Book Review: Cult StreetWear – By Josh Sims
August 30th, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Cult Street Wear
By Josh Sims
Laurence King Publishing
Take a mental photo of what comes to mind when you read the word “catalogue’. Serial numbers? Lists? Boring?
Think about a clothing catalogue as if Dan The Automator put it together. This is essentially what you get with Cult Street Wear’s new coffee table book, with such notables designing the cover and liners as 123Klan and FL@33.
Within the depths of the book, one can see the newest and freshest kicks, hoodies, jewelry, and every other type of clothing being modeled by heavyweight hipsters such as The Neptunes and Ice Cube, but also catch a glimpse of the history behind the designs. Take a look at Pharrell and Co. sporting his own Ice Creams clothing line, and others wearing Nike, A Bathing Ape, Obey, Zoo York, and every other style of clothing you’d see at a Misshapes party in New York.
The booked functions not really as a shopping guide, but rather a history book and a photography book, as every shot is full of detail, exploding off the page with color and beautiful people.
Within it’s pages, the book also showcases the artwork of -and explains the stories of- the visual artists, musicians, sports figures and advertising execs that have molded what we perceive as hip from LA to NY, London to Tokyo, since 1980 to now. This history is collected and arranged here in 900 photos and illustrations, in a publication that’s literally never been done before.
Think not of this piece of literature as trying to sell you something, but instead educate you on the roots and origins of the clothing, artwork, graffiti and everything else that goes along with hip-hop culture and style.
laurenceking.com/product/Cult+Streetwear.htm
By Kevvy Mental
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Copyright © 2004-2010 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review: American Trademarks: A Compendium
July 15th, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review: American Trademarks: A Compendium
Edited By: Eric Baker & Tyler Blik
Chronicle Books
At first glance a book about trademarks seems… unnecessary. After all, they’re just the symbolic manifestation of the corporate class’ control over our lives, another link in the chains of wage-slavery, right? Maybe, if you want to get all dramatic and overly indignant. So what are they, then? Are they meaningless? Superfluous? Are they even worth the effort of analysis? As you read American Trademarks: A Compendium it becomes increasingly clear page after page that this book is not going to answer any of these questions. American Trademarks: A Compendium is pretty much exactly what its title says: a compendium (compendium: a short, complete summary; a list or collection of various items) of trademarks from that world-wariest of centuries: the 20th. So aside from a brief introduction and a two-page “from the editors” bit, there really isn’t a whole lot in the book that isn’t an old trademark, except for some graphic designer talking about how much he likes all the old trademarks from time to time.
So while there isn’t a whole lot of exposition on the parts of the editors in terms of information about the history of the trademarks in the book or trademarks in general once you really get into it, get down and dirty and really start perusing the trademarks themselves you quickly realize two things: 1) this shit is pretty cool and 2) we’re in the future, dude. It really is crazy how far we’ve come when you think about it, and reading this book certainly makes you think about it. Take for example the trademark for “Genuine Peruvian Guano” – 1925, Nitrate Agencies Co. and compare it to a modern trademark and not only is the style completely different but so is the purpose of the mark. In 1925 Nitrate Agencies Co. wasn’t trying to sell a lifestyle, they weren’t pushing “brand synergy”, they were just saying “our Peruvian guano is genuine, dog.”
Even the way in which the trademark would have been made is completely alien to the way it would be done today, using an array of archaic typesetting machinery and probably some kind of frantic chaplin-esque character covered in ink instead of crazy super-computers and sweet lasers. American Trademarks: A Compendium is a port-hole in time, a way too look into the past and catch the slightest glimpse of what it was like to live without global warming and pizza pops and maybe understand what that means. Plus it’s a pretty cool coffee-table book and $29.95 US is a pretty good price to pay for that kind of thing.
