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Reading, Wellington, and whatever else – teenblog@wcl.govt.nz

Month: June 2011

Music Of The Month

Every month I will pick four newly catalogued albums that have been on heavy rotation in Teen Blog Towers and give them a slightly longer review. Because they deserve it.

body talk 1Body Talk pt.1 by Robyn. The first in a series of three mini-albums (we have part two here) from Sweden’s pre-eminent electro-pop chanteuse and arguably the best. Though short in length at only eight tracks, it does guarantee an extremely favourable “Killer” to “Filler” ratio as every song is worthy of “hot jam” status. Features appearances from dancefloor faves Röyksopp too.

james blakeJames Blake by James Blake. Following the NME approved indie-dubstep trail blazed by fellow Londoners the xx, whilst harkening back to the trip-hop of Massive Attack et al., James Blake has crafted a debut that seems tailor made for cold winter nights in. Which is perfect timing really – the days have shortened somewhat. Well played, James.

jesus and mary chainUpside Down, The Best Of by The Jesus And Mary Chain. Jim and William Reid’s noise rock band, The Jesus And Mary Chain lasted far longer and exerted much more influence than critics originally expected (and, presumably hoped for). Characterised by caustic performance and confrontational walls of sound, the brothers eventually evolved the band into a mainstay of alt-rock radio, leaving behind an indelible lo-fi blueprint for the Dum Dum Girls and Best Coasts of the world to study.

lady gaga born this wayBorn This Way by Lady Gaga. Though this album was almost unquestionably the most anticipated of the still young decade, Lady’s (it’s cool if I use Lady as her first name, right?) stadium-sized persona was threatening to outshine anything she’d achieved musically. Lucky then it doesn’t disappoint. This collection of songs is the pop event of the year, the giant eggs and meat dresses are merely window dressing.

What are you, Pottermore?

What is Pottermore.com? I do not know. I heard a rumour it had something to do with cellphones, but I forget my source. The Guardian has some theories also. Obviously it is Harry Potter-related, somehow. An online game? What do you think it might be? Comment below and if you’re right (what it actually is will be announced on Thursday/Friday) then we will somehow highlight your prescience. A prize for the ages!

UPDATE: Well now we know what Pottermore is! Kind of! Some sort of e-book shop/fan site I think. Sian got it right, pretty much, in the comments. AWESOME.

Here are the first photos from the Hobbit film, btw. Have you seen any of the actors around the city? I tend to come across them in supermarkets.

Trailer Tuesday

So! Here are some film trailers. And a book trailer.

The final Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt2 trailer is out! (We have the first part at the library, in case you can’t remember it? There was a lot of marching about in a forest?) Go Mrs Weasley!

Attack the Block. We love this trailer. Hope you like it too.

Katie Alender’s book, Bad Girls Don’t Die, has a sequel coming out soon. It is titled From Bad to Cursed, and here is its spooky trailer.


 
The Muppets official trailer!

New Non-Fiction

Man, there’s still so much non-fiction coming in. Pretty sweet if you enjoy facts, am I right? Rather than describe them all – the titles give away enough clues as far as the content goes – here they are in list form.

Waves: great stories from the surf – Tim Baker
The Twilight saga: the official illustrated guide
101 things I learned in fashion school
– Alfredo Cabrera and Matthew Frederick
Cat on a hot tin roof – Tennesse Williams
Let’s get this staright: the ultimate handbook for youth with LGBTQ parents – Tina Fakhrid-Deen
Indie craft – Jo Waterhouse
Tees: the art of the t-shirt – Maki
The complete book of drawing manga – Peter Gray
Weirdo noir: gothic and dark lowbrow art – Matt Dukes Jordan
Illustration now – Gregoire Noyelle and Katy Lee
Rock gods: 40 years of rock photography – Robert M. Knight
Glee: the official annual 2011
DC Comics: year by year visual chronicle

There you go. Lots of interesting topics covered. Reserve them if you would like.

New Music: New Zealand Edition

 

 

Man On Wire – PNC
Evidently quite
proud of Palmerston North roots,
changed name to show it.

Means – Street Chant
All girl guitar pop
trio’s debut entry in
to the indie soup.

