Demons by John Shirley is actually two half-stories under the same cover. There is a 9-year jump between the stories, but it’s not a problem. They both sport the same feel, mythos, and primary characters.

The Setup

Both stories in Demons have a ‘near futuristic’ feel. In the first story, several species of demons appear on Earth and attack humans, killing them off in very unpleasant ways. The seven different clans of demons might correlate to the “Seven Deadly sins,” but this was never confirmed in the book.

In the second half, corporate research into ‘psychonomics’ coupled with the research of a new pesticide are about to open the door for the Demons to re-enter the world.

The Good

Really good writing.  good turns of phrase and wonderful analogies. The first book is gritty, and well-paced. Mr Shirley uses an interesting hybrid of first-person/direct-objective that I really enjoyed, taking me into the subject’s head when appropriate, but stepping out for the remainder to make the story ‘bigger’. The Demons are truly monstrous; their actions are truly horrific, and each clan of demon is distinct from the others.

The Bad

Word choices are sometimes ostentatious. [Editor's Note: And *that* observation isn't?] Keep a thesaurus nearby. The first story merely hints at the ‘industry==evil’ theme, but the second book will make you choke on it. In fact, the second book isn’t so much about Demons as it is about how chemical research and third world countries are Evil, and self-awareness is Good. The demons play such a small part in the second book that all references to them could be removed without significantly changing the story.

The Short Version

A pair of sly, well-written stories about how industries, corporations, and third world countries are evil. And Demons.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Without a doubt, the music industry is a-changin. Musicians are able to manage their own marketing, promotion and distribution to the entire internet-connected planet. CDs haven’t even completely died yet and the IPOD is already obsolete. It’s anyone’s guess where this is all going, and Gerd Leonhard is brave enough to make his guess public.

Gerd Leonhard just released a collection of his own blog postings and papers in a FREE e-book called Music2.0. In it, Mr Leonhard made predictions about how the music industry was going to mutate once mixed with the new technologies. You can get the book here.

I’m about a quarter of the way through Music 2.0, and it’s a really interesting read. I’d say it is essential reading for people in the music business; especially for independent artists. Really Especially for Older Independent Artists who grew up with music being something you bought at Target on a cassette tape and listened to in a Sony Walkman. The paradigm shift is equal parts traumatic and exciting.

It’s interesting to see what Mr Leonhard predicted correctly. One thing he points out is something I’ve ranted about for years; the changeover of music from a product to a service. The music subscription service I’ve bitched about for years is finally available thanks to the Verizon/Rhapsody merger, but he predicted this years before I did.

I’m excited to read his current predictions and imagine what things will be like if he is correct when Music 3.0 comes out…

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

On a recent book-scouting adventure in Minneapolis, I spoke with Roger over at Magus Books, and asked him if he knew of any books similar to my “Demonslayer’s Handbook” – a paranormal adventure set in modern-day Minneapolis. He highly suggested Emma Bull’s “War for the Oaks“. (Careful, the Wikipedia entry is laden with spoilers.)

I is considered to be the very first book to define the Urban Fantasy genre.

Emma Bull writes in the introduction of War for the Oaks that she doesn’t read author’s introductions until after she’s finished the book. After reading her own introduction, I would agree. I wish I hadn’t read her introduction before reading the story. Sadly, I cannot tell you why without spoiling the book for you. You can choose whether or not to learn from my mistake, but in the future I think I’m taking Emma’s advice.

War for the Oaks is deeply steeped in Minneapolis, Music, and 80s Fashion. Emma Bull’s taste in music is great, she constantly drops band names and song references throughout the story. Same with locations; you won’t forget the story takes place here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The story bounces around to some of the best locations in town.

Fashions that might be laughable today are considered quite stylish for the 80′s, when the story takes place, and Emma nails them perfectly. Jean jackets with turned-up collars and high-tops? Yikes. Been there, worn that, stole back the pix and burned them.

The third-person POV story revolves around the main character, Eddi McCandry. Eddi is chosen as a magical savior in an upcoming war and assigned a Faerie bodyguard. In the first half of the book, the “War” is only a minor backdrop; shadowed by the relationships and band drama surrounding Eddi. She resigns herself to her fate as the Chosen One, and goes about constructing a new band amidst shifting relationships, and coming to terms with the bodyguard who won’t leave her side. The second half of the story gets more involved with the actual war, some of which spills into the real world, and climaxes with a classic duel of Good Vs Evil at First Avenue!

Emma Bull does a great job of making the other-world characters feel other-worldly. Their method of speech feels Victorian, and their manners and customs are notably different than that of humans.

