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Clipping Take a Stab at Horrorcore with the Fiery 'Visions of Bodies Being Burned'

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PopMatters is moving to WordPress. We will publish a few essays daily while we develop the new site. We hope the beta will be up sometime late next week.

Clipping's latest album, Visions of Bodies Being Burned, is a terrifying, razor-sharp sequel to their previous ode to the horror film genre.

With the release of Shabazz Palaces' The Don of Diamond Dreams, producer-rapper Ishmael Butler envisions yet another lunar world of sound disturbed by his anxieties and desires.

The good news is that Bully are still loud and noisy on SUGAREGG. That's what makes them such a great live band. Alicia Bognanno explodes with energy.

Washed Out's Purple Noon makes an argument against cynicism simply by existing and sounding as good as it does.

With a move to a Sub Pop Records, Atlanta post-punkers Omni go for a more understated, stripped down affair on their third album, Networker.

With Any Human Friend, British singer-songwriter Marika Hackman largely ditches her folk leanings and makes a sharp, emotionally resonant statement.

Portland-based rocker Kyle Craft adds more variety and edge to his music with his third full-length album, Showboat Honey.

Finally collaborating on a full-length, Calexico and Iron & Wine create an album as rewarding as it is natural with Years to Burn.

Seattle's Tacocat returns with This Mess Is a Place, a stellar new album in which the band confronts existential crisis and embraces widescreen guitar-based pop.

Quiet and thoughtful, yet nimble in his poetic applications, hip-hop artist Porter Ray has much to say in our 20 Questions feature.

Weyes Blood (a.k.a. Natalie Mering) conjures up a beautiful, cinematic world through with her insightful songwriting on Titanic Rising.

Cast is a deeply moving and harmonious introduction to electropop mastermind Tobiasz Biliński's latest persona, Perfect Son.

From the misty time before Seattle became Sub Pop Rock City, that rarest of things: two genuinely overlooked rock gems.

Dinosaur Jr. guitarist/vocalist J Mascis carries on with his trademark solo sound on Elastic Days, producing another intricate work that mixes folk and rock.

On his sophomore effort, Kyle Craft creates an album from another era that still manages to sound fresh, unique and inspired.

In the official video for Kyle Craft's "The Rager", the singer/songwriter brings a sense of poetic tragedy to an intoxicating folk ballad.

On the band's third album, there is a constant search for a frequency that is thrilling and a commitment to it.

Sam Beam returns to his roots with a warm acoustic record which is often understated but packed with emotional power and arguably his strongest vocal performance to date

On their second reunion album, the Afghan Whigs craft a layered exploration of the fluid nature of memory and how experiences shape us as individuals.

Porter Ray's rapping on Watercolor is relaxed but quick, a style that emphasizes the intellectual bent to many of his rhymes, but intentionally fails to prepare you for the weight of his message.

Delt sounds like a vinyl LP left out in the LA sun, with the melted wax frozen into a popsicle that melts perfectly while you eat it.

Recreating the magic of something like Apologies to the Queen Mary is no easy feat, yet it shines as a stunning example for those who might want to make music matter again.

Kyle Craft has no right to make a debut album this damn good.

Low's Ones and Sixes is surprising for sounding very much of the moment.

The Afghan Whigs release creepily compelling video for "Lost in the Woods" just in time for Halloween.

Australian songwriter Zoë Randall of Luluc has been listening to her favorite albums, over and over, for decades. Her own new one Passerby is so effortlessly lovely that you can likewise imagine yourself putting it on again this year and next year and the one after that.

Seminal Seattle band Mudhoney celebrate their 25-year existence by playing at the top of the city's iconic Space Needle. I guess that makes sense.

Bassist and songwriter Chris Zasche of the wildly popular group the Head & the Heart speaks on the new record.

Dum Dum Girls release details of new album, unveil first single's video.

Illusion’s five songs occupy a dreamy netherworld elicited by the hushed, acoustic instrumentation and subdued production.

Maybe it’s time to call a moratorium on cribbing beats from nearly-half-century-old Ronettes singles.

For those that fear Sub Pop has strayed too far from its sweaty grunge rock roots, the presence of New York’s rough-and-ready garage rock revivalist Obits offer plenty of reassurance to the contrary.

While it's no secret that the retro-leaning indie popsters aren't exactly forward-thinking originators, all it takes is one well-chosen cover song to leave the Girls’ creative limitations exposed.

Do you feel inspired?

On the hot-and-bothered Nothing Hurts, Male Bonding represents for a new generation of orgasm addicts and slack motherfu**ers.

Hopefully next time out, Ryan McPhun will cast his intentions out of the bedroom and into the wild with some friends.

Starting with Nevermind, Kurt Cobain intentionally simplified his compositions in order to emphasize their pop components. Less song-focused than later Nirvana works, Bleach acts as an interesting showcase of the band’s musical chops.