Music

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[Tue, 13.May.08]
Nine Inch Nails
The Slip

One more in the coffin of the record industry. Seven more to go?

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The Presets
Apocalypso

Dear Presets: a breakup letter from a former fan

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Prodigy
H.N.I.C. Pt. 2

Prodigy has met the demands to make more mature music, but instead of growing up in a traditional sense, his gangster personality has matured into that of a paranoid, nihilistic outsider.

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The Submarines
Honeysuckle Wars

The Submarines solidified their strengths and condensed them into an altogether more accomplished sophomore record.

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Marcia Ball
Peace, Love and BBQ

The gift of the South is that it interrupts any heroic tale the United States tries to tell about itself, even when we have to trace the racism for ourselves from the underside of the electric guitar or the failed exorcism of bongos.

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The Proclaimers
Life with You

You may already think of them as just an early ‘90s one-hit wonder, and with their new album, the Proclaimers will probably not prove you wrong.

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Various Artists
Musicians for Minneapolis

Fifty-seven artists line-up semi-alphabetically to salute those affected by the Minneapolis bridge disaster last year.

Short Takes
[Tue, 13.May.08]
:. Moe Poe & Headnodic, Megaphone (NatAural High)
:. Norman Kelsey, A Talent for Loving (Self-released)
:. Various Artists, The Rough Guide to Klezmer Revival (World Music Network)
:. Ming & Ping, Causeway Army (Bao Vo)
MORE MUSIC
:. recent reviews
:. full archive

Events

[Mon, 12.May.08]
New Pornographers + Okkervil River
9.Apr.08: Toronto, ON, Canada
Boasting no fewer than three indie heroes (in Neko Case, Carl Newman, and Dan Bejar), this is not a band that should have to work to get a capacity crowd into a lather. But work they did.

[Fri, 9.May.08]
Beach House
3.Apr.08: Philadelphia, PA
The show is sold-out, and only the tallest and closest have a decent vantage point. The thing is, though, you don’t really need to see Beach House to “see” them.

MORE EVENTS

Media Center

POPWIRE
News, Reviews and Commentary from the World of Popular Culture

[Tue, 13.May.08]
:. Video-game companies pulling the plug on industry association
:. Networks hyping fall programs less
:. INTERVIEW:Was (Not Was) refound each other — and their groove
:. INTERVIEW:Lea Thompson stars in Hallmark Channel film ‘Final Approach’
:. INTERVIEW:Q&A with country singer Trisha Yearwood
:. Historic ‘Big Trail’ makes widescreen DVD debut
:. 10 years later, what’s up with the ‘Seinfeld’ gang?

[Mon, 12.May.08]
:. Return to Everest: In PBS documentary, storm survivor reflects on his decision to turn back
:. INTERVIEW:10 years after Frank Sinatra’s death, daughter Nancy helps keep the legend alive
:. INTERVIEW:Lady Antebellum plays to a media-savvy generation
:. Will actors be the next to go on strike?
:. As band’s tour comes to an end, drummer says the reunion was done for all the right reasons

[Fri, 9.May.08]
:. Networks dogged by drop in ratings
:. Steven Spielberg moves to the next video game level
:. INTERVIEW:The always politically incorrect Bill Maher talks politics, cannibals
:. Classic 1950s sci-fi collection arrives on DVD
:. Grand Theft Auto car-jacks pop culture

 
FEATURES
The Plain Truth About Karen Dalton: An Interview with Joe Loop
By Nate Cunningham
[13.May.08] :. One-time coffeehouse proprietor Joe Loop shed light on the mysterious Karen Dalton with his notes to the Cotton-Eyed Joe recording and speaks to PopMatters about his memories of the '60s folk scene and his friend Karen.

Animals in Time: Neko Case and the Contemporary Country
By Michelle Banks
[12.May.08] :. The music of Neko Case shows us a world of danger, guilt, regret, displaced hearts, lost time and lost faith, several deaths, the matter-of-factness of animals, and reckoning. In other words, exactly what the contemporary moment shows us.

COLUMNS
Dread Reckoning: The Demise of Horror Culture?
By Marco Lanzagorta
[13.May.08] :. While the horror classics of 1968 may have indeed revitalized the genre, few today are aware of these movies' impact on the canon...if they acknowledge them at all.

Global Beat Fusion: Three Nights in France
By Derek Beres
[12.May.08] :. Beres hits Paris and Bourges to take in the eclectic sounds of Transglobal Underground, Les Primitifs du Futur, Watcha Clan, and Fat Freddy's Drop, and gets pulled into the "sacred space" that solders the connection between sound and human.

Read PopMatters on your Kindle

Books

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[Tue, 13.May.08]
:.
From Betamax to Blockbuster by Joshua M. Greenberg

In its everyday use, VCR technology led to a sociocultural shift, the outcomes of which remain with us today.

:.
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen

Matthiessen does murder so well, the reader can see the rage in Watson's feral eyes. Can feel the blade of his razor drawing across the throat.

Multimedia / Comics

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Comics

[Tue, 13.May.08]
:.
At a Crossroads by Kate T. Williamson

Williamson lasers-in with witty hindsight on the ways she occupied her time as a “boomerang” kid.

Multimedia

[Mon, 12.May.08]
:.
King of Clubs

Imagine playing Mario Kart and wanting to turn left, but because of technical incompetence you can only turn right! That's exactly what this is akin to.

Film / TV

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Television

[Tue, 13.May.08]
:.
Frontline: Storm Over Everest

As Storm Over Everest shows, it's impossible to know any single story of the disaster in 1996, to know exactly how it was for the 15 climbers who perished or even for those who survived.

Film

[Fri, 9.May.08]
:.
Speed Racer

Inspired by the mostly beloved late '60s Japanese cartoon, Speed Racer is loud, large, and proudly crass.

:.
Redbelt

In Redbelt, as ever in David Mamet's universe, the fight is the issue.

:.
What Happens in Vegas

In What Happens in Vegas, Joy and Jack are fated to fall in lazy-movie-love.

DVDS

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[Tue, 13.May.08]
:.
The Golden Compass

Scruffy and unpolished in the open casting call, Dakota Blue Richards shines in her role as the gutsy heroine.

:.
Party of Five: The Complete Third Season

A decade removed from the shelter of their collective heartthrob status, the Salinger family emerges more unlikable, but a lot more interesting.

— PopMatters sponsor —
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