As far as *research* goes, it was enlightening to see how another author approaches shifting between different realities, and descriptions of Minneapolis areas. Her writings on band politics and music technology are accurate, which makes sense, since Emma Bull was in a local band or two.

As far as *entertainment* goes, War for the Oaks is a good story for those who want a Disney faerie tale crossed with 1980′s Minneapolis urban fantasy.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

The Vanity of the Press

Back in the day, anyone with personal issues, a typewriter, and a couple thousand dollars could become a ‘published’ author. Simply take your masterpiece to the printer (nicknamed a Vanity Press), and pay them to print you a truckfull of books. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, right?

Right.

So, you ended up with a truckfull of books that sat in your garage. You gave one to your Mom, sold a handful to friends and family, gave away more copies as Christmas Gifts, and a year or two later you had….

…a truckfull of books sitting in your garage.

The Demand on Print

Fast-Forward to 2008, and although we don’t have any flying cars yet, we have made some fabulous advances in print technology. Digital printing technology has made short runs of books profitable, as little as ONE copy. Pay a setup fee and upload your masterpiece to the publisher over the internet, then order as many (or as few) copies as you need, as often as you need, whenever you need them. No stocking. No warehousing.

So thanks to the technology/business model of Print On Demand, anyone with personal issues, a personal computer and a couple hundred dollars can become a ‘published’ author, and they still have room in the garage to park their car.

Obviously, many authors who subjected themselves to the traditional publishing system (and succeeded) resent this new system that lets everyone in regardless of quality. They worked hard to get into the publishing pool, and it pisses them off to see the gates wide open and people of all heights and talents jumping in. They would argue that the self-published author is as much an “Author” as someone who buys a medical degree online is a “Doctor”. They equate this new system of Print on Demand with the old Vanity Press publishing.

There are similarities. There are differences. But what’s pointed out by advocates of the traditional system is that there is no “approval” or “acceptance” of the material with POD or Vanity Presses. I’ll point out that there is no proof that this acceptance procedure makes for better books, but I can sympathize with authors who worked their tail off to find an agent who worked their tail off to get a manuscript published, and now the market has turned into a free-for-all with this new combination of POD/Internet.

And publishers? They see the new system as a threat. And rightfully so, as I discovered…

The Unfair Book Fair

Last weekend I was at an Author’s Book Fair, and I watched a panel of publishers discussing POD publishing. You can probably guess what they had to say. Their mantra was, “You get what you pay for.” They poked fun at the quality, and they cried about how the POD business is cutting into the Real Publisher’s market.

Then they quickly shifted the talks to how to “bypass” the wretched POD methods and run your manuscript down the traditional route. They proceeded to tell a roomful of hopeful writers how their books weren’t going to be published without some sort of track record, a platform, an image, a marketing plan, and a visionary (or what *the publishers* thought was visionary) manuscript. One even suggested that they expect the author to shoulder the financial burden of the initial printing. (Um… wouldn’t that turn them into a vanity press?)

What I didn’t hear was the POD businesses representing their side of the story, probably because they weren’t invited to attend the panel.

Do the Math

So, let’s add this up – independent artists, working around the existing system by directly targeting their audience through the internet with product of questionable quality, and undercutting an industry which only exists by selling other people’s work?

Wow, are we talking about the publishing industry, or the music industry?

Turns out the two industries really aren’t so different. Getting a book deal with a publisher is similar to getting a record deal with a label. The contracts and advances are based on the same business model. Those with the marketing money and distribution connections make the rules, and they pick what they think will sell. The handful of Stephenie Meyers and JK Rowlings make up for the hundreds of hacks like Conrad Zero who should be thankful the publisher was willing to lose money just looking at their mid-list manuscript.

Meanwhile, the internet came along, gave the authors the power to market and distribute themselves, turning Publishers into middlemen who now hold panels telling people not to publish themselves, but that they have a snowball’s chance in Hell to cut a deal with a real publisher. And if they actually get offered a publishing deal? Well, they better be ready to cut off their own genitalia and sell their own kin for a chance at the big time.

And, um… where does that leave me?

For a while there, I was torn about how to proceed with my own writings. I was waffling about getting an agent, and all the work that the traditional publishing route involves. Making the connection between the Publishing Industry and the Recording Industry made this decision a little easier, and the options now are a little clearer.

• I can set up my own publishing company and order books via Print On Demand. Bar codes, invoicing, book keeping, and Schedule Cs don’t frighten me, so this is probably the best option for me at this time.
• I can also choose to approach smaller, Independent Publishers on my own. I’m not likely to find one interested in my work, but there are a few indie publishers worth their salt.

