Bangs, Bowie, Kraftwerk and Creem

I recently picked up a book I've been wanting to read for years: Lester Bangs' Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, a collection of Bangs' writings including the title essay.



So far, it's been a hoot, and great for reading while stuck at airports. Bangs' music tastes overlap with mine in a lot of ways, but also cross them in a lot of ways, and both are about equally entertaining. So far, my favorites have been his review of a David Bowie concert, and an interview with Ralf and Florian of Kraftwerk, apparently right before the release of Trans-Europe Express. With the latter, I'm honestly stumped as to whether he liked Kraftwerk or not... I sort of think he did, but it can be hard to tell with Bangs' sarcastic style.

And something I found while looking up the two essays for this post- who the hell knew Creem Magazine was back and had an online presence? Not me. I wonder if R. Crumb knows.