By A.W. Reid
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Copyright © 2004-2010 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review: You Can’t Always Get What You Want by Sam Cutler
April 4th, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Sam Cutler
ECW Press
Legendary doesn’t even begin to describe it. The perfect example of a grizzled rock veteran with a thousand stories to tell, former Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead tour manager Sam Cutler tells a few of them in his new book You Can’t Always Get What You Want, a tell-all recounting of his years with the Stones and the Dead. The book starts out very slowly as Cutler lays a bit of groundwork talking about his childhood growing up as a foster child in a fervently socialist household, his early memories and the angst of his teen years. The book quickly kicks into gear, though, and becomes thoroughly impossible to put down.
Starting with Cutler putting on a show for the Stones in Hyde Park in 1969 the action ramps up significantly as Cutler is suddenly swept off his feet and into the Stones’ camp, leading them on their big upcoming American tour. Cutler very easily draws you in with his frank and honest account of the life of a tour manager on the road during rock and roll’s golden age and his inordinate number of anecdotes on just about every great musician one can think of. Syd Barrett, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin among many others all take their turns making appearances, not to mention Keith Richards, Jerry Garcia et al. Cutler’s stories draw you in completely because of their extreme legitimacy; Cutler was really there and he really saw those things and he doesn’t exaggerate or build it up, he just tells it like it was.
While You Can’t Always Get What You Want mostly serves as a memoir to his days as a tour manager and it does cover a lot of his time with the Rolling Stones as well as the Grateful Dead a large chunk of the book is taken up in Cutler’s explanation and interpretation of the events at and leading up to the Altamont Speedway free concert in 1969.
He explains his involvement starting at the beginning, from being there when the Grateful Dead’s quasi-manager Rock Scully first brought up the subject of the Stones doing a concert with the west coast scene bands to being on stage when Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death, from Jerry Garcia and the boys showing up and instantly bailing when they saw how nasty the crowd was to witnessing the acid victims as they were brought into the infirmary by the dozen to be dosed with Thorazine. In fact, LSD is one of the most recurrent subjects in the book, as practically everyone in the book is tripping balls and any square that gets in Sam Cutler’s way quickly gets a dose of purple haze.
Sex, a shitload of drugs, plus a hell of a lot of rock and roll, You Can’t Always Get What You Want has it all in spades and isn’t shy about dishing it out, shelling out stories of musical debauchery at a stunning pace and with a deft hand until sadly, suddenly coming to an end.
By A.W. Reid
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Copyright © 2004-2010 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review: True Norwegian Black Metal (Hardcover Edition) by Peter Beste
March 19th, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – True Norwegian Black Metal (Hardcover Edition)
Peter Beste
powerHouse
Just as the title suggests, True Norwegian Black Metal focuses on the Norwegian Black Metal subculture mainly through photographic form. What’s interesting about this collection of photographs is that while they primarily feature members of bands from the early Norwegian Black metal scene (AKA. 2nd wave of black metal), they were all taken nearly a decade after the scene was fully developed. These photos feature not only key players in the development and dissemination of the philosophies behind the early scene but also survivors of the chaos, madness and bloodshed that followed in its wake. The absence of those who helped form the scene but were permanently or temporarily eliminated as a result of being murdered or committing murder (or various other criminal acts) is poignant. In their absence, Beste captures some of the history; Mayhem’s first jam space, Euronymous’ front door, the Elm Street Rock Café and various landscape scenes of Norway.
The beauty of True Norwegian Black Metal is that it can be appreciated on many different levels. Firstly the scale of the images (11.25” X 14.25”) and their quality make for a visually stunning and aesthetically pleasing collection. The diversity of subject matter-bands, individuals, fans and natural landscape- are captured sometimes in an obviously staged manner and sometimes very candidly. The care that Beste has put towards capturing the moment and feeling of each subject seems worthy of a subculture in which style and “self-expression” are extremely important. Beste is able to capture the human elements – humor, isolation, despair, introversion, teenage angst, backstage antics and the people behind the alter-egos- as well as the larger-than-life aura that emanates from the black metal personas and the scene in general.
