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Archive for June, 2010

Mark Gonyea–A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn’t Make It Good (2005)

Posted in Art, Children's Books, James Kochalka, Mark Gonyea, Neverest Songs on June 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NEVEREST SONGS-“Calculator” (2010).

Opening with a simple, discordant piano, this song quickly morphs into a fast chaotic piano run, all the while the vocal stay slow and calm.  Once the bass kicks in, the song feels less like a solo track and more like a band effort.  And it’s amazing that this simple bass can add so much to this swelling track.

I heard about this band from a nice review at wallernotweller.  I think I’ll have to order this CD, if for nothing else than because it looks beautiful.

I’d like to hear more from this label, but all their songs seem to be linked to last.fm, which I find very awkward to use.  One band’s “radio page” didn’t play their own songs and now at home it says I don’t have a plug in or some nonsense.  Pity.  But you can hear this song (and watch their mesmerizing webpage here.

[READ: June 7, 2010] A Book About Design

This book was also part of Sarah’s birthday present.  Inexplicably, although James Kochalka has absolutely nothing to do with the book, he autographed the inside and made a little cartoon that says, “Hi Sarah.”  Cute.

So this book is a wonderfully illustrated primer about design.  It is so basic that I read it to Clark (aged almost 5) and he loved it, too.  There are some sections that I had to use different words, obviously, but he enjoyed the basics very much.

Not including pictures almost makes this review pointless, (but you can see many pages at Google Books) and yet I have to say something here, so I’ll talk about a few things.  Chapter 1 talks about the effects on Object B if you change the appearance of Object A.  Chapter 2 starts: “Take a look at the square in the right.  Imagine drawing two straight lines that intersect only once inside the square.”  When I turned the page to reveal the basic window design of four equal squares, Clark said, “How’d it know that?”  It was very cool. (more…)

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Eli Kochalka–“The Pie” (2010?)

Posted in Comic Strips, Eli Kochalka, Magic Garden, Nostalgia, Sesame Street on June 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE MAGIC GARDEN (1970s).

When I was growing up in the 1970s one of my favorite shows was The Magic Garden. Even though I enjoyed Sesame Street and The Electric Company, Carole and Paula were my favorites.  And it was the songs that were so memorable.  Thanks to the Web, here’s four of their original songs, all of which I loved (although I understand the opening credits only ran on a few episodes).  So, travel back in time to The Magic Garden: Opening Credits, Story Box, Goodbye Song and this Theme Song which I seem to remember most of all.

The one song I can never seem to find is one that was for Sherlock, the squirrel.  There were lines like: Today is Monday…Monday peanuts…all you hungry squirrels we wish the same for you.  I’ve had the melody in my head for what seems like decades now, but I can’t find the lyrics anywhere.  Can anyone help out?  Oh, and if you were a fan Carole and Paula have a website where you can get some stuff.

[READ: June 8, 2010]

Kochalka is the son of James Kochalka, the Vermont based cartoonist/comic strip guy and leader of James Kochalka Superstar.   Sarah’s brother (who live sin Vermont) sent her some Kochalka books for her birthday and included in the set was this book by his son (who has several webcomics). (more…)

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Terry Moore–Echo #21 & #22 (2010)

Posted in Death, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Mad Scientists, Technology, Terry Moore, The Prodigy, The Shining, Violence on June 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE PRODIGY-Experience (1993).

Before Prodigy sang “Smack My Bitch Up” and Keith Flint had devil horns and pierced everything, Prodigy were a dancey techno act. This was their first album, and allmusic calls it “One of the few noncompilation rave albums of any worth.”  High praise indeed.

I love that this disc still has the price sticker on it and that I can see that I bought it some time around May 1993 from Ralph’s Record City in Scranton (RIP).

I popped this on because I was listening to Moby and it reminded me of this early 90s dance disc.  Sarah said that it made her want to work faster (some of the beats are crazy fast).  As with most dance records, this one works for dancing and for background music.  But it does have some standout tracks.

“Hyperspeed” which has more than a few words as lyrics is super catchy, as is “Fire” which samples “I am the god of hell fire!”  What I’m learning here is that you pretty much need some kind of words for a song to be more interesting than 4/4 beats at breakneck speed.

