Tag: book
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Mars By 1980: The Story of Electronic Music
by David Stubbs Electronic music is everywhere now. Look at the TV series ‘Stranger Things’, for example, with its John Carpenter-inspired synth-scapes. ‘Mars By 1980’ tells the story of how music got to this point. It was a long time getting here but now the future has arrived. The book is split into four main parts: Part…
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I’VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY: 10 YEARS OF ROCK AND ROLL RAMBLINGS
Danko Jones (Feral House, 2018) Danko Jones requires little introduction. Whether you are a fan of his incredibly hard-rockin’ band, his hilarious podcast, or his articles on all things rock for myriad magazines, the guy is an undeniably-prolific veteran of rock and roll. And it is because of his lifer dedication to rock that his…
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Book reviews by Steve Earles: The Great War Illustrated 1918
Archive and Colour Photographs of WW1 By William Langford and Jack Holroyd This is the final book in this series, the last of five titles, which have to stand as one of the very best series that Pen and Sword has published – which is no mean feat. The photos and images in this book…
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BOOK REVIEW: Uncovering Stranger Things
Essays on Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence in the Series Edited by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr The success of ‘Stranger Things’ comes as no surprise. The 80s are far enough in the past to seem distant enough for comment yet near enough to feel fresh in the mind. This is a superb collection of 23 new…
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Myth and Magic in Heavy Metal Music
This book scores major kudos by having Cronos of the mighty and highly influential Venom on the cover. It’s a fine idea to explore the influences on the themes of heavy metal and Robert McParland does this with great aplomb. It’s nice to read such well-written work. It would have been nice if a well-known metal…
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Book reviews by Steve Earles: Rise Up, Women
Rise Up, Women: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes Written by Diane Atkinson Published by Bloomsbury Recently I saw the excellent film Suffragette (which Diane Atkinson was a consultant on) starring Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep. It’s not often you see a film that changes the way you view the world and its inequality and injustice,…
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BOOK REVIEW: Why We Sleep
Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams Written by Matthew Walker Published by Allen Lane It was always thought that the three pillars of health were diet, exercise and sleep. But that was wrong: sleep should always come first – it is irrefutably the foundation the other two pillars are built on.…
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BOOK REVIEW: Aleister Crowley in America
Written by Tobias Churton Published by Inner Tradition Inner Traditions published a marvellously eclectic selection of books that make the reader think about the world in a different way. Aleister Crowley was one of the 20th century’s great thinkers. He saw the world in a very new fashion. Often misunderstood, Crowley’s life and work deserves…
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Book reviews by Steve Earles: Everybody Lies
Everybody Lies: What The Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are By Seth Stephens-Davidowitz Foreword by Steven Pinker It’s hard to get your head around the fact that on any given day the human race searching the internet amasses eight trillion gigabytes of data! Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a Harvard-trained economist and worked as a…
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Book reviews by Steve Earles: FICTION
Radio Girls By Sarah-Jane Stratford It’s difficult in this 21st century era of mass communications to understand just how important radio was in its early years (think of Rush’s “Spirit of Radio”!). It literally opened up the world. I remember my mother telling me her granny would listen to the radio all day, transfixed by…