Emerging from the oubliette of film history and inspired partly by the starkly beautiful films of Ingmar Bergman, partly by the semi-documentary non-professionalism of Italian Continue Reading
Music Dose
The 10 Best Flaming Lips Sci-Fi Songs
10. “Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World” (Clouds Taste Metallic, 1995) This track off of the Flaming Lips’ seventh album is a Continue Reading
Breaching Closure in Pasolini's 'Teorema'
When asked by journalist Cécile Philippe about Teorema (1968) in a brief interview included in the Criterion Collection’s new edition of the film, Pier Paolo Continue Reading
The Naked and Famous Go All-Out Pop on 'Recover'
Is the Modern Rock Band the king of the concert? The answer is an obvious ‘no’, but there is ‘rock’ DNA embedded in the idea Continue Reading
Electronic Producer Nahash's Debut Feels Handmade for Revolution
Revolution is in the air. Unrest in 2020 has moved across the globe like a social contagion. With neo-fascism on the rise, police states run Continue Reading
The Academy of Sun Combine Goth, Musical Theater, and Prog on 'The Quiet Earth'
The Academy of Sun’s new album The Quiet Earth is an interesting mish-mash of styles. Singer-songwriter-pianist-bandleader Nick Hudson prefers to use “Gothic dystopian post-punk” to Continue Reading
Steve Cardenas' 'Blue Has a Range' Is Steeped in Blues Tradition and Expressed with Elegance
It is tempting to call guitarist Steve Cardenas understated or tasteful or consummately collaborative. These are accurate descriptions of this contemporary creative guitarist, but they Continue Reading
Folk Pop's Treva Blomquist Stays "Strong" (premiere)
Treva Blomquist’s new album, Snakes & Saints, arrives on 31 July. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s latest single, “Strong” speaks strongly to the positivity heard on the Continue Reading
Sylvie Simmons Celebrates "Sweet California" (premiere + interview)
“It started with a bunch of broken bones and went down from there,” says music journalist and musician Sylvie Simmons. Speaking with PopMatters from her Continue Reading
Noah Guthrie's "That's All" Innovates on His Americana Sound (premiere + interview)
On the road traveled so far, Noah Guthrie has become a viral YouTube sensation, as well as a fresh face on Glee’s final season. He’s Continue Reading
Courtney Marie Andrews Picks Up the Pieces on 'Old Flowers'
“Old Flowers is about heartbreak,” singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews wrote about her latest album. “There are a million records and songs about that, but I Continue Reading
Duende Libre Blend Jazz and African Sounds on 'The Dance She Spoke'
There are layers of meaning to the title of The Dance She Spoke, the new album from Seattle-based jazz ensemble Duende Libre, each adding to Continue Reading
Thin Lear's 'Wooden Cave' is Chamber Pop Perfection of the Highest Order
If you’re looking for a suitable blueprint for Wooden Cave, the latest album from Thin Lear, a good starting point is the single “Maniacs”. The Continue Reading
What Does Water See? On Fighting as Perception in Bruce Lee's Kung Fu Films
Bruce Lee’s most famous saying was actually written for him by one of his advocates and students, the screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Silliphant was writing for Continue Reading
Leslie Stein's Thoughtful and Honest Memoir About Abortion
“What do I do now? What do I do? You do the same thing you always do.” – I Know You Rider I Know You Continue Reading
Talking Heads' Chris Frantz Doesn't Miss a Beat With 'Remain in Love' Story
Instead of fictionalizing a fascinating period of his life in the mid-1970s that turned into the fabulous rock ‘n’ roll film Almost Famous, director-writer Cameron Continue Reading
"I Don't Want This Sullied by These Foul-mouthed Youngsters": An Interview With Old 97's
Twelfth is the upcoming album from the much-lauded Old 97’s, a record that finds the veteran act in fine form. Arriving as frontman Rhett Miller Continue Reading
The Superficial Approach to Chicano and Pachuco Culture in 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels'
Set in Victorian London, Showtime’s Penny Dreadful blends gothic horror and the mythologies of Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, vampires and werewolves into one campy thrilling series. Continue Reading
Isolation Resonates in Tomine's Ode to Loneliness
Adrian Tomine’s autobiographical The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist is self-aware, funny, and ultimately a poignant account of the realities of Tomine’s chosen profession. The Continue Reading
Distance Remakes the Heart in Gabriel García Márquez’s 'Love in the Time of Cholera'
It seems that now more than ever, the role of distance defines so many of our relationships. As COVID-19 outbreaks spread across the globe, we Continue Reading