The best track on the disc is “Out of Space” which opens up with some twinkly keyboards before the drums kick in.  But rather than just a straight heavy beat, the song slows down (with a great “boing”) into a sort of reggae vibe.

The album is full of sped up vocals (who even knows what the originals sound like).  As well as crazy fast dance songs.  It even features a “live” track.  I’m not a huge fan of dancey techno music, although I know it has its place and some of it is quite good.  This disc is definitely better than most, although I much prefer when they get into their darker stuff starting with their next disc.

[READ: June 7, 2010] Echo #21 & #22

One of the difficult things about writing sequential comics (as if I know from experience) is that each issue needs a certain arc which propels the main story but which is also satisfying in itself.  And so the story arcs in these two issues are very exciting in themselves but serve as something of a detour from the main story.

And that’s all well and good.  But it’s so frustrating when you’re only getting single issues!  The story is so good, and you get to the end of the book and ack, six weeks before the next panel! (more…)

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Herman Melville–Moby-Dick [Week 3] (1851)

Posted in 19th Century, Adventure, Boredom, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Digression, Eurhythmics, Fishing, Herman Melville, Infinite Zombies, LCD Soundsystem, Moby, Roberto Bolaño, Twin Peaks, Yuck! on June 7, 2010| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: MOBY-Everything is Wrong (1995).

I suppose that everyone knows that Moby (the musician) is Herman Melville’s great- great- great- grandnephew.  And that’s why he has the middle name Melville and had the nickname Moby.

Moby started out as a techno guy. He even made the Guinness Book for the fastest bpm ever recorded (since then, many have surpassed that) with the song “Thousand.”  It’s an interesting song, although more for its novelty than anything else.  He also had a cool hit called “Go” that sampled music from Twin Peaks.  And in 1999 he took over the world with his album Play, which featured some 18 songs that were all licensed for commercial use (many of which were ubiquitous that summer).

But this disc, Everything is Wrong, came out before Play, and it was considered a high water mark for dance music (before the next high water marks of Fatboy Slim and LCD Soundsystem came out, of course).

So this disc was hailed as the big breakthrough for Moby.  And it has something for everyone.  It opens with a pretty piano piece ala Philip Glass which is, as its name implies, a “Hymn.”  From there we get a heavy techno beat and “Feeling So Real” kicks off.  Gospel-like vocals soar above the dancing (this foreshadows Play quite a bit).  It sounds very 1994 to me, although I don’t think it sounds dated, necessarily.  And then comes his stab at punk.  “All That I Need is to be Loved” is a fast blast of aggro music.   The problem is that Moby doesn’t do punk very well.  His guitars are too trebly, his vocals aren’t very strong and despite the beautiful melodies he creates, he doesn’t write very catchy hooks.

“Every Time You Touch Me” returns to the style of “Feeling So Real” and is another stellar dance track.  While “Bring Back My Happiness” runs even faster.

“What Love” is another screaming punk track.  This one is closer to Ministry.  It’s quite a slap in the face after the rest of the disc.

“First Cool Hive” slows things down with a groovy almost ambient track.  And “Into the Blue” is a moody song that sounds like it could also have been taken from Twin Peaks.

“Anthem” returns to the fast beats with ecstatic moans sprinkled over the faster and faster beat.

The album ends with two tracks, “God Moving Over the Face of the World” which is a beautiful instrumental (again ala Philip Glass or more likely Michael Nyman) that weaves in and around itself for 7 minutes.   (It, too, hints of Twin Peaks).  And, “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die,” while not exactly uplifting is coldly beautiful (kind of like a long lost Eurhythmics track)..

The disc is such a mishmash of styles, that it’s hard to really know what to classify it as.  Some of it works wonders.  Other tracks (notably the punk experiments) are less successful (even though I did enjoy them then, I think they just didn’t age well…or maybe I didn’t age well).  Of course, over the course of his career, Moby has attempted all of these genres in more detail, so this was almost like a sampler of what he would be doing later.

Sixteen years later it holds up quite well (although I still think Play is better).

