November 2, 2009
This Week's Interesting DVD Releases (November 3rd, 2009)
Food, Inc. examines where our food comes from, and with commentary from Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food), the story isn't pretty as corporate greed is shown to define a nation's diet.
Another documentary caught my eye, Unmistaken Child, which follows the search for a reincarnated Lama.
Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One and Spin City: Season Three are the highlights of the week
The feature films in stores tomorrow include big budget adventure films like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, but I'll recommend Lemon Tree, a compelling Israeli drama instead.
Music fans can choose from a diverse group of concert films, including ABBA: In Japan, Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart, and Nirvana: Live at Reading.
If there are any arts and crafts fans on your holiday gift lists, they might love Craft in America: Season Two or the documentary Handmade Nation (which features one of my favorite artists, Kate Bingaman-Burt of Obsessive Consumption).
Blu-ray releases out this week include Say Anything, Forrest Gump, and the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life.
What new releases are you picking up or adding to your Netflix queue this week?
This week's interesting DVD releases:
ABBA: In Japan
Afro Samurai: Complete Murder Sessions (Director's Cut)
Aliens in the Attic
The Answer Man
Art 21: Season 5
Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart
Bleach Uncut Box Set: Season 4, Part 1 - The Bount
The Botany of Desire
Buck Rogers (1939 version)
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]
Christmas in Wonderland
Christmas Town
Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1 (The Big Heat / 5 Against the House / The Lineup / Murder by Contract / The Sniper)
Craft in America: Season Two
Criminal Justice
Crutch - Director's Cut
Da Ali G Show: Da Compleet Seereez
The Dead
Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy (Mawdryn Undead / Terminus / Enlightenment) (Episodes 126-28)
Doctor Who - The War Games
Dragonaut: The Resonance, Complete Series Part 1
The Donna Reed Show: Season Three
Eddie Izzard: Live from Wembley
Edge of Darkness: The Complete BBC Series
Empire of the Sun
The English Surgeon
Food, Inc.
Forrest Gump [Blu-ray]
Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season
Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection
Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday
G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: Season 1.2
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
The Genius of Charles Darwin
Handmade Nation
Hardwired
Howards End (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Here's Lucy: Season Two
I Love You, Beth Cooper
It's a Wonderful Life [Blu-ray]
John Fogerty - Comin' Down the Road: The Concert at Royal Albert Hall
Law of Desire
Lemon Tree
Love Actually [Blu-ray]
Matador
The Men
Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics from TV's Golden Age
Mickey's Magical Christmas
Mission: Impossible - Complete Series
Mission: Impossible - The Final TV Season
Moribito - Guardian Of The Spirit Volume 7
Motown: The DVD
The Narrows
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
Night Watcher
Nirvana: Live at Reading
North by Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition)
Not Forgotten
The Rockford Files: Movie Collection, Vol. 1
Rocky: The Undisputed Collection [Blu-ray]
Ruby-Spears Superman
Sand Serpents
Say Anything [Blu-ray]
The Shield: Complete Series
Spin City: Season Three
Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One
The Storm
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Comedy (Arsenic and Old Lace / A Night at the Opera / The Long Long Trailer / Father of the Bride 1950)
TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Hitchcock Thrillers (Suspicion / Strangers on a Train / The Wrong Man / I Confess)
TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Holiday (Christmas in Connecticut 1945 / A Christmas Carol 1938 / The Shop Around the Corner / It Happened on 5th Avenue)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Season 7 Set
Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series
The Tower of Druaga: Part One - The Aegis of Uruk
Transformers/Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen [Blu-ray]
Unmistaken Child
Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro - The Complete First Season
Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro - The Complete Second Season
Where God Left His Shoes
White Christmas (Anniversary Edition)
Will Ferrell: You're Welcome, America. A Final Night with George W. Bush
Wings of Desire (The Criterion Collection)
Witchblade: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]
Wolverine and the X-Men: Beginning of the End
Wolverine and the X-Men: Volumes 1-3
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
What can you recommend buying or adding to your Netflix queue from this week's DVD releases?