What’s great about this book is that the images are allowed to stand on their own without categorization or any specific explanation. There is a sparse array of quotes from black metal musicians and European philosophers throughout, but since these are given special treatment as well –each placed on its own black page- they don’t speak specifically to their adjacent image but rather to the philosophy and beliefs of those depicted. The lack of page numbers encourages the reader to go through each image carefully, allowing them to process the visuals in a more subjective rather then anthropological way. This format gives the reader the option to make their own conclusions and to experience the photographs in their own way. Of course, since this is documentary photography, it is Beste who has selected these images, edited and framed them in a specific manner to tell a particular story in the way he sees fit. However, since the presentation of this story is open ended, Beste coaxes rather then forces us to travel the path he has laid forward visually.
Another highlight is the contributions made by Metalion, founder of the influential Norwegian metal magazine Slayer. A book dedicated to Norwegian Black Metal, featuring relatively current photographs of its most significant figures would not be complete without some representation of the past. These pages, comprised of photographs, letters, show posters and interviews are largely a tribute to the fallen, namely Dead (ex-Mayhem vocalist) and Euronymous (ex-Mayhem guitarist). In a way they put a real face to the condensed biography and black metal timeline located at the start of the book. While many of the photos found in this section are fairly common, the letter written by Euronymous to Metalion after Dead’s suicide is morbidly intriguing. Equally intriguing and at times entertaining are the interviews conducted by Metalion with Euronymous and Dead, Varg Vikernes and Demonaz (Immortal) respectively.
The gargantuan True Norwegian Black Metal will surely find its way onto the coffee tables of the disciples as well as the curious. No matter what the viewer has invested into the story behind the images, the photographs themselves are captivating and reason enough to warrant a look-through. While there is much depth here, there are also humorous and pathetic moments throughout. One obvious conclusion one can draw after spending some time with this book, is the fascinating way the fundamentals of rock music –sex, drugs and rock and roll- have managed to carry over throughout the history of heavy music; even bleeding into one of its most extreme sub-genres – True Norwegian Black Metal.
By Alxs Ness
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Book Review: Cartoon Modern – Style and Design in Fifties Animation by Amid Amidi
March 18th, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Cartoon Modern – Style and Design in Fifties Animation
By Amid Amidi
Chronicle Books
They were pioneers, new kids on new blocks with new ideas. Eschewing old notions of rigid realism, they blazed their own trails and created their own styles, liberating generations of cartoonists in the process and proving to society at large that their craft was a true art form. The transformation of the animation industry that took place between the mid-forties and 1960 was akin to the transformation that rocked the film industry at the beginning of the century, going from a simple gimmick to a bona-fide medium with depth and personality. As the old guard slowly trickled away, partly from retirement and partly from an unwillingness to adapt with the rest of the industry, a swath of cartoonists, some young and some old but all championing a new way of thinking about animation, rose to take their place, armed with a fresh sense that animation could be something more than it had been, that it could be a tool for personal expression instead of a dull and lifeless moving picture.
Pioneering artists like Ward Kimball and Tom Oreb at Disney, with their exuberant jazz musicians in Whistle Plunk and Bloom and the playful characters of Sleeping Beauty, Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble at Warner Bros. with the outlandish landscapes and aliens of Duck Dodgers in the 24-1/2th Century, as well as the legendary animation duo of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera with their lovable and wonderfully modern characters like Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, and Yogi Bear liberated the medium from its staid roots. Much of the trailblazing, though, can be attributed to the young guns at United Productions of America(UPA). Innovators like Bill Hurtz, David Hilberman and Zach Schwartz, John Hubley, Herb Klynn, and Jules Engel were the true liberators of the genre, the Coalition of the Willing of cartoonists, forging ahead and breaking new ground while all the old codgers tried to pester and shame them into obedience.
The funky modernist sensibilities of the Mister Magoo cartoons being their most conventional, they continuously churned out hard-hitting(stylistically, anyways), cutting-edge cartoons like The Boing Boing Show, Rooty Toot Toot, and Flat Hatting to name a few. These men and women were true rebels and Cartoon Modern captures this beautifully and in Technicolor, using informative text and terrifically, colourfully rendered screen shots and original sketches to paint a picture of the times and drive home its point. Colourful, imaginative, and relevant, Cartoon Modern makes for a wonderful addition to one’s book collection and a hell of a read.
