Music: Slayer: World Painted Red
Casey McKinney11.01.09
A voice in the wilderness Slayer is. Long time fans noted the creepy serendipity of the release date of God Hates Us ALL (September 11th, 2001). For…
Site: DC’s Halloween Month
The Fanzine10.31.09
Not sure who likes Halloween more, would be blood brothers Dennis Cooper or Derek McCormack? And in case you thought we were complete idiot space…
The Zombie Monologues
Darius James10.30.09
Each year at this time the dead rise from their graves but way back in the summer of 1961 Nazis revivified deceased plantation slaves through the powers of voodoo during the midday movie on WNEW’s Jungle Jive at Five. A young tyke at the time, Darius James was thirsty for any televisual images of African-Americans even the eye-popping antics of Mantan Moreland and discovered more than he bargained for. James is the author of the novel Negrophobia and That’s Blaxploitation!, a book every bit as stylized and opinionated as the films it profiles.
The Girls’ Guide to Rocking
Michael Louie10.29.09
I know this is a kids book, or at least a book aimed at kids, girls specifically, but just because we’re a "literary magazine" doesn’t mean we can’t step back and check out something good for the next generation. Because we may as well admit it that we’re all getting older, and as we get older, the saying goes, the ground gets colder. For all of us. Despite the corny cover photos, The Girls’ Guide to Rocking is one of those things; for as easy as it is to be critical and cynical of how-to music books, this one by Jessica Hopper, a music journalist and long-time band member herself, is surprisingly approachable and informative without being preachy or distant.
The Hoax is Back
Casey McKinney10.25.09
I have to tell you, part of the reason I’ve largely, maybe stupidly, avoided the journalism game myself since my j-school days (opting to…
Arthur Russell Revived: Hold On To Your Dreams
Thom Donovan10.25.09
We’ve seen a major reexamination, recently, of the work of the late, esteemed, multifaceted musician Arthur Russell, through a biopic film, a record label dedicating to releasing unreleased, rare and reissued material, and a new biography in the bookstores; the poetic brilliance of Arthur Russell is alive and well for a new generation. Thom Donovan looks at the entire scope of the Russell revision on the heals of the biography by Tim Lawrence, Hold On To Your Dreams.
Credit Card Reform? Read the Fine Print.
Casey McKinney10.23.09
Credit Card Reform? Read the Fine Print.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Amy Meyerson10.21.09
The adverb ‘complexly’ crops up repeatedly in the work of David Foster Wallace to describe among other things: 1) the irreverence of a palely freckled marketing focus group facilitator, 2) the patterns of shadow on trees, grass and shrubbery on a still, green day at the height of spring and 3) the series of hook and eye knobs on a blouse which women can undo easily and men cannot. It’s a fitting word to recurr in his work, often indicating a point at which his impressive descriptive powers had reached their limit, and emblematic of an aesthetic not easily translated to the screen. Amy Meyerson looks at the difficulties of adaption through John Krasinski’s recent film of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
86’d Stories: Sammy Reid and Jeff Dickinson
Jennifer Blowdryer10.17.09
Over the last several years, Jennifer Blowdryer has been conducting an oral history project of friends and acquaintances who have been 86’d — kicked out and never allowed to return — from various places: restaurants, bars, apartments, houses of celebrities, computer hardware stores and others. In this first of three installments Sammy Reid talks about one of his many evictions and Jeff Dickinson tells a tale of lost shoes, stolen gas masks and the Bellevue psychiatric ward.
Bye Brendan Mullen, Fanzine Owes You, In Memoriam
Casey McKinney10.14.09
Bye Brendan Mullen, Fanzine Owes You One, In Memoriam