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous CD & DVD release lists
Soundtracked (directors and composers discuss their film's soundtrack)
tags: movies dvd list indie film
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November 2, 2009
November 2nd Updates to the Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists:
Atlanta's A-List (best albums)
breakfast, lunch-n-dinner (top albums)
Club Fonograma (best regional Mexican songs)
Don't Fear the Mainstream (favorite songs)
The Donnybrook Writing Academy (top overrated albums)
Filles Sourires - Sky (best French albums)
Filles Sourires - Guuzbourg (best French albums)
Heiruspecs (favorite albums)
Lucy Michelle (favorite albums)
MondoSonoro (top Spanish & international albums)
Music By Day (top albums)
Music Fan's Mic (songs that define the decade)
Paste (top albums)
Pretty Much Amazing (best albums)
Q (top albums)
Town Full of Losers (best albums)
The View from Yoorp (top albums)
WakeUpAndSmelltheMusic.com (essential albums)
also at Largehearted Boy:
2008 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2007 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2006 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2009" Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
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Shorties (John Irving, Hottest Bands in Canada, and more)
The Sacramento Bee interviews John Irving about his new novel, Last Night in Twisted River.
Did you have specific aims for the book, or are you just telling a story? Does your art have a purpose?
I think having a purpose is different than having a message. I don't really write message novels, aside from "The Cider House Rules" or "A Prayer for Owen Meany." ("Cider House" was about abortion, "Owen Meany" about Vietnam.) In the other 10 novels I'm more of a social writer than a political one.
i(heart)music has posted the 2009 results of its "hottest bands in Canada" bloggers poll.
Paste lists its top 50 albums of the decade (2000-2009).
Keep up with the list of aggregated "best of the decade" music lists, updated daily.
The Guardian examines the Hammond organ's place in rock and roll.
The 2010 IMPAC Award longlist has been released, and contains 156 books, including Largehearted Boy Book Notes contributors Rabih Alameddine, Tom Piazza, and Roxana Robinson.
Jonathan Safran Foer talks to NPR's All Things Considered about his controversial new book, Eating Animals. An excerpt form the book is also provided.
"More than anything, I want people to come away with the idea that meat matters," Foer says. "I am not asking other people to come to these conclusions. I am asking people to see something that they already know, which is that what we choose to eat when ordering at a restaurant, what we choose to buy at a supermarket, is frankly one of the most important decisions we'll make all day."
Amazon MP3 has a new batch of 50 albums for $5
The Antlers' Hospice
The Avett Brothers' Four Thieves Gone - The Robbinsville Sessions
Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3
Johnny Cash: The Best of the Sun Years
Rodrigo y Gabriela's 11:11
Anne Heller, author of Ayn Rand and the World She Made, talks to NPR's All Things Considered about the author's literary and political legacies.
This week Five Chapters is serializing a new short story by Emma Straub.
io9 reviews John Darnielle & John Vanderslice's tour EP, Moon Colony Bloodbath.
The Quietus excerpts from Stevie Chick's new book, Spray Paint the Walls: The "Black Flag" Story.
The New York Times notes the increased number of indie rock bands playing wedding receptions.
Weddings, of course, have been the secret sustainer of the music world since time immemorial. But for just as long, wedding bands have been a source of embarrassment for those forced to play in them. The Dexter Lake Club Band has neatly subverted this construction by the simple expediency of creating a band that actually rocks. In the process, they’ve become one of New York’s premier wedding bands for people who would never dream of hiring a wedding band.
State Magazine interviews singer-songwriter John Vanderslice.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
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Daily Downloads (Yeasayer, Drew Danburry, and more)
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:
Anders Parker: "Calling Out to You" [mp3] from Skyscraper Crow
Anders Parker: "72nd St. Horses" [mp3] from Skyscraper Crow
other Anders Parker posts at Largehearted Boy
ARMS: "Tiger Tamer" [mp3] from Kids Aflame
ARMS: "Kids Aflame" [mp3] from Kids Aflame
ARMS: "Construction" [mp3] from Kids Aflame
other ARMS posts at Largehearted Boy
Brim Liski: "Fight" [mp3] from Brim Liski EP (out November 10th)
other Brim Liski posts at Largehearted Boy
Drew Danburry: free and legal Geraniums EP [mp3]
other Drew Danburry posts at Largehearted Boy
Jesse Mills: free and legal Les Battes de Julia EP
other Jesse Mills posts at Largehearted Boy
L'Avventura: free and legal Your Star Was Shining album [mp3]
other L'Avventura posts at Largehearted Boy
Yeasayer: "Ambling Alp" [mp3] from Ambling Alp (out November 3rd)
other Yeasayer posts at Largehearted Boy
Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:
Great Northern: Luxury Wafers session [mp3]
other Great Northern posts at Largehearted Boy
Ribbons: Daytrotter session [mp3]
other Ribbons posts at Largehearted Boy
Surfer Blood: 2009-10-24, New York [mp3]
other Surfer Blood posts at Largehearted Boy
Unicycle Loves You: 2009-10-22, New York [mp3]
other Unicycle Loves You posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous free and legal mp3 daily downloads
2009 Bonnaroo downloads
other music festival downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists
tags: music download indie mp3
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November 1, 2009
33 Down, 19 To Go "The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics " (52 Books, 52 Weeks)
When Paul Buhle (whose collaborations with Harvey Pekar are among my comics favorites) mentioned to me that Harvey Kurtzman was a personal hero, I knew I had to read Buhle's book The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics.
