Home » PopMatters

Search for:

Skip to content

Essaying the pop culture that matters since 1999

Primary Menu

Log In
- Log In
- Subscribe
- Logout
- Account
Features
Reviews
Lists
Music
Film
TV
Books
Interviews
Picks
Subscribe

Search for:

X Bluesky Facebook Instagram Threads Spotify

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SURVIVE: PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to PopMatters
SAVE 20% on annual subscriptions until 1 June. No paywalls. No ads. COUPON: NEWSUB26

Music Features Culture Featured: Top of Home Page Features Music

Why Tokyo Has So Many Record Stores

By

Michael Schoolnik / 20 May 2026

In a country where curation itself has long carried economic value, the identities of Tokyo’s record stores are inseparable from the owners’ personal obsessions.

FEATURES

Teo Hernández’s Queer Avant-Garde Films Rewire Your Brain

Teo Hernández’s Queer Avant-Garde Films Rewire Your Brain

By

Michael Barrett / 19 May 2026

Did Drake and Kendrick Lamar Kill Battle Rap?

Did Drake and Kendrick Lamar Kill Battle Rap?

By

Alecia Hodges / 19 May 2026

Meme Culture’s Corrosive Effect on the American Heart

Meme Culture’s Corrosive Effect on the American Heart

By

Alyssa Charpentier / 18 May 2026

‘Recomposed’ Performs a Fundamental Interpretation of the Music Industry

‘Recomposed’ Performs a Fundamental Interpretation of the Music Industry

By

Jeremy McDonagh / 18 May 2026

Vampires and the Ecstasy of Consumer Submission

Vampires and the Ecstasy of Consumer Submission

By

Jason Ray Carney / 14 May 2026

Staging Cultural Erasure in Ukraine’s Borderland

Staging Cultural Erasure in Ukraine’s Borderland

By

Mariel Ferragamo / 14 May 2026

Reviews

Music Music Reviews PopMatters Picks Reviews

Laurie Anderson Helps Us Face Catastrophe on Live LP

By

Adriane Pontecorvo / 20 May 2026

Music Music Reviews PopMatters Picks Reviews

Social Distortion Return with Their Teeth Bared

By

Sam Weller / 20 May 2026

Music Music Reviews Reviews

Chris Potter Tells the Story of Abolitionist John Brown

By

Will Layman / 20 May 2026

Weird Nightmare’s Power Pop Is Hard-Rocking and Catchy

SUSS Unleash More Quietly Atmospheric Beauty

Braxton Keith Finds the ‘Real Deal’ in Classic Country

Wendy Eisenberg Strikes the Perfect Songwriting Balance

Matt Evans Creates “Zone Poems” on This Inventive LP

The Sound on ‘Bill Evans at the BBC’ Is Badly Distorted

Lip Critic’s ‘Theft World’ Is Beautifully Structured Chaos

Instant Alter Conjure a Golden Dawn at SFJAZZ

The Music Archive

Albums Released 10, 15, and 20 Years Ago [subscriber exclusive]

Gold Panda Says Good Luck and Do Your Best

Gold Panda Says Good Luck and Do Your Best

By

Pryor Stroud / 27 May 2016

Death Cab for Cutie’s ‘Codes & Keys’ Is Their Worst Album

Death Cab for Cutie’s ‘Codes & Keys’ Is Their Worst Album

By

Evan Sawdey / 31 May 2011

Boris Explore Sounds and Try New Genres on Two LPs

Boris Explore Sounds and Try New Genres on Two LPs

By

Scott Branson / 24 May 2011

Dixie Chicks Express Veiled Rage on ‘Taking the Long Way’

Dixie Chicks Express Veiled Rage on ‘Taking the Long Way’

By

Jeff Vrabel / 23 May 2006

Features

Music Features Culture Featured: Top of Home Page Features Music

Why Tokyo Has So Many Record Stores

By

Michael Schoolnik / 20 May 2026

Features Feature Sub Head Music Music Features

Did Drake and Kendrick Lamar Kill Battle Rap?

By

Alecia Hodges / 19 May 2026

Featured: Top of Home Page Feature Sub Head Features Lists Music Music Features Pop Past Sound Affects

Twenty 1990s Songs That Time Forgot

By

Andrew Doscas / 13 May 2026

Chicago’s Body Shop Will Make You Sweat and Think

And Also the Trees Dig Into Their Deeply-Rooted Art

School Is Back in Session for the Teaches of Peaches

Scotland’s the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s American Revolution

