MUSIC
The Boogie Monster Meets His Match: An Interview with Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley
By Steven J. Horowitz
[24.Apr.06] :.
"It's good clean fun, nothing more complicated than that," says Cee-Lo. Who'd have thought that approach could make music history?
Sounds Better in a Song: An Interview with Drive-By Truckers
By Dennis Cook
[24.Apr.06] :.
Drive-By Truckers guitarist Mike Cooley talks with us about the blood and guts inside the Southern rock band's rollicking new album.
So I Decided to Take My Work Underground: A Conversation with the Prodigy's Liam Howlett
By Tim O'Neil
[21.Apr.06] :.
Howlett's excitement and musical kleptomania bubble back up, aiding the assembly of a greatest hits and visit to the US.
Lost in the Last Attack: Recovering the Comsat Angels
By Whitney Strub
[20.Apr.06] :.
The retro-postpunk wave seems to have crested, but the Comsat Angels at their best transcended trends and flew the genre coop, traveling on their heavenly wings straight for greatness.
Long Live Scott McCaughey: An Interview with The Minus 5
By John Kenyon
[19.Apr.06] :.
The Minus 5 frontman is probably only a few degrees of separation away from you, and McCaughey is as happy working with long time pals as with brand new ones.
Offending Two Camps: An Interview with Controller.Controller
By Pierre Hamilton
[18.Apr.06] :.
The X remains a mysterious placeholder for a band that won't stay still.
Fest by Midwest: An Interview with Rhymefest
By Matt Gonzales
[17.Apr.06] :.
Radio needed that last single, and Rhymefest explains why this whole album is essential.
The Therapeutic Philosophy of Matthew Barber
By Sarah Feldman
[12.Apr.06] :.
The Canadian singer-songwriter may seem like another Jack Johnson-y AOR man purveying soporific pseudo-soul background music. But considering his degree in philosophy, could it be he's trying to find a way to bring Wittgenstein to the masses?
Revolution Now: An Interview with Queensryche
By Greg M. Schwartz
[11.Apr.06] :.
Queensryche's 1988 masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime was one of the most ambitious and subversive concept albums ever recorded. With the recently released sequel, leader Geoff Tate explains the genesis of the new album, while his daughter Miranda explains a little about him.
Ironman Vs. the Devil: An Interview with Ghostface Killah
By Lee Henderson
[10.Apr.06] :.
One of hip-hop's top MCs won't run from anything, and while he might not want to punch you in the face anymore, he still wants to be the best.
Insinuating Voices: An Interview with Mark Kozelek
By Dennis Cook
[5.Apr.06] :.
The songwriter who led Red House Painters explains the curious contours of his solo career and his recent decision to record an album of Modest Mouse covers with his new band, Sun Kil Moon.
The Not-So-Freewheelin' Vashti Bunyan
By Andrew Phillips
[4.Apr.06] :.
After being on break for nearly half a lifetime, the singer returns to make sure it's her vision on record and tells PopMatters the story.
Balance and Options: An Interview with Bubba Sparxxx
By Ian Cohen
[31.Mar.06] :.
In the new New South of hip-hop, Bubba Sparxxx is banking on a mixture of contemplation and club-hopping to make his third album, The Charm, true to its name.
SURROUND SOUND #5
Grab Bag
By Adam Besenyodi
[31.Mar.06] :.
In this hodge-podge mix of soundtracks, we find some exceptional scoring, competent storytelling, tween packaging, and some poor reissues and television compilations.
Thriving Away From the Straight Line
By Will Layman
[29.Mar.06] :.
If Scientology is all you know about Chick Corea, you are missing out on one of the best pianists in jazz history. Here he talks with PopMatters about his eclectic career, his most recent record and his passion for improvisation.
Back to Happy Times Again: An Interview with Tommy Keene
By David Weigel
[28.Mar.06] :.
The dangerous use of power pop, the big label mistake, and the joys of being and not being a sideman.
The State of the Ark in the United States, or Why a Glam Rock Band Could Change Your Life
By Elisabeth Donnelly
[27.Mar.06] :.
