In the second volume of his extensive study on crime and spy movie jazz, author Bang devotes his knowledge to the years 1971 to 2019. His strategy of presenting these scores changes a bit in the present volume, as even though in the early 1970s movies were still shown in movie theaters almost exclusively, just […]
The Social Life of Sound by Sophia Maalsen (2019)
Many publications of the last 30 or so years have dealt with the social life (or interaction) of almost anything from objects, commodities to video games. Here comes one more title, it has the focus on the nature, social abilities and creative power of popular music, or rather, it is on music that was re-discovered, […]
Dreams Unreal: The Genesis of the Psychedelic Rock Poster by Titus O’Brien et al. (2020)
Thanks to a handful of creative poster artists and their large fan groups, many rock concert posters of the late 1960s that today are rightfully considered art, rather than mere advertisements, their most intriguing aspect then and now were the posters’ strong display of psychedelic arrangements, drug-influenced ways of perceiving shapes, names and graphic objects. […]
The History of EC Comics by Grant Geissman (2020)
The history of the most influential comic book publishers will list two large companies still in business today. They are DC Comics and Marvel. The third important publisher, unique in its own way, very modern, daring, and at times famous for using outrageous covers, was EC Comics. In EC’s early years, then still going by […]
Heart Full of Soul. Keith Relf of the Yardbirds by David French (2020)
In the southwest of London, in 1962 a young Richmond band called The Metropolis Blues Quartet was starting to become England’s probably most innovative rock band. This band would become the nucleus of a guitar-based outfit that later significantly altered music history and started, among other things, the American psychedelic and garage rock period. The […]
Film Noir Style: The Killer 1940s by Kimberly Truhler (2020)
What may come to mind first whenever the visual aspects of the genre film noir are discussed, may be the dark atmosphere, the sharp contrast of light and shadow, and people in desperate situations whose actions echo brilliantly the many original hard-boiled scripts and novel adaptations usually associated with the stlye. One aspect halfway neglected […]
Crime and Spy Jazz on Screen 1950-1970: A History and Discography by Derrick Bang (2020)
The period of American sound film until roughly the mid-1940s was dominated by soundtracks and extradiegetic audio based on mostly sweet string orchestras, allusions to classical compositions and ballads. Then, in the 1950s and 60s, soundtrack composers increasingly used popular music of the decade before for police/detective/spy action productions, which would be in large part […]
The Rise and Fall of American Science Fiction, from the 1920s to the 1960s by Gary Westfahl (2019)
Even though a title such as “The Rise and Fall” usually has readers prepared for a large, heavy volume that will provide audiences with loads of information amassed in a mostly boring manner, Westfahl’s book on a literary genre differs from that stereotype. In fact, the four major parts (and a short epilogue) read very […]
I’d Fight the World: A Political History of Old-Time, Hillbilly, and Country Music by Peter La Chape
American political campaigns without music or shows would be an impossibility today. Speaking about the 20th century, neither marching band tunes, nor folk songs or hymns were the musical style employed most by political representatives running for office, but country music, as author La Chapelle proves. He finds many more details of this particular relationship […]