Money Shot

I've been looking forward to Christa Faust's Money Shot for a few months now. It's out today.

MONEY SHOT Christa Faust February 2008 ISBN: 0-8439-5958-4 Cover art by Glen Orbik Read A Sample Chapter Order Now

CLICK HERE FOR THE MONEY SHOT VIDEO TRAILER! THEY THOUGHT SHE’D BE EASY. THEY THOUGHT WRONG. It all began with the phone call asking former porn star Angel Dare to do one more movie. Before she knew it, she’d been shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car. But Angel is a survivor. And that means she’ll get to the bottom of what’s been done to her even if she has to leave a trail of bodies along the way... First publication anywhere! First female author in the history of Hard Case Crime Author of Triads, Hoodtown and the award-winning novelization of Snakes On a Plane Edgar Award nominee Megan Abbott: "Money Shot is a stunner, careening along with a wild, propulsive energy and a deliciously incendiary spirit. Laced with bravado and loaded up with knockabout charm, Christa Faust’s Hard Case debut is the literary equivalent of a gasoline cocktail." Raves for Christa Faust... "Christa Faust is a fiercely original talent [with] a stunning voice." — Richard Christian Matheson "A new young tiger...the ‘First Lady’ of Hard Case Crime." — Richard S. Prather "An incisively and stylishly written noir thriller...compelling." — Ramsey Campbell "Faust’s voice will haul you outside and kick your ass. And you’ll love every minute." — Michael Marshall

Busted Flush

From Busted Flush Press:

(Damn glad to see some of my favorite writers--Vicki Hendricks, Megan Abbott, Daniel Woodrell, and Ken Bruen--nominated. Hendricks's Cruel Poetry and Abbott's Queenpin are knockouts. Go get em.)

JANUARY 2008 NEWS

Busted Flush Press is proud to announce that Daniel Woodrell's chilling noir tale, "Uncle," from A HELL OF A WOMAN: An Anthology of Female Noir, has been nominated for a 2008 Edgar Award for Best Short Story! Congratulations to one of America's greatest—and overlooked!—crime novelists.

Four other BFP authors have been nominated for Edgars, as well:

Ken Bruen, Best Novel for Priest (St. Martin's Minotaur) Find his early fiction—A FIFTH OF BRUEN—available from Busted Flush Press here. We even have FIFTH OF BRUEN Zippos! E-mail for a FREE Ken Bruen bibliography bookmark.

Reed Farrel Coleman, Best Novel for Soul Patch (Bleak House)
Find his first two Moe Prager private eye novels—WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE (available in April) and REDEMPTION STREET (available now)—available from Busted Flush Press here.

Megan Abbott, Best Paperback Original for Queenpin (Simon & Schuster)
Find her Anthony Award-nominated short story, "Policy" (which inspired Queenpin!) —in DAMN NEAR DEAD: An Anthology of Geezer Noir, available from Busted Flush Press here.

Vicki Hendricks, Best Paperback Original for Cruel Poetry (Serpent's Tail)
Find her acclaimed debut noir novel—MIAMI PURITY—available from Busted Flush Press here.



OTHER HELL OF A WOMAN NEWS:

Join Megan Abbott, Eddie Muller, David Corbett, Christa Faust, Sara Gran, and Cornelia Read when they sign at the Noir City premiere of Eddie Muller's short film, The Grand Inquisitor, based on his own Zodiac Killer-inspired HELL OF A WOMAN story. This Saturday night, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. (signing), 9:00 p.m. (film screening), San Francisco's Castro Theatre. Go here for more information.

For more information on Eddie's short film, please go here.

Book sales will be provided by "M" Is For Mystery (San Mateo, CA), which is where the authors (except Christa Faust) will sign again on Sunday at noon. For more information on this event (and to reserve signed first editions of this hot crime anthology!), please contact "M" Is For Mystery here.

"A HELL OF A WOMAN is not only an exceptionally entertaining anthology, it's an invaluable resource that will be cherished by aficionados of the genre."
—Chicago Tribune

Busted Flush Press books can be found at your favorite independent, chain and online booksellers, or directly from BFP at www.bustedflushpress.com.

When the Deal Goes Down

Having just read on Pitchfork that Scarlett Johansson's Anywhere I Lay My Head--an album of mostly Tom Waits covers--will be released on May 20th, I rewatched this great video from 2006. One of my favorite songs on an album that gets better and better, it also makes me happy because Scarlett Johansson's doing her best Marilyn Monroe. Is it weird that I'm excited about her album? I think it's pretty weird.

In other Dylan notes, I finally saw I'm Not There. It was better than I thought it would be and is worth seeing for Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale's performances alone.