Kyle Craft’s ‘Dolls of Highland’ Is Genuine Theater

Empire Child’s Music Could Heal the World

‘House of Cards’ Is a Faux-Hitchcock Thriller

‘House of Cards’ Is a Faux-Hitchcock Thriller

By

Michael Barrett / 20 May 2026

Teo Hernández’s Queer Avant-Garde Films Rewire Your Brain

Teo Hernández’s Queer Avant-Garde Films Rewire Your Brain

By

Michael Barrett / 19 May 2026

Vampires and the Ecstasy of Consumer Submission

Vampires and the Ecstasy of Consumer Submission

By

Jason Ray Carney / 14 May 2026

The Terrible Force of Kim Nguyen’s ‘Saigon Story’

The Terrible Force of Kim Nguyen’s ‘Saigon Story’

By

Guilherme Quireza / 13 May 2026

Kinuyo Tanaka’s Films About Women in Japan’s Evolving Postwar Society

Kinuyo Tanaka’s Films About Women in Japan’s Evolving Postwar Society

By

Michael Barrett / 12 May 2026

‘The Delivery Line’ Gently Returns to You

‘The Delivery Line’ Gently Returns to You

By

Guilherme Quireza / 11 May 2026

Caroline Strubbe’s Trilogy of Forgetting

Caroline Strubbe’s Trilogy of Forgetting

By

Michael Barrett / 6 May 2026

Chile Under Pinochet: A Film Chronology of Dictatorship and Memory

Chile Under Pinochet: A Film Chronology of Dictatorship and Memory

By

Guilherme Quireza / 5 May 2026

Pop Past

The best of our archive [subscriber exclusive]

Thrift Shop Paydirt: When Used Records Become Learning Opportunities

Featured: Top of Home Page

Thrift Shop Paydirt: When Used Records Become Learning Opportunities

By

Kurt Wildermuth / 1 November 2021

Black Vinyl: Confessions of a Music Collector

Featured: Top of Home Page

Black Vinyl: Confessions of a Music Collector

By

Kurt Wildermuth / 11 August 2021

The End of Record Stores

The End of Record Stores

By

Rob Horning / 14 May 2008

Books Feature Sub Head Features Music PopMatters Picks

‘Recomposed’ Performs a Fundamental Interpretation of the Music Industry

By

Jeremy McDonagh / 18 May 2026

Features Books Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Film Film Feature

Vampires and the Ecstasy of Consumer Submission

By

Jason Ray Carney / 14 May 2026

Books Culture Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page PopMatters Picks Reviews

Staging Cultural Erasure in Ukraine’s Borderland

By

Mariel Ferragamo / 14 May 2026

Ethel Barrymore’s Stifling Familial Obligation

The Spoils of War

Beef’s Cooked-in Class Anxiety Turns Up the Heat

Beef’s Cooked-in Class Anxiety Turns Up the Heat

By

Tidenek Haileselassie / 20 May 2026

‘Cheers’, Cosiness and the Illusion of Companionship

‘Cheers’, Cosiness and the Illusion of Companionship

By

Mike Cormack / 23 April 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Features Interviews Music Features

Chicago’s Body Shop Will Make You Sweat and Think

By

Brian Stout / 12 May 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Interviews Music Features

And Also the Trees Dig Into Their Deeply-Rooted Art

By

Imran Khan / 11 May 2026

Music Feature Sub Head Featured: Top of Home Page Features Interviews Music Features

School Is Back in Session for the Teaches of Peaches

By

Colin Scanlon / 7 May 2026

UltraBomb on Minnesota, Hard Rock, and Being Unapologetic

Charley Discusses Being an Idealist at the End of Everything

Twenty 1990s Songs That Time Forgot

Featured: Top of Home Page

Twenty 1990s Songs That Time Forgot

By

Andrew Doscas / 13 May 2026

15 Underrated Albums of the 1990s

15 Underrated Albums of the 1990s

By

Enio Chiola / 11 May 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of April 2026

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of April 2026

By

Spyros Stasis / 27 April 2026

Where Should Billy Joel Sit at the Pop Rock Table?

Where Should Billy Joel Sit at the Pop Rock Table?

By

Brian Chander Wiora / 14 April 2026

ElectroMatters: Best Electronic Music of March 2026

ElectroMatters: Best Electronic Music of March 2026

By

J. Simpson / 8 April 2026

Publish with PM

PopMatters Seeks Book Critics and Essayists

PopMatters Seeks Book Critics and Essayists

By

Karen Zarker / 24 January 2024

Submit an Essay, Review, Interview, or List to PopMatters

Submit an Essay, Review, Interview, or List to PopMatters

By

PopMatters Staff / 26 July 2023

PopMatters Seeks Music Writers

PopMatters Seeks Music Writers

By

PopMatters Staff / 28 September 2022

PopMatters Seeks Film Critics and Essayists

PopMatters Seeks Film Critics and Essayists

By

Karen Zarker / 28 September 2022

About

PopMatters Masthead
Submission Guidelines
Mission

Follow Us

Facebook
X
Bluesky
Spotify
Instagram
Threads

© 1999-2025 PopMatters LLC. All rights reserved. PopMatters is wholly independent, women-owned and operated.