Ty Segall Singles 2007-2010 Double LP What makes great music? Tough question, I know. So maybe it’s better to ask, “Why do we listen to music?” What does music have to offer? Well, that is going to vary from person to person, but I think most people can agree that good music does something to you. It changes your mood. It takes you from point A to point B. It has the power to liberate you. It empowers. In order...
The Body Builders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human by Adam Piore One of the greatest things science can offer us is the ability to better ourselves: improve where possible, correct mistakes, fix what might be broken. That work is certainly going on right now and Adam Piore’s Body Builders presents itself as a look behind all the science that goes behind engineered humans. It’s right there in the title. The problem is that that isn’t really the case,...
Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain Welcome to our first cook book on Ground Control! One Of many, we hope… I think it can be said that Anthony Bourdain is the punk rock chef. Sure, he’s on a major network and doesn’t exactly publish through an independent publisher, but then again neither did the Clash. It’s Bourdain’s outlook and approach to his craft that makes him punker than most. The man does love the Stooges, after all… If you’re a...
311 Transistor What was 311 supposed to do with the explosion that occurred when they released their selftitled album in the 90s? You know, the one with Down and All Mixed Up? Those songs were massive, the ALBUM was massive, and it helped firmly establish 311 as a band everyone was paying attention to – both where they came from and where they were headed. With all the momentum, it seems 311 was poised to go to...
The MAXX: Maxximized, Volume 1-4 by Sam Kieth, William Messner-Loebs I have to give the Maxx and Sam Keith a lot of credit. Jon Spencer once said that good rock music has to at least be a little bit weird. Well the Maxx did the same for me and comics. I have no idea what first attracted me to the comics (maybe the crossover with Gen13 which was my gateway comic?), but once I started, I was hooked and...
Safari Honeymoon by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press) Well, now I am completely convinced that Jesse Jacobs is trying to fuck with us. Or maybe it’s Koyama Press for putting this book out. You know I can’t quit you, Koyama. But honestly, having read Jacobs’ previous work (By This You Shall Know Him), I should actually be thankful that this is Jesse Jacobs’ more grounded work of the two. Not that that’s a good thing. While the narrative of By This...
311 Selftitled Have you considered the reputation 311 gets nowadays? I’ll refer you to a running gag on the Eric Andre show where they substitute the names 311 and 911 when quoting conspiracies. These were followed by surf-rock-type flailing and hippy dancing. At the end of last season they actually had 311 on to torture while they performed Down. It’s all in good fun, however, as Andre has gone on record saying that he thinks 311 is an underrated band....
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee As a scientist, it’s hard for me to back up and realize that the general public’s understanding of DNA and genes in general is incomplete and vague. Lucky for us we have people like Siddhartha Mukherjee and his book The Gene which is truly one of the great science books aimed at the general public. An old mentor of mine once said that even as we advance in our career as scientists...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the white/blue split pressing of the Shit Don’t Stop LP by G. Perico. There’s something about G. Perico which just inspires listeners to want to back the emcee with every fibre of their being. It might have to do with the fact that he’s from just the right part of town to get a little musically nostalgic for (he’s from South Central L.A. – east of the Forum, west of the Watts...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the We All Want The Same Things LP by Craig Finn. Saying that some musicians are just natural-born rock phenomena might sound unbelievable on the face of the statement, but let’s be honest – some rock singers/frontmen were built for the job and could not easily be seen doing anything else. Where else, for example, could anyone imagine seeing Jeff Tweedy or Neil Young but at stage centre in front of a...