Ramones and Devo: Sonic Reduction as Resistance
Ramones’ Ramones uses reduction as a means to end, to bring rock back to its roots, whereas Devo’s Q: Are We Not Men? uses reduction as the end itself to mirror society’s decline.
progressive pop
The Mars Volta Reimagine Themselves As an Acoustic Latin Ensemble
The Mars Volta’s Que Dios Te Maldiga De Corazon has the same tracklisting as The Mars Volta but presents acoustic arrangements of each song.
All Things Reconsidered/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music/Music Features/Pop Past/Television
Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ and the Power of I as Other
Kate Bush’s 1985 embrace of the Other in “Running Up That Hill” resonates with Gen- Z’s ethos by questioning the binaries of our programmed genders.
Racializing Rock: The ’60s and the White Sounds of ‘Pet Sounds’
The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is not a racist text, but its impact was racist because it further encoded rock as a white genre, perpetuating the institutionalized prejudice that relegated African Americans to the margins of rock.
‘Cosmologica’ is the First Great Prog Album of the Century
If post-1978 prog-rock resembles a parched desert, Circe Link and Christian Nesmith represent our binary Moses: desperately awaited and here to lead us out of the wilderness.
Genesis Ride Into the Sunset With a Compilation to Cap Their Career
Genesis compilation The Last Domino? The Hits reminds us of a time when rock music, be it progressive, popular, both, or neither, was afraid to stay stagnant.
Field Music: Making Pasta Sauce As a Metaphor for Recording an Album
Field Music’s last album Making a New World concerned subjects like the Dada movement, social housing reforms, and sanitary napkins. Flat White Moon‘s subject matter is a little closer to home.
10cc’s Kevin Godley on Crowdsourcing and Going Solo After All These Years
Having long moved on from his days in 10cc, Kevin Godley took decades to unleash a solo record. He solicited songs from random people and tells us how he's in good contact with Gotye and how he can't stand happy music.
All Things Reconsidered/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music/Music Features/Pop Past/SAVE/ IGNORE: popular
Kate Bush’s Splendidly Transitional ‘Never For Ever’ at 40
Kate Bush's Never for Ever served as the stepping stone for the artist to reach her full potential as a bona fide musical genius.
The Academy of Sun Combine Goth, Musical Theater, and Prog on ‘The Quiet Earth’
The Academy of Sun's The Quiet Earth is an interesting mish-mash of styles. Singer-songwriter-pianist-bandleader Nick Hudson prefers to use "Gothic dystopian post-punk" to describe the band.
The Homesick Make a Big Noise on ‘The Big Exercise’
Dutch post-punk, pop trio the Homesick blend a host of influences, from Scott Walker to Meredith Monk, in with their kaleidoscopic sound on their second album, The Big Exercise.
Field Music Tackle the Aftermath of WWI on Their Sublime New Suite, ‘Making a New World’
Making a New World tackles some heavy ideas via Field Music's commonly charming, luminous, and multifaceted aesthetic.
