Pop Music

The winter-and-spring mix of pop-music releases is never so blockbuster-packed as the holiday shopping season, but there are still some heavy-duty headliners on the way. Some of the world's biggest rockers and rappers reclaim the spotlight, while the ur-jam band comes back to life. And the returns of a smart-mouthed British wit and a sultry Philadelphia chanteuse are among the subtler musical pleasures in the months ahead. Lily Allen, It's Not Me, It's You. The smart-mouthed Brit who made a fabulously cheeky splash with 2007's Alright, Still comes back with another comma in her album title.

Major players in the black/urban music and radio business gathered recently at Bally's Park Place Casino Hotel for "Super Summit Conference," sponsored by the music-industry tipsheet Impact. Included on the "Trendsetter" panel were Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the hottest writing-producing team in - forget black music - the whole of pop music. The floor was open for questions. "Jimmy and Terry," queried a disc-jockey voice that could give a bullfrog pause, "can you clear up the rumors regarding the Time reunion and movie?

And now, here's something for the youngsters," Ed Sullivan used to say in his half-apologetic introductions for longhaired bands such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Animals when they performed on his variety show. Nowadays, with those "youngsters" of yore sitting in the prime easy chair, American television no longer treats popular music as the pimply little monster only let out to play for a few minutes on weekends. Pop is the soundtrack of America's collective life.

Justin Timberlake is doing the anxiety-ridden post-9/11 world a huge favor. He's bringing "SexyBack. " Have the Sept. 11 attacks had as profound an effect on pop music as they did on geopolitics? Yep. They've made it sillier. Not exclusively, of course. Along with a parade of Pussycat Dolls and "Promiscuous" boys and girls, there have been serious responses to the tragic events of that clear blue day. The most impressive, by far, has been Bruce Springsteen's The Rising, which did its inspirational best in 2002 to make sense of the rubble left behind.

For a pop music lover, plugging into a good cause has never been easier or more entertaining. The biggest flurry of charity albums ever to be released in a single year is coming between now and the holiday season. Just buy, enjoy, and take your tax deduction (where applicable.) Music Speaks Louder Than Words (Epic) celebrates the spirit of glasnost, with a catchy collection of light rock and soul songs jointly composed in Russia (in November 1988) by seasoned U.S. writers and the best pop tunesmiths from the USSR.

Mark Judge is the grandson of former Washington Senators baseball player Joe Judge, and author of Damn Senators: My Grandfather and the Story of Washington's Only World Series Championship and God and Man at Georgetown Prep Lady Gaga is no Madonna. That some conservatives are comparing the two performers is yet another sign of the pop-culture (and even religious) illiteracy of the right. I myself am a conservative, and it always demoralizes me when people on the right fumble the ball on popular culture, particularly in the field of pop music.

Rage, it seems, is all the rage in pop music nowadays. Last month, the rap group Public Enemy released a controversial video titled "By the Time I Get to Arizona," which portrays rapper Chuck D leading a paramilitary force on a mission to kill Arizona politicians for opposing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The clip also features simulated footage of 1960s civil rights marches. Critics say the Public Enemy clip is representative of an upsurge in hateful lyrics and visuals in pop music.

No money that's why I'm mad Need a livin' that's why I rap . . . I'm cheap, can't brag about what I got My five-star meals come from IHOP. - Rugged N Raw, "I'm Broke and Proud" You're losin' your job, your house and your car Hittin' rock bottom don't feel that far Nothin' good is gonna come along All I can do is play this song. - Loudon Wainwright III, "Times Is Hard" Pop music escapism isn't about to go out of fashion, but hard times are back in style.

Check the United States Golf Association rule book. What does it say about a player listening to Pearl Jam on his Walkman in the middle of his backswing? That would be covered by Rule 14-3, "Artificial Devices and Unusual Equipment," which states that a "player shall not use any unusual equipment: (a) which might assist him in making a stroke, (b) for the purpose of measuring distance, or (c) which might assist him in gripping the club. " That is good news for Triton junior John Hagerty 3d, who resorted to musical assistance last week as a way to clear his head and break out of a rare slump.

