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Archive for the ‘Bill Watterson’ Category

Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #8 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes, David Bowie, Death, Egyptology, End of the World, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Lightning Bolt, Lilith, Math, Murder, NASA, Parenting, Supernatural, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Unfinished series, Violence on August 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“I’m working at NASA on Acid” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

This song starts out with NASA voices and beeps.   The beeps turn into a rhythm and after a cool echoing guitar the song takes on almost a spaghetti western feel.  even with the bowed cello

The song features Lightning Bolt, a noise rock duo, and I assume they join in the fun in the middle of the song.

After three minutes, a pretty guitar melody leads to a sped up voice saying 1, 2,3, 4 as it soars into the next chaotic and wild section.  The riff speeds up, the drums and distortion increase and the song feels like an epic take off into outer space.

It runs for about two minutes and then slows down.  Way down.  After a backwards countdown 4,3,2,1, the song resumes as a gentle folk song kind of like “Space Oddity.”  It’s pretty cool.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #8

Katchoo is flying to Boston.  The voice over has a nice moment where we see just how much she loves Francine.

She lands and heads to Jet’s garage.  She tells Jet that she has something to give her.

They get into Katchoo’s car which is surrounded by ravens.  They seem to be following her.  I love Terry Moore’s art throughout this series.  He does realistic portrayals of women perfectly (even if sometimes I can’t tell some of the women apart).  I love the way he draws Jet so distinctively as well.  But those ravens, um, not so much.

Jet has no idea what the container is and when Katchoo explains the contents she thinks Katchoo is joking. Why did Stephanie send her to Jet if Jet doesn’t know what it is? (more…)

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Charles M. Schulz–Peanuts Every Sunday 1956-1960 (2014)

Posted in Bill Watterson, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Eskmo, Fantagraphics, Funny (ha ha), Peanuts, Tiny Desk Concert, Vijay Iyer Trio on June 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peanuts1956SOUNDTRACK: ESKMO-Tiny Desk Concert #439 (May 8, 2015).

 eskmoEskmo is a guy from Iceland (Brendan Angelides).  He plays electronic music.

His music is pretty and rather mellow.  What makes this Tiny Desk so enjoyable is the objects he uses to makes sounds with.

He loops a lot of noises (something that I love) as they build to really add textures to the song.  But the things he uses for sounds are awesome.  In the first song (“Blue and Gray” about 4 minutes), he crinkles a water bottle to make a percussion sound.

Before the second song “Can’t Taste” (which is about 8 minutes), he asks the audience to bring up random objects for him to play with.  So he gets a set of keys that he uses as a chime sound.  He opens a can of seltzer for percussion.  He plays a metal water bottle.  And then he also takes things from the shelves behind him, like the shelves themselves and even a Paul McCartney bobble head.

The music itself is almost an afterthought, as the melody is pretty but he doesn’t really do a lot to lot–he just has a ton of fun playing with the items around (he gets a big smile with the bobble head).

This is a show that works much better visually than audibly, so watch it here.

[READ: April 10, 2015] Peanuts Every Sunday 1956-1960

Fantagraphics has been releasing volumes of Peanuts daily comic strips.  They are looking to do 50 years of strips in 25 books! (they are up to 1990).  And now they have begun releasing the Sunday color strips in their own volumes.

This book picks up where the last one left off.  And of course, Snoopy is still the star.  There’s some very funny jokes with snoopy–like the one where he tries to fly—there’s something wonderful about Snoopy being insecure (and clumsy).

Linus can’t let go of his blanket (July 1956).  And in an early baseball one, the blanket actually causes him trouble (instead of later ones where it is a benefit).

Pigpen gets a strip devoted to himself in July 1956  and then there’s a very funny one about sand in his shoe in 1958.

Lucy yells to make the kites fall out of the tree.  And the first full acknowledgment of her pulling football away comes in December of 1956.

I also enjoy how violent the cartoons were.  Like this exchange between Linus and Lucy:

Linus: Give it to me or I’ll slug ya.
Lucy:  Mom, Linus says he’s gonna slug me.
Mom: Linus that’s no way to talk.
Linus: Well, that’s the way they talk on TV if they can talk that what, why can’t I?
Mom: That’s just one of those things I can’t explain.
Lucy: Listen dope. If you slug me I’ll slug you right back.
Linus: Never mind Mom, it’s just been explained to me in language that I understand.

There’s some really great one liners coming in now too.  Lucy: I feel torn between the desire to create and the desire to destroy.

There almost isn’t as much Charlie Brown in this book.  Although he is certainly there.  In June 1957 he realizes that he won’t ever be president.

And the gang all starts to look pretty much as we know them at this point (except Snoopy still).

There’s lots of funny strips (visual mostly) of Snoopy chasing Linus to try to get his blanket (a joke that recurred for years).

And there’s a very meta joke of Lucy wearing one of CB’s shirts

Sally Brown, CB’s sister is born around August 1959 and CB gains a pencil pal.  The following week Aug 16 1959 is a great sibling rivalry with Lucy and Linus.  And there’s a wonderful strip where Sally and Snoopy gang up on Linus Oct 25 1959.

