Atomic Books Blog

Tomorrow night, June 29th, Tim Kreider will be here at Atomic Books, presenting from his brand new book, We Learn Nothing . 7-9pm. Adult beverages will be served.

The new issue of The Fader (#80) has a cover feature on Beach House by writer Sam Hockley-Smith called "Tidal Pull": "Conversation turns to John Waters, the Baltimore-based director that has fashioned himself into something of a guru for the city's scrappy artistic community, hosting yearly Christmas parties to which Scally and Legrand are regularly invited. ... 'John Waters is like the kind of artist that makes entertainment like...' she [Legrand] trails off, seemingly at a loss at how to describe Waters' ability to portray the deeply weird tendencies of artists in his films. 'Why are people so insecure? All performers are so insecure and need affirmation,' she stares at a corner of the bar's low ceiling. 'Is that what this is? That all humans - they just want to hear themselves to prove they exist?'" In the new Big Take-Over (#70) , there's a review of Free Electric State's new record, Monumental Life : "...a...

Dunny2012 , originally uploaded by sugarfreak . The new Dunnys are coming out this Thursday and we're having a party. Get the new Dunnys, bring past Dunnys (or other toys) to trade and we'll have the special Sucklord Dunny as a gift for the purchase of a case (offer good only for that night!). Refreshments will be served and special raffles for Atomic giftcards and other toys!

Did you know that the crime map of Baltimore spells out "Best of Baltimore"? It was a secret message from criminals this whole time! (cover by Exit 10) We have our favorite, vote for yours here .

The new Under The Radar (#41) features a profile of Lower Dens by John Norris. Confusingly, the magazine identifies them as a Fort Worth, TX band even though we think of them as a Baltimore band (interestingly, so too does Lower Dens who list Baltimore as their hometown on their Facebook page ).  "The themes are not unrelated to the topics explored on the next album from Dan Deacon, Hunter's former Baltimore roommate, with whom she shared more than one lengthy conversation about such matters. But while the electro Pied Piper's assessments of the state of the world tend to be grim, Hunter's own view is more hopeful." There is also a Beach House profile by Matt Fink. "The way people listen to music is at the very heart of the varied interpretations swirling around the fourth Beach House record, and on first listen, Bloom does, indeed, sound fairly similar to Teen Dream . The same sort of dreamy guitars and keyboards color nearly every track, the same un...

Monday, May 28th, we will be open 11am - 4pm!

The second half of 2012 is shaping up to be an awesome one for alternative comics lovers. New books are promised by Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, Charles Burns and more. Here is a list of 20 books currently slated to come out by year's end that we're excited to see. Please keep in mind that release dates are tentative, and in the world of alternative comics, tentative release dates mean super-tentative. And we're regularly updating our Coming Soon section on our website with more awesome titles. Chester Brown: Ed The Happy Clown (Drawn & Quarterly) Due out June 5. Joe Sacco: Journalism (Metropolitan Books) Due out June 19. Dan Zettwoch: Birdseye Bristoe (Drawn & Quarterly) Due out June 19. Kevin Huizenga: Gloriana (Drawn & Quarterly) Due out July 3. James Kochalka: American Elf Vol. 4 (Top Shelf) Due out July 25. Seth: Pallookaville #21 (Drawn & Quarterly) Due out August 21. Los Bros Hernandez: Love & Rockets: New Stori...

HENRY & GLENN FOREVER & EVER #1 release party with TOM NEELY & ED LUCE Thursday, May 24. 7PM. Atomic Books. Hampden, Baltimore. To celebrate the release of the new ongoing comic book series  Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever #1 , cartoonists Tom Neely and Ed Luce will be here to show, discuss and sign copies. Adult refreshments will be served.

