Zola Jesus Finds Gems on the Cutting Room Floor with ‘Okovi: Additions’
Okovi: Additions rounds up material as a companion to Zola Jesus' brilliant 2017 album proving just how fruitful the Okovi sessions were.
Mike Schiller
Mike Schiller is a software engineer in Buffalo, NY. He has blogged and written music and video game reviews for PopMatters since 2004, and also spent a couple years editing the Multimedia section. He also spent five years writing regular game reviews for the Raleigh News & Observer, and has had freelance work published at The Escapist and Polygon.
Tom Misch’s ‘Geography’ Feels Like the Start of Something
Geography is an accomplished, mature record that will have you reminding yourself over and over again that Tom Misch is a mere 22 years old.
Tor Lundvall Goes to ‘A Dark Place’ on His Latest Album
A Dark Place is borne of the darkest of times in dark ambient artist/painter Tor Lundvall's life: the death of his father.
Combating the Trap of Nostalgia in a Look at the Super Nintendo
Dominic Arsenault's Super Power, Spoony Bards, and Silverware cuts through the nostalgia so sharply that it comes off as dismissive, hostile even, at least to someone used to reading the flowery prose of fan literature.
With ‘Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt’ Moby Captures a Mood Utterly Appropriate for 2018
Moby creates a despondent calm in advance of the determined storm. It is the best thing Moby has done in a long time.
Ministry’s ‘AmeriKKKant’ Isn’t Exactly Subtle
AmeriKKKant feels like Ministry, and it honest-to-god soars at times. For today, and especially if you're in a particular mood to rage at the current presidential administration, that’s enough.
Craig David’s ‘The Time Is Now’ Is Fine but Forgettable
The Time Is Now feels remarkably lightweight, in the best and the worst of senses. It is a very easy album to like, in that there's very little anger or melancholy or negativity to be found.
Étant Donnés with Michael Gira – Offenbarung und Untergang (Review)
In 1999 Swans' Michael Gira paired with Étant Donnés for an album of the spoken word poetry of Georg Trakl mixed with ambient noise. Offenbarung und Untergang is now available again as a new re-issue.
‘The Best American Mystery Stories 2017’ Toys with the Genre
There's a lot packed into a short 350 pages here, so leave your preconceptions of what "mystery" means behind and enjoy.
‘Live Wires’ Offers Inconsistent but Interesting Electronic Music History
This work serves as a preliminary resource, but it's certainly not the definitive history of electronic music.
Talib Kweli Just Wants Us to Listen on ‘Radio Silence’
Talib Kweli exhorts his audience both to speak up and to listen, either to him or each other on Radio Silence, which is truly an album of our times.
Meat Beat Manifesto’s ‘Impossible Star’ Is Sound in Service of Sound
Impossible Star is the first Meat Beat Manifesto album since 2010, and the good news is, it exists in its own world, which tends to be where Jack Dangers belongs.