By A.W. Reid
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Book Review: Playboy: 50 Years – The Cartoons by Hugh M. Hefner, Michelle Urry
March 2nd, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Playboy: 50 Years - The Cartoons
Hugh M. Hefner, Michelle Urry
Chronicle Books
In a modern age where the word “maverick” is used to describe bumbling old conservatives and IQ-challenged hockey moms, the people involved in the historic launching in December 1953 of Playboy Magazine must surely be checking their dictionaries. These literary cowboys, among them the illustrators of the now-legendary Playboy cartoons, read and lived the word maverick a little differently. Culled from the thousands of cartoons over the years by the man Mr. Hugh M. Hefner himself as well as the immortal longtime playboy cartoon editor Michelle Urry, Playboy: 50 Years – The Cartoons is a collection of unbelievably funny and artful cartoons that stand as original counter-culture icons.
These are your granddad’s subversives and they aren’t no sissies. Not only writing about sex, female sexuality, race relations, and life’s daily joys and brutalities in a time when you simply did not and could not discuss such things in any kind of public forum, they actually showed it lushly and in full detail. They came from different backgrounds and had different styles. Some, like the insanely talented Jack Cole, the creator of the classic superhero Plastic Man, came from a background in comic books. Some, like Alberto Vargas, were artists.
There was the dark, sarcastic, take-no-prisoners humour and vibrant paintings of Eldon Dedini’s satyrs and rubenesque women. There was the beautiful, precise penciling and awkward sexuality of Doug Sneyd’s bombshell babes. There was the wit of John Dempsey’s frank, libidinous nudists and Gahan Wilson’s surrealistic, dark observations. Many of these artists flocked to Playboy as an artistic and professional refuge, being scorned, ridiculed, and shamed by many as deviant pornographers hocking filth that was obscene and dirty, tawdry and cheap (filth that by today’s standards is shamefully classy and sophisticated). At a time when people like the unimaginably talented Alberto Vargas were creating beautiful pieces of art and being shunned for it Playboy and its cartoons stood as a bastion of artistic freedom, not willing to bend to a prudish “majority” and censor themselves over something as trivial and natural as a cartoon nipple.
Flipping through the pages of Playboy: 50 Years - The Cartoons, one can scarcely imagine how anyone could condemn such talent so. While, yes, the subject matter is not for everyone and is of an adult nature, one can plainly see the subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle beauty of these terrific pieces of art within seconds of picking the book up. And beautiful is not all it is, as genuinely hilarious comedy is also extremely evident on almost every page. From teen-aged sex to clever pickup lines, from public nudity to sexual deviancy, Playboy: 50 Years – The Cartoons pushes the envelope even in this day and age with its bawdy brand of comedy. Pulling no punches, Playboy: 50 Years – The Cartoons hammers you with dry, biting wit, scathing social commentary, laugh-out-loud hilariousness, and some of the prettiest animated ladies this side of a B-17 bomber fuselage.
An extremely pleasurable read, Playboy: 50 Years – The Cartoons is just one more bit of proof that going against the grain is usually the way to go.
By A.W. Reid
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Copyright © 2004-2010 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review: How To Rap – The Art And Science of the Hip-Hop MC
February 23rd, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – How To Rap – The Art And Science of the Hip-Hop MC
By Paul Edwards, Foreword by Kool G. Rap
Chicago Review Press
From its “Hip Hop for Idiots” self-help style title, and grandiose back cover claims as to its essential content, this 317 page paperback is sure to immediately raise eyebrows and inspire righteous ire from most veteran MC’s who had to learn the basics the old-fashioned way. It does deliver, however somewhat in spite of itself in that over one hundred MC’s are featured in its pages, from E40 to Havoc to Vast Aire, dropping gems of wisdom on everything from flow and cadence, to subject matter, to breath control and vocal delivery.