Every year in mid-March, a horde of music-business types descends on this bursting-with-talent town for the South by Southwest Music & Media Conference (SXSW), and is amazed at the breadth of Texas music. There are conjunto accordionists. Red-hot blues guitarists. Left-of-center country pickers. Singer-songwriters of every stripe. Unencumbered by major- label recording contracts, they play Austin clubs year-round, refining their musicianship, developing their stagecraft and not making a whole lot of money in the process.

Producers of Daniel Craig's James Bondfilm Skyfall have committed the greatest outrage since the execution of Joan of Arc: They've sold out Bond to a beer brand. TMZ says in exchange for $45 mil, Bond will drink Heineken instead of his trademark vodka-martini-shaken-not-stirred. Bond films have plugged brands before, but this strikes at the heart of the James-Bond-ness of Bond. Craig, 44, recently told the New York Times that product placement is part of the Hollywood process: "We have relationships with a number of companies.

Inquirer critic Dan DeLuca writes about pop music and culture at .

Jeremy Lin. Did the mere mention of his name make you smile? Cringe? Shrug? How about Tim Tebow? Now that a few weeks have passed since the Denver quarterback dominated every sports-related conversation, can you hear his name without an immediate smile, cringe, or shrug? The real question for today isn't about your opinions regarding these two out-of-nowhere sports phenoms. The question is why everyone feels the need to have one, and whether that artificial divide between pro- and anti- is ruining our simple enjoyment of sports.

The season in music will be a busy one. Big-name acts of long standing such as Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, the reunited Beach Boys, and, it's expected, the Rolling Stones, will be on tour. And everyone from Super Bowl headliner Madonna to agit-pop singer M.I.A. to Philadelphia street rapper Meek Mill will be releasing new albums. The accompanying list highlights a selection of hotly anticipated albums and concerts, with newcomer Lana Del Rey and old lion Leonard Cohen starting off the season this week.

CAMERON Crowe's dual loves of music and movies are intertwined and inseparable. He made a mix tape to persuade Matt Damon to star in "We Bought a Zoo," played carefully selected songs to get the cast of "Singles" into the proper mood for a scene. Many of his defining screen moments as a director combine the union of the two forms - John Cusack's Peter Gabriel/"In Your Eyes" scene in "Say Anthing," the use of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" in "Almost Famous. " Crowe's been at the intersection of movies and pop music long enough to see them heading in different directions.

Putting together a Top Ten list of the best albums of 2011 isn't the toughest job in the world, but when there are virtually no barriers to making music and distributing it on the Internet, it can be a challenging one. Sometimes the difficulty is wading through the muck - with a laptop, anyone can make a record, and sometimes it seems as though everyone did. But once you focus on the good stuff, you remember that there was a lot of it, dating...

  BETWEEN today's nationwide opening of the remake of the 1984 film musical "Footloose," and next week's Merriam Theater run of "Rock of Ages," the Broadway smash scored with pop-rock hits from the time when MTV actually programmed music, only one question begs asking: What in the name of Night Ranger is going on here? Somehow, the music of Journey, REO Speedwagon, Kenny Loggins and Extreme has become as much a part of the soundtrack of modern popular culture as anything by Jay-Z or Lady Gaga.

CASINOS BOBBY BE GOOD Of all the Philly guys who hit it big in pop music during the late-1950s and early '60s, it's hard to argue that Bobby Rydell didn't lap the field when it came to all-around talent. Although he became one of the era's biggest teen idols through such lightweight fare as "Swingin' School," "Wild One" and "Wildwood Days," Rydell has always been in a league with Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin when it came to swinging his way through the pre-rock pop catalog.

The soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou celebrates its 10th anniversary this month with a fresh reissue that debuts Tuesday. The music that scored the Coen Brothers' Depression-era adaptation of Homer's Odyssey changed popular music in a big way, bringing old-timey mountain music to the forefront of America's pop market for the first time in decades. And we're still feeling the soundtrack's influence. Would the masses have been ready for roots-minded crossover acts Mumford & Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Civil Wars, or the Avett Brothers had it not been for the brave, game-changing appeal of O Brother ?