Jason Molina on Italian Radio

Jason Molina recorded a few songs for Italy's MAPS radio last month. They have video and mp3s of that session on their site:

Jason Molina: Live Session

Roky Erickson on Austin City Limits

Check out Roky Erickson's amazing performance on Austin City Limits. PBS HD just reran the show, and it will be on again at 3 p.m. today. Or you can check out the video here:

Roky Erickson: Austin City Limits

Worst Fake Album Titles of 2007 (By Bands That Don’t Exist)

Rudolph, Aggravated

The Daisies, Your Car, My Universe

Mt. Beerbelly, What Does Mt. Beerbelly Mean?

Fish Collective, Tulip Beard

The Cocks, Sandwiches

Televisionarm, My Brain Tells Me Things

The Catcher in the Rye, Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Andrew and Nicolas, Andrew and Nicolas Sing For You

The Jackson Brothers, Songs for Carlo Rossi

Armchairs and Arrows, It Doesn't Take That Many Cotton Balls

When I Get To The Border

M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel sound great together on this Richard & Linda Thompson cover:

"When I Get to the Border"

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!

There's definitely something going on upstairs...



Nick Cave can do no wrong.

Drunk History

A really funny video by Derek Waters:

The film version of THE ROAD

Just found these notes on the film version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Here's to hoping that Nick Cave & Warren Ellis do the soundtrack.

From: Production Charts: THE ROAD
http://www.productioncharts.com/charts/2007/12/the-road.html


December 27, 2007
THE ROAD
STATUS - February 11
LOCATION: New Orleans - Washington
PRODUCER: Nick Wechsler - Steve Schwartz - Paula Mae Schwartz - Todd Wagner - Mark Cuban - Marc Butan
DIRECTOR: John Hillcoat
LP: Rudd Simmons
CAST: Viggo Mortensen - Danny Huston - Kodi Smit-McPhee
WRITER: Joe Penhall
An adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.

Best Books of Aught-Seven

My favorite books of the year:

1. Reading Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, H.R. Stoneback
2. Queenpin, Megan Abbott
3. Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson
4. A Miracle of Catfish, Larry Brown
5. Cruel Poetry, Vicki Hendricks
6. A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir, Megan Abbott (editor)
7. The Tin Roof Blowdown/Jesus Out to Sea: Stories, James Lee Burke
8. Up in Honey's Room, Elmore Leonard
9. The Blonde/Redhead, Duane Swierczynski (came out in 2006, but what the hell)
10. The Shotgun Rule/Half the Blood of Brooklyn, Charlie Huston

And then there's this:
Everything Hard Case Crime put out this year was solid gold. Murdaland, Out of the Gutter, and Oxford American were the best print magazines around, and Thuglit, Muzzle Flash, Demolition, and Hardluck Stories proved to be the best online reading I've ever come across.

Best Movies of Aught-Seven

My favorite movies of the year:

1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Darjeeling Limited
3. Juno
4. 3:10 to Yuma
5. Zodiac
6. Rescue Dawn
7. Waitress
8. Eastern Promises
9. The Lookout
10. There Will Be Blood
11. Grindhouse
12. Knocked Up
13. Once
14. Fay Grim
15. Lady Chatterley
16. Superbad
17. La Vie en Rose
18. Hot Fuzz
19. Margot at the Wedding
20. Gone Baby Gone

Other good ones:
Black Snake Moan; Angel A; I'm Not There; Sweeney Todd; Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Bella.

Best Performances:

Actor: Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood; Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn
Actress: Ellen Page, Juno; Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose; Marina Hands,
Lady Chatterley
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno

Unless It's Lists: Best Music of Aught-Seven

My favorite albums and tracks of 2007:

Albums:
1. Okkervil River: The Stage Names
2. Elvis Perkins: Ash Wednesday
3. Christopher Denny: Age-Old Hunger
4. Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard: Once soundtrack
5. Bruce Springsteen: Magic
6. Jens Lekman: Night Falls Over Kortedala
7. Grinderman: Grinderman
8. The White Stripes: Icky Thump
9. Iron and Wine: The Shepherd's Dog
10. Feist: The Reminder
11. Band of Horses: Cease to Begin
12. Vic Chesnutt: North Star Deserter
13. The Mendoza Line: 30 Year Low
14. The Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
15. Porter Wagoner: Wagonmaster
16. Radiohead: In Rainbows
17. Ola Podrida: Ola Podrida
18. Lucinda Williams: West
19. The National: Boxer
20. Levon Helm: Dirt Farmer

