Echoing Hannah Arendt’s postwar warnings about the authoritarian impulse, Jill Lepore shows that an anti-humanist strain was threaded into the acceleration of technological advancements. The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State @LiverightPub #PMPick tinyurl.com/ArtfclState26

Melanie Martinez’s “THE VATICAN” is not presented as a song about the foolishness of believing in God. It is about the distance between what religious institutions say they represent and what people sometimes do under their authority. popmatters.com/melanie-marti…

“Again and again, I thought I might leave the cinema screening only to be won back by some nugget of genius from the big-mouthed Mancunians.” #Oasis popmatters.com/oasis-dont-lo…

Nazi propaganda built a strategy whose miscalculation would, in the future, save our perception of German actor Otto Gebühr. popmatters.com/otto-gebuhr-f…

Before his unexpected rise to pop stardom as Scatman John, John Larkin spent years working as a fierce, volatile jazz pianist, crossing paths with some legendary names in the genre. tinyurl.com/ScatmanJ26

Over at @PopMatters, Michael Barrett compares and contrasts two of our animated releases, HAYOP-KA! and THE CAT CITY COLLECTION, connecting both as animation that is distinctively not for the kiddies, but also subtly reflects cultural attitudes of their times and locales. One of the things we love most about releasing films from other parts of the world (especially places we haven't released much like the Philippines) is something deeper than just enjoying different color palettes or flavors of aesthetic beauty. It's all about the window into our shared fears and joys, the things we laud and the things we avert our eyes to. Sometimes it takes cats and dogs and mice and rats to give us new insights! "…tanks rolling in the city streets were a living memory for Hungarians of the Soviet invasion of 1956, so this vision of “little people” (mice) dominated by violent, indeed genocidal felines can’t help inviting a political reading. As is often the case with Iron Curtain films, nominal nods toward anti-Nazi struggles in WWII (as Teufel seems to symbolize) do double duty as cover for more contemporary oppressions. As a further alibi, they’re dressed like corporate gangsters." "Nothing in HAYOP-KA! ever comes out and lectures anyone about the unhealthy nature of the narratives being spoofed. It’s something we grasp from details around the edges, like the fact that the instant rich boyfriend…is a smooth, womanizing property developer who inherited all from daddy, who prefers to speak English over Tagalog, who’s pulling political strings with bribery, and whose plans are being picketed by protesters who get arrested by police." Read the whole review here: popmatters.com/animated-anim… #deafcrocodile #catcity #hayopka #2danimation #filippinoanimation #hungariananimation #bluray #physicalmedia #cultmovies

Two Animated Animals Movies That Are So NOT Disney popmatters.com/animated-anim…

RT @PopMatters: nitter.net/i/article/210241877592…

Pop Past (2015): "Political correctness is just an insidious form of speech and art censorship where anything can be taken out of context and misconstrued regardless of actual intent. My intent was and is simply to make people laugh: everyone. Fuck political correctness!” #Interview with Forbidden Zone's Danny Elfman tinyurl.com/RElfman2015

When popular music was still confined to parlor etiquette and artificial formulas, the Rolling Stones chose sweat, volume, and an uncontrollably explosive, bodily Dionysian spirit on stage. tinyurl.com/RolStones26

North Carolina's Cor de Lux level up with their third release, 'Year of the Horse', an exhilarating blast of noise rock with heart. #PMPick out now via @IpecacRec. REVIEW: tinyurl.com/CorDeLux26

Like a literary psychoanalyst, Stephen Greenblatt delves into Sir Walter Raleigh’s inner identity; like a sociological theatre critic, he explores Elizabethan performance and reveals striking parallels to our time. Sir Walter Ralegh: The Renaissance Man and His Roles is reissued by @wwnorton #PMPick tinyurl.com/SWRaleigh26

The end of Godflesh is nigh, but with DECAY, their first album for @RelapseRecords, the alpha and omega of industrial metal refuse to go gently. tinyurl.com/Godflesh26

'And So It Goes' blends Liana Flores' Brazilian roots with high-quality songs and outstanding vocals, wrapped in a modern jazz-pop style. tinyurl.com/LianaF26

INTERVIEW: Edie Brickell and Matt Chamberlain Look Back on New Bohemians Many decades after their commercial peak, Edie Brickell and Matt Chamberlain circle around new creative realms while looking back on their ascent. Their new group, World Famous Pets, releases their debut on Friday. tinyurl.com/EdieB2026

With its rough framing, shaky handheld shots, and available light, Bill Gunn’s 'Personal Problems' anticipates the documentary aesthetic of 21st-century vérité-lite TV shows. tinyurl.com/PrsnlPrlbms26

Far from the Disney path, these animated animal movies from Hungary and the Philippines revel in parody, satire, and real-world-inspired violence. 'Cat City Collection' and 'Hayop Ka!' from @DeafCrocodile tinyurl.com/AnmtdAnmls

The 10 Best Pop Music Books of the 2000s So Far popmatters.com/10-best-pop-m…

Nate Amos' most heralded project, This Is Lorelei, swaps out electropop for bluegrass and folk with 'The Singer in My Band'. Out now via @matadorrecords. tinyurl.com/Lorelei26