Kategoria BISAC: Music >> Genres & Styles - Punk

Popular music, today, has supposedly collapsed into a 'retromania' which, according to leading critic Simon Reynolds, has brought a 'slow and steady fading of the artistic imperative to be original.' Meanwhile, in the estimation of philosopher Alain Badiou, a significant political event will always require 'the dictatorial power of a creation ex nihilo'. Everywhere, it seems, at least amongst commentators of a certain age and type, pessimism prevails with regards to the predominant aesthetic preferences of the twenty first century: popular music, supposedly, is in a rut.

Yet when, if...

This is the album that sent a shockwave of empowerment through the nation's cultural underground. In 1985, Olympia, Washington band Beat Happening released their eponymous debut of lo-fi pop songs on K Records and challenged every conception held about music. At the center of the group was the enigmatic Calvin Johnson and his revolutionary vision of artistic creation. His foresight and industriousness allowed him to recruit to the K Records roster other free-spirited artists like Beck, Modest Mouse, and Built to Spill long before they gained widespread acclaim.

This book, structured...

A searing punk memoir by an American original rebelling against conformity, complacency, and conservatism with his iconic band, MDC.

From the time Dave Dictor was young, he knew he was a little different than the all-American kids around him. Radicalized politically while in high school, inspired to seize opportunities by his hard-working parents, and intrigued with gender fluidity, Dictor moved to Austin, and connected with local misfits and anti-establishment rock'n'rollers. He began penning songs that influenced American punk rock for decades.

MDC always has been in the...

The first book of lyrics by TV Smith, member of seminal punk band The Adverts and solo singer-songwriter. Foreword by Henry Rollins, member of Black Flag and The Rollins Band, actor, and writer.

TV Smith: I’m always being asked it: what comes first, the words or the music? In fact they come together, mysteriously and intricately intertwined, an unholy alliance of message and melody. So what happens when you pick them apart? There are the words, all naked without the music to disguise their true form. Released from the chains of verse-chorus-bridge they run free across the...

• This republication marks the graphic novel's 20th anniversary.
• Both the original book and the movie have a loyal cult following, fans will be eager to get their hands on this new edition.
• This edition includes bonus features such as a tear-out guitar chord book and an introduction by Lynn Crosbie, author of Where Did You Sleep Last Night, a novel about a young girl who embarks on a relationship with Kurt Cobain.
• The cover is a skillfully rendered cover-version of the film in graphic novel form done by Craine himself.

In 1989, Bob Mould took a left turn. Already legendary before his 30th birthday for his noise-and-nuance work in Husker Du, Mould had recently walked away from his old band. He re-emerged with his debut solo album: Workbook. Filled with chiming acoustic guitars, multitracked vocals, pristine production, and even a cello, Workbook was both admired and questioned for Mould's perceived departure from his post-punk roots.

Three decades later, the album has emerged as a key for understanding the nascent alternative rock genre and the concerns Mould would explore for the...

Kane reveals how the new sounds of proto-punk and punk music found their way into the poetry of the 1960s and 1970s downtown scene,...