So we just ran a new Atomic Books T-Shirt Contest. Our judges narrowed down the designs to 3 choices - an outer space design by Box Brown , a Moebius tribute by Mike Shea , and two mustachioed gentlemen engaged in fisticuffs by Noah Van Sciver . We then opened up the voting at our Retro Atomic 20 Years of Atomic Books Art show. The voting was fast and furious, and the ballots were counted and recounted. We're pleased to announce the winner of the year's t-shirt contest is Noah Van Sciver's design. We'll be making a limited edition batch of these, which should be available by the end of May. But you can pre-order now to make sure you reserve yourself one because once these are gone, they are gone. Thanks to everyone who voted, and double thanks to everyone who turned in designs, many of which would make a fine shirt, but there can be only one winner.

Record Store Day - is this awesome thing where a bunch of bands and labels release limited edition special pressings of records that go on sale on that day to celebrate and support independent record stores. Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 21. Numerous record stores throughout the area will be participating, including Celebrated Summer Records . There will be free donuts and vegan cupcakes (courtesy of our pals at Golden West Cafe) when the record store opens at 11AM on Saturday. To keep up with all the titles they'll be offering, visit the CSR Facebook page where Tony is posting updates. So far, you'll be able to buy (while supplies last): INTEGRITY- Palm Sunday LP (white vinyl + Poster) (organized Crime Records) We are proud to be the ONLY store on the East Coast to bring you this amazing live recording of the infamous INTEGRITY from 1992! (the other stores this will be available at are Reckless Records in Chicago and TKO in California) PEACE 7-inc...

In the current issue of Mojo (#222) , there's an article about our pals over at Burnt Hickory Brewery . "...we got a special jolt of shivers down the spine and goose pimples - not unlike having ones' first slug of barley wine as a teen, in a bus shelter - at the news that Burnt Hickory micro-brewery of Kennesaw, Georgia was making beer for Wisconsin sludge cards Killdozer. Burnt Hickory's Scott Hedeen adds they've also made ales for The Germs, Jesus Lizard, Die Kreuzen and more." That "and more" also includes 2 batches of house brew for Atomic Books. Unfortunately, we've drunk it all. Be sure to like Burnt Hickory on Facebook for news & updates.  (And tell them to make us more beer!)

Thursday, April 12. 7-9PM. The Atomic Fiction Series is back and now in a new "talk show" format tonight to celebrate the release of the new volume of Sententia . Join local authors Betsy Boyd, Kathy Flann, Jen Grow, and Elise Levine as they discuss their stories appearing in Sententia 4: What She Says, guest edited by Jen Michalski. Facebook RSVP. Adult refreshments will be served.

Monday, April 9. 7-9PM.      Al Burian will be here to discuss and read from the new issue of his acclaimed zine, Burn Collector . "Burian is one of our generation's great storytellers, a wily and insightful observer of the human condition." - Davy Rothbart of Found Magazine. Joining him will be author Mickey Hess, who will be reading from his new novel The Nostalgia Echo and also presenting his other new book The Novelist & The Rapper (the first book to sample hip-hop interviews, Nobel Prize speeches, and Colonel Sanders' autobiography). "THE NOSTALGIA ECHO is the best book you will read this year, or any year: the exact antidote to all those tired, humorless, beige-colored novels of recent memory, the writing here pops with both a dazzling intelligence and a devastating depth of character. Mr. Hess carries on in the great tradition of Vonnegut, D. Barthelme, and every other genius literary madman." —Joe Meno Adult refreshments will be serv...

Happy Easter , originally uploaded by sugarfreak . We'll be open from 11am-2pm this Sunday!

Atomic Books T-Shirt Contest 2012 Deadline March 31st The Rules, Short & Sweet: 1. One entry per person 2. Two color design, front shirt design only 3. Must say “Atomic Books” in the design Please send your 300 dpi ready to print file to info@atomicbooks.com . The finalists will be displayed at our 20th Anniversary Retrospective Design Show, April 6th, and will be voted on by the attendees. The winner will receive a $300 gift card to Atomic Books and 10 shirts and we’ll do a limited run of their tshirt design.

