Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me by Bernard Sumner My rating: 4 of 5 stars A frank memoir from the musician who was an integral part of two of the most influential bands ever viz. Joy Division and New Order. Sumner comes across as down-to-earth and amiable Continue Reading
BOOKS
Books related to pop culture
BOOK REVIEW | FIRE AND FURY : INSIDE THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE [GOODREADS]
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff My rating: 3 of 5 stars “Fire and Fury” so named as a reference to Trump’s rant against North Korea, is a White House tell-all that is somewhat spoiled by the fact that most nobody reading it would be Continue Reading
BOOK REVIEW | PoP LEGENDS : BILLY JOEL BY FRED SCHRUERS [GOODREADS]
Billy Joel by Fred Schruers My rating: 3 of 5 stars The biggest question when thinking of Billy Joel is – why hasn’t he released a new album in 20 over years? This biography does not seem to answer that question satisfactorily. This makes the final third rather difficult to Continue Reading
PoP20 | PoP LEGENDS : BOWIE – A BIOGRAPHY BY MARC SPITZ [REVIEW]
BOWIE: A BIOGRAPHY by Marc Spitz An assertion that David Bowie (nee Jones) has been the biggest influence on new bands and new music of the last four decades, would not draw much objections from rock scholars. But is that enough to fill a voluminous biography of the great man? Continue Reading
BOOK REVIEW : TIFFANY HADDISH – THE LAST BLACK UNICORN [GOODREADS]
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish My rating: 3 of 5 stars Quite an easy read. Tiffany’s personality shines through crystal clear, she never shies away from darker side of her life. So she presents herself warts and all. Her positive attitude of making the best of every situation Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY | 1971 – NEVER A DULL MOMENT BY DAVID HEPWORTH
1971 – Never a Dull Moment: Rock’s Golden Year by David Hepworth My rating: 3 of 5 stars The story of the ascent of rock music is lovingly told by the author, who turned 21 that year. The context behind many of the classic rock artists and albums is vividly Continue Reading
GEEK OUT!!! | COMIC BOOKS : MOVING TARGET – THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF GREEN ARROW
300+ paged book on Green Arrow? You have got to hand it to writer Richard Gray and publisher Sequart Organization for investing the time and effort into this unlikely character study.
GEEK OUT! NEIL GAIMAN – NORSE MYTHOLOGY
Not quite sure what to make of this. Basically with Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman “reaches back through time to the original source stories in a thrilling and vivid rendition of the great Norse tales” – as the press release informs us. So is it something like an album of covers? Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY : ELVIS COSTELLO – UNFAITHFUL MUSIC & DISAPPEARING INK
Like most artists that emerged during the post-punk/new wave era, Elvis Costello suffers from the same dilemma, that is, of being perpetually branded as a product of the 80s music scene.
ROCK HISTORY : BORN TO RUN BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Considering that rock legend Bruce Springsteen is famous for his lyrical genius, the very idea of a Springsteen memoir is exciting and intriguing. Would an autobiography match up to the cinematic lyrics found in classics like “Born in the USA”, “The Promised Land” and of course, “Born to Run”?
ROCK HISTORY: NOT DEAD YET BY PHIL COLLINS
As the title of his autobiography Not Dead Yet suggests, singer/drummer/producer/actor/film composer Phil Collins is a bit of a joker. This 400-page book is written in a breezy style and it would not be too difficult to finish it all off in a couple of days.
ROCK HISTORY: TESTIMONY BY ROBBIE ROBERTSON
Robbie Robertson (real name: Jaime Royal Robertson) is perhaps best known for being the guitarist/principal songwriter of The Band, a highly influential group that were active mainly from 1968 to 1977. Robertson has also a solid reputation as a solo artist, film composer and producer.
POPINIONS: REMAKE, REMODEL. REPEAT.
2016 is almost done with. And what have we learnt from modern pop culture? That rock ’n’ roll is dead? That nostalgia & fan service in movies trumps originality? That real life is slowly but surely upstaging science fiction for sheer bizarreness?