Ola Salo explains his band's semi-political, melancholic, and eternal rump shakers.
DIY for Life: An Interview with Eric Gaffney
By Jennifer Kelly
[24.Mar.06] :.
The Sebadoh founder talks about life after that band, home recording, self-promotion, and the worst roommate he ever had.
True Fictions: An Interview with Two Gallants' Adam Stephens
By John Davidson
[23.Mar.06] :.
Already a master storyteller and folklorist at 23, Stephens brings us to the frontier, Thomas Edison, and the drunk tank.
This Is Life: An Interview with Jarboe
By Liz Ohanesian
[22.Mar.06] :.
The singer opens up on love, abuse and art.
POPMATTERS @ SXSW 2006
By Terry Sawyer, Zeth Lundy and Tobias Peterson
[14-20.Mar.06] :.
PopMatters covered the 20th annual SXSW music and film festival from start to finish. Catch up on the highs and lows.
The Happy Songwriter: An Interview with Kelley Stoltz
By Jennifer Kelly
[21.Mar.06] :.
San Francisco's best-kept songwriting secret on influences, old pianos, optimism, career breaks in biker bars and the stacks of tapes in his apartment closet.
SURROUND SOUND #4
The Power of Film Music
By Marco Lanzagorta
[15.Mar.06] :.
The 10 soundtracks discussed in this installment of Surround Sound reflect a variety of styles, genres and approaches to film music. But in the end, all of them are similar in the way they try to enhance our viewing experience.
Fat with an 'F': Talking to Beth Ditto of the Gossip
By Matt Gonzales
[14.Mar.06] :.
It's a long way from squirrel-eaters to punk activism, but Ditto's taken it all in.
Get Steady
By Michael Spies
[13.Mar.06] :.
Championed by the NME but totally unknown in America, Jonny Dubowsky's band Jonny Lives! may be on the brink of fame. Or are they on the road to nowhere?
Louisville Born, Brooklyn Based
By Justin Vellucci
[10.Mar.06] :.
How post-rock forefather David Grubbs paved the road from punk to the American avant-garde.
An Encounter with Tropicalia's Trickster: The Tom Zé Interview
By Jennifer Kelly
[10.Mar.06] :.
Under a pragmatist's influence, Zé says occasionally explicable things.
The Sound: A Musical Missing Link, Waiting to Be Rediscovered
By Michael Keefe
[9.Mar.06] :.
It's difficult to imagine in today's environment of light speed information dissemination, but there was once a band whose debut album received five-star reviews from both NME and Melody Maker, and yet that group never blew up like contemporaries U2. Still The Sound were one of the very finest bands of the post-punk era.
Talking Oceans Apart: An Interview with Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens
By David Weigel
[8.Mar.06] :.
From the other side of the world, one of pop's best songwriting duos slowly gets their music heard.
Ramblin' Across the Seas: An Interview with Isobel Campbell
By John Kenyon
[7.Mar.06] :.
The Scottish singer explains how she paired up with Mark Lanegan for a new album, and why that's slightly easier than partnering with Gram Parsons.
Talking Bollocks: An Interview with Test Icicles
By Robert Collins
[6.Mar.06] :.
The British rockers don't rehearse, have never cut a demo, and cite nu-metal as an influence. So how exactly does this work?
Kicking Against The Pricks!: An Interview with Half Man Half Biscuit
By Roger Holland
[3.Mar.06] :.
PopMatters talks to the most complete and authentic British group since the Clash -- Half Man Half Biscuit.
Indie in Tweenville: TRL Awards 2006
By Andrew Phillips
[3.Mar.06] :.
Four doors (and one burly guard) separate the outside world from America's prime purveyor of teeny pop. PopMatters' Andrew Phillips walks cautiously through all four to face his demons at MTV's TRL awards.
A Man Named J'Aime: An interview with Islands' Jaime Thompson
By Hartley Lin
[2.Mar.06] :.
The ex-Unicorn explains his new project, remixing for Beck, and African guitar.
