Morning Bites: Cocker talks poetry, letters from Orwell, Marissa Nadler video, very short stories, and more

Quintron’s Magic House in New Orleans. It would seem that the writer who wrote the Slate article “Don’t Support Your Local Bookseller,” and called indie bookstores being “cultish,” isn’t too popular. Send Electric Literature your short story of 30 to 300 words. Marcel the Shell makes it onto NBC. Jarvis Cocker talks a little bit of poetry. Letters from George Orwell. A new video for Marissa Nadler’s “In Your Lair, Bear.” Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, and our Tumblr.

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Elton John Presents: Animal Farm, The Musical

Sir Elton John is reportedly working on a stage adaptation of Animal Farm, teaming up with the writer of Billy Elliot, for a musical version of George Orwell’s classic novel. “I’m deep into it, writing songs for pigs and other four-legged friends,” Lee Hall told the Daily Mail. “I know that Elton likes to have the lyrics done and have them in front of him so [I] work on a batch before I give him anything to look at.” (Via)

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More Adventures in Literary Heavy Metal: Wuthering Heights

First Thoreau, Orwell, and now Emily Brontë gets the heavy metal treatment: Formed at the beginning of the nineties, WUTHERING HEIGHTS emerged from the Danish metal scene and immediately drawing attention of the rest of the progressive/power metal world. Their brilliant epics of symphonic speed/power metal with progressive and folk roots became the trademark of their entire discography. The band’s previous albums were very well-received by fans and media worldwide and solidified WUTHERING HEIGHTS’ status as one of the most interesting bands to emerge […]

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Weekend Bites: The Whale Reviewed, Hitchens on Animal Farm, Shields on Colbert, PJ Harvey Doing Zoetrope, and More

Philip Hoare’s The Whale is reviewed. Christopher Hitchens revisits Animal Farm. David Shields meets Colbert Great Gatsby meets the NBA playoffs. New issue of Agriculture Reader is out.  We interviewed the people behind it for their last issue. Kevin Sampsell made a bunch of videos of AWP. Bookworm interviews Elif Bautman. PJ Harvey is designing an upcoming issue of Zoetrope: All Story. Another guide for living like Holden Caulfield. Neutral Milk Hotel + ukulele =’s great happiness.

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George Orwell Goes Metal?

“Wisconsin’s given birth to a potent and proud young metal beast which answers to the name ORWELL. Escaping current “for the moment” musical trends, this five-piece attack squad execute massive hooks with extremely professional precision and prowess on their self-released debut full-length Endeavors. While somewhat reshaping melodic Swedish death metal as mastered by In Flames and Soilwork into a more American style in the vein of Black Dahila Murder or All That Remains, moments of Endeavors also bleed with a bit of stoner metal one might attribute to Corrosion of […]

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Bites: The kids got a new Catch-22, Ray Bradbury knows how to party, Malt Whitman, and more

Everybody has one of those books that you have always meant to read, but never seem to get around to, and mine is Catch-22. The Guardian asks what is “The New Generation’s Catch-22“, and now I’m wondering should I just give up on Joseph Heller’s novel, and check in on what ‘the kids’ are reading? There’s gonna be a Ray Bradbury birthday up in this mofo. (via Boing Boing) Amazon is getting sued by a 17-year-old because his copy of […]

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