PopMatters

If anyone can properly detonate the story of how insatiable greed brought global society to the post-truth tabloid hell we all boil in now, it’s Danny Boyle. The polyvalent English director is always a delight to watch for the terrific vitality of his films; no matter how difficult the subject, he will make each shot alive and sizzling like a short fuse throughout. This intense liveliness, of course, is delicately balanced against the accompanying threat of a slip into neurosis.

Dolly Parton and Beyoncé are two cultural icons united by a song that challenges aspects of the public persona they have constructed. “What matter who’s speaking?” writes Samuel Beckett in Stories and Texts for Nothing (1966). Beckett’s question lies at the heart of Michel Foucault’s famous essay “What is an author?”, first delivered as a lecture in 1969.

Bodies in Motion Independent Some bands wear their musical influences on their sleeves but fail to lift a finger to make their music unique and imaginative. Then there’s Plum. Bodies in Motion, the Chicago-based trio’s second full-length album, clearly draws on the angular post-punk of bands like Talking Heads, XTC, and Gang of Four. What sets them apart from the soulless imitators is that they’re incredible musicians with strong songwriting smarts that elevate whatever style they’re immersed in.

The astonishing career of composer, saxophonist, and flautist Henry Threadgill seems as strong and distinctive as ever in 2026. Just weeks ago, he released his first recording on Nonesuch Records with co-leaders Vijay Iyer and Dafnis Prieto (both MacArthur Fellows), and now his longstanding band Zooid has put out Cut You Where You Was on the independent label Pi Recordings, which was created in significant part to keep Threadgill‘s music in our ears.

A Night in New Orleans MoMojo Records Crescent City jump blues pianist Mitch Woods does it all by himself on his latest release, A Night in New Orleans, recorded live at the Snug Harbor club during the 2026 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He sings, tells stories, and, most importantly, plays boogie-woogie piano to entertain the crowd. You can hear their enthusiastic response as he hits the keys, but they never throw him off his stride. Indeed, the opposite is true.

“Can’t help but wonder if I was well, would you still be here,” sings Joshua Bassett on the title track to his second studio album, Easier. While the streaming-age pop singer has always profited from the ability to release new music sometimes with only a week’s notice to the public, Bassett surprised his fanbase when he announced earlier this month that the new singles he had started to drop made up the track listing for a new LP, a follow-up to 2024’s The Golden Years.

Maybe you’ve read James Joyce’s story collection, Dubliners (1914). Maybe you’ve read his first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Maybe you’ve dipped into neither of those classics but have wondered about his second novel, Ulysses (1922).

Who Loves the Sun The Flenser Oklahoma’s Chat Pile have made a name for themselves quickly over the past six years. Their debut, God’s Country, took hardcore and noise by storm, offering a pitch-black view of our lives and mixing everyday horrors with tracks inspired by their film-geek obsessions.

Colson Whitehead’s relationship with the crime fiction genre is complicated. Like Jonathan Lethem, another New York-centric writer who came out of less salubrious districts of literature before being accepted into the pantheon, Whitehead has long been one of America’s top-ranked practitioners of critically approved fiction (awards, good speaking gigs, New Yorker appearances). This is what makes his just-concluded “Harlem Trilogy” such a treat and surprise.

Take Leave Ruination Record Co. Since 2012, Sam Sodomsky has quietly released lyrically elegant, musically sophisticated albums under the moniker The Bird Calls. His Bandcamp page has nearly three dozen releases, including singles, EPs, and full-length albums. If his latest record, Take Leave, is any indication, he’s not slowing down and is making his best music yet.