PopMatters

Trombonist Ryan Keberle Discusses His Music by an MPB Pioneer INTERVIEW: As #jazz artist Ryan Keberle explains, #MPB was much like the rock revolution in the US—building on tradition while also breaking thrilling new ground. tinyurl.com/Keberle26

Neil Young brings his characteristic looseness to 'Second Song', and while that ease can be appealing, it seldom leads to anything that sticks. tinyurl.com/NeilYoung26

Hollywood crime musical 'Night World' was almost forgotten, but the saucy pre-Code gem gets renewed appreciation on Blu-ray from @kinolorber.com

AI in Theatre Performs Best Offstage Amid relentless digital speed, shrinking attention spans, and synthetic storytelling, the moment the house lights dim and the spotlight illuminates the living actor, the domain of AI comes to an abrupt halt. READ: tinyurl.com/AITheatre26

With 'Pylon', beabadoobee returns to her rock roots, proving her ambivalence toward trends. It's a return to form, but with a new edge. #PMPick

Song People make a distinctly song-led brand of post-punk with clear roots in British folk traditions. Think Sandy Denny fronting Durutti Column.

On their ninth release, 'Perfecth', Queens of the Stone Age showcase the full range of their sound, capturing a range of distinct emotions. Out Friday via @matadorrecords.bsky.social

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026 In best metal, Great Falls deliver a post-hardcore beating, Spirit Possession return to original black/death, and Dissimulator expand their dissonant death/thrash.

Many readers of our generation emulate Don Draper, having lost Dante’s connections to Christianity or perhaps to any such deity. POP PAST: tinyurl.com/DraperDante

While there is no doubt Fontaines D.C. will rightly go down as one of the era's greats, 'Dopamine Chamber' shows them struggling to close the gap between ambition and lasting impact.

Neil Young brings his characteristic looseness to 'Second Song', and while that ease can be appealing, it seldom leads to anything that sticks.

Little on 'Dream House' matches the sheer brio of Empress Of's earlier music, and it lacks backbone and attention span.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2026 In best metal, Great Falls deliver a post-hardcore beating, Spirit Possession return to original black/death, and Dissimulator expand their dissonant death/thrash.

From apocalyptic blues boasts to backwoods chant-alongs, here are 15 of the best songs encapsulating Tom Waits’ incredibly varied career. tinyurl.com/TWaits15

Reading Marcel Proust well requires a taste for contemplation, so much so that his masterpiece, ‘In Search of Lost Time’, is often called the longest novel ever written: it comprises seven volumes and 1,250,000 words.

‘Nature’s Pill’ is end-to-end sticky hooks and earworm choruses.

‘Calling Antonín’ from James Brandon Lewis’ Red Lily band is another rollicking but meaningful statement from one of the most vital artists in creative music.

“In creating his xenomorph, H. R. Giger fused anatomy, machinery, architecture, sexuality, and death into a coherent biomechanical grammar, designing a visual system that outlived 1979’s ‘Alien’ and himself.” READ: tinyurl.com/HRGiger26

V.V. Lightbody’s new LP sports shimmering guitars, warm production, gentle, infectious rhythms, and bits of flutes, synths, and strings that give the songs a lush feel. tinyurl.com/VVLight

V.V. Lightbody’s new LP sports shimmering guitars, warm production, gentle, infectious rhythms, and bits of flutes, synths, and strings that give the songs a lush feel. tinyurl.com/VVLight

Cristian Mungiu’s hot-button legal drama ‘Fjord’ wraps messy arguments about religion and secularism into a provocative but too-tidy package.

In Every Time a Bell Rings: The Legacy of It’s a Wonderful Life, America’s Most Beloved Holiday Film, we are reminded of what we need in our times. READ: tinyurl.com/WonderLife1

Heard amid aging, caregiving, and family violence, the Velvet Underground’s “Stephanie Says” captures how solitude confines Gen X women. tinyurl.com/GenXVU26

If the detective story assumes that exposure brings understanding, and understanding brings justice, it mirrors the liberal belief in open information and discourse. In ‘Chinatown’, however, the truth is often already visible.

