Music Reviews

The Cure Lament Aging and Death, Yet Find New Vitality

The Cure’s Songs of a Lost World is a cohesive collection that skews dark, cinematic, meditative exploration of loss in all its forms. 

Blood Incantation Play the Music of the Spheres on New LP

Kishi Bashi’s ‘Kantos’ Is a Sonic Exploration Into Philosophy

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Pays Tribute to Rock

JW Francis Shines on His Fourth Album ‘SUNSHINE’

Being Dead Deliver One of the Best Albums of 2024 with ‘EELS’

The Black Angels Testify with Mesmerizing Psychedelia

‘Evergreen’ Is a New Plateau in Soccer Mommy’s Development 

Kylie Minogue’s Sequel to ‘Tension’ Is a Worthy Follow-Up

Music Features

How Bob Dylan Reinvented the Blues Highway for Contemporary America

Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” captures America at the peak of the civil rights struggle when African Americans were forced to fight for a country that had left them impoverished and disenfranchised.

Blood Incantation Play the Music of the Spheres on New LP

Alanis Morissette and the Division and Commodification of Women in 1990s Rock (excerpt)

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2024

Office Culture’s Sprawling New LP “Finds Beauty in the Shrapnel”

Lou Reed’s Pre-Fame Quest to Create a National Dance Craze

Kris Kristofferson and the Myth of American Freedom

Film

Fascism Bares Its German Shepherd Teeth in Two Post-Franco Films

The Creature and A Dog Called Vengeance use German shepherds in allegories of fascist politics, revolution, violence and love.

Rom-Communism: ‘Ted Lasso’ and the Future of the Romantic Comedy

A Tribute to Teri Garr: A Comic Genius

Masahiro Shinoda’s ‘Demon Pond’ Ripples Through Japan’s New Wave

Mati Diop’s Documentary ‘Dahomey’ Complicates Colonialism

An Older Kind of Fear: Five Classic Halloween Horror Movies on Blu-Ray

Tim Burton’s ‘Batman Returns’ Is a Horror Film of a Different Sort

Books

Alanis Morissette and the Division and Commodification of Women in 1990s Rock (excerpt)

This excerpt from the forthcoming book, Why Alanis Morissette Matters leaves a most righteous “trail of carnage” in its wake.

Dubravka Ugrešić Bites the Hand That Muzzles Women

‘How Women Made Music’ Paints a Large, Colorful Canvas

Asian American Pop Culture Stands on the Shoulders of a Giant Robot

What Is the Goal of Andrea Warner’s ‘We Oughta Know’?

Games

Neva’s Emotion-Engine Gameplay Is a Beautiful Crowd-Pleaser

Neva‘s emotion-engine gameplay, inspired more by Disney’s Bambi than the works of Miyazaki Hayao, is the most sentimental game I’ve played in a long time.

Video Games Set in the 19th Century and Their Literary Allusions

‘Five Years Old Memories’ and Naïve Art in Video Games

The 5 Best Video Game Hip-Hop Soundtracks

Horror Puzzle Video Game ‘The Exit 8’ Is an Inescapable Meme

Interviews

Office Culture’s Sprawling New LP “Finds Beauty in the Shrapnel”

On the occasion of Office Culture’s ambitious fourth album, Winston Cook-Wilson talks about collaboration, influences, and making dumb sounds on a synthesizer.

Lou Reed’s Pre-Fame Quest to Create a National Dance Craze

Nate Mercereau Is Challenging the Notion of “Genre” Itself

Kelley Mickwee’s Soulful, Spirit-Driven Affection

Jazz Duo Bremer/McCoy Sow the Seeds of a Chilled-Out Future

Lists

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2024

In October’s best metal, Blood Incantation explore the cosmos, the Bug disfigures the techno sound, and Oranssi Pazuzu contine to transform.

The Top 10 Episodes of ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’

The 10 Spookiest Lou Reed Songs

20 Overlooked 1980s Music Videos

An Older Kind of Fear: Five Classic Halloween Horror Movies on Blu-Ray

Television

Rom-Communism: ‘Ted Lasso’ and the Future of the Romantic Comedy

As polarization impacts the cultural landscape, rom-coms like Ted Lasso show how we can work through our differences and disagreements to everyone’s satisfaction.

The Top 10 Episodes of ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’

Deadwood’s Moral Optimism

‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy

‘The Boys’ Season 4 Is a Bloody Descent into Hell

PopMatters Picks

The Cure Lament Aging and Death, Yet Find New Vitality

The Cure’s Songs of a Lost World is a cohesive collection that skews dark, cinematic, meditative exploration of loss in all its forms. 

Blood Incantation Play the Music of the Spheres on New LP

Dubravka Ugrešić Bites the Hand That Muzzles Women

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2024

JW Francis Shines on His Fourth Album ‘SUNSHINE’