// Category Archive for: Reviews

Stewart Copeland, Strange Things Happen

By Laura L.

Ever since I watched The Police’s episode of Behind The Music, I’ve had a thing for Stewart Copeland. (That would be the drummer of the Police for those of you who were born after 1984, when they broke up.) He’s an awesome drummer, he’s quick-witted, and—gosh, darn it!—he’s cute. Yes, a man my father’s age, cute! A man who’s a grandfather, cute! So when I went to my local library recently and found his autobiography, Strange Things Happen, on display, I had to check it out.
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David Bowie: Rare And Unseen

By Christian Lipski

Is it an indication that America’s litigious society has been imported to the UK, or just a production company with a guilty conscience? In addition to excited copy about the disc’s contents, the back cover of David Bowie: Rare and Unseen includes the following definitions: “Unseen: Believed unseen since first broadcast. Rare: Believed never released on DVD.” It’s unknown why they felt it legally prudent to put that text on the case, but at least the viewer knows what they’re getting, which is admirable. Regardless, if you live in the US, most if not all of the material on the 60-minute DVD is both rare and unseen.
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Best Of 2010: Janelle Monáe, The ArchAndroid

By Brenna Chase

There’s no need for a list. Devote all of your listening attention to Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid. It was conceived by a twentysomething theatre major from Kansas, executive-produced by Sean “Diddy” Combs and Outkast’s “Big Boi” along with members of Monáe’s own creative outfit, The Wondaland Arts Society, and released on Bad Boy Records. If this seems a bit of a random selection, know that nothing about this album is typical.

The ArchAndroid is the epitome of risk and eccentricity. It’s a schizophrenic experience of genres, moods, characters, and themes. And, I promise you, it’s the only concept album released in 2010 that truly matters.
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Win A Signed Copy Of Duffy’s New CD, Endlessly!

By Less Lee Moore

If you enjoyed our review of Welsh songstress Duffy’s latest release, Endlessly, you’re in luck.

We’ve got a signed copy of the disc to send out to one of you lucky readers. The contest has now ended.

Just be the fifth person to comment on this post telling us why you would like a copy . . . in a clever way, of course. (C’mon, it’s the holiday season and we’re feeling a little burned out on Christmas songs and crowded shopping malls.)

Contest Rules:

—Popshifter writers are not eligible.
—The contest is open until at least five comments are left in response to this Blog post OR Sunday, December 19, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. EST (whichever comes first).
—The fifth person to post a comment will win (EST). Personal attacks, spam, vulgar or otherwise unsavory comments will NOT be eligible to win.
— We reserve the right to choose a winner based on the above guidelines.
—Only residents of the United States are eligible.
—You must not have won anything from a Popshifter contest within the last six months.
—You must email us at editor@popshifter.com and provide a valid name and mailing address within seven days of us notifying you that you have won.

Christmas Songs For A Future Generation: The Superions, Destination . . . Christmas!

By Cait Brennan

Fred Schneider rarely gets his due as a rock legend. One of the most original voices and imaginative storytellers of the New Wave, Schneider brought weird and wonderful absurdist lyrics, a fearless outsider sensibility, and his unique sprechstimme delivery into the rock mainstream. The discrete charm of Fred’s voice and lyrical style are lost on some people, but despite an army of jokesters’ best efforts, Schneider is truly inimitable.

Sad, then, that despite a relentless touring schedule, in the past 18 years his groundbreaking band the B-52s have managed only one new studio release, 2008’s Funplex. The prolific Schneider has participated in dozens of other projects during those years, but none have captured his own brand of madness better than Destination . . . Christmas!, the new album with his band The Superions.
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Duffy, Endlessly

By Stuart Myerburg

Endlessly, the follow-up to Duffy’s hugely successful debut Rockferry, finds the Welsh singer in a bit of an identity crisis. Still mining the retro-sixties vibe that made her popular, Duffy this time collaborates with veteran writer and producer Albert Hammond.
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Bauhaus, In The Flat Field

By Less Lee Moore

I first heard Bauhaus through a friend of a friend, but I first heard OF the band thanks to my frequent trips to Lakeside Mall as a teenager.

There was a cool-looking Chinese punk dude who also went to the mall frequently. He had spiky hair and wore a leather motorcycle jacket and a black T-shirt that said BAVHAVS. (I was soon to discover that he was a total lameass poseur, but that’s a story for another time and place.) In my ignorance, I thought that the band was actually called Bav-Haves until the aforementioned friend of a friend (or someone who took pity on me) set me straight.

Ah, those halcyon pre-Internet days.
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Echo Revolution, Counterfeit Sunshine

By Less Lee Moore

Counterfeit Sunshine, the new album from San Diego’s Echo Revolution, is anything but what its title implies. These tunes are sincere in their joyfulness; even the sad songs contain some optimism amidst the despair.
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Robert Wyatt/Gilad Atzmon/Ros Stephen, For The Ghosts Within

By John Lane

Say what you will about Robert Wyatt, but he has never done anything for the fast buck.

What’s more, in an age where the music industry is in an odd state of flux, Robert Wyatt seems to be among the rare legacy laborers who remain somehow protected. Or maybe he’s just kept his head down and tried to stay inconspicuous.
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The Greenhornes, “★★★★”

By Adam McIntyre

It doesn’t matter whether or not you’ve heard The Greenhornes before before; a recent hiatus for the Cincinnati trio has only helped their legend grow.

The rhythm section of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, once great and intimidating, has only become more effective during their time with other bands (The Raconteurs, Dead Weather, and Loretta Lynn, to name a few). Front man Craig Fox, meanwhile, has created such a lean and well-written catalog of garage, pop, psychedelic, and soul numbers over the last few years that “★★★★” sounds much like a brilliant career retrospective. It’s suspiciously good.
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