Escena Social Quebrada: An Interview with Apostle of Hustle
By Ryan Henriquez
[1.Mar.06] :.
Broken Social Scene guitarist and amateur musicologist Andrew Whiteman talks about his Latin-influenced band, Apostle of Hustle, which he hopes won't be mistaken as 'indie'.
Words from the Exit Wound: An Interview with Albert Mudrian
By Cosmo Lee
[28.Feb.06] :.
What happens when one music journalist interviews another? On the other end of the microphone, Albert Mudrian, editor of Decibel, talks about death metal, John Peel, and those pesky interview transcriptions.
Don't Stop Now: An Interview with Robert Pollard
By John Kenyon
[27.Feb.06] :.
The prolific songwriter puts his Voices behind him but still has plenty to say.
China Syndrome
By Jon Campbell
[27.Feb.06] :.
The garage-punk band Subs are from China, and they wish that didn't interest you.
Running Thoughts: An Interview with Deerhoof
By Matt Gonzales
[23.Feb.06] :.
Deerhoof's latest, The Runners Four, has garnered praise from The New York Times and helped usher the band into larger arenas. Here, guitarist John Dieterich discusses how the band has responded.
Citizen Wilson: An Interview with the Editor of XXL
By Pierre Hamilton
[21.Feb.06] :.
"I'm concerned with selling my magazine and doing it with integrity." Elliott Wilson, editor-in-chief of XXL Magazine, wants his props for rising to the top of the music publishing world, and oh yeah, please buy the compilation CD.
The Profiler: Prestige Deserved and Revived as a Welcome Name
By Robert R. Calder
[21.Feb.06] :.
With a deep catalog spanning a specifically fertile period in jazz and including performances from some of the greatest names in jazz history, the revival of the Prestige label is celebrated with a massive simultaneous release of artist-specific compilations and samplers. But do the releases prove the vitality of the vaults? Results may vary.
Docility and Power
By Dave Howell
[17.Mar.06] :.
Circle II Circle's Zak Stevens just can't leave the business.
From Inner Sounds to Astro Sounds
By Barry Stoller
[20.Feb.06] :.
Not only did the arrangers and session musicians behind 1950s mood music pioneer psychedelia's studio tricks, they also produced a few of the most mind-blowing discs of the era. Here, the story of how the Id, a pseudo-band of session musicians, inadvertently joined forces with a few small-time-scammer record execs to produce not one but three classics -- from the same recordings.
Martian Dreams and Carolina Blue: An Interview with Chris Stamey
By David Tatasciore
[20.Feb.06] :.
A discussion with the dB's co-founder about most anything except the dB's.
Leaders of a Powder Blue World: An Interview with Elbow
By Eddie Ciminelli
[17.Feb.06] :.
Elbow takes some time to show us a high-class hangout, but end up proving they've stayed grounded.
B-Boys Will Be Boys: An Interview With Byron Hurt
By Stephen Stirling
[17.Feb.06] :.
The documentary filmmaker takes on some of hip-hop's untouchable subjects, but he knows it might be a small part of a large struggle.
"Dude, What's Happening?": An Interview with Greg Behrendt
By Nikki Tranter
[16.Feb.06] :.
"The one cool thing with getting older is that you can actively choose to be an eccentric. When people ask you what are you listening to you go, 'You know I'm not really listening to anything, I'm really into Japanese furniture right now.'" Greg Behrendt talks about Jerry Maguire, Sarah Silverman, his new DVD, and the importance of bringing the rock.
Future Funk Soldier: Looking Back on Jay Dee by Looking Forward
By Dan Nishimoto
[16.Feb.06] :.
Though many of his production techniques had been innovated by other producers, Dilla arranged them in a new fashion and took them to a logical extreme. In a sense, he helped bridge hip-hop's transition from Pete Rock, Prince Paul and Premier to Pharrell and Timbaland.
From Concert Halls to Rock Dives: An Interview with Padma Newsome of Clogs
By Jennifer Kelly
[15.Feb.06] :.
A longstanding collaboration between classically trained musicians bears intricate, improvised fruit in Lantern.