Flags (Deluxe Edition) – Brooke Fraser
The same as before
only now there is more. (these
rarely rhyme, so yay!)

System Remix – Shapeshifter
The same as before
only not really, because
remix equals change.

Our New Life Above Ground – Avalanche City
Where were they before?
Down with the mole people? Are
they mole people? Yikes!

Jam Pac’d – Various Artists
Pasifika jams
pack this compilation. Hence
the title I guess.

New Music: International Edition

 

 

the kills

Blood Pressure – The Kills
Boy/Girl duo’s brand
new adventures in lo-fi
minimalism.

maston blood mountain

Blood Mountain – Mastodon
Mammoth species
lived from the Oligocene
through to Pleistocene.

lady gaga born this way

Born This Way – Lady Gaga
Temporarily
banned in Lebanon due to
controversial themes.

big time rush

BTR – Big Time Rush
Manufactured band
with a TV show. Is there
any other way?

panic at the disco

Vices & Virtues – Panic! At The Disco
Two members exit
and the punctuation mid
band name reappears.

glee 6

Glee, The Music: Volume Six
Placeholding series
of syllables, no further
insight to offer.

unkle

Where Did The Night Fall – Unkle
Unkle can always
be relied upon to make
great videos, see.

architecture is helsinki

Moment Bends – Architecture In Helsinki
Neoclassical
features adorn buildings of
Finland’s capital.

Coming soon, New Music: New Zealand Edition

Synthesiser Patel’s Synthesiser Of The Week

This week I was going to write a post about the regular theremin, but after finding the video below, that post can wait.

This man, Ken Moore, has made a homemade theremin out of a wiimote, LED gloves and a Roland synthesiser. It’s that kind of forward thinking that earns you the title of “Synthesiser of the week”. He has a blog here with more theremin related goodness.

If you’ve now been inspired and you’d now like to build your own theremin, you can! This mini theremin from Make magazine is very reasonably priced and cute.

New Fiction

Some make-believe to counterbalance all the non-fiction. Lots and lots of fairies, plus a mermaid and one or two regular folk.

Beauty Queens, Libba Bray (390 pages) – <3 the cover. Don’t be fooled! This is not just a book about lipstick as ammunition, and aqua bikinis with little white dots. This is kind of beauty pageant meets Lost (the TV programme), complete with pirates and a few lessons in feminism. The premise: a plane carrying the fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream Pageant crashes on a deserted island, leaving them to fend for themselves: “welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness” (book cover.

First sentence: “Are you all right?”

Tempestuous, Lesley Livingston (361 pages) – the conclusion to the trilogy (Wondrous Strange and Darklight are the other two) in which Kelley Winslow discovers she is not only a Shakespearean actor but also a powerful fairy in a world she didn’t know existed. Kelley’s determined to get Sonny back, but she must also find out who’s trying to make the Janus Guards go over to the dark side, try and rebuild her theatre company, and not get distracted by the Fenrys Wolf (in a love triangle sort of way).

First sentence: The antique black carriage sped through the night, its tall spoked wheels whirring, skimming the surface of the river as though the spectral horse that pulled it followed a paved track.

The Secret Journeys of Jack London: The Wild, Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon (348 pages) – if you read and enjoyed The Call of the Wild and White Fang then this might interest you. It’s a fictionalised account of Jack London’s teenage life, where he finds himself heading for the Yukon in search of gold. What greets him is kidnapping, slavery and murder, and a supernatural twist. It’s also beautifully illustrated, in the style of a Jack London novel.

First sentence: Jack London stood on the deck of the Umatilla and looked out upon the docks of San Francisco, wondering how long it would be before he saw the city again.

Born at Midnight, C C Hunter (398 pages) – The first in a new supernatural series. After getting into trouble Kylie is sent to a camp for troubled teens, but it quickly becomes clear they’re not just ordinary teens. Plus: Kylie’s not a normal teen either. To complicate matters there’s Derek and Lucas.

First sentence: “This isn’t funny!” her father yelled.