ROCK HISTORY – RAY DAVIES: A COMPLICATED LIFE BY JOHNNY ROGAN
The Kinks is a band that deserve more recognition than they have received. Although never quite valued in the same manner as many of their 60s peers, in many ways, The Kinks contributed as much to the development of rock music as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who & Continue Reading
BOOK REVIEW: GRAFT BY MATT HILL (ANGRY ROBOT BOOKS)
Synopsis Manchester, 2025. Local mechanic Sol steals old vehicles to meet the demand for spares. But when Sol’s partner impulsively jacks a luxury model, Sol finds himself caught up in a nightmarish trans-dimensional human trafficking conspiracy.
KEVIN SAYS …
I have been a fan of the Canadian singer-songwriter since the early 80s when a friend of mine (who was then studying in Canada) gave me a mixtape of his music and that was that, I was sold!
BOOK REVIEW: TROUBLE BOYS – THE TRUE STORY OF THE REPLACEMENTS (BY BOB MEHR)
Synopsis Based on all-new interviews and including 72 rare photos, Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements is the definitive biography of one of the last great rock ‘n’ roll bands of the twentieth century.
BOOK REVIEW: UNITED STATES OF JAPAN (BY PETER TIERYAS)
Synopsis Decades ago, Japan won the Second World War. Americans worship their infallible Emperor, and nobody believes that Japan’s conduct in the war was anything but exemplary. Nobody, that is, except the George Washingtons – a shadowy group of rebels fighting for freedom. Their latest subversive tactic is to distribute Continue Reading
BOOK REVIEW: CHRISSIE HYNDE – RECKLESS
To be absolutely honest, Chrissie Hynde was one of the first female rock ’n’ rollers I seriously got into at the very beginning of the 1980s. Considering the times, she represented something very different in rock ’n’ roll for a female performer and fronted an amazing band in Pretenders.
BOOK REVIEW: IF THEN (BY MATTHEW DE ABAITUA)
Superficially, If Then, English author Matthew De Abaitua’s 2nd novel, appears to be about the singularity. In scifi lore, that subject revolves around the hypothetical future creation of superintelligent machines. Examples of which have been found in stories like Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream and Continue Reading
BOOK REVIEW: READY PLAYER ONE (BY ERNEST CLINE)
Published in 2011, Ernest Cline’s story about a teen’s quest to win the ultimate prize in a virtual reality universe has caught the imagination of geeks worldwide, winning an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association and the 2012 Prometheus Award.
GEEK OUT! PHILIP K DICK’S THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH REMAINS RELEVANT 50 YEARS AFTER PUBLICATION
2015 is the 50th anniversary of many critical events – as we are often reminded. However, as a fan of mind-bending science fiction, I would also like to point out that 1965 was the year Philip K Dick’s novel, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch was published. Along with other Continue Reading
THE WORD: MINISTRY OF MORAL PANIC – SINGAPORE STORIES FOR THE MILLENIALS
I must confess that the only prose I read nowadays are rock bios. Even back when I did read fiction, it was science-fiction that I preferred (and still do). What to do? I am a serial escapist after all (as this webzine aptly proves). Of late, I have been lecturing Continue Reading
PLAY ON: POWER POP HEROES BY KEN SHARP
Writer Ken Sharp’s new book Play On!: Power Pop Heroes Volume One is available for pre-orders for 1 month with a cut off sale date of October 28th. In the first installment of a three-volume series, Ken Sharp honors the musical innovators who built the genre’s foundation. Featuring a foreword by Continue Reading
A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAZZ ROCK BY MIKE BARON
Writer Mike Baron makes an interesting point about how marginalized the Jazz Rock ‘genre’ has become since its heyday in the 70s in his introduction to this book. “The number of classic bands who have inspired youngsters continues to grow. Beatles imitators are legion. The Beach Boys have a growing Continue Reading