SOUNDTRACK: Future Soundtrack for America (2004).
This CD came with the McSweeney’s Future Dictionary for America. It was released on Barsuk Records (home of Death Cab for Cutie and other great bands) and it was compiled by Spike Jonze and one of the Johns from They Might Be Giants.
This is a solid compilation of indie rock tracks. At the time of the release most of the songs were rare or hard to find (since then I’ve seen a number of these tracks elsewhere).
TMBG obviously include a piece (a rendition of the old political song “Tippicanoe and Tyler Too”). Other featured artists include: OK Go, David Byrne, Jimmy Eat World (covering Guided by Voices), Mike Doughty (with a song called Move On, that I have to wonder if it was written for this compilation as proceeds went to MoveOn.org), Ben Kweller (great song title: “Jerry Falwell Destroyed the Earth”), Blink 182 (with the only song I know by them, “I Miss You” that reminds me When in Rome’s The Promise“), the much missed Sleater-Kinney, a remix by R.E.M., a great track from Nada Surf, a live piano version of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” from The Flaming Lips, a staggering song by Laura Cantrell (who I only know from her work with TMBG, this song is a cover of a John Prine song), Tom Waits’ amazingly powerful and very emotional “Day After Tomorrow,” and a rocking piece from Elliott Smith.
Proceeds for the disc went to MoveOn.org in an attempt to raise money to defeat Bush in the 2004 election. We know how that turned out. But, as that is not relevant anymore, if you like your indie music good, this is a wholly worthy collection.
[READ: December 17, 2009] Maintenance Volume 1
Now this is a comic that I can get into. And I’m already delighted to see that there are two more volumes out.
The premise of the comic is that the two guys on the cover, Doug and Manny, work as maintenance men for TerroMax, Inc., the world’s biggest and best evil science think tank! Their work is sometimes scary, often disgusting and always interesting.
There are three stories in this volume. In the first one, the guys encounter a ManShark. In the second, they are sent back in time to the cavemen era (where they learn that a scientist has already visited them) and in the third, a minor character from the first story comes back to play a large role in an alien invasion.
The dialogue is great, with oddball pop culture references that come from far out in left field (a dream about Tom Bosley, a caveman who sounds like Phoebe Cates). And the secondary characters are wonderful: mad scientists wandering around discussing their failed plans for world domination (the cavemen were meant to be an army of assassins) and their secret lairs (the one in Sacramento or Chicago?). There’s even an unrequited love story between one of the guys and the hot secretary (who proves she can hold her own in a fight).
The story’s pacing is great. It’s comical action sprinkled with funny dialogue. The characters aren’t really fleshed out, but that’s sort of beside the point. They’re just everymen in a crazy job, always wondering if they’ll need a mop to clean up what the scientists create. It’s a funny look at work and mad scientists!
The artwork is also great. It follows a pretty traditional style of humorous comic, with solid lines and shading. The characters are also very expressive (I’ve enjoyed Rodriguez’ work in the past quite a bit).
With a great combination of art and dialogue, how can you go wrong? I’ve already ordered books two and three and the series, and I trust there will be even more in the future.
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