Shake, Rattle & Turn That Noise Down! How Elvis shook up music, me and mom (2010) Mark Alan Stamaty As hard as it is to believe nowadays, Elvis used to be just about the most annoying music you could play, as a young Mark Stamaty discovered. In this heartwarming graphic novel, the author describes how […]
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (2007) Oliver Sacks Neurologist and Physician Oliver Sacks is best known for his engaging books and collections of stories about the human mind. In Musicophilia, Sacks explores the extraordinary effects of music on our grey matter, and the ways that music shapes our interpretations of the world around […]
Ripped: t-shirts from the underground (2010) Cesar Padilla (ed.) 1000 Indie Posters (2011) John Foster Popular music produces a wide range of ephemera, from customized guitar picks to Gene Simmons Bobbleheads. For artists and graphic designers, this range of products and promotional materials provide a fertile ground for their creative talents. Some of the more […]
Nocturnes (2009) Kazuo Ishiguro In this short story collection, five tales of love, loss and redemption are set against a decidedly musical backdrop. In each story, Kazuo Ishiguro (author of Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go) casts music as a central character in between his protagonists, winding around their elation or emotional […]
Have Not Been the Same: the CanRock renaissance (2001) Michael Barclay, Ian A.D Jack & Jason Schneider Canada's musicians hold a respected and (compared to population) disproportionately large place in the international music community. With all of the Arcade Fires and MSTRFTs and Leslie Feists that are touring today, its easy to forget an earlier […]
David Bowie: Starman (2011) Paul Trynka Today, David Bowie is widely recognised as one of the most famous and influential musicians to emerge in the second half of the 20th century. Yet this talented performer spent years struggling in semi-obscurity, written off as a one-hit wonder writer of novelty tunes (who can forget the horrible, […]
33 Revolutions Per Minute (2011) Dorian Lynskey One of the most potent legacies of popular music is the protest song. From Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" to Public Enemy's "Fight The Power", few artistic products can claim a competing ability to move the masses to question institutional injustice. Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per […]
Dirty Drunk and Punk (2011) Jennifer Morton Canadian punk rock visionaries or the scourge of Kensington Market? Legendary Toronto band Bunchofuckingoofs were a bit of both. Created as the result of a dare in 1983 and based out of a series of flophouse-cum-beercans in Toronto's iconic Kensington market, Bunchofuckingoofs were steeped in a committment to […]
Chaos Mission (2003) Lorenz Peter Originally published as an underground 'zine, Chaos Mission is a harrowing (and at times hilarious) comic autobiography by artist and musician Lorenz Peter. Starting with his disenchanted youth in 'Fort McMurder', Peter goes on to describe a decade of his life in Vancouver and Toronto whose hallmarks include bouts of […]
I Met the Walrus (2009) Jerry Levitan On May 26 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a one-day stop over in Toronto before continuing on to Montreal for their now famous bed-in for peace. Aspiring teen reporter Jerry Levitan managed to sneak into the famous couple's room, and convinced John to be interviewed. I […]