PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater, visual arts, travel, and the Internet.^[1]

History[link]

PopMatters was founded by Sarah Zupko, who had previously established the cultural studies academic resource site PopCultures.^[2] PopMatters launched in the fall of 1999 as a sister site providing original essays, reviews and criticism of various media products. Over time, the site went from a weekly publication schedule to a five-day-a-week magazine format, expanding into regular reviews, features, and columns. In the fall of 2005, monthly readership exceeded one million.

From 2006 onward, PopMatters produced several syndicated newspaper columns for McClatchy-Tribune News Service^[3]. As of 2009, there are four different pop culture related columns each week.

PopMatters is publishing "Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion", ed. by Mary Money, with Titan Books in May 2012. PopMatters published four books in a series with Counterpoint/Soft Skull^[4] in 2008-2009 including "China Underground" by Zachary Mexico, "Apocalypse Jukebox: The End of the World in American Popular Music" by Edward Whitelock and David Janssen, "Rebels Wit Attitude: Subversive Rock Humorists" by Iain Ellis, and "The Solitary Vice: Against Reading" by Mikita Brottman.

Staff[link]

While PopMatters doesn't actually employ writers, it does publish content from contributors located around the globe, based in six continents and numerous countries. Its staff includes writers from various backgrounds, ranging from academics and professional journalists to career professionals and first time writers. Many of its writers are published authorities in various fields of study.^[5]

Editors
Karen Zarker, Sr. Editor, Ops. Mngr., and Books Series Manager
Cynthia Fuchs, Film & TV Reviews
Evan Sawdey, Interviews
G. Christopher Williams, Multimedia
shathley Q, Comics
Arnold Pan, Music
Sachyn Mital, Events
Colin McGuire, Music Reviews

Features Editors
Arnold Pan
Bill Gibron
Matt Mazur
Stuart Henderson
Josh Indar
C.E. McAuley
Jake Meaney
George Russell
Karen Zarker
Sarah Zupko

Contributing Editors Adrien Begrand
Bill Gibron
Matt Mazur
Lynnette Porter

PopMatters also currently hosts an ever-growing number of blogs, including:

• "Moving Pixels," a look at video game arts by G. Christopher Williams;
• "Sound Affects," a music criticism blog edited by A. J. Ramirez;
• "Short Ends and Leader," a multi-faceted film blog by Bill Gibron;
• "Channel Surfing," a television blog edited by Sarah Zupko and Karen Zarker;
• "Graphic Novelties," all things involving comics and graphic fiction, edited by shathley Q;
• "Notes from the Road," live event coverage, edited by Sachyn Matal;
• "Re:Print," discussion of everything books, edited by Gabrielle Malcolm.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• PopCultures.com
• PopMatters on Facebook
• PopMatters on Twitter

Tim Kasher (born August 19, 1974) is a musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and The Good Life,^[2] both of which are on the Omaha based record label Saddle Creek Records. Prior to those bands, Kasher was in a band called Slowdown Virginia. He also made a brief appearance with the Omaha band Commander Venus and The March Hares.

Kasher has a very close relationship with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. They grew up in Nebraska together, went to the same Catholic high school, Creighton Prep. In the Bright Eyes song "Nothing Gets Crossed Out," Oberst sings, "Tim, I've heard your album and it's better than good," referring to the album Black Out by Kasher's band, The Good Life, released in 2002 on Saddle Creek Records. Furthermore, Oberst later sang backup on the song "Staying Alive," from Cursive's 2003 effort The Ugly Organ.

Kasher temporarily disbanded Cursive after the departure of guitarist Steve Pedersen (who left to pursue a law degree at Duke University and now leads the Saddle Creek band Criteria). Kasher married and moved to Portland, Oregon. According to interviews, Kasher went through a bitter divorce in 2000, which led to the regrouping of Cursive, as well as providing the inspiration for The Good Life album Black Out and Cursive's Domestica.