The Dead I Know, Scot Gardner (208 pages) – scarily, Aaron is a sleepwalker. More so, he has weird unexplainable dreams and blanks where there should be memories. He must uncover the truth about his past in order to ensure his safe future. A gripping psychodrama.

First sentence: The office of JKB Funerals was a majestic orange-brick addition to a modest orange-brick house.

Illusions, Aprilynne Pike (375 pages) – following on from Wings and Spells. Laurel finds herself in a bind: “As her senior year of high school starts, Laurel is just beginning to adjust to Tamani’s absence when he suddenly reappears, telling her he must guard her against the returning threat of the trolls that pose a danger both to her and to Avalon.” (Library catalogue)

First sentence: The halls of Del Norte High buzzed with first-day-of-school chaos as Laurel wedged herself through a crowd of sophomores and spotted David’s broad shoulders.

Forgive My Fins, Tera Lynn Childs (293 pages) – Lily Sanderson is part human, part mermaid, and this has been the cause of much inner turmoil for her. Trying to find where she belongs, she’s enrolled (as a human) in Seaview High School and things are going well: there’s even Brody. Trouble is, mermaids bond for life, which isn’t necessarily the best scenario for high school, and to top it off, her efforts to win Brody’s heart without letting on who she really is are sure to get her into a large pickle.

First sentence: Water calms me.

The Iron Queen, Julie Kagawa (359 pages) – following on from The Iron King and The Iron Daughter. Meghan is half fairy, half human, and is being pulled into a conflict against the Iron Fey: a conflict she may not survive. All this while being torn from Ash, who seems to be quite special, judging by the rave reviews he’s been getting on the www.

First sentence: Eleven years ago, on my sixth birthday, my father disappeared.

Tales from the Tower, Volume 1: The Wilful Eye (302 pages) – six short stories by authors including Margaret Mahy, Margo Lanagan and Isobelle Carmody. The premise: each writer takes a classic fairytale and “casts their own spell upon it.” The results are stories for fairy tale enthusiasts who like their fairytales gritty and provocative, rather than happily ever after-ish.

First sentence (from ‘Catastrophic Disruption of the Head’ by Margo Lanagan): Who believes in his own death?

Read a New eBook on Your Device

What’s new in the WCL young adult eBook collection? Well, quite a lot actually, and here’s a sample:

     

Fantasy

Dystopian

Supernatural

Classics

Other generally cool titles of interest

Plus: The Girl Who Was On Fire (non-fiction)

Browse the eBook fiction catalogue for more.

eBooks are free to borrow for two weeks (no overdues even!): all you need is a Wellington City Libraries card, an internet-connected computer or smartphone (or other e-reading device – but not a Kindle, sadly), and some free software you can download.

     

Still More New Non-Fiction

pocket fantasy artPocket fantasy art: the very best in contemporary fantasy art and illustration. Full of pictures that would be equally at home in a White Dwarf magazine or on the cover of a badass metal album. Here are some of the sections to give you an overview; Brawny Barbarians and Hulky Heroes, Sirens and Seductresses, Myths and Monsters.

film school101 things I learned in film school by Neil Landau with Matthew Frederick. Handy hints for every stages of making a film, be it script-writing, filming, editing or even pitching an idea. An indispensible guide for budding filmakers and screenwriters from an accomplished industry veteran.

from sometimesFrom sometimes love Beth: An adventure in postcards by Beth Sometimes. Beth Sometimes wrote a postcard (and drew on the front side too) to someone every day for a year and compiled them as she did so. This is the result. It’s kind of like I zine I guess. Funny and cute images and some postcard facts at the beginning as well.

ready madeReady made: how to make (almost) everything. Chairs, bathmats, aprons, chandeliers – with this book you can make all of these things relatively easily and out of mostly recycled materials. Crazy, right? Fill your house with all of these things and it will make you seem like you are a quirky indie-comedy film character.

diy fashionD.I.Y. Fashion: Customize & Personalize by Selena Francis-Bryden. Do you have some old pants that you don’t like anymore? Just turn it into a skirt, dummy! Do you need a new dress? Cut up your Dad’s old t-shirts and make one yourself, idiot! Turn those old jeans into a tie, or a cushion. Why didn’t you think of that?

