SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Static Journey 1980-2007 (2008).
I just stumbled upon this awesome site for Rheostatics fans. Although I’m unclear who exactly runs this awesome repository of Rheostatics wonderment (oh wait, according to the Rheostatics own page, his name is Darrin Cappe).
The Static Box is a FREE 9-volume downloadable collection of all manner of Rheostatics audio: early recordings, interviews, live recordings, studio recordings, demos, everything. I downloaded the whole shebang and it fit onto 11 CDs.
The site also has a ton of videos (including a downloadable concert from Massey Hall.
I haven’t listened to the whole thing yet (I think it clocks in around 14 hours). But what I’ve heard is great. The sound quality is very good (even from the older cassette demos), and the comprehensiveness of the undertaking is amazing. If you’re a longtime fan or even just a causal listener, the amount of stuff here will be more than enough to keep you busy.
As I go through the discs I’ll post some comments about them all.
[READ: December 22, 2009] Maintenance Volume 2
Volume 2 of the series is not very different from Volume 1, and that’s a good thing. TerroMax, Inc is still the world biggest evil think tank! The jokes are still pop culturey (and often quite gross). The art is very fun and conveys the action perfectly. And, there’s still a lot of mad scientists on the loose!
This volume collects issues 4-6. Issues 4 & 5 are a two-part story called, indeed, “Fantastic Sewage.” The premise is that one of the mad scientists has created killer nanobots which have disobeyed him. So he flushed them. Where they thrived! And our heroes are shrunken down and flushed into the sewers to find/fight them. Yup, “ew.” But a very funny “ew.” You’ll never look at poop the same way again (if you ever bothered to look at it before, of course).
The second story is a self-contained one in which the TerroMax, Inc heater is on the fritz. But Doug and Manny can’t fix it because they must attend the first annual meeting about Employee Morale (which of course is pretty low). The delightful thing about this is that the entire cast is represented in the scene and the crazy (but deadly) creature that escapes interacts with a lot of them. The plot is thin, but it’s great to see so many of the supporting cast.
There’s also a bonus strip. It’s only a page, but it’s even more Doug and Manny!
I’m really enjoying this series an am looking forward to Volume 3.
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