Either way, I still have a lot of work ahead of me.

And to the “panel” of “professionals,” I’m disappointed. You meet to rail on your enemies, but don’t even have the balls to invite them to defend themselves? This just advertises your fear and your cowardice. You harp on the negatives of POD, and ignore the advantages,  then turn around and tell potential authors that we should sell our souls to you for the honor of a form rejection letter?

Consider this your form rejection letter from me: you can suck my dick. I’ll make my own way. Thanks for the advice.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

Books like Eckhart Tolle’s always get my Inner Philosopher worked up, and I have to buy them. He could have named the book “Ways to Be Happy While Getting Screwed Up The Ass By Your Boss, Family, CoWorkers, Strangers and God” and I’d buy it. Because there’s a tiny, tiny subset of those Self-Help books that truly are life-changing, and they are well worth the volumes of Trite-Shite and Atlantis-Nonsense that you have to sift through to find them.

Eckhart Tolle’s previous work includes a book entitled “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment,” which is a fantastic exploration on the human perception of time. The book focuses on how to stop dragging the past along with you, and stop thinking that Someday you will be happy. Instead, the book describes how to ‘Live In The Now’, and I highly recommend it.

His latest release, “A New Earth: Awakening to your Life’s Purpose” is a profoundly life-changing book… for the right people. But I don’t think I can really recommend it for four reasons:

1-Americans are self-centered already

First, I think the idea is a bit much for many people, but especially Americans. The core idea is to step back and take an objective look at yourself. Doing this will make you realize that the Real You is not bundle of needs and desires that always go unsatisfied. Letting go of ‘wanting’ and physical things is an old practice, and at the very core of Buddhist thought. Tolle tries to sugar-coat it for Americans to make it easier to swallow, but I don’t think your average American is capable of processing this idea.

Worse, I suspect many people who hear about the book will run out to buy it because they Really-Really-Want to let go of their Wanting. Its these people who need the book most, but its not going to help them, because they simply won’t comprehend it. Meanwhile, those who buy the book to make themselves better are already conscientious and self-aware (because they are buying a book like this), and don’t really need the book. Choir. Preaching.

2- You just read it

Second, I’ve basically just told you the entire book, so save your money and your time. To Tolle’s credit, he gives lots of advice, examples, and points of view on the matter, and ties it well to Christianity and other world religions (he claims to cater to no particular world religion.)

3 – It should be free

Thirdly, if Eckhard Tolle really practiced what he preached, he would license the book through Creative Commons and make it available online for free.

4 – Bad Juju

Fourth, and most difficult for me to explain, is that the book is dangerous. The advice Tolle offers people to create a third-person viewpoint of themselves can, if used as intended, separate the Real You from your desiring, unhappy, habitual False Self. However, it can also be used to create a refuge or buffer; a place where you can watch your False Self rob a liquor store for drug money. It could allow a person to remain calm, cool, and collected in the face of performing terrible things. Then they could go to sleep without the slightest guilt saying, That wasn’t The Real Me!

Learned Multiple Personality Syndrome, anyone?

The Alternative

Do yourself a favor and read “The Power of Now”. Then read this outline of Buddhist philosophy, and put the two together for yourself. If you see how the two fit together, you don’t need to bother with “A New Earth.”

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

The heyday of The Replacements (whom I refuse to call ‘Mats’) was before my time, so much of my knowledge about them comes filtered through elder hipsters who go on about how awesome it was to be in on the Minneapolis music scene back in the 80′s.  By the time I was hitting clubs back in the 90′s, the Replacements had broken up, and news about them was scarce. “I’ll Be You” would pop up on the radio occasionally, but Prince, Matthew Sweet and Sugar were getting all the airplay.

Grunge was king in the 90′s while I worked the midnight shift at a recording studio in Minneapolis, and habitually scanned the Reader and the City Pages for new and interesting bands. The Nixon Pupils, Johnny Clueless and Mile One were my main staples back then. I was playing solo-acoustic-dark-rock (like my heroes Neil Young and Stuart Davis) and my circle of friends coulda cared a whole lot less about the Replacements.

One particular night shift, I listened to “The Replacements A to Z” on KQ92, and thought they were pretty good. Eventually I purchased their CD compilation, “All for Nothing and Nothing for All” and what I was told was their definitive album, “Tim”.

