Houston Press – 16 albums based on lit

Some of you are most likely rocking back in your chairs and laughing over my inclusion of this, but it’s the sort of connection between music and writing that I have always loved. That is, crosspollination. Cover tracks are still one of the things I find most fascinating about modern music, as they are as much of a window into the cover artist’s mindset as their own work. Why did they choose that song? Why did they decided to play it in that style? Was retaining the original piece’s integrity important? If so, why cover it at all?

Regardless, The Houston Press has just put out a list of 16 albums inspired by literature. It’s that much more fascinating to me. Track down these albums. They’ll blow your mind. (Specifically Lou Reed’s “The Raven”, Mastadon’s “Leviathan”.)

The Journeys of Isle

A good, long time friend of mine has set up his first novel for sale at Xlibris called The Journeys of Isle. Bowdoin has long had a love affair with late 19th century children’s literature, and it shows. There is an excerpt available on the site, but here is the description from the book’s Xlibris page:

Isle, shipwrecked and alone, finds himself waking up in the most confusing of places. With only vague and frightening images of a terrible storm and a sinking ship for memory, he is quickly confronted by a place where safety is substituted for choice. Where every footstep lands on someone’s last nerve, and what you think is just as dangerous as what you do. The type of American town where a mouth and mind like Isle’s can get you into an awful lot of trouble. But beyond the danger of an angry sheriff, who would like nothing more than to blame him for the sudden string of unexplained fires that have begun plaguing his quiet town, Isle is being followed by something infinitely more deadly. A dark shadow that lashes out from the things he can’t remember. With nothing but choice standing between the terrible dark that is chasing him and the lives of everyone he knew or would come to know, Isle will be forced to fight alone against something he doesn’t even understand. A struggle that leads to only one place, and only asks only a single question, “What do you believe, now that I’ve told you how it ends?”

Human Genome – THE SHIRT

“nothing says “I understand women” better than having a sizable chunk of their genetic sequence spread all over your upper body.”

Watch the NY Philharmonic perform in Pyongyang online

Starting tonight at midnight, you can watch a video of the performance on PBS’ website.

 

Miku Hatsune

She’s a 16 year old Soprano voice. I say “voice” because Miku is actually a vocal synthesizer app created by Yamaha. She’s not a real person. She’s sampled from audio data of voice actress Saki Fujita. Anyone can create vocal tracks by typing in the lyrics of the song you want sung (in either Japanese or English) and then entering the notes for each lyric.

Videos of her voice can be found all over the youtubes. Soon enough the RIAA will latch on to her and finally find a way to completely cut artists out of the loop – ensuring that the pop machine remains, in fact, a machine.

Warren, you’re wrong…

This is the greatest title sequence in TV history.

“I’d like to talk about drums…”

Fascinating look at the “Amen Break”.

James Sime continues to be the best retailler in comics.

Like sleazy, trashy old movies? Well so do I.

Which is why Isotope proudly presents a one-night film fest featuring the legendary cinematic historian, b-movie poster curator, exploitation auteur director, and trash film connoisseur Jacques Boyreau!

Author of two of the swingin’ sexiest must-have coffee table books ever printed, Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters and the stunning The Male Mystique: Men’s Magazine Ads of the 1960s and ’70s as well as the cinematic whitesploitation visionary behind the anti-classics Planet Manson, I Do, I Die, and the science fiction LSD epic Candy Von Dewd, Boyreau is invading the Isotope with a 13 foot movie screen and hundreds of reels of lost b-movie exploitation cinema gems.

And for those in the SF Bay Area who need even more cinema sleeze be sure to also check out Boyreau’s Super Trash Peepshow slideshowing and talk featuring vintage artwork from trash films and other forms of disreputable pop culture at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts the following night. You know where I’ll be!

Jacques Boyreau’s Super Trash Film Fest
Friday, October 5th
8pm – Midnight
18 and up, please. Bring your ID for booze. Never a cover.

Image Roll : Jack Kirby

Thank you, Image.Google.Com:

Soundtrack – Month of September

Last.FM Groups of Note:

HorrorPunk Kids

Bendis Board Group 

St Pete/Tampa 

Trucks & Kids & Chairs & Rocks