While Kool G Rap’s foreword offers little other than an admonishment to “study and do your homework and brush up on your history”, other artists offer concrete suggestions on writing technique, breaking writer’s block, improving live shows and increasing vocabulary. Author Paul Edwards even elucidates a basic flow diagram that maps cadences like musical notation so as to more easily work out multi-syllable patterns and intricate flows. Lord Jamar, Tajai and Havoc all open up about the benefits of writing in a group environment and event ghost writing verses for other MC’s, while others delve into performance, studio work and freestyling. Edwards’ brief bios of the artists interviewed are amusing in their sunny descriptions of some of the hardcore rappers in the bunch, glossing over some of their more unsavory characteristics.
In all, this book is in fact a welcome addition to the library of any Hip Hoppa or MC looking for inspiration from the minds of greats, it’s just that many will feel that without paying dues this information is ultimately useless – for the truly great thing about the art of MCing is that no matter how much one wants to be an MC, it will never happen without countless hours spent honing skills, and the relentless drive that comes from true hunger. Just as one could read an electronics manual and still not be able to build a computer, simply reading this book will not make anyone an MC, or even a rapper.
Listen to all tracks mentioned in this book HERE
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Copyright © 2004-2010 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review: Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock and Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash
February 13th, 2010 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock and Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Chronicle
Taking Aim is a fairly new addition to the ever-increasing phalanx of coffee table style books chronicling in words and photos the musicians and music of Rock and Roll. However, this book is a refreshing change as it is presented by Rock Hall of Fame member, Graham Nash. It is a beautiful book to look at and to own. The photos are very alive and the writing is well thought out. Mr. Nash seems to have put a lot of thought into picking these photos, which are part of an exhibition of which the author is the curator.
Most of the photos are in black and white, while some are in color.
Different photographic journalists took aim and shot the photos, which cover the 1950’s to the new millennium. To his credit, Mr. Nash is one of the photographers whose photos are included several times in this volume.
Some of the photos have appeared over the years in various papers and books on the History of Rock and Roll. Others may have, but I have not witnessed them before.
I personally have several favorites in the book. Elvis Presley eating breakfast in Virginia brings out an innocence and vulnerability in the young Elvis rarely seen. Brian Wilson in his health food restaurant The Radiant Radish is also informative because at the time Brian was not very healthy at all.
Bob Dylan is represented several times in the book and Nash’s musings on Dylan are interesting. The Dylan photos are among the most creative in the book as they fully reveal the elusiveness of Dylan. There are too many photos to comment on, but they are all interesting. Included with the book is a CD which covers much the same ground as Mr. Nash covers in the book.
The final image in the book which shows Neil Young driving to his home in Northern California in 1988. It seems to add a dimension of domesticity to the book as it shows that out Rock heroes do go home and have normal lives. The attitude of rock and Roll comes through in the photos and the author as an insider would appreciate the success of the book in this regard.
Consider this volume to be a worthy addition to a fans collection of books and music.
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Book Review: The Gospel of Hip Hop by KRS-One
December 21st, 2009 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – The Gospel of Hip Hop
By KRS-One
Powerhouse Books
When presented with this hardcover, 800 page gold embossed volume of pure wisdom, my first reaction was in fact “is this real?”, for such a tome seems like too much to be true. Subtitled “The First Instrument”, this is the first volume in KRS’s philosophical masterwork “I Am Hip Hop”, presented in the format of a “self-help holy book”, and the culmination of over thirty years of living, breathing, speaking and being Hip Hop, and while those raised in the ringtone era may marvel at such a lofty undertaking, those raised in the beginning and the golden era, all breathed a collective sigh of relief on even hearing this book was published.