It wasn’t until after I started enjoying the Replacements music that I started hearing the stories. Stories about a band that shone so brightly they burned a hole in the heart of Minneapolis. Every tale put a look on my face as if I had just taken a sip of Windex:

“They stole back their own master tapes from the record company, and tossed them in the Mississippi River?”

“They played ‘Hello Dolly’ over and over until everyone left?”

“They did entire gigs without finishing a single song?”

I felt like someone who just found out that so-and-so and you-know-who did you-know-what years after it happened. It’s like the entire city of Minneapolis kept these dirty secrets until  they were safe to be revealed like common knowledge. But just how much of it was true?

You can imagine how pleased I was to hear that a book about The Replacements was being released. “The Replacements – All over but the Shouting” was released by Jim Walsh on 15 Nov 2007. I got a signed copy, and read the entire book over three consecutive evenings.

The book is described as an Oral History. It’s written in quotes from a large number of people, including (some) members of the band. It’s interesting to read the different perspectives on key moments of the band’s history.

Readers should keep in mind that this is the current-day perception of the band, a conglomeration of The Replacements As Certain People Remember Them. There are some assumptions made, and there are undoubtedly people who either cannot or did not participate in the book. Those looking for the actual, official history of the Replacements might want to look elsewhere. But I think Jim Walsh wanted to capture the enduring spirit of the band, the parts that survive in people’s memories, the brightest and darkest moments.

However, the quotes of ‘oral history’ did make the book a disjointed read. It wasn’t till I was halfway through the book that I stumbled upon a glossary of names in the back, which makes the book easier to manage. Many of the quotes required that information to process.

It amazes me how hard the Replacements tried to sabotage their own success, and how everything they did simply made them more and more famous. It makes me think some bands are destined to be famous, and have no choice. The Replacements seemed to be dragged kicking and screaming into popularity, confounded by the personality of Paul Westerberg, which glares through the cracks of the writing.

After reading it, I can say that the Replacements deserve a book like this. Jim Walsh has done a great job, and I’m glad I read it. It should be required reading for anyone who is in a bar band in Minneapolis, because whether you know it or not, you are living under the shadow of a glorious tragedy.

“You look like Bono.”

I stammered. “Um, come again?”

“Spitting image, I swear. You must hear it all the time.”

I handed Jim Walsh my purchase, not thirty seconds old. It was the book he had just released: “The Replacements – All Over But The Shouting“.

Revolver Modele had just finished up their set, and a giant projection screen descended from the ceiling, separating the First Ave stage from the audience. Minutes ago, I watched Jim Walsh onstage, pouring his drink all over the Revolver Modele’s guitar player, and pushing him to the floor as he played. Jim even jumped on the mic for a verse or two. He wisely left the bass player alone.

The screen lit up with giant, glowing Tom and Jerry cartoons, as ‘One For The Team’ began setting up to perform the next set of Replacements covers.

Jim opened the book and paused, pen in hand, clearly drunk, off alcohol or the event or both, and clearly having the time of his life.

“Conrad Zero,” I said, holding my right hand up in what I hoped conveyed a manual representation of a ‘zero’ but possibly also could have been interpreted as jacking off.

He started scribbling my name down in the book.

“Never heard that before?” he asked.

“I guess I’ve never seen Bono without sunglasses on,” I responded, and suddenly wanted to talk about something else. “I tried to make it out to your book reading at Treehouse…,” I started, in an attempt to change the subject.

“Oh, what good are book readings?” Jim interrupted with a laugh. “I mean you read the book to people. What is that? People can read it themselves, right?”

“Yeah,” I laughed, “…and you had said that the reading was on the Wednesday *before* Thanksgiving, but…”

“Hey,” Jim said, turning to one of the ladies at the nearby booth for ‘The Onion’. “Doesn’t this guy look like Bono?”

She nodded her disapproval.

“No,” I said. “Usually it’s Sean Bean. People always say I look like Boromir.”

Jim started laughing, and had to pause in the middle of signing.

“Sorry,” he laughed, “I don’t want to screw up your book.”

“It’s not my book,” I corrected. “It’s yours.” This just made him laugh more.

“No,” he said, finishing the dedication and handing it over, “it’s your book now. I hope you enjoy it.”

“Um, thanks.”

‘One for the Team’ got a great set of Replacements songs (Skyway among them), and did a fine job with them. I left shortly afterward, book clutched in my December-chilled-and-chaffed hands, went home, and looked up Bono on the internet.

Review to come….

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

In a previous blog post, I raved about Neil Gaiman after reading Good Omens (which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett), and his blog, and starting on his latest work, Fragile Things.

