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The 70 Best Albums of 2018

From forward-looking electronic and experimental to new approaches in the ever-evolving R&B scene, from hip-hop and punk to rock and pop, 2018 bestowed an embarrassment of musical riches upon us.

Music

The 60 Best Songs of 2018

The year in song reflected the state of the world around us. Here are the 60 songs that spoke to us this year.

Music

Deafheaven's 'Ordinary Corrupt Human Love' Takes the Strengths of Its Predecessors and Refines Them Even Further

Sunbather will forever be Deafheaven's iconic album, but Ordinary Corrupt Human Love might just be their best record.

Music

Deafheaven - "Brought to the Water" (audio)

For all of the light that lingers in Deafheaven's music, malevolence takes on a more prominent role in "Brought to the Water".

Music

The Artists of the Year: 2013 Edition

It was a year of thrilling comebacks from legends like My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie as well the launch of major new talents like Lorde and Kacey Musgraves. These artists had the biggest impact on the shape of music in 2013.

Music

Edging Toward the Mainstream: Extreme Music in 2013

By breaking previous genre constraints, Deafheaven and its peers have created a new template, with strangeness no longer the selling the point for extreme music.

Robert Rubsam

Music

Touché Amoré: Is Survived By

Far from "bowing their heads and leaving out the back", the Los Angeles-based post-hardcore/screamo outfit Touché Amoré is doubling down on its clean guitar/screamed vocal contrast, and successfully so, at that.

Music

On Wanting to Dream: An Interview with Deafheaven

PopMatters talks with lead screamer George Clarke of Deafheaven about his band's creative process, his writing influences, and the simultaneous allure and darkness of the pursuit of wealth in the Bay Area.

Reviews

Russian Circles + Deafheaven + Enemies: 28 April 2012 - Dublin

The dynamos of instrumental disorder – Russian Circles, debut in Dublin. Possessing the power to run rings around their instrumental contemporaries, tonight Russian Circles push their foreboding sound onward with impressive style.

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Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 1 (100 - 81)

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 5 (20 - 1)

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 2: 80 - 61

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 2 (80 - 61)

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Deafheaven's 'Ordinary Corrupt Human Love' Takes the Strengths of Its Predecessors and Refines Them Even Further

Sunbather will forever be Deafheaven's iconic album, but Ordinary Corrupt Human Love might just be their best record.

Deafheaven - "Brought to the Water" (audio)

For all of the light that lingers in Deafheaven's music, malevolence takes on a more prominent role in "Brought to the Water".

The Artists of the Year: 2013 Edition

It was a year of thrilling comebacks from legends like My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie as well the launch of major new talents like Lorde and Kacey Musgraves. These artists had the biggest impact on the shape of music in 2013.

Edging Toward the Mainstream: Extreme Music in 2013

By breaking previous genre constraints, Deafheaven and its peers have created a new template, with strangeness no longer the selling the point for extreme music.

Touché Amoré: Is Survived By

Far from "bowing their heads and leaving out the back", the Los Angeles-based post-hardcore/screamo outfit Touché Amoré is doubling down on its clean guitar/screamed vocal contrast, and successfully so, at that.

On Wanting to Dream: An Interview with Deafheaven

PopMatters talks with lead screamer George Clarke of Deafheaven about his band's creative process, his writing influences, and the simultaneous allure and darkness of the pursuit of wealth in the Bay Area.

Russian Circles + Deafheaven + Enemies: 28 April 2012 - Dublin

The dynamos of instrumental disorder – Russian Circles, debut in Dublin. Possessing the power to run rings around their instrumental contemporaries, tonight Russian Circles push their foreboding sound onward with impressive style.

'Sports Is Hell' Narrows the Field to Identity Politics

Sunny Jain's Impressive 'Wild Wild East' Is a Compelling Call for Human Rights

Always the Bridesmaid? Laura Nyro's Debut Is Ready For Reappraisal

Shopping's Brand of Post-Punk Will Get You Moving

Daniel Krikke's 'Scared of Revolution' Brings Forth the Last Poet

Ben Watt Turns Middle-aged Angst Into Gold on 'Storm Damage'

Plugging Into the Third Mind

French-Algerian Rocker Rachid Taha Leaves 'Je Suis Africain' As His Final Work

The Ghostliness of Mark Jenkin's Post-Brexit Parable, 'Bait'

'American Dirt' Now That the Dust Has Settled

Counterbalance No. 3: Nirvana's 'Nevermind'

Punk Hybrids: Wham! Bam! Glam-Punk!

The 43 Group and the Moral Imperative to Fight Fascists

Love Songs: The Hidden History (Excerpt)

"A Certain Kind of Dream Quality": An Interview with Donovan Quinn

Hollywood Creative Accounting, or, How to Hide a Hit and Still Profit From It

Punk Hybrids: Wham! Bam! Glam-Punk!