Rigorously organized into eighteen “overstandings” that set out the foundational principles of Hip Hop culture, from its origins in the Bronx through its historical development in America and beyond, the “Gospel” also delves deep into past events and movements that prefaced Hip Hop, from the tribal inter-communality of pre-colonial America, to the promise of hope contained in Dr. Martin Luther King’s monumental “I have a dream…” speech. Those accustomed to KRS’s far-ranging intellect and radical re-interpretations of society, culture, religion and economics will find this book the logical extension of the familiar voice of “The Teacha”, giving himself free rein to explore the deepest extent of his inner knowledge and experience.
Opening with a quote from Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, that “Heaven is not a place you go to, it is a place you grow to” this is a self-help book in the truest sense, encouraging the motivated reader to take responsibility for and control of ones life, and to utilize one’ abilities and circumstances for the greater benefit of all in the original flow of Hip Hop. Using a vocabulary of redefined terminology that differentiates Hip Hop, HipHop and hip-hop (you’ll have to read it yourself…), and establishes the principle of “endarkenment” as the necessary corollary to enlightenment, reading the Gospel is an enervating mental exercise leading to knowledge of self and true inspiration, as long as one is willing to cast aside the cynicism built up by a decade and a half of corporate hip-hop. Peace, Love, Unity and having Fun without violence. Intelligent Movement. The relation between Light, Mind, and God. These are just a few of the keys to the kingdom that KRS brings to the table.
For those who rejoiced over the release of “The Wu Tang Manual”, “The Gospel Of Hip Hop” is an essential addition to the library of any devoted hip hoppa who seeks to delve deeper into the original philosophy that brought forth our culture, and is perhaps the greatest contribution to Hip Hop from a respected veteran in a year that saw releases from Raekwon and Rakim. This is a book to be savoured in quiet moments of reflection, absorbing a little each day as inspiration for times to come. Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody, and with the publication of “The Gospel Of Hip Hop”, may knowledge now reign over every true hip hoppa, so that the essence of our culture may be fully manifest.
powerhousebooks.com/thegospelofhiphop
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Book Review: Mötley Crüe: A Visual History 1983 -2005
December 18th, 2009 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Mötley Crüe: A Visual History 1983 -2005
By Neil Zlozower
Chronicle Books
Photo books can usually be summed up without ever opening the front cover. Typically, they are outrageously over-priced behemoths printed on ultra-glossy stock that the artist hopes will thrust him or her into the minds of the snobby intelligentsia and up their professional credibility. Fortunately, Mötley Crüe: A Visual History 1983 -2005, Neil Zlozower’s photo essay on the bad boys of the Sunset Strip, avoids all the usual clichés by delivering an affordable, yet no less spiffy, chronicle of the band’s career through his lens.
At nearly 250 pages and—blood and tattoos aside—glitzy enough to adorn any music fan’s coffee table, Mötley Crüe: A Visual History 1983 -2005 takes the reader on a journey through Zlozowers’ professional relationship with a band whose over-the-top debauchery and legal woes have been sordidly played out in the media for nearly thirty years. Rather than dwell on the negative or accentuate the band’s troubles through wordy text (brief testimonials from various front-line business associates of Mötley Crüe occasionally break up some of the photo action), Zlozower lets the photos speak for themselves. “Up close and personal” doesn’t even begin to describe the all-access pass Zlozower had, especially during the eighties.
Presented in full, robust color, the controversial “blood session” from 1984, extensive live, backstage and in-studio photos and loads of exclusive behind-the-scenes shots fill the book from cover to cover. As he did previously with Van Halen, Zlozower truly captures the essence of Mötley Crüe in photos, staying true to the book’s title and presenting a near chronological visual history—the tumultuous nineties are understandably absent—of one of metal’s most influential and charismatic acts.
Hot on the heels of Neil Zlozower’s recently-released Six String Heroes – Photographs of Great Guitarists, Mötley Crüe: A Visual History 1983 -2005 affords readers a visual companion-piece to the band’s autobiography, The Dirt. What that book explained in words, this one shows in pictures giving Mötley Crüe fans an up-close-and-personal (and at only $35, affordable) look at the original vagabonds of the Sunset Strip scene.
