popcorn youth

I uploaded some pics from last weekend’s musical adventures. We managed to make it for both nights of Winter Ends Destruction — the only band we missed was Eagles of Death Metal — as well as the Saturday portion of the Gladtree Festival. More thoughts on the music we saw will be posted later, but […]

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. This is their mission statement on their website:
The Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) is a one-week multimedia inter-arts extravaganza that reboots the environment and sustainability into a larger global conversation, embracing issues ranging from labor, war, health, disease, music, intellectual […]

Instrumental rock trio Russian Circles aren’t afraid to admit that their live show is their strongest asset. After playing frequently around Chicago, the trio released a well-received eponymous EP, followed by their debut full-length, Enter, on Chicago label Flameshovel Records. Enter is filled with the trio’s trademark long, epic instrumental songs, a movement which has […]

I didn’t get a chance to drive to Syracuse for the Ra Ra Riot/The Hold Steady show tonight, but hopefully they’ll make their way back to Ithaca soon. The last time I saw them, it seemed as though the crowd was more enthusiastic about their feisty, spirited performance than headliners The Essex Green. This young […]

This week, our cover story was on the folk trio The Roches, a group of three close-knit sisters, Terre, Suzzy, and Maggie. They’ll be playing the State Theatre this Saturday at 8pm, and stay tuned for a longer post about my lovely conversation with the youngest sister, Suzzy. Read the article that appeared in the […]

A decision must be made. Next weekend, from March 23-25, the Gladtree Collective will hold their annual Gladtree Festival. Now, I heard of this for the very first time when the Sunburned guys told us about it at their Fanclub show a few weeks ago (they’re playing on Saturday at Gladtree), but it sounds like […]

Surf-instro-punk band The Mofos will play a St. Patty’s Day show tonight at the Chapter House, with support from Johnny Dowd and his backing band (which now includes former Mofos drummer Brian Wilson). The noise will begin around 10pm, and part of the show will include The Mofos sharing a stage with Johnny Dowd and […]

Wednesday night, we were lucky enough to catch the superb Mark Morris Dance Group perform at the Schwartz Center. It was impeccably produced, and the dancers had an incredible presence and energy (no doubt due to their enviable muscularity and athleticism — I suppose a waifish or frail dancer simply would not cut it in […]

We’ve added a lot of new photos to our galleries, especially from last Saturday’s spectacular Lucky Dragons/High Places/Gown/Mouthus/Sunburned Hand of the Man show. We’re still adding new pictures every day, so be sure to keep visiting our photo section, or you can look at them all at once on our flickr page. A more detailed […]

Chinese cinema has played a crucial role in the ongoing development of Chinese cultural identity in the last twenty years. More recently, China has experienced a rapid expansion of independent artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers. Documentary film, in particular, is one of the best, and most explicit, venues to illustrate contemporary Chinese life. In part, […]

(Photo courtesy of Chris Gray of Double Leopards. Check out his album of Mouthus pics on Flickr.)
One essential component of New York City’s complicated music history has been a unique, self-sustainable noise scene. Since the early 80s, NYC bands such as Swans and Sonic Youth have been credited with translating their experimental noise aesthetic to […]

One of the pleasures of following electronic music today is the speed by which forms mutate, develop, and coalesce. It can take no more than a few new software developments, a transmogrified approach to sampling, a few alterations to tempo and beat structure, and voila, a group of people somewhere on the planet are […]

Hopefully, by now you have viewed the two exhibits by Shanghai-born artist Wenda Gu now on display at the Johnson Museum. Wenda Gu himself will be making two appearances at the Johnson Museum, both of which Popcorn Youth will be attending. Anybody who has not had the pleasure of meeting Wenda Gu and hearing him […]

The Essex Green write finely crafted songs in the tradition of 60s and 70s pop and folk acts. Although iconic groups such as The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel and the Mamas and the Papas are influences, The Essex Green’s sound is not solely revivalist. Nostalgia does color their bright, melodic neo-psychedelic songs, but The Essex […]