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Say It Loud! 100 Great Protest Songs: Part 4 - Dead Kennedys to Steve Earle

PopMatters has scoured the musical spectrum for the best examples of the protest song form, including anthems of great popularity and obscurity alike. Stay tuned all week as we unveil the top 100.

Music

An Alternative Christmas Playlist for the Coming Ice Age

If the idea is that earth, water, fire, air and space constitute the core elements of life, then these five songs might seem as their equivalents to surviving the complications that come from embracing the good and enduring the ugly of the Christmas season.

Music

A Look Back but a Step Forward: An Interview with Steve Earle

Steve Earle has blazed his own trails but now, at 62, he reflects on fallen heroes, chance encounters, and how he'll always be a political rabble-rouser.

Interviews

Steve Earle and the Dukes: Terraplane

Terraplane pays homage to the Texas blues, with mixed results.

Music

Country Fried Rock: Steve Earle Interview

Steve Earle's new album, Terraplane, takes this lyrical master down to his Texas blues roots.

Music

Steve Earle and the Dukes - "You're The Best Lover That I Ever Had" (video)

Americana hero Steve Earle returns with Terraplane releasing via New West on 17 February.

Music

The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s: 80-61

In this next segment of PopMatters' look back on the music of the 2000s, we examine works by British electronic pioneers, Americana legends, and Armenian metal provocateurs.

Music

When the Man in Black Went to Bat for Native America

A recasting of Johnny Cash's most controversial album, Bitter Tears, raises questions about the inclusiveness of American music.

Music

Everyone Lost: Protest Art and the Iraq War

While people were killing and dying, what did it matter whether there were decent songs being sung, insightful films being produced, appropriate art being inspired? When did poetry ever stop a war?

Film

Steve Earle & The Dukes (And Duchesses) - "Invisible" (video)

The first single from Steve Earle's superb new album, 'The Low Highway', released yesterday.

Music

Steve Earle's 'I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive'

A been-there-lived-it-attitude and street-level redemption, all propelled by a songwriter's/storyteller's lyrical and narrative knack.

Music

Play Me Some Mountain Music: The Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2011, Part 1

Four days of sun, banjos, snow, Mumfords, fiddles, and rock gods at 10,000 feet.

Steve Leftridge

Reviews

Commit: An Interview with Steve Earle

Earle digs through a mutual past for a new album of Townes Van Zandt covers, and he explains what it was like knowing, and being heckled by, the songwriter himself.

Music

Steve Earle: Townes

A distinctively Earle-stamped tribute to one of the greatest American songwriters of all time.

Jayson Harsin

Music

Pop Ten

The 70 Best Albums of 2019

The Best Progressive Rock/Metal of 2019

The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2019

The Best Jazz of 2019

The 20 Best Metal Albums of 2019

The 10 Best Ambient Albums of 2019

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

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

The 15 Best R&B/Soul Albums of 2019

The 10 Best Indie Rock Albums of 2019

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Mixed Media

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PM Picks

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An Alternative Christmas Playlist for the Coming Ice Age

If the idea is that earth, water, fire, air and space constitute the core elements of life, then these five songs might seem as their equivalents to surviving the complications that come from embracing the good and enduring the ugly of the Christmas season.

A Look Back but a Step Forward: An Interview with Steve Earle

Steve Earle has blazed his own trails but now, at 62, he reflects on fallen heroes, chance encounters, and how he'll always be a political rabble-rouser.

Steve Earle and the Dukes: Terraplane

Terraplane pays homage to the Texas blues, with mixed results.

Country Fried Rock: Steve Earle Interview

Steve Earle's new album, Terraplane, takes this lyrical master down to his Texas blues roots.

Steve Earle and the Dukes - "You're The Best Lover That I Ever Had" (video)

Americana hero Steve Earle returns with Terraplane releasing via New West on 17 February.

The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s: 80-61

In this next segment of PopMatters' look back on the music of the 2000s, we examine works by British electronic pioneers, Americana legends, and Armenian metal provocateurs.

When the Man in Black Went to Bat for Native America

A recasting of Johnny Cash's most controversial album, Bitter Tears, raises questions about the inclusiveness of American music.

Everyone Lost: Protest Art and the Iraq War

While people were killing and dying, what did it matter whether there were decent songs being sung, insightful films being produced, appropriate art being inspired? When did poetry ever stop a war?

Steve Earle & The Dukes (And Duchesses) - "Invisible" (video)

The first single from Steve Earle's superb new album, 'The Low Highway', released yesterday.

Steve Earle's 'I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive'

A been-there-lived-it-attitude and street-level redemption, all propelled by a songwriter's/storyteller's lyrical and narrative knack.

Play Me Some Mountain Music: The Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2011, Part 1

Four days of sun, banjos, snow, Mumfords, fiddles, and rock gods at 10,000 feet.

Slipped Disc: Steve Earle - Townes

Albums that missed our Top 60 Albums list, but at least one of our writers loves.

Steve Earle - "Colorado Girl" (Live on Letterman) (video)

Commit: An Interview with Steve Earle

Earle digs through a mutual past for a new album of Townes Van Zandt covers, and he explains what it was like knowing, and being heckled by, the songwriter himself.

Steve Earle: Townes

A distinctively Earle-stamped tribute to one of the greatest American songwriters of all time.

Friend Within Brings Sunshine to the Dancefloor on "Space Jam" (premiere)

With "Santa Baby", Emergency Tiara Updates a Classic Just in Time for the Holidays (premiere)

Tyler Boone Dodges Cliches With "Jealousy" (premiere + interview)

The Pedaljets Celebrate Contentment With "Sleepy Girl" (premiere + interview)

Aiming for Enrike's Minimalistic Dance Is on Full Display With "Flat Beats" (premiere)

Dankrupt Explore Romance's Darker Side With "Drowning" (premiere)

Andrew Deadman Faces Himself Down in "Silent Scream" (premiere)

Lady Lazarus' "I Recall July" Is a Bittersweet Look Back on Love (premiere)

Banjolectric's "Another Thing For Pain" Is a Raw Reflection on Substance Abuse (premiere)