Other good ones:
The Frames: The Cost; Josh Ritter: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter; Bettye LaVette: Scene of the Crime; Mary Gauthier: Between Daylight and Dark; The Avett Brothers: Emotionalism; Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Easy Tiger; Ryan Bingham: Mescalito; Little Wings: Soft Power; Wilco: Sky Blue Sky; BufWhat I Wfalo Tom:s Three Easy Pieces; Orion Rigel Dommisse: What I Want From You Is Sweet; Beirut: The Flying Club Cup; Bowerbirds: Hymns for a Dark Horse; Amy Winehouse: Back to Black; Bill Callahan: Woke On A Whaleheart; Low: Drums and Guns; Dolorean: You Can't Win; New Pornographers: Challengers; Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: Ask Forgiveness; Juno soundtrack; The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack

Best Reissues/Compilations/Live CDs:
1. Stoney and Sparrow: Overcoming—Live in China, Alabama, and the Hudson Valley
2. Magnolia Electric Company: Sojourner
3. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Abattoir Blues Tour
4. Sun Kil Moon: The Ghosts of the Great Highway
5. Shearwater: Palo Santo
6. The Art of Field Recording, Volume 1
7. Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics 1918-1955
8. People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs 1913-1938
9. Warren Zevon: Stand in the Fire
10. Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall 1971


Songs:
1. "Aspect of an Old Maid," The Mendoza Line w/ Will Sheff
2. "Unless It's Kicks," Okkervil River
3. "Westbound Train," Christopher Denny
4. "Moon Woman II," Elvis Perkins
5. "In Return," Damien Jurado (Kitchen Table Demos)
6. "Falling Slowly," Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard
7. "Plus Ones," Okkervil River
8. "I'll Work for Your Love," Bruce Springsteen
9. "A Postcard to Nina," Jens Lekman
10. "No Pussy Blues," Grinderman
11. "Ash Wednesday," Elvis Perkins
12. "Time," Christopher Denny
13. "Emile's Vietnam in the Sky," Elvis Perkins
14. "1234," Feist
15. "Rag and Bone," The White Stripes
16. "Resurrection Fern," Iron and Wine
17. "The Temptation of Adam," Josh Ritter
18. "All My Mistakes," The Avett Brothers
19. "Photo Booth," Ola Podrida
20. "Keep the Car Running," The Arcade Fire

R.I.P.--J.D. "CAST" KING 1926 - 2007

From Locust Music:

"Cast King passed away at his Old Sand Mountain home in Alabama on December 13th. He will be missed.

"Cast taught himself to play guitar when he was a 10-year-old boy on Sand Mountain. In 1955 King recorded fewer than a dozen songs with his Honky- Tonk band, The Country Drifters, at the legendary Sun studios in Memphis. Five decades later, he recorded his debut for Locust Music with local producer & musician Matt Downer at the age of 79.

"To many of you, his single album release - Saw Mill Man - became a household favorite, a taste of something raw & unadulterated from a musician few had heard of but whose rough and ready confidence & knack for song garnered praise in Rolling Stone, No Depression, Arthur, Mojo, Harp, Spin, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and numerous other publications. Filmmakers started emerging out of the woodwork from all over wanting to tell Cast's story. No documentary was ever made but Cast's music graces the closing credits of Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park which is expected for theatrical release in the U.S. in 2008. Promoters far and wide tried their best to bring Cast to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and a number of European Cities throughout 2005 & 2006 but, having never flown in an airplane, he didn't see reason to begin now.

"Cast was working on new material for a second record. Cast had talked often about wanting to make a gospel record, not the kind you'd see on television, he'd say, but the kind that really gets to a man's soul. 'Saved' is one of those songs. Please download the song & enjoy it."

****

Cast King's Saw Mill Man is one of my favorite records of the last few years. Go to the Locust Music site to download "Saved," and--if you havent--pick up Saw Mill Man. It's damn sad that we wont have another album from Cast King.

McCarthy in Rolling Stone

There's a big damn interview with Cormac McCarthy in the new issue of Rolling Stone ("Cormac McCarthy's Apocalypse," pgs 43-53). I got a free subscription to this shitbag magazine when I ordered something off of Amazon a few months ago, and this is the first good thing I've seen.

If you havent seen No Country for Old Men yet, see it. It's the best film of the year and it's the best adaptation of a great book ever made. No Country has been one of my favorite books since I read it back when it came out in the summer of Aught-Five, and it was great to see The Coen Brothers get it so right (though it's not perfect). I cant imagine that John Hillcoat or whoever directs the film version of The Road will do such a topshelf job. But that remains to be seen.

Also check out The Sunset Limited, McCarthy's "novel in dramatic form" that passed under the radar (kind of) in the wake of the huge success of The Road and the No Country movie.