The Good Life was originally planned to be a solo project. Kasher wanted to experiment with different types of lyrics and melodies. He released Novena on a Nocturn on Better Looking Records. He then recruited Ryan Fox, Roger Lewis and Stefanie Drootin into the band and released Black Out, Lovers Need Lawyers EP and Album of the Year.

In 2002, Kasher suffered a collapsed lung and was forced to cancel all US tour dates at the time. Because he lacked health insurance, Saddle Creek asked fans for donations to help pay for the cost of the operation. After healing, recording on The Ugly Organ began.[1]

The Good Life's fourth full-length album, Help Wanted Nights, was an album which Kasher wrote as a soundtrack for a screenplay which he started writing in 2006 and has since finished. Help Wanted Nights was released on September 11, 2007.

In 2007, Kasher moved from Omaha to Los Angeles, California. While also working on new music with both Cursive and The Good Life, Kasher has recently taken up writing screenplays. In the fall of 2009, Kasher relocated to Montana to focus more explicitly on his writing.

His first solo album, The Game of Monogamy, was released on October 5, 2010 on Saddle Creek Records.

During his years with Slowdown Virginia and early years with Cursive, Kasher played a silver Gibson Corvus II guitar. Once this guitar fell into disrepair he played a Gibson Les Paul, he has also used a Gibson RD in the past, but has recently been using a Gibson Melody Maker.

The follow-up to his first solo album, Bigamy: More Songs from the Monogamy Sessions, was released on August 16, 2011 on Saddle Creek Records. It includes songs he wrote while touring for The Game of Monogamy. The album is only available at tour venues and online through the Saddle Creek Records webstore.

Album appearances[link]

see also albums under The Good Life, Slowdown Virginia, and Polecat.

With Cursive[link]

• Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes (1997, Crank! Records)
• The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song (1998, Saddle Creek)
• Domestica (2000, Saddle Creek)
• Burst and Bloom (2001, Saddle Creek)
• 8 Teeth to Eat You (2002, Better Looking Records)
• The Ugly Organ (2003, Saddle Creek)
• Happy Hollow (2006, Saddle Creek)
• Mama, I'm Swollen (2009, Saddle Creek)
• I Am Gemini (2012, Saddle Creek)

With The Good Life[link]

• Novena on a Nocturn (2000, Better Looking Records)
• Black Out (2002, Saddle Creek Records)
• Album of the Year (2004, Saddle Creek Records)
• Help Wanted Nights (2007, Saddle Creek Records)

As Tim Kasher[link]

• The Game of Monogamy (2010, Saddle Creek)
• Bigamy: More Songs From the Monogamy Sessions (2011, Saddle Creek)

Other[link]

• Commander Venus - Do You Feel at Home? (1995, Saddle Creek)
• Commander Venus - The Uneventful Vacation (1997, Thick Records)
• Bright Eyes - Every Day and Every Night (1999, Saddle Creek)
• Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors (2000, Saddle Creek)
• Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002, Saddle Creek)
• Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005) (2006, Saddle Creek)
• Head of Femur - Ringodom or Proctor (2003, Greyday Productions)
• Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things (2003, Saddle Creek Records)
• Planes Mistaken for Stars - Up in Them Guts (2004, No Idea Records)
• Son, Ambulance - Key (2004, Saddle Creek)
• Statistics - Leave Your Name (2004, Jade Tree Records)
• An Iris Pattern -Sod is Gold (2006)
• McCarthy Trenching - McCarthy Trenching (2006, Team Love Records)
• Thursday - Kill the House Lights (2007, Victory Records)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Review of The Game of Monogamy
• Cursive official website
• Cursive on MySpace.com
• The Good Life on MySpace.com
• Saddle Creek Records
• Interview by The Land Salmon Sept. 2007
• Tim Kasher interview on Robot40.com
• Review of The Game of Monogamy
• Tim Kasher performs and is interviewed on Radio Happy Hour

Jonathan Caouette (born 1973) is an American film director, writer, editor and actor. Caouette is the director and editor of Tarnation (2003), an autobiographical documentary,^[1] that premiered at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals in 2003 and the director of All Tomorrow's Parties about the cult music festival. Caouette has also directed the experimental short film All Flowers in Time and the feature documentary Walk Away Renee. The latter was produced by Agnes B and premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. In 2009, Caouette served as a creative advisor for director Matthew Mishory's film, Delphinium: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman^[2].