[READ: Week of June 7, 2010] Moby-Dick [Chapters 42-61]

The reading this week opens with a chapter about whiteness.  And how somehow Moby-Dick is even more fearsome for being white.  As the chapter opens whiteness (even in skin color) is lauded.  But by the end, he cites it as being particularly creepy: white whales, polar bears, albinos.  (I think that this was my very least favorite chapter so far–I was uncomfortable reading it and I didn’t get a lot of humor from it either).

Some more down time passes, with Ishmael describing how Ahab is able to plot a course to find Moby-Dick.  It’s not just looking for a needle in an ocean–there are pathways that whales follow, for instance.  This is followed by a chapter that allows Ishmael to swear, absolutely swear! that whalers can recognize the same whale even years later if you tried to kill it but failed (and that he himself remembers one whale that got away from a mole under its eye). (more…)

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The Guild

Posted in Adventure, Anarchy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Contests, Death, Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Fantasy, Felicia Day, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Greed, Humiliation, LGBTQ, The Guild on June 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I’m very late to this show, I know.  But then I have an excuse: I don’t like watching TV/movies/etc on my computer.  So, even when I watched the awesome Dr Horrible, and the commentary  told me all about Felicia Day’s online show, I didn’t investigate.

It took our friend Megan telling us that we could Instant Watch it on TiVo before we decided to check it out.   And the only reason I’m glad it took so long to watch is because we were able to watch all three seasons back to back (to back). (more…)

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Insurgent Summer: Fredy Perlman–Letters of Insurgents (1976)

Posted in Anarchy, Epistolary Novel, Fredy Perlman, Insurgent Summer, Jasper Fforde on June 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Because I needed one more reason to put off reading the huge stack of books on my nightstand (Jasper Fforde, I’m coming, I promise).  I have decided to join yet another group read of an inordinately large book.

I had never heard of Letters of Insurgents until I got the call from a fellow Infinite Summer gentleman and arbiter of good taste that Insurgent Summer is starting, well, now.

Visit the Insurgent Summer website for all the FAQs.  The book is hard to come by so there’s even PDFs of all of the book available on the site (so you can read the first letter and see right away if it’s your thing).

So, what’s the book about? (more…)

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David Somar & Jackie Davis–Ladybug Girl [series] (2008-)

Posted in Children's Books, David Somar, Fantasy, Fears, Jacky Davis, The Beatles on June 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Revolver (1966).

My first exposure to this album came when I received this vinyl LP as a free gift with a purchase from a mail order record store.  I assume the store is long out of business (or maybe not).  But I had ordered something (funny i don’t remember what) and they sent Revolver as a free gift.

Pretty nice free gift!  Of course such was my Beatles ignorance that I didn’t even know it was  proper release at the time.  [This LP (and a few other classic rock albums) were subsequently stolen from me at a party–boo hiss!].

Turns out it is probably my favorite disc of theirs.  In the past I have said Sgt Pepper, but I think I like this one better.  To say there’s not a bad song is kind of obvious, but yeah, every song is fantastic.  The crazy rhythms of “Taxman,” the gorgeousness of “Eleanor Rigby.” What has recently become my favorite Beatles song: “And Your Bird Can Sing” (that guitar riff is wonderful).

And of course, there’s the big time huh? (circa 1966) of tabla, sitar and tambura on George Harrison’s, “Love You To.”

Even the utter nonsense of “Yellow Submarine” is a treat.  (But really, Huh?).

But let’s talk experimentation.  Backwards guitars!  Whatever the craziness is of “Tomorrow Never Knows” (seagulls?  drones?).  The band were just playing around with every effect they could think of.  (Of course, it helped that they had a ton of money for studio time).  But what really blows my mind about this disc is that even though it is their seventh record, it came out just three years…THREE YEARS after their first record.  That’s an amazing progression from clean cut rock n roll to this incredible mind bending release.  Amazing.

[READ: June 2010] Ladybug Girl (series)

I intended to include the books that I read to my kids on this blog, but somehow, my own books always take precedence. But we have enjoyed this new (to us) series so much that we had to buy the books ourselves.

