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Cole Stryker

Cole Stryker covers music for PopMatters from New York.

Recent

Music

We Dance to the Beat: A Brief Chat with Robyn

Taking a break from releasing relentless touring for her three (count 'em!) albums out this year, Robyn talks the about the current American reception to dance music, bringing people to tears, and the difficulties of getting into a bumblebee costume ...

Cole Stryker

Reviews

David Bazan: 13 October 2009 - Washington, DC

Bazan invites questions from the audience, and inevitably, one or two come from disappointed, even heartbroken fans who want to know for sure if Bazan's given up on God, or put another way, given up on them.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Future of the Left: 29 October 2009 - Washington, DC

Come on, people. Stop sleeping on one of the most invigorating bands to come down the pike in years.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Broadcast + Atlas Sound: 17 October 2009 - Washington DC

Lovers of left-of-the-dial indie pop could have hardly conceived a better double bill in their dreams.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Múm: 23 October 2009 - Washington, DC

It's impossible to watch Múm perform without a dumb smile on your face.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

The Breeders: 21 August 2009 - Washington DC

Anyone disappointed by the night's set list may as well just give up on life, because the best material from each album was represented, naturally weighted towards the older stuff.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Bill Callahan + Lights: 12 June 2009 - Washington DC

Bill Callahan’s ballads are the stuff of empty beer bottles and midnight brooding.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Grizzly Bear: 1 June 2009 - Washington, DC

Those who criticize the perceived overuse of studio trickery would be surprised to find that the live performance captures much of the record’s sonic atmosphere.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

de Blob

de Blob is imbued with the same sort of grinding, childlike Zen that Katamari Damacy perfected.

Music

El Guincho: Alegranza!

Alegranza! is constantly rolling and tumbling, picking up detritus and debris like some kind of pop Katamari ball.

Cole Stryker

Music

DJ /rupture: Uproot

Uproot is a different animal entirely, a slithering, reptilian creature content to exist beneath the brush.

Music

Jay Reatard: Matador Singles '08

Unless Phil Spector is at your soundboard, you have no business writing "Danny Says".

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Bestival: Intergalactic Funksmanship and Noise Freakouts

As the rain poured down, Bestival’s “30,000 Freaks Under the Sea” theme seemed entirely apt.

Cole Stryker

Music

The Final Say: An Interview With Lackthereof

Danny Seim lives out his musical ideal, and he's even found an extra microphone.

Music

Stereolab: Chemical Chords

Chemical Chords is a cute summer record, one that’s almost as easy to forget as it is to digest.

Music

Don't Forget Your Wellies: Glastonbury 2008

With only a flimsy $15 tent and wellington boots for protection, PopMatters’ Cole Stryker avoided Amy Winehouse’s punches, the mud, and John Mayer, at the annual global gathering that is the Glastonbury Festival.

Cole Stryker

Music

The Gaudí, the Bands, and the (Not So) Muddy

You know there's a music festival in the city when fedoras and scarves outnumber baseball caps and gold chains.

Music

Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

The boys' voices rarely go where you'd expect, but upon even one play-through, you can't imagine them going anywhere else.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii has reached critical mass levels of madcappery.

Reviews

Worms: A Space Oddity

Worms: A Space Oddity's most crushing failure is the absence of the ninja rope.

Music

Clinic: Do It!

I'm beginning to lose hope in the idea that Clinic have yet to unleash their opus.

Cole Stryker

Reviews

MetalMatters: The Best New Heavy Metal Albums of November 2020

'Step It Up and Go' Gives North Carolina Music Its Dues

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Features

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The 10 Best World Music Albums of 2020

Hard Times, Easy Listening: 10 Albums for Autumn 2020

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Taking a break from releasing relentless touring for her three (count 'em!) albums out this year, Robyn talks the about the current American reception to dance music, bringing people to tears, and the difficulties of getting into a bumblebee costume ...

Bazan invites questions from the audience, and inevitably, one or two come from disappointed, even heartbroken fans who want to know for sure if Bazan's given up on God, or put another way, given up on them.

Come on, people. Stop sleeping on one of the most invigorating bands to come down the pike in years.

Lovers of left-of-the-dial indie pop could have hardly conceived a better double bill in their dreams.

It's impossible to watch Múm perform without a dumb smile on your face.

Anyone disappointed by the night's set list may as well just give up on life, because the best material from each album was represented, naturally weighted towards the older stuff.

Bill Callahan’s ballads are the stuff of empty beer bottles and midnight brooding.

Those who criticize the perceived overuse of studio trickery would be surprised to find that the live performance captures much of the record’s sonic atmosphere.

de Blob is imbued with the same sort of grinding, childlike Zen that Katamari Damacy perfected.

Alegranza! is constantly rolling and tumbling, picking up detritus and debris like some kind of pop Katamari ball.

Uproot is a different animal entirely, a slithering, reptilian creature content to exist beneath the brush.

Unless Phil Spector is at your soundboard, you have no business writing "Danny Says".

As the rain poured down, Bestival’s “30,000 Freaks Under the Sea” theme seemed entirely apt.

Danny Seim lives out his musical ideal, and he's even found an extra microphone.

Chemical Chords is a cute summer record, one that’s almost as easy to forget as it is to digest.

With only a flimsy $15 tent and wellington boots for protection, PopMatters’ Cole Stryker avoided Amy Winehouse’s punches, the mud, and John Mayer, at the annual global gathering that is the Glastonbury Festival.

You know there's a music festival in the city when fedoras and scarves outnumber baseball caps and gold chains.

The boys' voices rarely go where you'd expect, but upon even one play-through, you can't imagine them going anywhere else.

Mario Kart Wii has reached critical mass levels of madcappery.

Ultimately a likeable, if unadventurous, record that manages to recapture what was so great about past pop songs: a keen sense of melody and an ironic sense of humor.

Worms: A Space Oddity's most crushing failure is the absence of the ninja rope.

I'm beginning to lose hope in the idea that Clinic have yet to unleash their opus.