Films[link]

• Tarnation (2003)
• All Tomorrow's Parties (2009)
• All Flowers in Time (2010, short)
• Walk away Renée (2011)

Acting[link]

Caouette played a major role in the 2006 film Fat Girls^[3] and the film Portland, scheduled for pre-production in 2012.^[4] He also appeared in Shortbus, directed by John Cameron Mitchell.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Caouette attended Westbury High School in Houston, Texas from 1987 to 1990.^[6][7]

Caouette has a son, Josh,^[8] who featured in the 2008 documentary Bi the Way. Caouette is gay and lives with his partner in New York City.^[9]

At the age of 12, Caouette accidentally smoked angel dust, resulting in a doctor later diagnosed as Depersonalization disorder. The director has described his film "Tarnation" as an attempt to give his disorder filmic form.^[10] Of the film, he said:

"It was a completely organic process based on these unusual, psychological experiences I’ve had in my adult life—these strange, trancelike experiences, similar to sensations I remember from childhood when I had a very high fever. Where I’m half asleep and half awake, just on the cusp of dreamland. And right as I’m about to conk out, this whole plethora of information comes from my own awareness and rushes into my mind’s eye. It’s like a story, or a poem, or a series of images…It only makes sense for a moment and then it dissipates. It’s like this weird waking dream. I wanted to lucidly mimic that in the form of a film and transpose it cinematically."

^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jonathan Caouette at the Internet Movie Database
• Jonathan Caouette's MySpace
• Tarnation Film Website
• PORTLAND Film Website
• Interview with Nick Haramis for Ukula Magazine

This biographical article related to cinema of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Kevin Drew
Performing with Broken Social Scene at the Intonation Music Festival, 2005.
Background information
Born	(1976-09-09) September 9, 1976 (age 35)
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Labels	Arts & Crafts
Associated acts	Broken Social Scene KC Accidental
Website	kevindrewmusic.com

Kevin Drew (born September 9, 1976) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene.^[1] He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which consisted of Drew and Charles Spearin, another current member of Broken Social Scene.

Drew has shared in the direction of Broken Social Scene videos under the name Experimental Parachute Movement. In 2008 he wrote and directed a short film called "The Water," inspired by and starring his bandmate and former girlfriend Feist.^[2] In 2009, Drew contributed to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Drew grew up in west Toronto and attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts, along with Metric's Emily Haines,^[3] Stars' Amy Millan and novelist Ibi Kaslik,^[4] where he, Amy and Emily studied drama. He was married to Jo-ann Goldsmith, a social worker and an occasional trumpet player in BSS.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Spirit If... (2007)
• "Love Vs. Porn" from Dark Was the Night (2009)
• We Got Time (2012) by Bob Wiseman for the compilation album Have Not Been The Same.

Broken Social Scene[link]

• Feel Good Lost (2001)
• You Forgot It in People (2002)
• Bee Hives (2004)
• Broken Social Scene (2005)
• Forgiveness Rock Record (2010)

KC Accidental[link]

• Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub - (1998)
• Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills - (2000)

Videography[link]

Experimental Parachute Movement[link]

• Apostle of Hustle
  • Cheap Like Sebastian
• Broken Social Scene
  • Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
  • Almost Crimes (with Chris Mills)
  • Cause=Time
  • Fire Eye'd Boy
• Constantines
  • Our Age 2009
• Stars
  • Your Ex-Lover is Dead
  • Bitches in Tokyo
• Still Life Still
  • Pastel
• The Most Serene Republic
  • Content Was Always My Favourite Colour
• The Water (2009) Starring Cillian Murphy, David Fox & Feist