The Snoopy jokes are very funny with him (still) walking on all fours and wishing to be a bird or pretending to be a mountain lion.

The 1960 new years strip in which Lucy gives Linus the resolutions he should work on is hilarious.

Later Linus gets so mad at Lucy that “she hath caused me to rend my garment” is one of the funnier punch lines I’ve seen.

The great pumpkin makes its first mention on October 23 1960.

The Snoopy/Linus rivalry is really wonderful throughout with Snoopy trying to steal Linus’ blanket and then later getting into boxing matches—this is the classic Peanuts.  Some of these jokes have now been around for ages (the boxing glove on the nose). And Snoopy is starting to look a lot more like his familiar self (although not exactly the same yet).

It’s a great collection, once again.  And it looks amazing.

 

 

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Charles M. Schulz–Peanuts Every Sunday 1952-1955 (2013)

Posted in Bill Watterson, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Fantagraphics, Funny (ha ha), Peanuts, Tiny Desk Concert, Vijay Iyer Trio on June 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peanutsVIJAY IYER TRIO-Tiny Desk Concert #438 (May 4, 2015).

vijay I was unfamiliar with Vijay Iyer, but I really enjoyed this Tiny Desk Concert.  Iyer is a jazz improv artist and composer (although all of these pieces have titles and come from previous albums).  The first four (of five) pieces are fast and eccentric, with interesting rhythms both in the drums (by Marcus Gilmore) and the piano.  There’s an  upright bass too (Stephan Crump) but I feel like he’s not very audible during the early medley.

I really enjoy the kinds of beats (from clicks to snares to cymbals) that Gilmore does.  And even if you can’t really hear the bass, it’s really fun to see how into it Crump is, keeping time to something or other.

While the four songs have fairly distinct starting points (and are labelled in the video), they flow pretty seamlessly, which is cool.  “Time, Place, Action” slows down just enough that “Questions of Agency” (a more staccato piece) is able to start fresh.  And then the opening of “Hood” is quite distinct.

The four songs are

  • “Diptych”
  • “Time, Place, Action — Excerpt 1 (Libra)”
  • “Questions Of Agency”
  • “Hood”

At around 13:31 “Hood” begins, and I love the staccato playing style and practically morse code drums.  It’s a dynamite piece (and you can really hear the bass too).  I’m amazed at how different what his left and right hand are doing.  And then the shift at 19 minutes, back to that earlier sound is very dramatic.  The final minute is tense and dissonant, really building to something big.

The band pauses for applause after nearly 21 straight minutes and then they play the final piece “Time, Place, Action — Excerpt 2 (For Amiri Baraka)” which mellows things out considerably, although is still kind of dissonant.

I don’t listen to a lot of jazz, but this really hit the spot (maybe because his new album is called “Break Stuff”).  And if you like this, there’s a 90 minute video of his trio playing on NPR.

[READ: April 10, 2015] Peanuts Every Sunday 1952-1955

Fantagraphics has been releasing volumes of Peanuts daily comic strips.  They are looking to do 50 years of strips in 25 books! (they are up to 1990).  And now they have begun releasing the Sunday color strips in their own volumes.

The reproductions are absolutely top notch.  I’m quite certain they look better here than they ever could have in the papers (the coloring alone looks phenomenal).

Schulz started doing Sunday strips for Peanuts (he hated the name Peanuts by the way, which was assigned him by the syndicate who agreed to publish him) in 1952.  And he continued up through his death in 2000.  Between black and white and Sunday color strips, he hand wrote, colored and lettered 17,897 comic strips.  That is amazing.

And the strip really evolved over the years (for better and worse).  These original cartoons are fascinating to see–especially now that the images from Peanuts are so ubiquitous that I doubt I could go an entire week without seeing an image of Snoopy somewhere.  So it’s amazing to see Snoopy look so different (and so much more like a real dog) in these early strips. (more…)

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Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez–Locke & Key: Volume Four: Keys to the Kingdom (2011)

Posted in Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes, Christmas Album, Death, Demons, Fears, Gabriel Rodriguez, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Joe Hill, Revenge, Supernatural, Tori Amos, Violence, Yuck! on December 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 locke4SOUNDTRACK: TORI AMOS-Midwinter Graces (2009).

midwinterI had loved Tori Amos for many years, but I got bored with her mid 2000s works, they were too adult contemporary for my liking.  So I wasn’t that excited to hear this Christmas album.  But Sarah bought it for me that year anyhow, and I have really grown to like it a lot.  At the same time there are a few things about it that drive me insane–particularly the crazy and I’ll say it, stupid way she pronounces words in her songs.

If Tori were not a native English speaker I would forgive her (I love a lot of non native English speakers as singers).  But she was born in the US and now lives in England and none of the weird things she does reflect any “accent” nor do they reflect the way she speaks.  She has a very distinctive way of mispronouncing certain words (which she seems to have developed late in her career) which is maddening and often makes the words unintelligible. Why would one do that?

