Bøger af Jeff Gomez

Grunge. Flannel. Generation X. In 1993, Seattle was the capital of the world, Nirvana was king, and slackers were everywhere. When the Red Hot organization, a group of activists dedicated to raising money and awareness of AIDS, released their third compilation CD featuring the biggest bands of the era--Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, The Breeders, Nirvana and more it quickly became the touchstone of a generation. Rolling Stone called No Alternative a "jaw-dropping compilation of musical gems." This book takes a look back at what happened to the bands involved with No Alternative. It includes new interviews with the musicians and others behind the record, and chronicles the downfall of an industry, the taming of a devastating illness, and the arrival of another global pandemic. It's about growing up, saying goodbye, and proving once more that you can't go home again (even if that's where you left all of your CDs).

Math rock sounds like blueprints look: exact, precise, architectural. This trance-like progressive metal music with indie rock and jazz influences has been captivating and challenging listeners for decades. Bands associated with the genre include King Crimson, Black Flag, Don Caballero, Slint, American Football, Toe, Elephant Gym, Covet, and thousands more. In an online age of bedroom producers and sampled beats and loops, math rock is music that is absolutely and resolutely played: men and woman in rooms with instruments creating chaos, beauty, and beautiful chaos.This is the first book-length look at the global phenomenon. Containing interviews with prominent musicians, producers, and critics spanning the globe, Math Rock will delight longtime fans while also serving as a primer for those who want to delve deeper. It shows why and how an intellectually complex, largely faceless, and almost entirely instrumental form of music has been capturing the attention of listeners for 50 years-and counting.

The first serious study of the Guided By Voices, one of the most important rock groups of the past thirty years.

A new retelling of the classic novelInspired by Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck's timeless tale of Depression-era friendship, Unfamous Men chronicles a different group of doomed dreamers: Mexican fruit pickers in Southern California in the years following World War II. Tomás, a small man with a weakness for women and gambling, is constantly getting into trouble. Juanito, on the other hand, is a gentle giant with limited emotional intelligence who craves only quiet.They’re on their way to Los Angeles to live with Juanito’s uncle, but first they need to earn money  at a ranch near Ventura. Complicating matters is the fact that Tomás has caught the eye of both Dallas, the ranch owner’s son, and Celedonia, Dallas’s Mexican wife who used to work on the ranch. There’s also Santos, the wise field boss and Custodio, a young Bracero disillusioned about life in America.Over the span of just a few days, these characters collide in a way that ends in betrayal and death—but not in the way you might think.

Generation X cult classics Our Noise and Geniuses of Crack chronicled a group of friends just out of college who lived in a small town, cared more about their record collections than their careers, and never imagined they'd have to grow up. Losing Our Edge-the sequel to both books-revisits a number of the characters, seeing where they are twenty years later and discovering what's happened with their lives. There's Charles and Randy, two old friends and former roommates who reconnect only to discover they now have nothing in common. There's Craig and Ashley, ex-lovers who contemplate getting back together, even if it means breaking up a marriage. And then there's the band Bottlecap, reuniting for one last gig and another shot at the dream that was derailed the first time around. For everyone in Losing Our Edge, it's a second chance to get things right. A tough and honest look at what the passing of time does to romance, friendship, and dreams, Losing Our Edge shows that you can go home again-you just might not like what you find when you get there.

"A canny study of split personalities, family and roads not taken." -Kirkus Reviews What would you do if there were three of you? That's the startling question at the heart of Beside Myself, a novel about the decisions that you didn't make, the lives that you didn't lead. Beside Myself presents a world where the author comes into contact with-and eventually meets-three different versions of himself: they are all Jeff Gomez, but each one is different based on choices made at a critical juncture. One is married, one is single, and one has a family. As they each gradually discover the other, their various lives begin to overlap and, ultimately, become intertwined in ways they never thought possible. The three Jeffs also discover that this is not an isolated incident. The chapters of Beside Myself can be read in any order, or the reader can follow one Jeff at a time throughout the story. "You, as the reader, feel like you're in the driver's seat." -Literary Platform Review

From the author of Our Noise, an engaging and touching tale about the misadventures of a Virginia-based rock band Bottlecap that's "an intricate and richly detailed study in twentysomething generational manners and mores that's almost encyclopedic in scope" (Bret Easton Ellis).Bottlecap, the Virginia-based group introduced in Jeff Gomez's cult favorite Our Noise, traded in life as a small band on a struggling independent label for a lucrative contract with a big Los Angeles company. This should mean more money, more attention?more of all the stuff that comes with fame. But from the minute Mark, Steve, and Gary arrive in Los Angeles, they enter a world they don't quite understand. Mark, as leader of the band, tries to keep things under control, but his own life and his relationship with his new girlfriend Corinne?a native Angeleno and inveterate mallrat?begin to spin out of control. Steve falls under the influence of a neighbor with bad habits while Gary scours the city's thrift stores searching for Atari memorabilia and a love of his own. Confusion reaches its peak when the record company's plans take an unexpected and, to the band, unacceptable turn. They must either completely sell out and surrender the band or take a stand, relegating themselves to commercial obscurity. Or is it already too late? With humor and insight, Gomez limns the lives of three young men who are geniuses at everything except what matters. Fans of Our Noise will welcome this update of Bottlecap; newcomers will find a writer with a rare talent for capturing the mood and the voice of a generation.