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Archive for the ‘P. Craig Russell’ Category

P. Craig Russell–Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung (2014)

Posted in Big Books, Books about music, Gods, Graphic Novel, HMSTR, Marriage Trouble, Myths, P. Craig Russell, Patrick Mason, Richard Wagner, Sex, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Violence, Yuck! on January 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

rhineSOUNDTRACK: HMSTR-Tiny Desk Concert #413 (December 24, 2014).

hmstrThe only thing I could think of to pair with a complete telling of Wagner’s Ring Cycle (aside from the entire thing itself, which… forget about it), was the smallest, most inconsequential music I could find.

Enter HMSTR.

HMSTR played the Tiny Desk Christmas show in 2014.  And really, they must be seen to be believed.  Not because they are spectacular, but because the joke isn’t really very funny if you just listen to the music.

Starting with some bizarre synth sounds, after 20 seconds the songs bursts into a lo-fi punk anthem.  It’s all buzzing guitars and a simple synth over some majorly lo fi drums.  There’s even a somewhat catchy “chorus” section.  After a minute, the guitars fade and sleigh bells signal the end of the song.

So whats the joke?  See for yourself

All in a tiny Tiny Desk setting.

[READ: May 20, 2015] Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung

Yes, this is a massive graphic novel depicting Wagner’s “Music Dramas.”  The text was translated by Patrick Mason and then Russell adapted the whole thing to fit his story.

Everyone loves “Flight of the Valkyries,” but hardly anyone has listened to the entire Ring (it’s 4 operas and 15 hours long).  Except for the Bugs Bunny version, of course.  I have been interested in the Ring for a long time, but I wasn’t willing to devote that much time to it either.  So this book is perfect. (more…)

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Neil Gaiman–The Graveyard Book: The Graphic Novel Adaptation (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Children's Books, David Lafuente, Death, Demons, Fantasy, Galen Showman, Graphic Novel, Jill Thompson, Kevin Nowlan, Maraj, Minnesota, Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton, Stephen B. Scott, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Contest, Tony Harris on March 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

graveyardSOUNDTRACK: MARAJ-“Gettaway” (Tiny Desk Contest Runner-Up 2015).

maraj Last week, a Tiny Desk Contest winner was announced. This week, All Songs Considered posted ten runners up that they especially liked.  And I want to draw extra attention to a couple of them.

I know very little about these bands, but I assume that these folks are all members of Maraj.  They are from Kalamazoo MI and they do hip hop with a twist. I loved that there was a live upright bass player. And that the music had a steel drum sound (although it was all electronic).

The verses were done by two different rappers Motor Cit Kam–whose flow is incredibly fast and clear (even if I didn’t actually know what he was saying, the style was great) and Dari G who has a very different flow (and also sings a beautiful backing vocal later).  I enjoyed that there were two rappers, but I liked even more that the third verse (or perhaps bridge) was sung by two of the women in the band.  They totally change the tone of the song—an excellent mix of rap and singing.

What I thought set this song apart was that the chorus–while the music was the same, the slower singing gave a very different sound to the song.  It really changed the flow from the fast first verse.  And the singers–all six of them–all sing well together.

[READ: December 23, 2014] The Graveyard Book

Back in 2009, I read the prose version of this book.  Now in 2014, it has been re-imagined as a graphic novel.  And it’s funny, now that Gaiman has well established himself as a novelist, that I forgot he was originally a graphic novelist.  So this format works for him quite nicely.

As I said, I read the book five years ago, but I didn’t remember all the details.  Naturally the most exciting parts came back to me as I was reading it, but the little details has been lost to time.

I gave a rather detailed review of this book here and there’s really no reason for me to rewrite what I thought about it because it is pretty much unchanged.

But in sum: the story is about Bod Owens.  His family was murdered when he was 18 months old. He escaped to a graveyard (while the killer tried to track him down) and he was raised by ghosts.  They keep him safe from Jack, the killer, whose superiors want him to finish the job.  (more…)

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