While the novelty of The Ramoms’ existence is impossible to ignore (at first glance, the band looks like an obvious answer to the question of what happens when Riot Grrls reach the age when they become soccer moms), it’s also impossible to deny the inherent possibility of a group of women reimagining Ramones music with a fresh approach that isn’t too far off of the original, but is different enough that it feels fresh and exciting. Simply stated, the Problem...

Jurassic Park Original Soundtrack by John Williams We enjoy the art of the soundtrack here at Ground Control and few soundtracks are as seminal as Jurassic Park’s. As I’ve always said, “Does any other soundtrack really matter?” Well, of course the Jaws soundtrack does but the same people are behind both these movies. I digress. It’s truly such a joy to be talking about the music of Jurassic Park. The word gets thrown around a lot but that first Jurassic...

“Is the Turk a White Man?” Race and Modernity in the Making of Turkish Identity by Murat Ergin It’s important to note that the title “Is the Turk a White Man?” is a reference to an article the New York Times published in 1909 and isn’t actually the question addressed in this book. That’s why it’s in quotation marks. Ergin simply uses it as a reference for the genesis of when Turkish identity was being explored in Western culture. The...

Elliott Smith Figure 8(photo: turntablelab.com) We’ve all had bands thrusted upon us. It happens all the times and is a totally viable way of getting into music. Sometimes it’s a band we’re tried to avoid for some reason like the Beatles who I never bothered with because I thought I was too busy with other music. But of course, the Beatles are the kind of music you have to play subconsciously in your head as a reference. My girlfriend at...

Talib Kweli Gravitas (photos: turntablelab.com) Thank God for Talib Kweli. It’s not just that the man is phenomenal at his craft, but that he’s maybe the highest profile rapper doing something with actual meaning. He cares about art and isn’t a megalomaniac. Spend some time with a Talib Kweli album and you’ll find, instead of bravado, money, and elitism, music that’s actually trying to elevate others. Kweli is a rapper for the people, in that sense. After all, this is...

Double Team – Retro VHS Look I have a soft spot for Jean Claude Van Damme, or JCVD for short. Ever since I was a little kid I had admiration for him and his action movies. Sure, I was fully on board with the Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, Van Damme quartet of action stars, but something about JCDV always stood out for me. Partly because he was an actual martial arts expert, partly because he starred in Street Fighter and I...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Tasting The Sea LP by Vertacyn Arc Materializer. For some listeners, the nature of the Tasting The Sea LP will feel like a return to a different and remarkable time – in spite of the fact that it doesn’t much sound like anything that anyone has heard before. No, it’s the spirit of the record that feels familiar; from the moment a turntable’s stylus touches down on the A-side of the...

Crank One of the great things about the How Did This Get Made podcast is that on occasion they discuss a movie so great and underrated that it changes the game for you. For me, Crank was definitely one of those movies. Having dismissed it as a ridiculous cashgrab at first (like the stupid Hurricane Heist or Geostorm movies), I’ve since come to appreciate it as an incredibly punk rock effort. After watching Crank I was forced to...

DK40 (3CD)(Manifesto Records)Every fan knows that punk rock has had a fantastic relationship and tradition with bootleg records, and that tradition has now broken into the mainstream as well. Now in the twenty-first century, bands like The Doors, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pearl Jam as well as artists like Jeff Tweedy, Neil Young and Lars Frederiksen have released a stream of great sounding like recordings under the “bootleg” moniker to the expressed joy and appreciation of fans, and have...

Exhalationby Ted Chiang I’m sure I’m not the only one who had their mind completely blown by the movie Arrival. Being a sci-fi lover I was completely delighted by how little of it was about explosions and instead focused on communication and the life stream. A story like that deserves credit solely for how unique it is. Well, it turns out that unique story came from the mind of Ted Chiang. Exhalation is his latest collection of short stories, which...