterbalance.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Sound Affects

Ambition Is the Last Refuge of the Failure

Jeffrey Thiessen

/ 19 February 2014

Sound Affects examines the recent trend of musical acts gaining popularity from word-of-mouth documentaries, using the cases of Death, Big Star, Anvil, and Rodriguez.