“Subway Art” by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant
Subway Art Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant Chronicle Books A few months back, I took my parents on a trip to Manhattan. I work there, so it wasn’t a big deal for this bridge and tunneler, but for my parents—who have not been to New York City in almost 25 years—the trip was a culture [...]
I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto
I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto By Dave Thompson Backbeat Books “We need our reprobates, we need our delinquents, we need our antiheroes. Because if we don’t get them, what’s the [Rock and Roll] Hall of Fame going to look like in another 25 years?” – Dave Thompson How many Limeys do you [...]
Mike Edison “I Have Fun Everywhere I Go”
Mike Edison I Have Fun Everywhere I Go Faber and Faber, Inc. Mike Edison and the Rocket Train Delta Science Arkestra I Have Fun Everywhere I Go Spoken word CD Interstellar Roadhouse My goodness did he ever! Mike Edison is a rock’n’roller, pornographer, wrestling journalist, hedonist, confidante of GG Allin, Beatles-hater, fierce First Amendment protector [...]
Replacements Reissues Royale
Royalty Checks for the Replacements – Huzzah! All those damn reissues plus a book! Banner year for the Replacements – eight CD reissues and a book! Looks like they’ll be getting royalty checks for a while – good for them. Also looks like Tommy Ramone (producer of Tim) will be getting some – not so [...]
Sweat! The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band
Sweat! The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band By Joe Bonomo I used to live in a small town in New Jersey called Butler. My friends and I used to visit Bill’s Tavern (RIP), a townie bar just down the block from our house. They served Schaefer on tap for only a buck, it [...]
“New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye”
New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye: Bands, Dirty Basements, and the Search for Self By Ronen Kauffman Sub City I picked this book up at a strange time in my life. I moved out of New Jersey a year ago and I’ve been really wondering about my decision to leave the East Coast for the Midwest. [...]
8020: The New Face of Publishing
As a member of the publishing community, I feel the need to buy and subscribe to as many magazines as I can get my hands on. I pick up a new magazine almost every day to entertain me during my commute to New York, and I almost always subscribe after buying a few issues. But [...]
Byron Wolfe “Everyday”
Byron Wolfe Everyday: A Yearlong Photo Diary Chronicle Books Photographer Byron Wolfe has taken the photo-a-day concept (that seems to be all the rage on the Internet right now) and translated it into a photolog-style diary book that is both creative and engaging in its style and design. The reason this stands out from the [...]
“Give Me Friction, Baby!”
“Give me Friction, Baby! Turbonegro und die Turbojugend” Uta Heuser Approximately two years ago, someone named Uta e-mailed me asking to use my interview with Happy Tom of Turbonegro in a book about the band. Being a huge fan, I eagerly agreed. I never heard from Uta again, until one day, a package from some [...]
“Revolution on Canvas, Volume 2″
Revolution on Canvas, Volume 2: Poetry from the Indie Music Scene Edited by Rich Balling Grand Central Publishing As I get closer and closer to 30, I’m coming to the conclusion that I’ve completely lost touch with the music kids like. There was a period in time when all the punks 10 years my junior [...]
“The Art of Alex Gross”
The Art of Alex Gross: Paintings and Other Works Chronicle Books Chronicle is known for putting together stunning testaments to modern artists such as Gary Baseman, and the lowbrow art movement (try lifting the hulk-size “Art of Modern Rock”). But, when it came time to put together a compilation of works by painter Alex Gross, [...]
“Full Vinyl” by Ivan Vartanian
Full Vinyl: The Subversive Art of Designer Toys by Ivan Vartanian Collins Design In he last few months, there’s been a rash of books about the recent “vinyl toy craze,” however most of the hundred-page tomes released by pop culture purveyors and toy manufacturers, have served more as giant catalogs (think Sears Wishbook) than actual [...]
Mitch O’Connell: Tattoos & CryBabies
Mitch O’Connell, master of the modern pin-up girl, just released a new book through Last Gasp simply called “Tattoos.” The book reprints all the flash drawings from his previous professional tattoo collections (only available at actual tattoo parlors). 264+ pages of pin-up girls, tiki gods, monsters, and devils are drawn in a simple old school [...]
“Collecting Contemporary” by Adam Lindermann
“Collecting Contemporary” by Adam Lindermann Taschen This is not your parents’ art book. With new designers, artists, and painters easily accessible through the World Wide Web, and gallery openings becoming the new places to be seen, the contemporary art movement is both exciting and frustrating. With so many points of entry, how can a newbie [...]
“Atomic Ranch” by Michelle Gringeri-Brown, Jim Brown
“Atomic Ranch” by Michelle Gringeri-Brown, Jim Brown (Photographer) Gibbs Smith So right about now you are wondering if I’m nuts for reviewing a book about houses (okay, ranches) in a punk-rock Web zine, and you might have a point. However, “Atomic Ranch,” a quarterly magazine devoted to mid-century ranch homes, tops my guilty pleasures list, [...]
“Without Reason” Limited Edition Urban Art Book
“Without Reason” is a limited edition art book dedicated to the roots and lifestyle of street culture, capturing the works of graffiti artists, painters, designers, illustrators, photographers and tattoo artists from Australia, America, Canada and the UK. The books line-up and includes names like Ricky Powell, Mike Giant, Travis Millard, UPSO, Brendan Monroe and many [...]
Vinyl Toy Bibles
Dot Dot Dash by Robert Klanten (Editor), Matthias Hubner (Editor) DGV I Am Plastic by Paul Budnitz Harry N. Abrams This is the year of the designer toy. Dozens of toy companies have been flooding the market, attempting to sell the coolest, most limited, and most expensive art toys. How massive is the vinyl toy [...]
“To Protect and To Rock” by Gregg Gethard
“To Protect and To Rock” by Gregg Gethard The day of the photocopied fanzine is long past, but don’t tell that to Gregg Gethard, the mastermind behind The Manitoban Liberation Front,” one of New Jersey’s finest cut and paste handouts. Nearly a decade after the demise of MLF, Gethard returns with a zine chock full [...]
Obey “Supply & Demand” The Art of Shepard Fairey
Obey “Supply & Demand” The Art of Shepard Fairey Ginko Press One might argue that an artist who is most famous for making stickers is hardly in need of a tome as massive as “Supply & Demand,” but after thumbing through the 330 plus pages in this monster hardcover coffee table edition it’s hard not [...]
“I Hate Myself and Want to Die” by Tom Reynolds
“I Hate Myself and Want to Die” Tom Reynolds Hyperion Sure everyone knows that “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division is a depressing song, but no one sits there and asks himself or herself why it’s so damn dreary. Enter Tom Reynolds. Not only does he analyze one of the saddest tunes of [...]