Christopher Lee

Nov 2, 2024 | jacobin.com | Christopher Lee

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is an experimental rock band from Montreal that have garnered a committed fan base over the past three decades. Founded in 1994 and cryptically named after a Japanese motorcycle gang, they are seen as adherents of “post-rock,” a nebulous category that nonetheless has several defining features, including long compositions, atypical tempos, and a preference for instrumental music over lyrical content. Post-rock is not radio-friendly.

Mar 7, 2024 | spectrumculture.com | Christopher Lee

One of the unfortunate limits of the “world music” genre is how it tends to elide the politics of local and regional music scenes. All too often, this category has lent itself to background music soundtracks in any number of stylish coffee shops and bistros with patrons unaware of what they are listening to.

Sep 20, 2023 | popmatters.com | Christopher Lee

Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and Sonic Boom (Peter Kember) have represented one of the more interesting (and rare) intergenerational collaborations of the past several years. Technically, they are both Gen Xers, though at opposing ends of that generation’s spectrum: Kember was born in 1965, and Lennox in 1978. From a musical standpoint, their differences become more apparent with their artistic origins located in two distinctive cohorts of indie music.

Sep 14, 2023 | popmatters.com | Christopher Lee

Keep everything. These two words should be an abiding credo of any musician or band with ambition. Forget perfect songs or professional publicity photos. Embrace imperfection or, more precisely, personal imperfection on its way to some form of musical perfection. Half-written demos, live recordings on analog cassettes, party pictures, private letters, and jotted song lyrics on a napkin – such ephemera have accrued value through the emergence of archival compilations as a conventional genre.

Sep 12, 2023 | popmatters.com | Christopher Lee

Courtney BarnettMilk / Mom+PopThe Grammy-nominated Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett is arguably best known for her collaboration with Kurt Vile on the album Lotta Sea Lice (2017). I say arguably because longer-term fans will point to her acclaimed first album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015), and her equally feted recent album, Things Take Time, Take Time (2021).