12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums
PopMatters' '80s alt-rock primer spotlights the essential alternative rock albums from the broad genre's rich and diverse early years.
sonic youth
Sonic Youth Founder Thurston Moore Asks Why a Song Can’t Be an Hour Long
Thurston Moore talks about the three instrumental pieces spanning nearly three hours that make up the Spirit Counsel box set, the people who inspired them, and the fact that he doesn't really consider himself a "guitar guy".
Body/Head Rip Up the Playbook with ‘The Switch’
The new studio offering from Kim Gordon and Bill Nace offers an experience that's less tied to the raw emotions of the past and more focused on the exacting, brilliant technical and compositional skills of its creators.
An Artist in His Own Right: Nick Soulsby on Thurston Moore
This oral history seeks to course-correct one man's discography that's been overshadowed by that of his band, but it seems more intent to course-correct Moore's reputation.
Team Tremolo – ‘Intruder’ (album stream) (premiere) + Interview
Team Tremolo recalls classic shoegaze with a dose of all things loud and mysterious.
Body/Head: No Waves
The experimental duo of Kim Gordon and Bill Nace return with No Waves, a live document that strives to capture the impact of their impressive debut album.
Merzbow, Gustafsson, Pándi, Moore: Cuts of Guilt, Cuts Deeper
A stunningly ferocious noise album from four masters of their craft.
Thurston Moore: The Best Day
Thurston Moore's most ambitious solo album and possibly the best Sonic Youth-related release since 2004's Sonic Nurse.
Us in Their Land: An Interview with Mike Watt
Mike Watt has been in so many iconic bands that it's sometimes easy to lose count, but now, with a stripped-down Italian trio called il sogno del marinaio, Watt is doing his most daring work yet ...