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...

Mastodon Emperor Of Sand (Reprise/Warner) After having spent the last few years stretching stylistically in a few different directions (The “White Walker” single found a home as the lead track for a season of HBO’s Game Of Thrones, 2014’s Once More ‘Round The Sun say the band get leaner and almost blurring the lines between metal and punk rock a bit), there’s something refreshing and exciting about the fact that Mastodon has made a glorious return to the sort of...

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....

Sean White Dead & Gone (A Special Thing Records) If tragedy plus time equals comedy, then Sean White must have missed the memo. It takes great standup sets to really put into perspective what high levels the art form can take. In our modern times, Tig Notaro’s album Live probably is the best example of how tragic and introspective and hopeful and smart standup can be. And I’m sure Tig Notaro’s aware the kind of attention she’s gotten is bound...

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...