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PopMatters.com



A special edition — the 10 best songs of 2011:

1. M83 — "Midnight City" All it takes is four synthesizer notes. That's it. Smothered in reverb, coated in '80s nostalgia, teetering on the edge of full-on explosion, those four notes pack more heart and energy than most albums released in 2011. But "Midnight City" is more than just a powerful introduction. On this transcendent standout from the…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com

Drake — "Take Care": Discard nearly everything dislikable about Drake's "Thank Me Later," amplify the emotional candor by several degrees, and get ready for the most…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com



Noel Gallagher — "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds": Considering this is a man who has boasted for close to two decades about his songwriting prowess, it was inevitable that Noel Gallagher would find a…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com

Lou Reed & Metallica — "Lulu": Just when you thought Metallica might gain some ground on their way back from being hated by almost everyone you know, they come out with what may be the most disappointing album in a decade. With the release of "Lulu," a…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com

Coldplay — "Mylo Xyloto": The big-budget sequel to the Technicolor "Viva la Vida" is multi-textured, arena-ready ... and boring. "Mylo Xyloto"'s major problem is that amidst all of the…

By Erin Williams…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com



Tori Amos — "Night of Hunters": While "Night of Hunters" never directly references Tori's previous work there is still plenty of space for bruised heroines, history, art, wacky pronunciation, and man's relationship to the violence of nature, and there are more than a few winks along the way as Amos…

By Chuck Barney

Contra Costa Times



Welcome to television’s game of thrones. They’ll crown prime time royalty at the annual Emmy bash Sunday night, and we’re eager to see who reigns supreme.

Of course, forecasting what the voters will do is often an exercise in futility. Just when you think they’re in repeat mode — three straight victories for “Mad Men” — they halt a seven-year win streak for “The Amazing Race” in the reality competition…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com

St. Vincent — "Strange Mercy"

St. Vincent makes a strong case that high art can have a popular dimension and pop music can be high-minded and artful. On "Strange Mercy," Annie Clark…

By Roger Moore

The Orlando Sentinel



Absurdly plotted, ineptly scripted and haplessly acted, "Creature" is a new variation on the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" theme.

Take half a dozen good-looking but under-credited…

By Gary Thompson

Philadelphia Daily News



Well, that's over with.

The empty-calorie summer, with its frivolous robot fights and cowboys and aliens and smurfs and sequels and remakes and romcoms and doomed teens reaching their final decapitated destinations.

Now, finally, it's on to autumn, with its substantive…

By Bobby Bozeman

If you are a big moviegoer or YouTube crawler, chances are you are one of just under 2.5 million people who have seen The Alamo Drafthouse cinema’s viral video of the voicemail they received from a customer complaining about getting kicked out of the theater for using…

By Yvonne Villarreal

Los Angeles Times



LOS ANGELES — It's that time of year again: ABC has unveiled its next batch of "celebs" who will quick-step their way through the 13th season on "Dancing with the Stars."

And the contestants have a lot to live up to: Season 12 of ABC's dance contest, which featured contestants such as Kirstie Alley and winner Hines Ward, averaged 22.5 million total viewers — up 4 percent compared with the 11th season, according to…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com



NEW MUSIC THIS WEEK

Red Hot Chili Peppers — "I'm With You": As the title implies, "I'm With You" is a love letter from the band to itself. It's also a token of appreciation to the Chili Pepper fans who have stuck by the band through countless line-up…

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters.com



The Horrors — "Skying": The Horrors have been steadily earning the plaudits they've been getting in the British press and even gaining a foothold in the U.S., overcoming their emperor's new clothes reputation by working hard to deliver the goods…