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December 10, 2009
Shorties (The Big Pink, Joe Sacco, and more)
Rolling Stone profiles The Big Pink.
Sounds Like: A mix of suffocating shoegaze textures, arena-ready pop hooks and the occasional breakbeat, their debut album, A History Of Love, recalls classic 4AD labelmates like the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance with an abrasive, violent grit.
The Jewish Chronicle reviews Joe Sacco's new graphic novel Footnotes in Gaza.
The power of Footnotes lies in Sacco’s unblinking focus on the everyday lives of the inhabitants, on events that never reach the headlines. For many of his interviewees and their families, there is something perverse about his focus on events of half-a-century ago. Yet it becomes increasingly clear that this past defines the present.
Vue Weekly profiles Magneta Lane.
A year after forming, the trio released the critically acclaimed EP—The Constant Lover—and a year after that, Magneta Lane was on tour with k-os. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. The Toronto band has performed on stages from here to Japan, been compared to the Pretenders and is currently, on the heels of its second full-length release, on its second tour with Canadian indie icons Sloan.
Carles of Hipster Runoff analyzes Stereogum's 2009 Gummy Awards results.
iTunes offers a free 20-track mp3 holiday sampler.
Seattle Weekly profiles one of the most impressive local music blogs on the planet, Three Imaginary Girls.
The Christian Science Monitor reviews Ha Jin's new short fiction collection, A Good Fall.
Jin’s prose (and particularly his dialogue) is baldly direct, without flourishes but not without nuance. Six of the stories are narrated in the first person, the others from a tight third-person perspective – yet all come across with the straightforward declarative immediacy of a videotaped interview or testimonial.
The Chicago Reader reviews the recently reissued Lifter Puller albums.
Rolling Stone has named its albums of the decade.
The Los Angeles Times reviews Bob Dylan Revisited, a book that collects illustrations inspired by Bob Dylan's lyrics.
One Drawing for Every Page of Moby Dick (the blog)
Grant Morrison talks to USA Today about the return of the original Batman to comics.
WXPN's World Cafe interviews singer-songwriter Mason Jennings.
Ear Farm has released a holiday compilation album, Do You EAR What I EAR, with proceeds going to The Association for the Benefit of Children a good cause that is dedicated to permanently breaking the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness and homelessness among disadvantaged children and their families.
They Shoot Music Don't They shares a couple of intimate performance videos of singer-songwriter Laura Gibson.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
online "best of 2009" book lists
online "best of 2009" music lists
Online Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Book Lists
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