I knew Fragile Things was a collection of short stories and poems, and I thought it would be a good way to cover more ground with Neil Gaiman and get a more definitive sense of his writing style. I was right, but I was wrong to approach his writing that way. In the end, Fragile Things was a slight disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong, Neil Gaiman is a very good writer. He has a marvelous tongue for storytelling. Fragile Things runs through past, present and future periods of fantasy and poetry, adult fairy-tales and Gothic nearly-horror. He writes with clever turns of phrase, alternate realities, twisted mythologies, and interesting points-of-view.

But, the Things inside Fragile Things are just too Fragile; unfinished snippets or unused plot branches from other works; roughed-out ideas collected and published once the name “Neil Gaiman” on the cover of the book would sell more copies than anything inside it. (Hint: Check the last few pages to see where all the stories came from and when.) Few of the stories let me in deeply enough to really enjoy them.

So I got what I wanted, but it turns out it wasn’t what I wanted after all. Like I said, the ideas were clever, but not very flushed out. Fragile Things is like walking past the bakery and having a look and a sniff of the whole lot, instead of a solid taste of anything in particular.

So, I can’t really recommend Fragile Things to anyone but the most hardcore Neil Gaiman fans who have read Everything Else and still want more. I’ve added ‘Neverwhere’ and ‘Death: The High Cost Of Living’ to my Christmas list, in the hopes of getting something a little less fragile…

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

The name Jim Walsh is nearly-famous here in flyover land, as was the band he writes about in his new book, “The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting“. The book release party is coming up, one week from today. (See details below) I’ve mentioned this gig before, but it is worth mentioning again.

As a musician, your art will be referenced to where you make it, and I suspect that if the Replacements had been birthed in California, they wouldn’t have made a single wave, but to flaunt that kind of arrogance and energy *here* in Flyover Land? It’s all about being in the right place at the right time, and the Replacements certainly were.

For those of us who “missed out” on the heyday of the Replacements Era, Jim Walsh lived through it, and kindly provides us a look back into what was happening at the time. His unauthorized documentary on the band, “The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting” was just released on 15 Nov 2007. I haven’t read it yet, and in fact, I meant to go to the Treehouse Records reading/signing tonight, but I discovered that what Jim Walsh meant by “The Wednesday before Thanksgiving” was actually “The Wednesday BEFORE the Wednesday before Thanksgiving” In other words…I missed it. But I fully intend to pick it up at the release party, and I’m really looking forward to some cool bands like Revolver Modele covering a bit of Replacements material for us. (I bet the bands all will fight over who gets to play “Bastards of Young“…)

Book Release Party for “The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting”

Wednesday, November 28
First Avenue Mainroom & The 7th Street Entry 7:00 PM / 18+
89.3 THE CURRENT PRESENTS…
JIM WALSH’S THE REPLACEMENTS:
“ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING”
BOOK RELEASE PARTY FEATURING

THE ALARMISTS, BIRTHDAY SUITS, THE EVENING RIG, THE FALLS, THE HONEYDOGS, JEREMY MESSERSMITH, KRUDDLER, THE MAMMYS, MARTIN DEVANEY, ONE FOR THE TEAM with DAVE CAMPBELL, RED FLAGS, REVOLVER MODELE , TERRY WALSH, and TODD NEWMAN
$6.00 advance / $8.00 door

Art Is Resistance
-Zero

For all of you Replacements fans out there (sorry, but I refuse to call them ‘Mats’. They aren’t Mats, so stop calling them that. Call them ‘Mints’ or something.) Jim Walsh, writer for City Pages and Reveille Magazine, musician, and all-around local troublemaker, has released a book about the Replacements called All Over But The Shouting. Apparently, it’s an oral history detailing the rise and rise of the Replacements.

The book release party at First Avenue should be quite the shindig, including a slew of bands covering Replacements songs. Revolver Modele will be there. You should too:

Wed Nov 28th
First Avenue
7PM
18+

Tickets are $5.50 plus whatever “Fees” TicketBastard charges. I recommend stopping by First Ave and picking tickets up in advance.

I have a couple ‘essential’ Replacements CDs, and I recorded “The Replacements A to Z” when it aired on KQ92 many years ago. I don’t share the popular opinion that they were the Greatest Minnesota Band That Never Was (although I do allude to that in my novel, The Demonslayer’s Handbook) Then again, I never saw the Replacements live, and it sounds like they got more reputation from their live antics than their music. So it should be interesting to experience them second and third hand from people who lived through the chaos.

Art Is Resistance
-Zero