{"id":2348,"date":"2014-10-08T11:52:59","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T15:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=2348"},"modified":"2014-10-20T11:12:48","modified_gmt":"2014-10-20T15:12:48","slug":"leonard-cohen-popular-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonard Cohen <br>Popular Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2349\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\" alt=\"Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>With an iconoclastic artist like Leonard Cohen, a new album is almost irrelevant. Possessing a lengthy discography of records filled with the kind of religious allegory and literary lyricism that long ago established him as rock &amp; roll\u2019s de facto poet laureate, Cohen has nothing left to prove. And we all know that records no longer make money. Yet, I suspect Cohen enjoys the act of creation, and fortunately for us, the results on <i>Popular Problems<\/i> (Columbia Records) are enjoyable for the listener as well.<\/p>\n<p>As on his other releases from this century, Cohen favors a minimal backing consistently mostly of keys and the contributions of his backup singers. As such, the record\u2019s focal point is (as it should be) on Cohen and the words he emits. Having recently turned 80 years-old, Cohen\u2019s voice has grown gruff, seemingly embodying the world-weariness so often represented in his songs. It suits him well, though, and his delivery, as much spoken as it is sung, further emphasizes his image as the wizened old bard. This approach works best on \u201cAlmost Like the Blues,\u201d which blends some simple conga beats, piano, and bass over which Cohen waxes self-referentially. Elsewhere, \u201cDid I Ever Love You\u201d is a study in contrasts, with Cohen\u2019s voice grizzled to an almost Tom Waits\u2013like level and juxtaposed with an acoustic guitar delivering lilting pop hooks and his backing vocalists singing sweetly about blossoming lemon trees and such. The record features some subtle eclecticism\u2014\u201cNevermind,\u201d in particular, folds in some Middle Eastern influences\u2014and as such is probably Cohen\u2019s most divergent since <i>Death of a Ladies\u2019 Man<\/i>. It is far more successful, though, and reveals that he still has plenty of new ideas in need of being immortalized on wax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With an iconoclastic artist like Leonard Cohen, a new album is almost irrelevant. Possessing a lengthy discography of records filled with the kind of religious<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,921,920],"class_list":["post-2348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-columbia-records","tag-leonard-cohen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Leonard Cohen Popular Problems - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With an iconoclastic artist like Leonard Cohen, a new album is almost irrelevant. Possessing a lengthy discography of records filled with the kind of religious\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-08T15:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-20T15:12:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephen Slaybaugh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephen Slaybaugh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stephen Slaybaugh\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/4c0a2e33892559e5e2d68fa9de669d89\"},\"headline\":\"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-08T15:52:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-20T15:12:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\"},\"wordCount\":298,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\",\"Columbia Records\",\"Leonard Cohen\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Album Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\",\"name\":\"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems - The Agit Reader\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-08T15:52:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-20T15:12:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\",\"name\":\"The Agit Reader\",\"description\":\"a music webzine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Agit Reader\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg\",\"width\":339,\"height\":149,\"caption\":\"The Agit Reader\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/agitreader\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/4c0a2e33892559e5e2d68fa9de669d89\",\"name\":\"Stephen Slaybaugh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5baa5d2f0bfecad8048ca1b8989016c4f217fe9576ef2397c74a2674fb56b558?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5baa5d2f0bfecad8048ca1b8989016c4f217fe9576ef2397c74a2674fb56b558?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Stephen Slaybaugh\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/author\/sdslaybaugh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems - The Agit Reader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems - The Agit Reader","og_description":"With an iconoclastic artist like Leonard Cohen, a new album is almost irrelevant. Possessing a lengthy discography of records filled with the kind of religious","og_url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/","og_site_name":"The Agit Reader","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader","article_published_time":"2014-10-08T15:52:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-10-20T15:12:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Stephen Slaybaugh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@agitreader","twitter_site":"@agitreader","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephen Slaybaugh","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/"},"author":{"name":"Stephen Slaybaugh","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/4c0a2e33892559e5e2d68fa9de669d89"},"headline":"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems","datePublished":"2014-10-08T15:52:59+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-20T15:12:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/"},"wordCount":298,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg","keywords":["Album Review","Columbia Records","Leonard Cohen"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/","name":"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems - The Agit Reader","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-08T15:52:59+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-20T15:12:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Leonard_Cohen-Popular_Problems.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/leonard-cohen-popular-problems\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Leonard Cohen Popular Problems"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/","name":"The Agit Reader","description":"a music webzine","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization","name":"The Agit Reader","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg","width":339,"height":149,"caption":"The Agit Reader"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader","https:\/\/x.com\/agitreader"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/4c0a2e33892559e5e2d68fa9de669d89","name":"Stephen Slaybaugh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5baa5d2f0bfecad8048ca1b8989016c4f217fe9576ef2397c74a2674fb56b558?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5baa5d2f0bfecad8048ca1b8989016c4f217fe9576ef2397c74a2674fb56b558?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Stephen Slaybaugh"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/agitreader.com"],"url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/author\/sdslaybaugh\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Up74-BS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2348"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2356,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}