// Category Archive for: Books

American Hardcore: A Tribal History, By Steven Blush

By Danny R. Phillips

Over the five plus decades that rock & roll has been a force in American youth culture, many books have been written, most with futility, in an attempt to explain its history, its debauchery, its value, and the ebb & flow of the trends sprouting in all directions from its fruitful loins.

Steven Blush’s American Hardcore: A Tribal History not only explains a big part of the punk rock subculture but comes out swinging like a bloody knuckled little brother with something to prove.
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Best Of 2010: Megashaun

Here’s a list of stuff I was really into in 2010.

Music

Electric Six, Zodiac: This album arrived in the mail a few months before its actual release. When it arrived, I was so excited that I actually felt sick. So instead of listening to it right away, I read all the press notes that accompanied it. I listened to it the next day. I have listened to this album over 245 times. This is not a lie. Drive somewhere with me and you’ll hear it twice.
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Robin Hatch, Sheezer: Best Of 2010

New Music that I was into this year

Anamanaguchi, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Original Videogame Soundtrack
Wild Nothing, Gemini
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (except for the song “Runaway,” which is the Emperor’s New Clothes of songs)
Anything Nicki Minaj does or is “feat.”-ed on
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Top Ten Of 2010: Christian Lipski

1. Fear Agent, by Rick Remender, Tony Moore, Jerome Opena

A science fiction comic series that echoes “Mars Attacks!” and other two-fisted adventures, but with a serious emotional core. Drunken space cowboy Heath Huston finds himself pitted against robots with human brains and amoeba creatures. Swashbuckling adventure in space! The art, by Tony Moore and Jerome Opena, is first-class, and Remender’s writing is both fast-paced and deliberately plotted.
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Stewart Copeland, Strange Things Happen

By Laura L.

Ever since I watched The Police’s episode of Behind The Music, I’ve had a thing for Stewart Copeland. (That would be the drummer of the Police for those of you who were born after 1984, when they broke up.) He’s an awesome drummer, he’s quick-witted, and—gosh, darn it!—he’s cute. Yes, a man my father’s age, cute! A man who’s a grandfather, cute! So when I went to my local library recently and found his autobiography, Strange Things Happen, on display, I had to check it out.
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Best Of 2010: By Danny R. Phillips

Hope you enjoy . . . following my advice on these picks is optional and I will not be held responsible for the damages.

Albums

The Black Angels, Phosphene Dream (more…)

Bottom Ten: 2010 Deaths

By Matt Keeley

Man, the Grim Reaper sucks. I know, I know, he provides a valuable service and when he gets stuck up a tree, all sorts of bad stuff happens, but sometimes his aim sucks. Like seriously, Mister Rogers? Talk about all-time candidates for immortality. Anyway, here’s a list of the Ten Least-worthy Folks to have kicked the bucket this year.

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen was awesome. Sure, he made a lot of crappy movies, but he also made ones so awesome that no one minded! Yeah, Mr. Magoo exists, but so does The Naked Gun. And, really, Spy Hard wasn’t that bad. But the cool thing is that Nielsen was also a renowned dramatic actor and even—in his youth—a heartthrob, which kinda messes with folks of the younger generation, just because we think of Lt. Frank Drebin. But, honestly, Frank Drebin was pretty hot.
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Armchair Casting Director: Good Omens

By Lisa Anderson

I will always associate late November with Good Omens, the classic comedy novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This was the time of year that I first read it, and it helped get me through a rough period in my life. For those who don’t know, Good Omens is the story of an angel (Aziraphale) and a demon (Crowley) who have, over the course of millennia, become friends, and now have to avert Armageddon with the coming of the Antichrist.

Sadly, the film version of this beloved book has been stalled for years. Director Terry Gilliam has been signed on with the project since 1999, with a script completed since 2002, but funding for the movie has never come together. In the meantime, however, it is fun to speculate about who might play the characters that so many readers have come to love. The main rumor, for a long time, was that Johnny Depp would play Crowley and Robin Williams would play Aziraphale. As you might imagine, I have my own ideas for my ideal Good Omens cast. (more…)

Blood Writes: Q&A With Author Alex Bledsoe

By Lisa Anderson

Alex Bledsoe is the author of the novels of the Memphis Vampires: 2009’s Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of Blood, which was released earlier this year (both from Tor books). For Popshifter‘s Halloween Horrors issue, he recently took time to answer some of my questions about writing and the bloodthirsty monsters currently enjoying such popularity.
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Sparks: No. 1 Songs In Heaven

By Matt Keeley

Sparks are awesome.

This is a given.

And, finally, Sparks have joined the rank of awesome things that have books about them. Two books, actually: Talent Is An Asset has already been reviewed in Popshifter, so now we bring you the other unauthorized Sparks bio, Dave Thompson’s Sparks: No. 1 Songs In Heaven.
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