24: A Day on Tour with the Subways
By Robert Collins
[13.Feb.06] :.
The British trio takes us along on their unusual business as usual.
Coast to Coast with a Camera and the Wrens
By Jon Langmead
[13.Feb.06] :.
The Wrens surmounted record-industry woes to finally achieve national recognition with The Meadowlands. Little Quill Productions set out with the New Jersey band on its ensuing tour to document how success is treating them. Here, the filmmakers tell us how the project is coming along.
Process and Substance: An Interview with Richie Hawtin
By Cosmo Lee
[10.Feb.06] :.
From mixing with three turntables, to granulating and recombining tracks into new shapes, to making techno mashups in 5.1 surround sound, to scoring the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics, Richie Hawtin has consistently pioneered how music is made.
The Cut-Out Bin #5
Edited By Rob Horning
[9.Feb.06] :.
This month: George Michael demands the impossible with Listen Without Prejudice, John Phillips's mid-'70s muse, and sweet suffocation from the Carpenters.
No Sleep 'Til Anaheim
By Lauren Rosenthal
[9.Feb.06] :.
A road trip with the teen punk-pop band the Willowz, Orange County's answer to Redd Kross.
Soul Enigma: Lewis Taylor Comes
to America
By Mark Anthony Neal
[8.Feb.06] :.
For much of the last decade, arguably the most brilliant R&B; artist of this generation has toiled in relative obscurity in Britain. With the release of Stoned, the North London neo-soulster should finally attract the audience that his music deserves.
Superstar Tourism: An Interview with Carrie Underwood
By Nikki Tranter
[8.Feb.06] :.
"I keep my camera with me everywhere I go," says American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. "I try not to be too annoying with it."
SURROUND SOUND #3
The Oscar Influence
By Kevin Jagernauth
[7.Feb.06] :.
The latest Surround Sound installment takes a closer look at the effect of the Oscar season push on their related soundtracks.
Full Circle: Interview with Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina
By Nikki Tranter
[7.Feb.06] :.
"The very first audience we played to, we walked out onto the stage and got a three-minute standing ovation before we even played a note." Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina talk about their return to the stage after 30 years apart.
Man Man Lets Its Demons Out of the Bag: The Interview
By Jennifer Kelly
[6.Feb.06] :.
Members of Man Man come clean about the reconfigured band, the new tour, and the new record (that draws inspiration from, among other things, Furbies!) -- proof that the band's darkest days may be behind them.
Looking for a Spark: An Interview with Russell Mael
By Adam Besenyodi
[6.Feb.06] :.
Russell Mael shows why Sparks have lived on the fringes of musical culture for the better part of their 25-plus-year career.
To Hell and Back: An Interview with Cage
By David Morris
[3.Feb.06] :.
Having survived a nightmarish upbringing and bouts of mental illness, underground rapper Cage went on to make a career of glorifying drugs, violence and insanity on records that even offended himself. Now, with Hell's Winter, he's trying to rid himself of the horror-core tag.
Kanye Walks
By Mark Anthony Neal
[2.Feb.06] :.
By making public his struggles with living a devout life, Kanye West makes such a lifestyle so much more accessible and valuable to the very folk that need spirituality to get them through the day to day. West becomes the receptacle for the folk to think of a "Jesus" that is truly of the people.
Love is the Tender Trap: An Interview
By Roger Holland
[2.Feb.06] :.
Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey explore the challenges of putting out an album and a baby at the same time.
The Mythbuster: An Interview with Bill Withers
By Dan Nishimoto
[31.Jan.06] :.
A middle-aged man with a heart full of songs makes a career change and leaves an indelible print on pop music. Over 30 years later, he's still Bill Withers. And thank goodness for that.
Electric Desert Refugees
By Nate Seltenrich
[31.Jan.06] :.
Melding aboriginal rhythms of the Sahara with raw electric blues, Tinariwen spreads the rallying cry of the oppressed Tuareg people.
No Elvis, Beatles, or the Rolling Stones
By Michael Patrick Brady
[30.Jan.06] :.
