We live in interesting times. Over the years, The Coachella Valley Music Festival has become one of the premiere music festivals, whose only real competition in the US is Bonnaroo. Perhaps moreso than its Eastern counterpart, Coachella is known for producing magical moments each year. Beyond the consistently stellar lineup of electronic, indie, hip hop and pop acts that Coachella presents annually, the festival has also become known for providing a platform for highly anticipated (though not necessarily expected) reunions. […]
Blerditorial
The Implications of Holographic Celebrity Resurrections
Blerditorial / hip-hop / music / news / pop culture / Pop Music / R.I.P. / rock music / Uncategorized
So You Want to Be a Music Critic: An Insider’s Guide
I started doing album reviews for Cavalier magazine back in the summer of ’66, my first being a review of Velvet Underground and Nico’s Banana Album, written in the form of a brief adventure story about a man whose plane crashes in the woods, who fights off a boar with an Italian penny loafer. The buxom blonde he hoists into the sunset is supposed to be emblematic of Nico’s contributions, though how exactly I can’t remember. You know what they say […]
Blerditorial: Why Everybody Hates Chris (And What The Fuck Is Rihanna Thinking?)
I’ve been debating the idea of speaking up on this whole Chris Brown/Rihanna mess for a few days now. It wasn’t until last night, when I was poring through a nearly two decade-old book, Generation Sex by Dr. Judy Kuriansky, that I really felt like it was necessary to put pen to paper. I randomly picked up on this statistic: over 30% of women who are murdered in theUnited Statesget killed by a current or former lover/spouse/romantic partner. The book […]
Political Excursus: SOPA, PIPA and the Future of the Internet
As you perused the web yesterday, you no doubt noticed that a number of sites – Reddit, Wikipedia, WordPress, the Cheezburger Network (of I Can Haz Cheezburger and FailBlog fame) among them, went dark. As you no doubt discovered this was in a collective move to protest something called SOPA/PIPA. Popblerd decided not to go dark for the day. However, we do feel that this is an important issue that has received little media attention until the blackouts. We thus […]
Calculating Hipsterdom: Determining Your Overall Hipster Magnitude (OHM)
A little over a year ago, I wrote an editorial piece about Pitchfork’s cultural hegemony and the “dullard hipster masses” that keep it afloat, arguing that the collective idiocy of Pitchfork’s readership was responsible for their stranglehold-verging-on-monopolization of the critical tide. It was part of a long line of anti-hipster rants and ravings I produced before taking an extended sabbatical from music writing (which I took to fulfill my lifelong dream of sleeping on a couch and working retail). I’ve noticed a lot […]
Blerditorial: The NBA’s Back: But Am I Coming Back With It?
Basketball was my first sports love, and I’ll always have a soft spot for it. The first sporting event I ever attended was a Celtics/Pistons playoff game in the spring of 1987. There’s a very clear delineation when it comes to my favorite sports. In reverse order, there’s “everything else”, a huge gap, football, baseball, a GINORMOUS gap, and then basketball. I spent much of my childhood reading books about Magic and Kareem. I continue to play basketball myself (on […]
Last Night a KJ Saved My Life: Part 1: A Personal History.
Hi, my name is Drew. You know me as the writer of awesome articles and reviews. What you may not know is this: despite my six-figure Popblerd salary (???!?!?-ed.), I do feel the need to keep myself busy in the working world. Some are accountants; some are truck drivers. I, dear readers… I am a karaoke host. That’s right. Ever walked by a bar, only to be seduced by the dulcet tones of a sleeveless drunk mangling Bob Seger’s “Turn […]
Blerditorial: Who is the Real Queen of Soul?
You can’t mention Aretha Franklin without hearing the term “Queen of Soul”. It’s a term bestowed upon her by fans and peers alike and it has stuck to the point that she believes her own press. Much as I love Aretha, though (and I really do), I don’t know that she is far and away the undisputed Queen. I’m certainly not gonna throw anyone obscure into the conversation. Diana Ross is more of a pop vocalist than a soul vocalist, […]
Blerditorial: Has “Family Guy” Jumped the Shark?
I didn’t have TV reception for almost half a decade (summer 1996 to the beginning of 2002), so I had a lot of catching up to do once I was able to actually watch TV again. Hell, I still have major pop culture lapses from that era-not knowing anything about “Friends”, for example. One of the first shows that was brought to my attention once I was back in touch with the rest of society was “Family Guy”, via the […]
This Week in Gay: Leaving “30 Rock” Once & For All
You know something? I’m not easily offended. I’d like to think I have a really good sense of humor. Generally speaking, most jokes-whether they be ethnic jokes, sexual jokes, whatever…don’t get much of a reaction from me (outside of laughter, obviously.) Well, actor/comedian Tracy Morgan started Gay Pride Month off with a doozy during a stand-up comedy routine in Nashville last week that I (and many others) feel crossed the line. Among the actor’s comments: “Gays need to quit being pussies […]