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August 29, 2008
Shorties
Den of Geek reviews a book I am picking up this weekend, 500 Essential Graphic Novels by Gene Kannenberg.
This guide really does exactly what it says on the tin. It lists 500 graphic novels that no self-respecting geek should be without, and gives you plot summaries and reviews them. And if your wallet can stand the strain, it also gives some further recommendations. For example, if you like Asterix And The Great Crossing, you should check out the Smurfs…
Metromix Chicago lists the most annoying frontmen in rock.
The Boston Herald notes the resurgence in vinyl sales.
Take5 interviews Elf Power frontman Andrew Rieger.
Q: Tell me about “Dark Developments,” the disc you just made backing up Vic Chesnutt.
A: It’s coming out in October on our label called Orange Twin. We backed him up on a TV show called “Music Road” a couple of years ago, and it went really well. Then he asked us to do a record together. We recorded it in his attic studio at his house. We did it gradually over a year, but I’m really proud of how it tuned out. Vic is one of my songwriting heroes. We’re heading over to Portugal and Spain with him in September.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the music blogger arrested for posting nine songs from Guns 'n Roses' Chinese Democracy album has been charged with a felony.
When five FBI agents arrested Kevin Cogill at his Culver City apartment, it marked the newest weapon in the entertainment industry's war on piracy: felony charges against small-time bootleggers.
Radiohead Artwork collects CD, vinyl, and promotional graphic design examples from the band.
At the Walrus, cartoonist Seth explores the "quiet art of cartooning."
A cartoonist isn’t like a writer. Writing requires a special kind of focus. Your mind must be utterly devoted to the task at hand. When I’m breaking down a strip or hammering out dialogue, I’m using that writer’s focus. But drawing and inking are different. They use different parts of the brain. I often find that when I’m drawing, only half my mind is on the work — watching proportions, balancing compositions, eliminating unnecessary details.
ReadWriteWeb makes a case for an iTunes built-in social networking.
Wired offers a how-to Wiki about downloading streaming audio.
The Daily Nebraskan lists its favorite music blogs.
Threadless has enhanced its "2 Cool 4 School" sale by lowering the price on 146 t-shirt designs to $9 (teh rest are $12 for the duration of teh sale).
Mike Skinner of the Streets talks to the Guardian.
Skinner likes to establish a concept and a set of rules for each album so that each represents a distinct period. "Let's face it," he deadpans, "I'm the Pablo Picasso of geezer garage, aren't I?" It's easy for the listener to assume that his life likewise breaks down into chapters. After the clammy, my-drug-hell soap opera of The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, everything is borrowed bursts into the open air with organic instrumentation and bucolic imagery. Put this together with his farewell to hard drugs and his current jogging regime and you end up with a tidy little narrative - Mike Skinner Grows Up - but not, it transpires, an accurate one.
Time readers ask questions of author Tom Wolfe.
Former Cobra verde and Guided By Voices guitarist John Petkovic has written a bar guide for Cleveland.com.
The Montreal Mirror interviews Dave Berman of the Silver Jews.
M: Do you have problems with the rash of blog-style rock criticism?
DB: I’ve read more good criticism on blogs than in print. There is a lot of meanness on the web, which is unpleasant, but there is also the opposite, a way of slathering mediocrity in superlatives that can be sickening.
Time examines the music scene at this week's Democratic National Convention.
I'm not doing much work at the Democratic Convention, but I'm hearing a lot of great music. Forget Bonnaroo, CMJ and Coachella: all the cool bands are in Denver this week, and almost all of them are playing for free. The Democrats may struggle with party unity, but they don't seem to have any trouble putting a festival together.
The Huffington Post weighs in on the afterparties.
Fan Fare interviews Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn about lyric writing.
Q: Do you have a giant map to keep track of all the characters and stories?
A: “Yeah, like an arc that I think of the whole thing, and really it’s like, almost a tree. You’re just hanging stories on it like Christmas ornaments. So there’s this big structure that I can fill in details on.”
Sean Michaels of Said the Gramophone has started writing a regular music column at McSweeney's Internet Tendency.
Browse the archive of the Atlantic's literary interviews.
McSweeney's is holding a sale (ending today) where you can buy any in-stock copy of the Quarterly Concern (including the current #28) for $5 (plus shipping).
also at Largehearted Boy:
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
this week's CD releases
tags: music books popculture indie news