When the baby boomers finally relinquish control of pop culture, who will replace their sacred cows on the perennial 'best bands ever' lists?
Third Impressions of the Strokes: An Interview with the Strokes
By Jason MacNeil
[30.Jan.06] :.
Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond explains why the new album needed its own studio.
Gritty Soul Men: Remembering Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett
By Mark Anthony Neal
[27.Jan.06] :.
Grit was not just about the "sound" of soul, but also the grittier social and political realities that soul music offered transcendence from. The recent deaths of Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett mark the passing of two of the grittiest Soul Men to walk the earth.
Less Smooch, More Dance: An Interview with The Clientele
By Matt Gonzales
[27.Jan.06] :.
The Clientele's Alasdair Maclean tells us everything we need to know, from A to K.
Bring on the Major Leagues
By Ryan Gillespie
[26.Jan.06] :.
When major labels promote indie bands, sucking up the air that truly independent music needs to breathe, will the music stop developing altogether? Will we be stuck with Strokes and Rilo Kiley retreads forever?
Breathing Jazz
By William Glasspiegel
[25.Jan.06] :.
Trumpeter Maurice Brown on surviving Hurricane Katrina.
Giving It Back to the Kids: An Interview with Broken Social Scene
By Eddie Ciminelli
[24.Jan.06] :.
Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew takes a bubbly approach to making an album under the microscope.
The Last Temptation of the Completist
By Zeth Lundy
[23.Jan.06] :.
As record companies empty their vaults and bring forth an unending supply of alternates, remixes and studio-session outtakes, even the most definitive pop masterpieces can seem provisional. But as our curiosity about these works gets sated, is our pleasure in their greatness diminished?
Your Hair, Your Bassist, and Your Sense of Humor: An Interview with the Darkness
By Dan MacIntosh
[19.Jan.06] :.
Dan Hawkins of the Darkness describes how he's got to keep one of those three on his hellish creative path.
Write On! Musings on Music Journalism
By Adam Williams
[18.Jan.06] :.
Think you have the skills to be a music journalist? Take this test and judge for yourself.
Slightly Bigger: Interview with James Blunt
By Nikki Tranter
[17.Jan.06] :.
"Most humans are quite similar and we're just trying to get through the world together." James Blunt talks about touring America, writing songs, and his new life as one of music's most successful newcomers.
Ritual Improvisation: An Interview with No-Neck Blues Band
By Jennifer Kelly
[16.Jan.06] :.
A member of the No-Neck Blues Band makes a rare foray into public conversation.
PopMatters Picks: Slipped Discs
Edited by Justin Cober-Lake
[13.Jan.06] :.
Rather than pulling out their hair over our year-end list, our writers make sure those overlooked albums from 2005 get their due.
Living the Martian Dream
By Nicole Schuman
[12.Jan.06] :.
Tomo Milicevic of 30 Seconds to Mars tells you how to go from nameless fan to unpretty rock star in a few easy steps.
Rainbow and Flower Talk: An Interview with Morcheeba
By Stephen Stirling
[11.Jan.06] :.
Morcheeba's Ross Godfrey travels the world, gets the band back together, and speeds through singers.
Next Phase, New Wave, or Still Rock 'n' Roll?: An Interview with Nouvelle Vague
By Nick Gunn
[10.Jan.06] :.
Nouvelle Vague combines periods and geography in its album of covers.
Of Anger and Twitching: An Interview with John Cale
By Andrew Phillips
[9.Jan.06] :.
John Cale talks about his driving impulses, experimental art, and catchy songs. One gets the sense that he's searching (and has long searched) for the place where rock and the avant-garde meet in perfect harmony.
Things Living: Interview with Don McLean
By Nikki Tranter
[6.Jan.06] :.
"We don't need to have our art be ugly. But it is; a lot of it... Basically, you're making it worse and number one, the artist's job is to elevate people and to lift people up and to give them a place to go, something to hold on to." Don McLean speaks to PopMatters about art, love, and Britney Spears.
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