Wise Men Learn to Love: Sarah Slean’s “The Devil & The Dove”

Shot in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, The Devil & The Dove is the latest single/video released from Slean’s 2011 masterpiece Land & Sea. The double-disc set found Slean exploring the two most prominent aspects of her material to date: a delightful pop sensibility and lush, gorgeous and theatrical compositions. The second of the two discs: Sea is a collection of orchestral arrangements which focus on life, love and quantum physics. exploring the magic that can be found in merely contemplating our existence as we experience the varying pleasures and pains of daily life.

Pop Gospel: Wild Orchid – Stuttering (Don’t Say)

“Stuttering (Don’t Say)” was the first and only single from the never-released third and final album by pop trio Wild Orchid, entitled: Fire. It was released in May of 2001 and broke the top 40 charts but never really took off and marked the disbandment of Renee Sandstrom, Stefanie Ridel and Stacy Ferguson after nearly 11 years as a group.

Popologist Panel: Adam Lambert, Azealia Banks, Ke$ha

Popologist Panel: Adam Lambert, Azealia Banks, Ke$ha

I was recently asked to take part in a monthly panel reviewing some of the latest releases and leaks from a variety of popular and up-and-coming artists on Vertigo Shtick. Check out the first installment of the Popologist Panel, where we discuss the latest releases from: Adam Lambert, Queen of Hearts, Azealia Banks, Florrie, Cher Lloyd, Luciana, Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole and a demo/leak from Ke$ha!

Pop Gospel: Mandy Moore – Cry

“Cry” was taken from the love-it or hate-it cheese fest that was the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks novel “A Walk to Remember.” (I love it!) The video, doomed to the soundtrack single curse of having to include clips from the film, is completely terrible. Mandy, however, looks gorgeous as she dons dark brown hair for one of the first times in her career and starts to mature her image. The thing about a great fucking song is that when it’s this pretty and heartfelt, the terribly shoddiness of the accompanying music video doesn’t always matter.

This is just one of many songs in the Pop Gospel hymn books by the one late 90’s pop starlet who grew out of bubblegum and always took the high road while her peers were getting dirrty. I’m choosing to disregard the perviness factor in early Moore videos like “Candy,” the creepiness of which was only recently brought to my attention as I read a discussion between two fellow Pop enthusiasts on Twitter! *Shudder*

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Stop the In-Stan-ity!! (An Intervention)

Stans of the World (and other interested parties),

We gather here today and everyday to rejoice in the word of the Church of Pop. It is my honor to have been chosen by The Pop Gods to spread the righteous word and while much of my experience has been positive since I began preaching the Pop Gospel last November, I have to say that the amount of bullshit (for lack of a better term) that is thrown between fanbases is completely ridiculous and quite frankly off-putting. For branding purposes and as an excuse to spend countless hours making some digital art, I will call this phenomenon:

(Full-Size Image Link, if you’re interested)