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Interview with Kevin Drew on kevchino.com
• with Kevin Drew at Prefix
• Interview with Kevin Drew on AOL Music Canada
• Kevin Drew on Myspace

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)

Via Audio is an American indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York. Their first full-length album Say Something, was released in 2007 by Sidecho Records, to positive reviews from prominent independent music publications such as Pitchfork Media, Alternative Press, Spin Magazine, & Tiny Mix Tapes. The band met while attending college at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, later moving to Brooklyn, New York. They released their second full-length album titled Animalore on Undertow Music on March 9, 2010; it was produced by Spoon's Jim Eno. They will release their third full-length album titled "Natural Language" sometime in 2012.

Biography[link]

Via Audio met and formed in 2003 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and released a self-titled EP on Connecticut-based record label Kill Normal Records the following year. The lineup at that time consisted of Jessica Martins (Vocals, Keys, Guitar), Dan Molad (Vocals, Guitar, Drums), David Lizmi (Bass), and Tom Deis (Vocals, Guitar). The band toured regionally through the Northeastern United States and gained a strong following in their then hometown of Boston.

In 2007, the band signed to California-based label Sidecho Records, and began to garner lots of attention from various music blogs, zines, and critics after Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla called them his "new favorite band"^[1] in his column in Under the Radar Magazine, an Independent Music publication.

Sidecho released the band's debut full-length album, Say Something, recorded earlier that year in Austin, Texas with Spoon drummer and producer Jim Eno, on September 25, 2007 in the United States. Additionally, Kurofone Records released the album in Japan. The album was met with praise from prominent Independent Music publications such as Pitchfork Media, who rated the album a 7.7/10 and called the album.^[2]

"a catchy pop record that's serious: not gloomy, not mournful, and not pretentious. It's serious and earnest, it's occasionally sad, but there is such a beautiful gloss over everything that it sticks, hurts, and feels delicious."

The band has toured extensively in the past two years, including tours through North America with acts such as White Rabbits, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and Jukebox The Ghost, as well as a brief tour of Japan supporting Spoon.^[3] The band has also played at numerous festivals including the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, the Monolith Festival in Denver, Colorado, and the CMJ Music Showcase in New York City, where Spin.com named them "one of the nine hottest bands playing CMJ".^[4]

In 2007 Drummer, Guitarist, and co-vocalist Dan Molad left the group to pursue other projects. Molad was replaced as the band's live drummer by Adam Sturtevant, with Deis (Guitar) and Martins (Guitar, Keys) remaining on lead vocals, and Lizmi remaining on Bass.

Via Audio released their second full-length album titled Animalore on Undertow Music on March 9, 2010; it was also produced by Spoon's Jim Eno. The first single, "Babies", is available for download now at Filter Magazine's website, filtermagazine.com.^[4]

They will release a new record, titled "Natural Language", sometime in 2012.

Members[link]

• Tom Deis - Singer/Songwriter/Guitar
• David Lizmi - Bass/Synthesizer
• Jessica Martins - Singer/Songwriter/Guitar/Synthesizer
• Adam Sturtevant - Drums

Former

• Dan Molad - Singer/Songwriter/Drums/Guitar (2003–2007)

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

• 2004 Via Audio - EP (Kill Normal)
• 2007 Say Something (Sidecho)
• 2010 Animalore (Undertow Music Collective)
• 2012 "Natural Language" (release date TBD)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Via Audio on Myspace
• Fuse TV Tour Blog: Via Audio
• last.fm
• Pitchfork Review: Say Something
• Tiny Mix Tapes Review: Say Something
• AOL/Spinner's "I freaking Love This Song" Column: Via Audio - 'Presents'
• [1]
• pollifax.com WANDERER SESSION
• pollifax.com WANDERER SESSION
• WE CAN BE GOOD (ACOUSTIC) w/ pollifax.com WANDERER SESSION

Interviews:

• Beatcrave Interview
• Under the Rotunda Interview