That aside, the melodies and (most) vocals are really lovely.  For this album Tori takes some bits of traditional carols and tinkers with them. The accompanying DVD has an interview in which she explains her inspiration. But without knowing this, some of these versions can be very upsetting.  The first time I heard the first song I just did not understand what was happening–it’s just so wrong.  And while I’m not saying I “get” it now, but I enjoy it more because it uses the carols as a jumping off point..

“What Child, Nowell” is very disconcerting because the song changes so many different things at once.  It has a string section opening and then lyrics to What Child is This (in a very different melody). When she switches the vocal line in the “this this” part, you know something’s up, and when it jumps to the Nowell section (which is also done differently), well, who knows what’s happening.  It’s an unusual track but lovely. “Star of Wonder” has a very cool middle eastern lick. It opens with the we three kings line, but is immediately changed into something different (lyrics and melodies). I just love the chorus of this which modifies “star of wonder” in a cool way.   “A Silent Night with You” is a romantic song (her voice sounds a little funny) But the melody is very pretty.   “Candle” Coventry Carol” I don’t recognize the melody of the Candle part but the Coventry Carol party has a wonderful Victorian melody (it could do with more olde instruments, I think).

“Holly Ivy an Rose” has a pretty piano melody.  I love the melody even more when the chorus comes in.  But I genuinely don’t like when Tash’s voice kicks in—it feels flat to me. I appreciate her using her daughter (and I feel bad criticizing a nine-year old), but I think Tori’s voice sounds so magical that her daughter’s voice just can’t match.  “Harps of Gold” I didn’t realiy like the musical opening of this (the guitars sound really pale compared to the rest of the disc, but I love the drums –simple but so effective). This song is the one where I really noticed how weird Tori emphasizes words now. I was sure that she she was singing “Napoleon” (Nah ha poh ho lee un) which I know made literally no sense for the song.  In fact she is singing “Gloria” (Gluh hoe hoe Ree uh). That speaks volumes about how weirdly she has been emphasizing words on the last few albums.  Despite that weirdness, I really like this song and I will continue to sing “Napoleon.”

“Snow Angel” is a bit adult contemporary for me, but I find myself singing it a lot, so I must like it.  “Jeanette, Isabella” is a pretty song with a lovely melody but for some reason it’s not very catchy.   “Pink and Glitter” is a big band type swing number.  It comes as quite a shock after the mellow song before it). I love the chorus—Tori’s voice works very well with this style of music.  But again, what’s with the weird emphasis. “honorable mention” is sung strangely:  “men she un.”  And worse yet, the song ends with the word “pink” and yet she sings it without the final k so I was sure she was singing “shower the world with pain.”  What gives?

“Emmanuel” begins with the “O come O come” lines. It’s a little too slow.  This is another song where she mispronounces words on purpose–the way she says Israel is crazy.  But as soon as it switches to her own song, it becomes quite lovely.  “Winter’s Carol” is actually from her musical ‘The Light Princess.”  It reminds me a bit of her song Marianne and it’s really quite nice musically, but again, the way the words are sung is insane: “first song oov the robin, i koh through the land” Its a shame her pronunciation is so awful because the song is quite lovely (and the lyrics are good too).  I love the backing vocals–her niece sings them and she is quite fabulous.  The disc proper ends with “Our New Year,” it is a pretty song with nice string arrangements but a rather sad sentiment and kind of a downer way to end the record.

My copy has two bonus tracks: “Comfort and Joy”  It plays on the lyrics of “let nothing you dismay” and “glad tidings.”  It’s a totally different with a slow angsty ballad.  “Silent Night” is a mostly straight but with some different lyrics in the later verses.  But why does she say “pierce” instead of “peace?”

[READ: December 23, 2014] Locke & Key 4

This book opens with a tribute to Bill Watterson, in which all of the scenes in Bode’s head resemble Calvin and Hobbes (somewhat).  Bode is ostracized in school because he’s pretty weird.  His mom wants him to have friends, but he doesn’t seem to be able to make any.  But when he finds the animal key (which Scout used to transform into a wolf), Bode transforms into a…sparrow?  He is bummed until he realizes the power of a group.  And when he and his bird friends are able to take on the wolf, that’s pretty awesome (this is, sadly the bloodiest section so far in the book).

Chapter Two introduces us to the color key, in which Kinsley is able to turn into a black girl.  She does this when she realizes that the woman who wrote her name next to her father’s in that underwater cave is in the nearby madhouse.  The woman, Erin Voss, is black.  And racism is rampant in this section of town (and in the asylum).  Of course, when she screams the word white, it’s not because Kinsey is white, but because of something that Scout has done to her.

Chapter Three is set up in an interesting way.  Each day of the month is represented by some event (with very little in the way of context).  So there’s an embarrassing hockey loss for Ty, a breakup between Kinsey and Zack, and on the weekends they fight shadowy evils.  They also find some more keys, one appears to be for a cupboard filled of all kinds of things, another is a Hercules key.  There’s a lot of tears (and bloodshed) in February. (more…)

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