Kim Merker was a great artist, and a good friend to my family. He published work by my father, Robert Dana, as well as many other great poets of the late 20th century. The New York Times did a nice job of paying tribute.
:For four decades, using presses he operated with his own inky hands, Mr.
Merker was a designer, typesetter and printer of some of the most
beautiful books made in America in the late 20th century. Almost all
were vessels for poems that he found promising, interesting or
indisputably excellent — and about which he was usually right: some of
the young poets he published went on to achieve renown.
Within the artisanal movement called fine press printing, which
celebrates bookmaking as it was practiced before mass production, Mr.
Merker had few peers. "
Maybe it's the passing of Margaret
Thatcher, or maybe it's the constant repetition throwback earworms
(like Budweiser using “Second Chance” by Peter, Bjorn and John)
in advertising, but I've been in the mood for some 80's pop.
In my search, I happened upon
yourmusicisawful.com and the site's accompanying podcast, DangerRadio. I gotta say, I love it. And I hate it. No, I'm confused. But
it makes me happy. And sad.
The writing on the site is funny, and
transcends tiresome hipster irony because it is obviously the work of
real lovers of 80's brit altpop and the current crop of revivalists.
I like listening to the podcasts. I haven't heard some of these bands
in years. The new bands are great- by which I mean that they are
virtually indistinguishable from 4AD or Factory bands of the late
80's and early 90's. That's the bit that I find a little sad.
Yes, I guess in the early punk days
there was some nostalgia for the music of our parents- Link Wray,
Gene Vincent and all– but there was still a strong vein of
originality in pop music at the same time. Has rock simply reached
the end? Is it like jazz, where new players are primarily engaged in
an academic exercise, covering old ground and reinterpreting it?
Yourmusicisawful.com is aware of this,
it seems, but they don't really know what to do about it. In the
article Hey Kids, Grow a Pair: How Music Blogs Neutered Indie Rock,
author Kitty Vincent dives into the issue, with complete awareness of
the irony of attacking music blogs from a music blog. Is there any
way of escaping the digital ghetto? Are music blogs to blame, or is
it a broader culture where all music is reduced to disposable
“content”?
I'll lay awake at night pondering that
issue, but in the mean time, I'll choke back my pride and enjoy a
slice of free digital content from so-called "Dangerous Music" Podcast. And by
the way kids- ease up on bashing the “middle-aged new wavers”
okay? We were the ones who made it dangerous...
Hey Obsoletians! I was honored to be the guest on a special edition of "Sovryn Tech", hosted by anarchist techophile and big-brain Brian Sovryn. We geek out of Feral Tech, Scifi,Transhumanism and alternative currencies, just to name a few of the topics covered. Check it out on Soundcloud or itunes.
OUT NOW!! At long last, The Best of OBSOLETE!
is out! Order your copy and use discount code "fnord" for 25% off for a
very limited time! Featuring writing and artwork by 32 contributors,
plus interviews with Cory Doctorow and Mick Farren, and a special
foreword by V.Vale of RE/Search!!
Our biggest issue yet! With a full color cover featuring artwork by Steve Taylor, the SCIFI/DIY issue is crammed full of original essays, fiction and artwork.
Scifi and DIY are like the
literary and technological chocolate and peanut butter of geekdom. Ever
since For many do-it-yourselfers, tinkerers, makers, hackers, hobbyists,
citizen scientists and other bright and inventive individuals, scifi,
fantasy and other flavors of “speculative fiction” have stoked the
creative fires since before the time of Robert Louis Stevenson, through
the era of H.G. Wells and the adventures of Tom Swift and up to Cory
Doctorow’s “Makers”. OBSOLETE! explores the connections.
Individual issues are free,
but we ask for $3.00 to cover postage and handling. Want free copies for
your local coffee shop, book store or writers group? Email us at
obmag(at)feral-tech.com.
There was a time, before the advent of
“Reality TV”, when people could be shocked. A time when serial
killers were the subject of true crime novels and punk rock songs,
not a series on MSNBC. A time when GG Allin got arrested for things
that now barely qualify as a wild Saturday night on “The Jersey
Shore”. A time when sideshow acts offered real magic, more amazing
than the magic of CGI.
Shane and Amy Bugbee came of artistic
age in those years, in the twilight of pre-digital media. Shane's
exploits earned him a place in the pantheon of shock artists of the
era that includes Allin, Jim Rose, Jim Goad, Lydia Lunch and Boyd
Rice, and he was profiled in the book Art That Kills: A PanoramicPortrait of Aesthetic Terrorism.
As that movement
fell victim to what Douglas Rushkoff now describes as “PresentShock”, The Bugbees set a new course, and boldly departed on a
classic cross-country American road trip. Like the adventures of Sal
Paradise and Dean Moriarity, or Capt. America and Billy before them,
the Bugbees trip was unscripted, and took them deep into what is left
of “genuine” America. The Suffering And Celebration Of Life InAmerica is the account of that trip.
An
early essay from the book, How To Use $180 And Social Media To Travel The Country For A Year, appeared in OBSOLETE! #2. The book
itself is a sprawling 532 page collection of stories, interviews and
correspondences, laid out in a graphics packed style that harkens
back to a zine aesthetic. The book's narrative is strung together
with diary entries, depicting the struggles of life on the road, odd
jobs, sleeping in the van and working out of Kinko's office centers.
But the real meat of the book is the interviews. It could be called
“Life on the Z List”, and the subjects are given their Warholian
fifteen minutes of fame, sometimes kindly, sometimes not. From
struggling artists and writers to the founders of the Baltimore Scifi Convention, the son of the founder of the Universal Life
Church, members of an Austin Black Metal band, ranchers, strippers
and a rum maker- it's a cross section of outsiders and blue-collar
visionaries that remind us that it's time to turn off the mobile
device and check back in with our own local oddballs and characters.
Despite an occasional spiteful tone and some personal axe-grinding, there is a sweet, pure heart to the book- the Bugbees love the little guy.
They may not always like them personally, but they know that the lone kooks and
outsiders with big dreams are what make life interesting and “keep
it real” in the era of “Reality TV”.
The Bugbees are making the book
available for free (donations gratefully accepted, of course), one section each week, at their website
http://www.usaodd.com/, along with a good bit of video from the trip.
The online samples give a good taste, but it is the
kind of book that is fun to leave lying around, to flip through and
discover new bits. It's a good reminder of how truly interactive a
paper book can be.