I don’t know a thing about the author or illustrator, but I really enjoy these stories (and the pictures).  I mean, look at how charming (and how beautiful) this is with so few lines!

So the premise of the series is that Lulu is Ladybug Girl, a young girl who suffers simple trials of daily life (and the slings and arrows of an older brother).  She finds herself daunted by these things, but then she remembers that she is Ladybug Girl, and she is able to overcome these crises. (more…)

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Berkeley Breathed–Bloom County: The Complete Library Vol. 1 (2009)

Posted in Berkeley Breathed, Big Books, Bloom County, Danger Mouse, David Lynch, Doonesbury, Funny (ha ha), Garry Trudeau, Grandaddy, Graphic Novel, Gruff Rhys, Iggy Pop, Political Humor, Politicians, Religion, Smarty Pants, Sparklehorse, Super Furry Animals, The Cardigans, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, The Strokes, Vic Chesnutt, War on June 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: DANGER MOUSE AND SPARKLEHORSE present: Dark Night of the Soul (2010).

Seems like most things that Danger Mouse touches involve lawsuits.  I’m not entirely sure why this disc had such a hard time seeing the light of day.  But it is due for a proper release in July.  Although by now, surely everyone has obtained a copy of the music, so why would anyone give EMI any money for the disc (since they hid it away in the first place).

The name that is not listed above is David Lynch, who is an important contributor to the project.  He creates all the visuals (and the visuals in the book that was the original release format).  He also contributed vocals to two tracks on the CD.  (His vocals are weird and spacey, just like him…and if you remember his voice from Twin Peaks, just imagine Gordon singing (but with lots of effects).

The rest of the disc is jam packed with interesting singers: Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips), Gruff Rhys (from Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (from Grandaddy) on my two favorite tracks, Julian Casablancas (from The Strokes), Black Francis, Iggy Pop, James Mercer (from The Shins), Nina Persson (from The Cardigans), Suzanne Vega, and Vic Chesnutt.

I’m not sure if Danger Mouse and Mark Linkous wrote the music already knowing who the singers were going to be, but musically the tracks work very well.  And yet, despite the different sounds by the different singers, the overall tone and mood of the disc is very consistent: processed and scratchy, melodies hidden deep under noises and effects.   Even the more “upbeat” songs (James Mercer, Nina Persson) are dark meanderings.

It took me a few listens before I really saw how good this album was.  On the surface, it’s a samey sounding disc.  But once you dig beneath, there’s some really great melodies, and it’s fascinating how well the songs stay unified yet reflect the individual singers.

EMI is going to have to pull out all the stops to make it a worthy purchase for those of us who have already found the disc.  Since The Lynch book was way overpriced for my purchase, (and they surely won’t include it with this CD), they need to include at least a few dozen Lynch photos (and more).  And with a list price of  $19 (NINETEEN!) and an Amazon price of $15, the disc should clean your house and improve your wireless connection too.

[READ: June 1, 2010] Bloom County Vol. 1

Boy, did I ever love Bloom County.  Back in high school I had more drawings of Opus and crew in my locker than anything else.  (I used to reproduce the cartoons by hand, I was never one of those “cut out of the paper” people.)  And so, there are tons of punch lines that I still remember twenty-five years later.

And yet, despite my fondness for the cartoon (and the fact that I owned (and read many times)) all of the collected books, I was amazed at how much of the early strips I had no memory of, at all.  True, some of the really early ones are here for the first time in collected form (according to an interview there are hundreds of comics in collected form for the first time in these volumes).   But those early 1980 comics…wha? (more…)

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Ross Campbell–Wet Moon 5: Where All Stars Fail to Burn (2009)

Posted in Canadian Music, Death, Drinking, Fears, Friday the 13th, Fucked Up, Ongoing, Oni Press, Pregnancy, Punks, Racism, Ross Campbell, Sex, Threats, Universities, Violence, Wikipedia, Yuck! on June 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FUCKED UP-Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009 (2010).

I knew of Fucked Up from a cover shoot on Chart Magazine. Clearly, they are aiming for major pop success and massive radio airplay.

Their live shows sounded amazing.  And, of course, everything about them seemed unpredictably wonderful.