A collaboration between Denis Kitchen and Buhle, The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics lovingly curates the artwork of the Mad Magazine cartoonist, who in his brief tenure at the inception of the magazine helped define it. When I started the book, I was unfamiliar with Kurtzman's influence other than his time at Mad, but was surprised to discover his influence not only in the world of comics, but also politics as well as the entertainment industry (he helped foster the careers of Gloria Steinem, Terry Gilliam, R. Crumb, and others).
What makes the book work is the combination of the written biography alongside Kurtzman's comics (and even his illustrated correspondence), giving rare insight into a comics genius while also illuminating the man behind the artwork.
For one month, enter the coupon code "LHB001" at Atomic Books and receive 15% off this title.
My next book is Circus Parade, by Jim Tully.
also at Largehearted Boy:
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2009 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2008 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2007 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2006 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2005 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2004 Edition)
Online "best of 2008" book lists
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
tag: books food photography
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November 1st Updates to the Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists:
Barbara (best albums)
Junk (songs of the decade)
Snob's Music (best albums)
Somewhere Between Art and Love (favorite albums)
also at Largehearted Boy:
2008 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2007 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2006 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
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Shorties (Julian Casablancas, Michael Chabon, and more)
Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas talks to the New York Post about his solo album, Phrazes For The Young (out November 3rd).
“Some of the songs sound like they can be found on the soundtrack of a random ’80s movie,” says Casablancas, 31, who plays almost all of the instruments. A little over a year ago, he went into the studio fully intending to set himself apart from his bandmates. For the first time, he took song ideas they had rejected and set out to make them his own.
The Buffalo News reviews Michael Chabon's new essay collection, Manhood for Amateurs.
Singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet talks to the San Francisco Chronicle about his albums' recording sessions.
The Dallas Morning News reviews Anne Rice's new novel, Angel Time.
This book has all the things her readers so adore about Anne Rice's books: intimate little glimpses into her own soul, as with Toby's unabashed love of classical music, particularly the violin; a vivid and exciting clash between good and evil; and characters so lovingly drawn we can't help but root for them.
Forbes lists the most successful children's book characters in Hollywood.
At the Observer, John Lydon of PiL and the Sex Pistols recounts the musical soundtrack of his life.
The Los Angeles Times points out landmarks of a literary tour of Manhattan.
The Boston Herald offers a "his 'n' hers" guide to musical twosomes.
The Guardian profiles author John le Carre.
Le Carre, whose real name is David Cornwell, worked as a spy for British intelligence at the height of the cold war in the 1950s and early 1960s. He used the experience to create a fictional world, full of moral ambiguity, professional compromise and institutional corruption, that felt vividly real. The signature clarity of his prose was matched only by the distinctive murkiness of what it described.
Digital City lists the best cities for live music scenes.
Newsarama reviews the graphic novel, Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
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Daily Downloads (The Antlers, Ween, and more)
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:
Chuck Prophet: 2009-09-26, Newcastle [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Sonny Liston's Blues" [mp3]
other Chuck Prophet posts at Largehearted Boy
Cowboy Junkies: 2009-07-22, Seattle [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Don't Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young cover)" [mp3]
Cowboy Junkies: 2009-07-18, Jacksonville [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Misguided Angel" [mp3]
Cowboy Junkies: 2000-06-10, Santa Rosa [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones cover)" [mp3]
other Cowboy Junkies posts at Largehearted Boy
The Greencards: 2009-10-18, Buffalo [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Marty's Kitchen" [mp3]
other Greencards posts at Largehearted Boy
Hackensaw Boys: 2009-08-01, Happy Valley [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Baltimore" [mp3]
other Hackensaw Boys posts at Largehearted Boy
Jaymay: 2009-08-02, Happy Valley [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Tragedy Song" [mp3]
other Jaymay posts at Largehearted Boy
Justin Townes Earle: 2009-08-01, Happy Valley [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Ghost of Virginia" [mp3]
other Justin Townes Earle posts at Largehearted Boy
Mt. Eerie: 2009-10-25, Philadelphia [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Wind's Dark Poem" [mp3]
other Mt. Eerie posts at Largehearted Boy
Ween: 2009-10-28, Knoxville [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Help My Pony" [mp3]
other Ween posts at Largehearted Boy
Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:
The Antlers: Daytrotter session [mp3]
other Antlers posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous free and legal mp3 daily downloads
2009 Bonnaroo downloads
other music festival downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists
tags: music download indie mp3
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
October 31, 2009
Contest - Win Peter & Max: A Fables Novel and Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book One
I have been reading Bill Willingham's Fables comics for almost a decade, and was honored when he submitted a Book Notes music playlist to this blog for Peter & Max: A Fables Novel. These real world, New York stories of fairy tale characters are clever, quick-paced, and above all, incredibly fun.
