Brian and Spencer discuss Paranormal Activity, Beatles Rock Band, Trials HD, new albums by Girls and The Mountain Goats, the novels Child 44 and The Magicians, Glen Beck’s misdeeds and turtle stackery with our bonus guest Gino.

Episode seven is here. It took a couple weeks longer than we’d like to arrange a recording session, but the end result is a lot of fun. Our friend Gino joined us to provide more thoughts on Paranormal Activity and even more distracting off-topic jokes than normal, and Spencer and I read two of the same books just so we could discuss them on the show.

If you’d like to join the conversation, you can always leave comments here, or email brian@under-culture.com with questions, opinions, etc. We love having listener thoughts to include in the discussion on the show. If you like what you hear, please give us a review in iTunes too so we can get a better rank and rating in the listings.

Enjoy…

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(Show notes below…)

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We open the show touching on our relative obsession with the maddening Trials HD.

Not a bad way to spend fifteen dollars, especially if you have perfectionist tendencies or love dirt bikes. As of now, we’re still not sure why these guys need so badly to get over those pipes and giant tire stacks.

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In case you hadn’t seen it yet, the Glenn Beck jokes are in reference to this parody site, DidGlennBeckRapeAndMurderAYoungGirlIn1990.com - which is obviously a crass joke, but such a smart and funny one you’ve got to respect it.

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If you have yet to see Paranormal Activity, it’s not too late. Skip watching the trailer (it gives away too many scares), don’t expect a revolutionary film (it’s just a solid thrill ride), and you’ll have a fun scary time.

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The debut album from San Francisco’s Girls, ambiguously titled Album, is out now on True Panther Sounds. They are touring North America the rest of this year.

The Mountain Goats‘ latest, The Life Of The World To Come, is out now on 4AD.

They’re halfway through their American tour with Final Fantasy, and having just caught the LA show last night, I would definitely recommend it. Of course since they’re probably my favorite band, there is some inherent bias.

Music Breaks:

1. Girls - Lust for Life
2. The Mountain Goats - 1 John 4:16
3. Girls - Hellhole Ratface

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We’re finally finished talking about Beatlemania for this year, but let it be known that The Beatles: Rock Band is definitely a fun party game purchase if you like rock music. Results may vary when trying to sing like John and Paul though.

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It’s never too late to join in the Under Culture book club. The beauty part is there are no meetings or deadlines. Just read the books we talk about and send your thoughts to us here to discuss on the show, either in the comments below or via email.

This month’s selections are definitely both worth looking into:

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith is a well-executed thriller set in Stalinist Russia, out now in paperback from Grand Central Publishing.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a uniquely dark spin on the childhood magic and fantasy stories like Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia, and is out now in hardcover from Viking Press.