This is a collection of singles (although not singles in the “pop chart” sense).  Fucked Up released more singles than anything else.  In fact their discography is borderline impossible to keep straight, they have so many small releases on so many small labels.

There is definite growth over these two discs (maybe not maturity, but growth).  The first track, “No Pasaran” is an ugly shouty noisy mess (pretty much straight hardcore). Over the course of these singles, Pink Eyes, the singer, refines his voice and he sounds a bit like Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones (still rough, but more melodic).  The music on the other hand pretty well stays in the hardcore mold.  But by the end (and it is most notable on disc two) the band’s energies branch out into guitar riffs and notable melodies.

The rest of the band includes Concentration Camp and 10,000 Marbles on Guitars, Mr Jo on Drums and Mustard Gas on Bass.

This collection of singles includes most of their shorter tracks (since they were on 7″ vinyl).  But on their 2006 release Hidden World (which I have not heard), most of the songs are over 5 minutes, with one reaching 9.  So they’re even fucked up by hardcore standards.  Cool.

This collection is definitely not for everyone, but it’s worth checking out if you like your core hard and weird.

[READ: May 27, 2010] Wet Moon 5

Holy cow!  This book ends on an amazing cliffhanger!  Beloved Trilby is put in mortal danger, and from what we see, I can’t imagine how she’ll survive.  Gasp!

By this time, Campbell is well on his way to a long, twisted epic series.  One only wonders how long he has this story arc planned out.  It seemed so simple at first: a buncha goth girls hanging around a college, with the worst thing that happens is someone puts up a flier about you or your cat goes missing.

Now the stakes are higher.  I’m not entirely sure that I like the path that this story is following.  I mean, don’t get me wrong it is super exciting.  I just don’t want Wet Moon to turn into Friday the 13th or some other kind of “crime & superhero” story.  What happens to Trilby is pretty intense.  I just hope it won’t destroy all of the characters. (more…)

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Guy Billout–Something’s Not Quite Right (2004)

Posted in Art, Children's Books, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Guy Billout, The Beatles on June 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BEATLES-Rubber Soul (1965).

After the breakthrough of Help!, the Beatles followed up with their first proper album that is full of all original songs and which really pushes the envelope.

The opening song, “Drive My Car” opens the disc with a unique sound and style.  And yet, lyrically, “Baby you can drive my car, and baby I love you,” is as lame as The Doors, “Hello, I love you won’t you tell me your name?” in terms of dealing with the opposite sex.

But with “Norwegian Wood” things really get interesting.  It introduces the sitar–the first inclination towards their flirtation with Eastern/Indian influences.  And I can’t help but think it must have been rather shocking in a rock song in 1965.  It also features “Nowhere Man,” a song featured in the Yellow Submarine movie.  The song is a standout, from the harmonies to the language play.

I suppose everyone knows a person named Michelle who hates the song “Michelle.”

They really mix up the styles on  this disc (while always sounding like The Beatles). “What Goes On” is a sort of country tinged rocker, while “Girl” feels sort of tin pan alley ish, (the big sighs during the chorus are a bit excessive, but work within the song).

The disc ends with the really distrubing, murderous boyfriend lyrics of “Run for Your Life.”  I’m not sure what inspired this song, but frankly it’s lyrics are really dreadful. It’s not the first “I’ll kill you if you date someone else” song and it’s certainly not the last, but it mars an otherwise really catchy song.

Amazingly, all of the songs still clock in under 3 minutes, except “You Won’t See Me”.  While Rubber Soul is probably their first fully realized disc, it’s not until the next album (just a few months down the line) that they blow the lid of the joint.

[READ: May 28, 2010] Something’s Not Quite Right

This book almost doesn’t count a there are virtually no words (one per page). But the book is so awesome that it has to be included just because.

Something’s Not Quite Right is 32 pages of oversized pictures in which, yes, something is not quite right.  Note the cover illustration for an idea.

So, each page features a brilliantly rendered piece of art.  There’s a caption for each picture which reflects (often humorously) on the picture.  The book is a children’s book (Clark enjoyed the nonsense very much).  But even adults will say, Whoa, cool, when they look at these pictures that are just…wrong. (more…)

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