By Sean Cowie
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Book Review: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
November 11th, 2009 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Quirk Books
While Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, the follow-up to 2009’s wildly popular and nerdalicious Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, seems on the surface to simply be a thinly-veiled attempt by a publishing company to cash in on a classic piece of public domain literature, which it totally is, that does not change in any way the fact that it is quite the literary triumph.
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters follows the basic plot of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, which of course you, dear reader, have wisely avoided due to its horrific boringness. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of the female members of the Dashwood family (the mother Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in Regency-era England as they are deprived of the comfortable life promised to them with the dying breath of the late Mr. Dashwood by Mr. Dashwood’s son from a previous marriage, Mr. John Dashwood, and his vulturesque wife Fanny.
The ladies Dashwood eventually come to reside with a distant relative, Sir John Middleton, as well as his wife and family and the various members of his social circle who live near the Dashwoods’ small home on Pestilent Isle, off the Devonshire coast. Intrigue, as one can imagine, swirls constantly as the girls face the assails of love, loss, rejection, betrayal, and adventure. The only difference, really, between Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and the original is that it takes place in an alternate reality where the world is overrun by fucking sea monsters bent on destroying the human race. Writer Ben H. Winters weaves plot points such as The Devonshire Fang-Beast, Sub-Marine Station Beta, and giant hyper-intelligent lobsters together so seamlessly with whatever tedious crap was in the original that one has a hard time telling his additions apart from the initial prose.
Amid the churning chaos of the Alteration, as the characters refer to their monster-filled state of affairs, the youthful, pretty Marianne is courted by both the swashbuckling Willoughby and the facially deformed Colonel Brandon. At the same time the elder, prudent Elinor tries to figure out the meaning of her relationship with the shy, awkward Edward Ferrars as all the while the ominous secrets of the Alteration and Pestilent Isle slowly rear their ugly heads. In an age where originality seems to be dwindling faster than our supply of oil and naturally-breasted porn stars, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters combines violence, gore, and dark humour with Austen’s beautiful (if wearing) writing in a way that while not truly original at least tries and comes pretty close.
By A.W. Reid
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Book Review: Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music
July 14th, 2009 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music
Greg Prato
ECW Press
Readers can let out a sigh of relief – this isn’t another book set out to analyze the death of Cobain or Staley. Instead, Greg Prato presents to you a final wave goodbye to a generation that shot the steady climb of music-to-be well off the beaten path. Complete with 130 interviews compiled into over 500 pages – this is a compilation of stories and memories directly from the mouths of those who had a hand in the scene – an account of the musical era that died just like suicide…long before it’s time. With no filters or sugarcoating – this book is as honest and raw as the era itself.
This oral history of grunge starts with its generally unheard-of roots in the ‘60s with stories of bands like the Sonics and the Wailers and continues on to weave through the decades to follow. From punk, to the unspeakable tampering with glam rock, to the grunge we now know and love – the voices behind this book didn’t skip a beat. Here is a book on the grunge scene that doesn’t play favorites, and gives credit where it’s deserved by shining a light on not only many of the under appreciated bands such as Green River and Mudhoney, but also on the producers, photographers, graphic designers, promoters, and fans who helped shape the scene.
This book features words from those who benefited the most from this musical movement – Kim Thayil, Eddie Vedder, Jerry Cantrell, and many others (although there’s no input from grunge heavyweights Chris Cornell or Dave Grohl) as their stories allow readers an insiders look into untold personal histories, jokes, and hardships of their bands and the key people around them.
High fives to Prato for organizing the madness that is interviews and creating a book that captures the essential feel for a generation – for the most part this book flows seamlessly and is easy to follow. Helping with the overall flow of the book is a personal forward from Prato, an ever-helpful ‘list of characters’ which helps cut back on the ‘Who the fuck is that?!’, and is topped of with some fantastic photo documentation of not only the scene, but also the unethical use of Aqua Net.
Greg Prato’s Grunge is Dead is a true documentation of the inevitable outcome of shining a light on a pack of deranged youth that were just out to get theirs – and take yours.
