QUOTE OF THE MONTH: Nicholson Baker in the New York Times Book Review: "We're in the middle of a presidential administration in which one man in an office with velvet couches goes down a kill list. Our president has become an assassin. This sickens me and makes me want to stop writing … [Read more...]
GROWIN’ UP
Shame about David Brooks's out-of-touch Op-Ed column, but double-shame on David Remnick for his unctuous, interminable New Yorker profile. Together they spawned a cottage industry of dissent: Robert Christgau hailed the Scandinavian show he caught as "transcendent": "One problem with that Madison … [Read more...]
CROP CIRCLE TURNTABLE: JEREMY JUSTICE
TO CELEBRATE NIXON'S RESIGNATION, 1974: From the New Orleans Times-Picayne: Justice is a long-time fan of old school vinyl records. As a sideline, he built a couple of custom turntables, with handsome rectangular wood bodies. Aesthetically that wasn’t enough. Scanning the Internet, he came across … [Read more...]
LIBERAL PORN SMACKDOWN
So far, very sturdy voices have chimed in against Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom (HBO), including John Powers in Vogue, Jake Tapper in the New Republic, and Tom Carson in GQ. As a journalism teacher, I'm developing pedagogical angles, but his trope of revisiting recent news events quickly wears thin. … [Read more...]
Our Mr. Brooks Born to Run — Esquire
David Brooks Bruce Springsteen Column - Our Mr. Brooks Was Born to Run - Esquire. Related articles We get it, grandpa, you're hip to Springsteen David Brooks Flies to Europe to Bash Cosmopolitanism Bruce Springsteen, The Exhibit: Born To Run Live Batch of … [Read more...]
HOMERIC NODS
Ongoing list of admirable critics with inexplicable opinions: Garry Wills thinks Oliver Stone ranks with Dostoevsky, even recommends half of his first novel... Greil Marcus has a pavlovian negative reaction to Lucinda Williams ("As great an emotional fraud as Destiny’s Child -- wins the prize … [Read more...]
DETERIORATA
RECENT PRESS 13 Top Boston Area Professors, Deans, Directors & Presidents to Follow on Twitter & Why DESIGN LINKS Flyer Goodness Fistful of Soundtracks … [Read more...]
THE EMBARRASSMENT: LOST KS BOMB PUNK
EAT THE PLUTOCRATS
Garry Wills writes consistently piercing entries in his NYRB blog: Republican operatives describe this year’s presidential election in apocalyptic terms. It will determine our future. It will seal our national fate. Well, they are probably right, but not for the reason they give. They tell … [Read more...]
AIN’T IT FONK-AY: RJ SMITH ON JAMES BROWN
via truthdig: Mythic and imperious, James Brown ranks as one of the last century’s most important acts, defying musical gravity along with Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix and perhaps Ray Charles. Since his death in 2006, Brown looms over soul, funk and rap more as symbol than musician, a … [Read more...]
STEVE WASSERMAN’S AMAZON EFFECT
Steve Wasserman in The Nation: ...The inability of most traditional publishers to successfully adapt to technological change may be rooted in the retrograde editorial and marketing culture that has long characterized the publishing industry. As one prominent literary agent told me, “This is a … [Read more...]
DIE CONCERT TICKETS DIE
Infographic by: authoritytickets.com … [Read more...]
RAM DELUXE OXYMORON
Related articles Remastered McCartney Album Out Next Week, Listen Here NOW Paul McCartney to Release 'Ram' Box Set The newest release in the Paul McCartney archive collection CD Review: RAM - Paul And Linda McCartney … [Read more...]
CRAIG MOD HACKS THE DIGITAL COVER
Mod's essay on how book covers evolve on new platforms: ...my platonic goal was to evoke a classic sense of cover. Functional covers. Unrippable covers. Covers for books you can toss in a bag and not worry about. Simple covers that bleed into the bodies of books. Example: Cardon Webb's series for … [Read more...]
John Peels Record Archive
John Peel's record collection Related articles John Peel's Vault The Space where you can find John Peel's records John Peel's Virtual Museum John Peel's Record Collection - An In-Depth … [Read more...]