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book One collects the first ten issues of the comic in one hardback, gloriously reproduced volume, complete with original character sketches as a bonus.
To enter the contest, leave a comment with the name of the fairy tale character whose real life memoir you would most want to read.
The winner will receive the following prizes:
Peter & Max: A Fables Novel, by Bill Willingham
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book One, by Bill Willingham
an assortment of books & CDs
The winner will be chosen randomly at midnight CT Friday evening (November 6th).
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous and ongoing contests at Largehearted Boy
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2009 Edition)
tags: books music giveaway contest fables comics
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Today's Updates to the Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists:
Freaky Trigger (top songs)
Gigwise (greatest albums)
Gigwise (worst albums)
It's a Squad Game (best albums)
Sidetracked (best music videos)
Swear I'm not Paul (top one-hit wonders)
Today's Music from ww_adh (best albums)
Weekly Tape Deck (favorite albums)
Why Just One Note (best albums)
also at Largehearted Boy:
2008 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2007 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2006 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
Shorties (Anne Rice, The Swell Season, and more)
The St. Petersburg Times interviews author Anne Rice about her current reading.
NPR's All Things Considered profiles The Swell Season.
Jayne Anne Phillips talks to the Chicago Tribune about her latest novel, Lark and Termite.
The A.V. Club interviews Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords.
The Guardian lists 10 of the best rats in literature.
In the New York Times, Dave Eggers reviews Kurt Vonnegut's posthumously published short story collection, Look at the Birdie.
The 14 stories in “Look at the Birdie,” none of them afraid to entertain, dabble in whodunnitry, science fiction and commanding fables of good versus evil. Why these stories went unpublished is hard to answer. They’re polished, they’re relentlessly fun to read, and every last one of them comes to a neat and satisfying end. For transmittal of moral instruction, they are incredibly efficient delivery devices.
IGN lists the best metal ballads.
The Toronto Star interviews cartoonist Seth about his writing habits.
On sale at Amazon MP3:
the 13-track Away We Go soundtrack for $1.99
the 21-track Nightmare Revisited album for $2.99
Peter Straub discusses literary horror at Salon.
At The Week, author Harold Evans names his 5 favorite biographies and memoirs.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
Daily Downloads (Tim Fite, Warren Zevon, and more)
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:
Blitzen Trapper: 2009-08-02, Happy Valley [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Jericho" [mp3]
other Blitzen Trapper posts at Largehearted Boy
Carla Bozulich: 2009-10-24, Innsbruck [mp3,ogg,flac]
"You Are a Jaguar" [mp3]
other Carla Bozulich posts at Largehearted Boy
Grace Potter: 2009-08-12, West Allis [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Joey" [mp3]
other Grace Potter posts at Largehearted Boy
Hayes Carll: 2008-05-06, Raleigh [mp3,ogg,flac]
"I Don't Wanna Grow Up (Tom Waits cover)" [mp3]
other Hayes Carll posts at Largehearted Boy
Kim Taylor: 2009-10-22, New York [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Anchor Down" [mp3]
other Kim Taylor posts at Largehearted Boy
Pelican: 2007-11-23, Wroclaw [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Dead Between the Walls" [mp3]
other Pelican posts at Largehearted Boy
Smashing Pumpkins: 2000-05-23, Universal City [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Muzzle" [mp3]
other Smashing Pumpkins posts at Largehearted Boy
Steve Wynn: 1997-10-14, Columbia [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Ghosts" [mp3]
other Steve Wynn posts at Largehearted Boy
Tim Fite: free and legal Halloween EP [mp3]
other Tim Fite posts at Largehearted Boy
Warren Zevon: 1978-05-13, Chicago [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Werewolves of London" [mp3]
other Warren Zevon posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous free and legal mp3 daily downloads
2009 Bonnaroo downloads
other music festival downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists
tags: music download indie mp3
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