top gear top drivesTop Gear: Top drives, road trips of a lifetime in the world’s most dramatic locations. If you are a car enthusiast, maybe this is your bucket list? Photos of fancy cars driving all over the world along with words that describe the photos. Sometimes the cars are themed for the country they are in, like a ute in Australia (lol), sometimes they aren’t, like a Ford Mondeo in Russia.

kelly slaterKelly Slater: for the love by Kelly Slater with Phil Jarratt. Kelly Slater’s real first name is Robert, but Kelly sounds a bit “cooler” and “chill”, so therefore more ideally suited to surfing. That is just one of many Kelly Slater facts in this book. There are lots of nice photos of beaches and other nice photos of Kelly Slater moodily staring off into the middle distance.

Now here are some books that list things. The titles are self-explanatory, so I need not elaborate. 101 Cult movies you must see before you die, 101 Sc-fi movies you must see before you die, 501 Great artists, 1001 Albums you must hear before you die and 1001 Songs you must hear before you die. That’s an awful lot of things to get through before you die, best get to it.

More New Non-Fiction

Here is some more of the new non-fiction, hurrah!

top gearThe big book of Top Gear 2010. I am sure you have seen the television show and therefore have a pretty good idea of what to expect. The cover says that this time they are slightly on fire, so there is sure to be at least one dangerous mishap. At least.

michipediaWhat on earth are you wearing? A Michipedia of fashion by Chloe Quigley. Before thumbing through this book I was uncertain as to what exactly a “Michipedia” was. I now see that it is like an encyclopedia, but more fashion-y, water colour illustrated and with a humorous intent. Nothing like some fashion lolz.

graffiti planetGraffiti Planet 2 compiled and introduced by KET. It’s a book of graffiti from all over the planet and is the second volume in its’ particular series. More than a hundred images from a bevy of artists. That’s right, a bevy.

how to rapHow to rap: The art and science of the hip-hop MC by Paul Edwards. Rappers explaining how they go about their rapping so that you too can be a rapper. Which is nice of them. Tip: pay closer attention to what the likes of Pharoahe Monch and the Wu-Tang kids have to say than Will.I.Am, you’ll be better off.

how to talk to girlshow to talk to boysHow to talk to boys by Dianne Todaro and How to talk to girls  by Jonathan Toussaint. Two books filled with tips on how to talk to the opposite sex. Then what to do once you’ve used your new-found flirting skills to enter into a meaningful relaish. Also there are authentic real life stories inside.

Even more coming soon!

New Non-Fiction, Art And Fashion

As promised, here is more of the new non-fiction. Today music, art and fashion.

liveLive: Gigs that rocked New Zealand by Bruce Jarvis & Josh Easby. A nice visual history of some of the landmark concerts staged in New Zealand with along with interesting anecdotes. If you look very closely at the crowd photos you may just spot your parents, you never know.

japanese animationJapanese animation: From painted scrolls to Pokemon by Brigitte Koyama-Rickard. A wonderfully detailed history of Japanese animation. Includes plenty of interviews with famous animators discussing their craft. Interesting to see the development of different trends in Manga and Anime over the years.

banksyBanksy: Wall and Piece. If you are unfamiliar with the work of provocative graffiti artist, Banksy, this is well worth an issue. Page after page of his always humorous and frequently audacious work covering every corner of the globe. Here’s a Banksy Simpsons intro.

outsidersOutsiders: Art by people compiled by Steve Lazarides. This a a companion piece to Wall and Piece, with outsider art compiled by Banksy’s manager. Taking the same sort of intelligent, witty and subversive approach, none of these artists have ever been formally trained, yet produce some amazing work.

car cultureJuxtapoz: Car Culture. A collection of car and car related illustrations and photgraphs from cutting edge design magazine, Juxtapoz. Filled with the sorts of things you’d see on the walls in American diners and the things you’d see on the black t-shirts inside those same diners. Worth a look for art fans and car enthusiasts alike.

sartorialistThe Sartorialist by Scott Schuman. It’s a sign of blog success when your blog gets a book deal*, The Sartorialist has done just that. If you’ve never been to the site (and for some reason have chosen not to click on the link in the previous sentence) it’s basically a series of very well-dressed people photgraphed in their natural environments. Bookmark it, then reserve this book.

fashion boxFashion Box: The immortal icons of style by Antonio Mancinelli. If Friday is your favourite day because you enjoy look forward all week to Le Chic Librarian’s posts, perhaps this can help bridge the gap inbetween? Includes sections like “The little black dress”, “The trench coat”, “Jeans” and “The mini skirt” all worn by good looking famous people.

