Evan Sawdey

Evan Sawdey started contributing to PopMatters in late 2005, and has also had his work featured in publications such as Entertainment Weekly, SLUG Magazine, YardBarker, The Daily Dot, and many more. He has been a guest on HuffPost Live, RevotTV's "Revolt Live!", and WNYC's Soundcheck (an NPR affiliate), was the Executive Producer for the Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle album ( available for free), and wrote the liner notes for the 2011 re-release of Andre Cymone's hit 1985 album A.C. (Big Break Records), the 2012 re-release of 'Til Tuesday's 1985 debut Voices Carry (Hot Shot Records), among others. He is the co-founder and host of The Chartographers, a podcast for pop music nerds, and previously hosted PopTalk for PopMatters. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow him @SawdEye should you be so inclined.
‘The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel’ Are Newly Re-Issued

‘The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel’ Are Newly Re-Issued

Essentially a re-issue of a 2011 box set with Neutral Milk Hotel’s recorded work, their legacy remains unparalleled even if there’s not much new to exhume.

Graham Coxon’s Memoir ‘Verse, Chorus, Monster!’ Sees Beyond the Blur

Graham Coxon’s Memoir ‘Verse, Chorus, Monster!’ Sees Beyond the Blur

Graham Coxon could have made his memoir Verse, Chorus, Monster! a Blur / Britpop tell-all, but he wraps up honest observations in a lovely, conversational tone.

The 10 Best Ambient Albums of 2022

The 10 Best Ambient Albums of 2022

The post-pandemic flood of self-released ambient records has oversaturated the market in the best way: here are the best ambient albums of 2022.

The 1975’s Latest Is a ‘Funny’, Confounding New Missive

The 1975’s Latest Is a ‘Funny’, Confounding New Missive

The 1975 want to be funny in a foreign language, but on their fifth go-round, their ambitions are tempered in plain English.

Tove Lo’s ‘Dirt Femme’ Finds a Broken Heart in a Disco Ball

Tove Lo’s ‘Dirt Femme’ Finds a Broken Heart in a Disco Ball

Free of major-label constraints, Tove Lo turns her dark sex-positive pop into something wiser and mature. Yet fans need not worry as Dirt Femme‘s BPM still kicks.

Beth Orton Embraces Her Past on ‘Weather Alive’ to Shape Her Future

Beth Orton Embraces Her Past on ‘Weather Alive’ to Shape Her Future

Having only put out five albums in the past two decades, Beth Orton’s Weather Alive embraces her electro-folk past while embracing a weathered, gorgeous future.

How George FitzGerald Defied the Algorithm By Stargazing

How George FitzGerald Defied the Algorithm By Stargazing

In lockdown, George FitzGerald’s studio became stale. Yet a love of stargazing and the conversion of images into music resulted in a dynamic new album.

Nancy Mounir Mines Music from Egypt’s Past to Write Its Profound Musical Future

Nancy Mounir Mines Music from Egypt’s Past to Write Its Profound Musical Future

Sampling recordings over a century old, Egyptian composer Nancy Mounir delivers an album where the past and present converse to help write the future.

Kazakhstan’s Men Seni Suyemin Wants to Rewrite the Electrorock Rulebook

Kazakhstan’s Men Seni Suyemin Wants to Rewrite the Electrorock Rulebook

Moving from Kazakhstan to Russia to pursue her electro dreams, Minona Volandova’s Men Seni Suyemin project harbors surprising influences from Foals to Gorillaz.

New Zealand’s Popstrangers Are Back with a Wild New ‘Spirit’

New Zealand’s Popstrangers Are Back with a Wild New ‘Spirit’

After disappearing for several years, New Zealand’s beloved alt-rock scholars Popstrangers are back with a new record. To celebrate, they note their five all-time favorite venues.

Time Is iamamiwhoami’s Worst Enemy and Best Friend on ‘Be Here Soon’

Time Is iamamiwhoami’s Worst Enemy and Best Friend on ‘Be Here Soon’

Swedish synthpop revolutionary Jonna Lee revives her iamamiwhoami moniker and takes on time to give us her forceful folk album, Be Here Soon.

Pabllo Vittar Is the Drag Pop Star Fascists Want to Silence

Pabllo Vittar Is the Drag Pop Star Fascists Want to Silence

When not directly attacking Brazil’s dangerous Bolsonaro administration, drag queen Pabllo Vittar is changing the world one shaking bootie at a time.