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The essential account of R. Kelly’s actions and their consequences, a reckoning two decades in the making In November 2000, Chicago journalist and music critic Jim DeRogatis received an anonymous fax that alleged R. Kelly had a problem with “young girls.” Weeks later, DeRogatis broke the shocking story, publishing allegations that the R&B superstar and local hero had groomed girls, sexually abused them, and paid them off. DeRogatis thought his work would have an impact. Instead, Kelly’s career flourished. No one seemed to care: not the music industry, not the culture at large, not the parents of numerous other young girls. But for more than eighteen years, DeRogatis stayed on the sto...
Let It Blurt is the raucous and righteous biography of Lester Bangs (1949-82)--the gonzo journalist, gutter poet, and romantic visionary of rock criticism. No writer on rock 'n' roll ever lived harder or wrote better--more passionately, more compellingly, more penetratingly. He lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, guzzling booze and Romilar like water, matching its energy in prose that erupted from the pages of Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice. Bangs agitated in the seventies for sounds that were harsher, louder, more electric, and more alive, in the course of which he charted and defined the aesthetics of heavy metal and punk. He was treated as a peer by such brash visionaries as Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Captain Beefheart, The Clash, Debbie Harry, and other luminaries. Let It Blurt is a scrupulously researched account of Lester Bangs's fascinating (if often tawdry and unappetizing) life story, as well as a window on rock criticism and rock culture in their most turbulent and creative years. It includes a never-before-published piece by Bangs, the hilarious "How to Be a Rock Critic," in which he reveals the secrets of his dubious, freeloading trade.
A collection of 34 essays in which some of the best rock critics of Generation X and Y address allegedly great' albums that they despise. A spirited assault on the pantheon that has been foisted upon this new generation of music critics, a defiant slap in the face to the narrow and hegemonic view of rock history presented by the Baby Boom generation's critics. As a collection of the new generation of rock writers, it is the first of its kind, as well as the first and only anthology devoted solely to critiquing rock and roll's most sacred cows.'
Hardly anyone bought The Velvet Underground's albums when they were released, but most everyone who did formed a band. This was the kind of influence the Velvets axerted, and it persists to this day in the sounds of groungs as diverse as Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols, R.E.M., My Bloody Valentine, and Sonic Youth - all of whom claim the Velvets as their most important influence. This book offers behind-the-scenes look at how 'The Velvet Underground' did it.
(Book). Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock is a history and critical examination of rock's most inventive genre. Whether or not psychedelic drugs played a role (and as many musicians say they've used them as not), psychedelic rock has consistently charted brave new worlds that exist only in the space between the headphones. The history books tell us the music's high point was the Haight-Ashbury scene of 1967, but the genre didn't start in San Francisco, and its evolution didn't end with the Summer of Love. A line can be drawn from the hypnotic drones of the Velvet Underground to the disorienting swirl of My Bloody Valentine; from the artful experiments of the Beatles' ...
Sheperd Paine did more than anyone to elevate modeling to the level of an art form - one that includes elements of painting, sculpting, research, and storytelling. Building and painting miniature figures, armor, aircraft, and ships with equal skill, and displaying a broad scope of knowledge and interests ranging from the Napoleonic era to WWII, Paine created incredibly detailed and masterfully rendered vignettes and dioramas. This is the first book to examine all of his remarkable work, cataloging it with more than seven hundred beautiful photos, and charting the life experiences that formed these creations in an interesting, conversational format.
What began as a musical attempt to recreate the hallucinogenic experience of rock music has evolved into an ambitious approach to rock 'n roll that continues to expand the boundaries of music. More than just a sound, psychedelic rock is a philosophy, a way of creating the "cinematic music of the imagination". Whether readers were present at Ken Kesey's acid trips, or cut their musical teeth on Sonic Youth, this book will be provocative and fascinating reading. Photos.
Taking its title with suitable slacker irony from a song on Nirvana's In Utero, Milk It! is an anthology of pieces written in the heat of the moment-an urgent and diverse overview that mirrors the chaotic rush of the postmodern sounds it covers. Headnotes and connective material-the "stories behind the stories"-provide running commentary on the music business, rock criticism, a troubled generation, and an attempt to put the fast-moving alternative-rock era in perspective from the safe distance of the comparatively bland new millennium. Compiled by a critic who shared the Generation X outlook, attitude, and biting sense of humor with the musicians that he covered-Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, and many others-Milk It! is the first serious attempt to chart the alternative music scene. Compelling, amusing, and provocative, Milk It! captures the excitement of an era, and reckons with its enduring influence.
“Collects some of [Punk Planet’s] best interviews from the past half-decade . . . serves as a reminder that punk is not just music but a movement.” —The A.V. Club Updated with six more interviews and a new introduction, the expanded edition of We Owe You Nothing is the definitive book of conversations with the underground’s greatest minds from the pages of Punk Planet. New interviews include talks with bands like The Gossip and Maritime, a conversation with punk legend Bob Mould, and more . . . in addition to the classic interviews from the original edition: Ian MacKaye, Jello Biafra, Thurston Moore, Noam Chomsky, Kathleen Hanna, Black Flag, Sleater-Kinney, Steve Albini, Frank Kozi...
Two of the world’s preeminent music journalists tackle the liveliest debate in rock history: which band is the greatest ever—the Beatles or the Rolling Stones? More than two dozen topics of debate are addressed, with cases being made both for the lads from Liverpool and rock’s proto bad boys. From the Cavern and Crawdaddy clubs through head-to-head comparisons of specific albums (e.g., Exile or “the White Album”?), members’ roles within the bands, the Svengali-like managers, influential producers, musical influences, and more, this is the book that dares confront the topics over which fans have agonized for years. Illustrated throughout with photography and memorabilia.