There are still more books yet to blog. Coming tomorrow; Cars, Surfing and a whole lot of other things that have just arrived since I took my lunch break.

*One day there will be a Teen Blog book. We hope.

Hot New Jams

 

 

glee warblers

Glee Presents: The Warblers
A cappella glee
club from a fictional school
down in Ohio

miranda cosgrove

Sparks Fly – Miranda Cosgrove
iCarly starlet
follows Hannah Montana
blueprint to success

fleet foxes

Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
The follow up to
an eponymous debut,
released to acclaim

james blake

James Blake – James Blake
Dubstep goes Chillwave.
Electro goes Minimal.
Trip-hop, I suppose.

the wombats

This Modern Glitch – The Wombats
Marsupial-themed
cynics’ sophomore effort
adds some bpm

jennifer lopez

Love? – Jennifer Lopez
American Idol
judge capitalizes on
re-found relevance

bon jovi

Greatest Hits – Bon Jovi
Those old dudes that were
at the stadium last year
re-package, add four.

Major Flavours 2011 – DJ Sir-Vere
Hiatus over,
Sir-Vere again mixes, cuts
up and destroys tracks

New Non-Fiction, Sports

The Central Library has recently expanded its’ YA non-fiction collection – just today actually – but because it has expanded so much I cannot possibly cover all of the new material in a single post. So for now, here are the newest sport titles.

manaMana by James Kerr, photographs by Nick Danziger. This features page after page of black and white photos of the All Blacks playing, practicing the haka, listening quietly in meetings, relaxing (they seem pretty like pretty chill bros in these ones), eating, working out and showing off their sweet tats. Kind of “a day in the life” deal. Also there are photos of kids playing rugby, just like the real All Blacks, but smaller!

golden girlsGolden Girls: Celebrating New Zealand’s six female Olympic gold medalists by Margot Butcher. The title of this book sparked quite some debate at Teen Blog HQ, is it “medallist” or “medalist”? Spellcheck, the Oxford Dictionary and we say “medalist”, but this book and the MacMillan UK Dictionary say “medallist”. All confusion aside, you can expect six stories about six champion female athletes.

dan carterDan Carter: A tribute to the All Black’s perfect 10 by John Matheson. Like a biography, but in coffee table book form and with more photos. Follow his story from precocious youngster to the hyperbolic quote generating machine (eg. “… is the ‘Koh-i-Noor’ diamond of his time”) he is today. Not sure if it mentions his clothing chain or not.

all white feverAll White Fever: New Zealand’s road to the World Cup by John Matheson. Remember that time the All Whites made it to the Football World Cup in South Africa? It was pretty sweet. If you’ve forgotten some of the glorious details (tsk) or just want to relive it in text with photos form, now you can. It still makes me feel proud to see a photo of Tim Brown tackling Cesc Fabregas.

wwe encyclopediaWWE Encyclopedia: The definitive guide to World Wrestling Entertainment by Brian Shields and Kevin Sullivan. All the information you could possibly fit into a coffee table sized book on wrestling! From Abe “knuckleball” Schwartz to Zeus and all the Honkytonk Men and Ric Flairs in between. Pro wrestling in the 1980’s was hi-larious btw.

fightFight by Eugene S. Robinson. Covers pretty much everything you could think of about fighting. From the greatest boxing matches to knife techniques, there is even mention of my favourite ‘so terrible it’s fantastic’ martial arts movie, Gymkata. If that isn’t exhaustive enough, then I don’t know what to tell you.

If these new titles prove popular (and really, why wouldn’t they?) there will be more YA non-fiction popping up at branches too. Fashion and arts coming tomorrow.