Indianapolis indie poppers Wishy take their sound to a new level of craftsmanship and catchiness with 'Nature's Pill'. It’s one of the year’s best records. #PMPick [9/10] tinyurl.com/Wishy2026

Masters of mystery, Radiohead’s modus operandi manifests into various fan theories—particularly Binary Theory—which becomes brilliant music marketing.

Billy Strings is not your typical bluegrass picker. He blends rock, metal, blues, and psychedelia to seamlessly enter arena-rock territory. We cover his two-night Oakland bonanza. tinyurl.com/BStrings26

Calling Antonín from James Brandon Lewis’ Red Lily band is another rollicking but meaningful statement from one of the most vital artists in creative music. tinyurl.com/JBLewis26

Matthew O'Neill names his more-than-human contributors by species and crafts an album that encourages deep listening.

Heard amid aging, caregiving, and family violence, the Velvet Underground’s “Stephanie Says” captures how solitude confines Gen X women.

Cristian Mungiu’s hot-button legal drama ‘Fjord’ wraps messy arguments about religion and secularism into a provocative but too-tidy package.

Clara Mann's 'Wishbone' posits that even if love isn’t predicated on chance, it doesn't lose its poetic appeal. That's why love is poetry: it chooses you. 'Wishbone' is a [9/10] out Friday.

Ziemba’s ‘The Braid’ Is a Sophisti-Pop Masterpiece Ziemba’s bio says that the music “dances through genres while plumbing the crystalline caverns of the soul”. I’d kill to have written that line, which is so accurate.

North Carolina indie rock band Cor de Lux have released one of the year's essential indie rock records, and they did it their way. Dawn Moraga discusses their work. 'Year of the Horse' is a #PMPick out now via @ipecac.com INTERVIEW: tinyurl.com/CorDeLux1

In creating his xenomorph, H. R. Giger fused anatomy, machinery, architecture, sexuality, and death into a coherent biomechanical grammar, designing a visual system that outlived 1979’s ALIEN and himself.

Years after his untimely departure, David S. Ware remains one of free jazz's most versatile tenor saxophonists. We delve into his career by revisiting one of his last interviews. tinyurl.com/DWare2012

Where Blodtår differentiate themselves, especially on their new record, is in how they open up melodic Swedish black metal heritage toward a folk application.

Haunting and exotic, Visions of Nar's second record, 'Awakening', takes us on a tone-colour trek across cultures. It's a brilliant, modern ethno-jazz sound. #PMPick

On 'Through to Us', Matthew O'Neill names his more-than-human contributors by species and crafts an album that encourages deep listening. #ambient

British folk-rock legend Richard Thompson sneeringly releases another album that reveals the human condition's complexity. 'Hippies, Thugs and Heroes' is a #PMPick [9/10] out now.

Geese played three sets at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery that almost seemed to urge the nearby dead to rise from their graves and join the crowd. READ: tinyurl.com/GeeseHallow

On 'DIGITiSE', HAAi implores us to step back from the digital world and get down and dirty on the dancefloor with wildly inventive, thrilling tracks. #PMPick [9/10] out now via @muterecords.bsky.social

In 1974, French pop singer Sylvie Vartan released an album specifically for Japanese fans. This collection now stands as a love letter to vintage French pop culture.

This record features a very good singer, Jenny JAM. There is also a title that describes the project more accurately than anyone involved seems to realize.

We talk with Russian Circles guitarist Mike Sullivan about what has kept the Chicago post-metal outfit going for two decades and nearly double-digit albums. INTERVIEW: tinyurl.com/RussCirc26

More than any season in recent memory, the films shown at the Venice Film Festival and other fall-circuit festivals crack open heated, necessary political discourse worldwide.