Sometimes the line between the genuine article and inspired parody is so thin as to be non-existent. Here’s The Black Satans with “The Satan of Hell.”
Nothing says “Dangerous Minions of Hell” quite like tossing snowballs, or banging a tree with a stick. But I bet if they tried harder, they could work in a few more Satans…
Alcest, a French shoegazer band that sounds a little bit like M83 by way of Sigur Ros and Midsummer, offers up the compelling “Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde” (“Memories of Another World).
As a followup on my previous auction post, here are the prices realized on the items I highlighted in yesterday’s Heritage book auction. All prices include buyer’s premium:
A signed first of Wells’ The War of the Worlds went for a staggering $35,000. I don’t think one of the 12 or so known copies of the Henry Holt (true 1st) edition of The Time Machine has gone for that.
A nice copy of Alfred Bester’s Tiger! Tiger! went for a mere $800, a comparative bargain, since I’ve seen copies sell in excess of $2,000.
While plumbing the depths and breadths of YouTube for suitable Shoegazer Sunday entries, sometimes I stumble across something interesting that doesn’t fit in the Shoegaze label. Today let’s take a look at Japanese band SpecialThanks.
The first 20 seconds of silence is just to mess with you.
So a pop-punk band with a deadly cute female lead who sings in English that sounds like a cross between Blink-182 and [Insert Current Teenage Female Pop Sensation Here]. This is the sort of Japanese cross-cultural pop artifact that Bruce Sterling circa 1992 would have been all over. As it stands, I’m pretty sure some canny American record label would make millions signing them over here…
Heritage Auctions has another signature book auction coming up on April 10, and there are several interesting SF/F/H first editions up for offer. Here’s a preview of a few:
Yet another first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Heritage has auctioned off a number of these in the past, and they all seemed to go for over $20,000. This is a particularly nice copy.
Plus a few other miscellaneous SF items. However, the main strength of the auction overall is a number important scientific first editions, a signed first of ian Fleming’s Moonraker, etc.
I’m sure you’ve read about Roger Ebert’s death from cancer. I don’t have much to add to the many tributes being offered (though I do want to note that he was a science fiction fan before a movie critic), so instead here’s Ebert and Gene Siskel eviscerating Rob Reiner’s North.