Ken Wohlrob's Blog en-US Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:22:39 -0800 60 Ken Wohlrob's Blog 144 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo_144.jpg /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/252351-emprise-review-interview-female-pro-wrestlers-being-cruel-to-character Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:22:39 -0800 <![CDATA[Emprise Review Interview: female pro-wrestlers, being cruel to characters, and lit insanity]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/252351-emprise-review-interview-female-pro-wrestlers-being-cruel-to-character The good folks over at Emprise Review have just posted a new interview with yours truly, courtesy of Editor Patrick McAllaster. We cover a nice bit of ground in the discussion including lit-minimalism insanity, e-books, podcasting, being cruel to your characters, and what makes female pro-wrestlers so damn interesting.

Here is a small sample. You can read entire interview here.

On our way home, we were debating about the exhibit, and I just couldn't come around to appreciating what [Ellsworth...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 16 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/242814-great-book-covers-the-plague-by-albert-camus Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:52:18 -0800 <![CDATA[Great Book Covers: The Plague by Albert Camus]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/242814-great-book-covers-the-plague-by-albert-camus I found this 1970 copy of Camus' The Plague at Atlantic Bookshop in Brooklyn (which used to be on 12th St. in Manhattan). I love the simplicity of it, that single iconic image of the scythe. Many thanks to the great Scot Kamins of Portland, Oregon, who runs the excellent Modern Library Collecting site for help with identifying the edition.




posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 16 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/242135-undie-press-celebrates-its-5th-anniversary Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:04:37 -0800 <![CDATA[Undie Press Celebrates Its 5th Anniversary]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/242135-undie-press-celebrates-its-5th-anniversary Good friend and fellow Blacksmith for Literary Progress Tim Hall hit a bit of a milestone this week: his own imprint, Undie Press, turned five-years-old. Quite an accomplishment, especially when you look at the quality of the books Tim's released in the past five years.

I can still remember sitting in his apartment in Jersey City and hearing him say, "Undie Press, get it?"
Tim looked at me with excitement, mouth open, waiting for my positive reaction.
I stared at him blank faced, as in the...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 11 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/240164-heavy-rotation-for-the-week-of-12-1-09 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:08:13 -0800 <![CDATA[Heavy Rotation for the Week of 12.1.09]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/240164-heavy-rotation-for-the-week-of-12-1-09 ShrinebuilderNick Cave & the Bad Seeds — Live Seeds: It never ceases to amaze me how a band that, on the surface, has a stripped down sound can sound so massive. If you peel back all the layers, focusing on the individual parts of the songs, they're very simple. But those layers, executed with superb musicianship by the Bad Seeds, work together like a well crafted soundtrack with great tension and swells of emotion. And of course there is no denying the band's live energy. While I don't think the...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 11 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/233267-vinyl-find-three-limited-edition-7-singles-from-the-saviours Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:13:22 -0800 <![CDATA[Vinyl Find: Three limited-edition 7″ singles from the Saviours]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/233267-vinyl-find-three-limited-edition-7-singles-from-the-saviours I've been on a big Saviours kick after seeing them open up for Saint Vitus and bowl the crowd over with a great live set. As I said in a previous post, they are one of the better American heavy bands I've heard in quite some time. The sound is very much rooted in old school NWOBHM, but played with the delivery of Slayer or High on Fire. Recently the band put out a trio of limited-edition 7″ singles that feature demo tracks for their new album, Accelerated Living. But unlike the album tracks, ...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 15 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/228208-book-of-the-week-the-strangers-in-the-house-by-georges-simenon Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:38:08 -0800 <![CDATA[Book of the Week: The Strangers in the House by Georges Simenon]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/228208-book-of-the-week-the-strangers-in-the-house-by-georges-simenon It is a testament to Simenon's quirky way of crafting a novel that when reading The Strangers in the House, one finds the actual solving of the mystery as the least interesting part of the novel.

Simenon took an interesting approach to his novels to say the least. He would often start out by writing everything he knew about his main characters on the backs of envelopes. Simple things: where do they live, what do they do for a living, who is in their family. Case in point, Hector Loursat, the p...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 10 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/227007-vinyl-lost-planet-of-the-apes-power-records-version Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:20:33 -0800 <![CDATA[Vinyl Lost: Planet of the Apes (Power Records version)]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/227007-vinyl-lost-planet-of-the-apes-power-records-version Planet of the Apes power recordsWhen I was a kid, I would spend hours locked away in my bedroom listening to the vinyl audio-comic-books released by Power Records. Often created in conjunction with Marvel and DC Comics, these were comic books that came with a 45″ record that featured actors voicing dialogue and descriptions, as well as sound effects for extra punch. For a comics-obsessed kid from New Jersey this was gold. Often, well known comic artists, including Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, John Romita, and Neal Adams...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 08 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/226782-vinyl-find-a-bunch-of-stiff-records Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:48:40 -0800 <![CDATA[Vinyl Find: A Bunch of Stiff Records]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/226782-vinyl-find-a-bunch-of-stiff-records A Bunch of Stiff RecordsI have been wanting to post this one for a while now. I originally found this in the East Village during Record Store week back over the summer and still listen to tracks from it pretty regularly. What's not to love here? It's an comp of the first acts signed to Stiff Records in the late 70s, with most of the songs having a very raw and punchy feel. Favorites include a nice over-the-top version of "White Line Fever" by Motörhead, a stripped down rendition of "Less Than Zero" by Elvis...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 02 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/222998-heavy-rotation-for-the-week-of-11-9-09 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:25:41 -0800 <![CDATA[Heavy Rotation for the Week of 11.9.09]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/222998-heavy-rotation-for-the-week-of-11-9-09 ShrinebuilderShrinebuilder: To hell with Them Crooked Vultures. This is the supergroup I've been waiting for. Wino (Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan), Dale Crover (The Melvins), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), and Al Cisneros (Sleep, OM). Very heavy, very groovy, moody, trippy, atmospheric, and just damn stellar.

Saviours Accelerated LivingSaviours — Accelerated Living: One of the best American heavy bands I've heard in a long while. I was lucky enough to see them open for Saint Vitus in Brooklyn and they stormed the place. Amazing...



posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 17 ]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/222137-as-if-the-jesus-fish-wasn-t-annoying-enough Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:41:16 -0800 <![CDATA[As if the Jesus fish wasn't annoying enough…]]> /author/show/1230527.Ken_Wohlrob/blog/222137-as-if-the-jesus-fish-wasn-t-annoying-enough Courtesy of the state government of South Carolina. Thankfully, common sense prevailed.


I Believe license plate




posted by Ken Wohlrob on December, 07 ]]>