Copyright © 2004-2009 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review – Posters for the People: Art of the WPA
February 12th, 2009 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review – Posters for the People: Art of the WPA
Written by Ennis Carter
Quirk Books
They say one who doesn’t know his own past is doomed to relive it. Irony is apparent when you hold a book like Posters for the People in your hands. A collection of posters, effort of the artists hired by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression of the 30′s is more than appropriate in our time. Set in motion by Franklin D. Roosevelt, WPA’s undertakings amount to an impressive 35 thousand posters designed to spread propaganda and inspire action in a time of grave economical disaster.
A work of a good anthropologist or historian is all about looking at past events from various angles, gathering information from unusual sources and being able to make observations and conclusions based on that information. Posters of the WPA are a rare medium and it is a very unusual and interesting window to look through. 35000 is an impressive number but unfortunately these exhibits of fine American art have not been archived and preserved properly. The Library of Congress gathered close to 900 posters and considered it to be sufficient for their records. All remaining ones were scattered across America in private and institutional collections.
The author Ennis Carter is the moving force behind the WPA Living Archive, an on-line project designed to uncover and resurrect posters created between 1935 and 1943. Posters for the People is an example of one of those things you don’t encounter too often in the world of literature. The book contains close to 500 exhibits, 114 of which are newly discovered. It is a product of more than 4 years of hard work – a unique collection and a landmark for the history of American art. Some posters are obviously outdated while others belong right there on your wall.
Only via titanic efforts of people like Ennis Carter exhibits of American art can be preserved and brought to life, shedding light on problems of the past by means rarely if ever used at all. Through the looking glass, which this book is, we observe American history and what we see is a hint that even though years go by people still don’t want to learn. Close to a century ago the artists couldn’t even imagine that their work would apply today, in the brave new world. It takes a lot of time and perseverance to gather bits and pieces and present them in a carefully prepared format. Unfortunately it gets ignored very fast, rendering it useless.
There will always be people who will dig up information like that, file it and store it. But gathering dust isn’t its purpose. It deserves our attention and the only thing that can come from reading this book is benefit: nobody wants to make the same mistakes twice.
By Arceon
Copyright © 2004-2009 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
Book Review: Fück Yöu – Rock and Roll Portraits
January 29th, 2009 Filed under: Reviews - Books by admin
Book Review: Fück Yöu – Rock and Roll Portraits
By Neil Zlozower
Chronicle Books
Given the fact that the 80′s metal scene was destined for doom (especially when the pre-grunge era started to seep in) you’ll see photographer Neil Zlozower has stuck through the music change ups through thick and thin, with his latest effort – Fück Yöu – Rock and Roll Portraits, and it’s exactly that: a major middle finger through the eye of his lens. Chock full of “Fuck You” from glam metal gods like Poison and Ratt, to mainstream acts like Van Halen and AC/DC, right up through the ages to thrashers like Pantera and Meshuggah, “Zloz” (as he’s known to friends) has captured the essence of what rock ‘n roll has always truly been about , a middle finger to the establishment.
Along with Mark Weiss, Neil Z. has been at the forefront of rock ‘n roll photography for almost 40 years. Many of us older folk, have witnessed his photography catapult him into the newsstands amongst the pages of Metal Edge, Kerrang!, Metal Forces, Rip, Hit Parader and others, throughout the years. The reader will also find a few rock stars nestled in these pages that have passed on. To see them sticking out their middle finger in their prime (that includes Steven Adler pre-dope sick) is quite satisfying.
Not to be outdone by the metal overlords alone, Neil does not leave out modern day punk brats like Green Day, The Donnas and Blink 182 and throws in classics like the illustrious Stiv Bators, showing that they truly are “# 1”
So sit back, put on a pot of java, roll one up and you’ve got yourself a lovely little coffee table book that might make your guests think twice about reaching for the scones without asking.
Available through Chroniclebooks.com or at your favorite Fücking retailer.
By E.S. Day
Copyright © 2004-2009 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is subject to our Terms of Use.
