Douglas Wolk

Kanye West performing 'Blood on the Leaves' at the VMAs

Kanye West’s Masked ‘Yeezus’ Tour Opener in Seattle Brushes Off Idea of ‘A Fun Night Out’

Kanye West shows are where audiences get to watch a great artist in his element and enable a great artist's cranky delusions. On Saturday night,…

Douglas Wolk / October 20, 2013

Spotlight

Anti-YouTube Movement of the Year: Long Songs

The received wisdom is that popular music is the province of short attention spans, which are only getting shorter: Listeners only care about callout hooks;…

Douglas Wolk / December 17, 2012

News

Comic-Con 2012: So Long, San Diego, and Thanks for All the Swag

OH MAN. THE PAST FEW DAYS OF THIS YEAR'S COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL HAVE BEEN HUGE AND EXHAUSTING. DID ANYTHING EQUALLY STUPENDOUS HAPPEN TODAY? Not so much.

Douglas Wolk / July 16, 2012

News

<i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> / Photo courtesy Warner Bros.

Comic-Con 2012: Comic Book Movies, Comics, and Cosplay

SO, WHILE THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A VERY BIG MOVIE ELEMENT TO COMIC-CON, THERE'S A LOT OF STRAIGHT-UP COMIC BOOK STUFF TOO. DO THOSE TWO CULTURES COME…

Douglas Wolk / July 15, 2012

News

Zombie from <i>The Walking Dead</i> / Photo courtesy AMC

Comic-Con 2012: The Zombie Apocalypse Is Nigh

AS WE ALL KNOW, POPULAR CULTURE ROTATES THROUGH EPOCHS BELONGING TO ROBOTS, PIRATES AND ZOMBIES. ACCORDING TO THE PREVAILING VIBE OF THIS YEAR'S COMIC-CON, WHICH…

Douglas Wolk / July 14, 2012

News

Comic-Con 2012: Parties, Nutty Gadgets, and Chris Daughtry

COMIC-CON 2012 IS OFFICIALLY GOING ON NOW. WHAT WAS THE VIBE TODAY ALL ABOUT? Thursday at Comic-Con has become Party Day. There are parties going…

Douglas Wolk / July 13, 2012

News

Comic-Con: Everything You Need to Know About 2012’s Big Event

SO WHAT IS COMIC-CON EXACTLY, AND DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO WEAR A COSTUME? Comic-Con International is the biggest pop culture convention in America. It started…

Douglas Wolk / July 12, 2012

News

New James Brown Bio Reveals Godfather of Soul’s American Revolution of Rhythm

The career of the 20th century's greatest American musician has been eclipsed by the wretched image of the final years of his life: an incoherent,…

Douglas Wolk / June 8, 2012

Lists

Robin Gibb, RIP: Hear the Bee Gee’s Legacy in 15 Tracks

Robin Gibb, who died after a lengthy fight with cancer on May 20, spent most of his career as the member of the Bee Gees…

Douglas Wolk / May 21, 2012

Lists

Donna Summer / Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Donna Summer, RIP: Hear Her Legacy in 15 Tracks

Donna Summer, who passed away today after a lengthy battle with cancer, was best known as a disco singer, of course, but she had a…

Douglas Wolk / May 17, 2012

Lists

16 Photos

Whitney Houston, R.I.P.: Hear Her Legacy in 15 Tracks

When Whitney Houston died prematurely over the weekend in a Los Angeles hotel, we didn't just lose a pop singer — we lost a true…

Douglas Wolk / February 13, 2012

Interviews

The SPIN Interview: Stephen Malkmus

Over the course of two decades, Stephen Malkmus has traded Pavement's inscrutable, self-reflexive wordplay for marathon prog-guitar solos. "I'm just not that much into words…

Douglas Wolk / March 1, 2008

News

Panel Surfers

If you've read enough comic books, the opening scene from The Umbrella Academy's first issue doesn't seem all that unusual: A tank-size pro wrestler wallops…

Douglas Wolk / January 9, 2008

Spotlight