Thursday, March 29. 7PM. Atomic Books. Hanne Blank will be discussing and signing copies of her new book, STRAIGHT - which deals with the surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. And Jo B. Paoletti will be discussing and signing her new book, PINK & BLUE - which deals with the gendering of pink and blue. Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality: In this surprising chronicle, historian Hanne Blank digs deep into the past of sexual orientation, while simultaneously exploring its contemporary psyche. Illuminating the hidden patterns in centuries of events and trends, Blank shows how culture creates and manipulates the ways we think about and experience desire, love, and relationships between men and women. "Blank’s tenacious research and insightful arguments make clear how malleable the attitudes of the world we live in really are." —BUST Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America: "When did we start dressing girls in pin...

We sometimes get odd and interesting letters sent to us at Atomic Books. It isn't always easy to determine the intent of the sender. But we thought it might be interesting to share these letters from time to time. This letter was sent to us from an inmate at the Maryland Correctional Facility in Hagerstown, MD. This Is Not An Idle Threat by Jed P. I'm going to hunt down, I'm going to find and kill William Blake. He had no right To do like he done to me - But he'll get his due. And if that Byron happens to be there, I'm gonna take out that son of a bitch too. After that I'm heading straight For you Rimbaud You know that you were dead wrong To be messing around with my baby girl. I'll never understand, I'll never see what she was doing With a cocksucker like you! On and I'm finally going to get back The money that Walt Whitman owes me. He'll pay that seven twenty-five, He'll pay one way or the other, After I...

In the new issue of Mike White's excellent film zine Cashiers du Cinemart (#16) , there is an article by local filmmaker, musician, Microcinefest organizer and former Maryland Film Festival programmer Skizz Cyzyk on advice to filmmakers about avoiding certain film fest scams called "Film Festival X Is A Scam." "I'm not going to name the festival I'm talking about. Instead I'll refer to it as Film Festival X. Film Festival X has been around for years and has separated countless filmmakers from their money. ... Here's how Film Festival X operates. First, they search around online looking for lesser-known attention-hungry filmmakers. The perfect victims have put a lot of effort into their websites, but maybe not as much into the embedded video clips that appear on their sites. They might brag about hometown screenings or small regional festival screenings, but not screenings at major festivals like Sundance, Slamdance, SXSW, Tribeca, etc." W...

In the current issue of Under The Radar (#40) , the feature "In The Studio 2012" takes a look at a handful of hotly anticipated albums in 2012. One of the profiles is of Baltimore's own Dan Deacon, and his as-yet untitled next album due in June. Progressing out from Bromst , this record features not only a lot of acoustic instrumentation, but a lot of musicians as well (more than 30 players). Deacon explains this is going to be about protest music. "The music is very much influenced by the landscape of the United States, and the beauty of the country," he explains. "The lyrics are very much about the frustration of what it is to be American in this time. And how you feel this constant impending doom and fear, but also a weird, non-tangible freedom." ... As the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring unfolded around Deacon, the the aforementioned socioeconomic issues took on greater urgency. Ken Burns' The Civil War was also influential, ...

In this month's issue of Fortean Times ( #286 ) , local author Mikita Brottman has an article involving the curious 2006 death of Rey Rivera, a 32 year old financial writer working for Agora called "Death on the thirteenth floor". Rivera fell from the 13th floor of The Belvedere (one of our favorite buildings in Baltimore, also featured in the AMC show Mad Men ) and wasn't discovered until a little over a week later when tenants began to complain about a smell. The real mystery, Brottman's article reveals, comes from the Masonic connections. "Confounding the mystery further, Rivera's death involved a number of obscure Masonic elements, one of these being the unusual phrase beginning and ending the note found taped to his computer: 'Whom virtue unites, death cannot separate.' In its Latin form, this phrase was used in ceremonies performed by the Knights Templar, and it is still inscribed in the inside of Masonic rings. Rivera's family ...