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Archive for the ‘Boredom’ Category

Lars Brown–North World Vol 2: The Epic of Conard (2009)

Posted in Adventure, Anachronisms, Boredom, Culture Shock, Demons, End of the World, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Kiss, Kiss Meets the Phantom/Attack of the Phantoms, Lars Brown, Magic, Oddities, Oni Press, Supernatural, Threats, Violence, YA Books on February 5, 2010| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: KISS-Attack of the Phantoms (1978).

Technically, not exactly a soundtrack, but I do talk about the music, so it counts.

I don’t think I was allowed to see Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park movie when it came on TV in 1978.  I have seen it many times since then, and have enjoyed its cheesiness each time.  But it has been many years since I last watched it (it was on a recorded VHS tape, so it’s at least ten years).  Imagine my delight to see that it was included on the KISSOLOGY Vol 2 DVD.

Except, rather than the TV movie, what they have included is the “European theatrical” release (did this really get shown in theaters in Europe?  Judging by the poster that I placed here, yes.).

I can’t really compare the two as it has been so long, but I knew there were a few differences right off the bat.  The most obvious to me was the inclusion of Kiss solo songs over random (sort of appropriate) scenes.  The use of “Radioactive” when Gene is crushing things was inspired.  And “Fractured Mirror” works well anywhere in the movie.  The Peter songs seem out of place, and I’m not entirely sure about connecting Abner Devereaux to “Mr. Make Believe” but I guess that’s the least of the movie’s problems, right?

This version also has some lengthy concert scenes with the band rocking out in front of stock footage of fans.  I simply don’t reall if this was included in the original, but I think one of the sonsg actually sounded live (while the others were clearly mimed).  According to various internet sites, Attack also removes a lot of Ace’s dialogue.  This seems very likely, as I thought he had a lot more bad puns.  And I had to wonder if that’s why they included this version rather than the Phantom of the Park (since Gene seems to dislike Ace so much).

What really strikes me about the movie though is how much Kiss is NOT in it.  I mean, it’s at least 30 minutes before they show up at all (we get some delightful scenes with Chopper and his 30-year-old-teenage thugs).  They do some concerts but, since they are the crux of the plot, you’d think they’d have more than a few actual lines.  Of course, it’s not a very good movie, so what’s the point in nitpicking?

Like how all of a sudden, she’s hanging out with the band while they’re all sitting around.  And Paul is playing acoustic guitar and Peter crooning “Beth.”  I’d love to get a copy of the guitar version of “Beth,” though!  Or how the whole concept of the Kiss talismen is not even introduced until like the last 15 minutes of the movie.

It’s of course all worth it to hear the supremely awesome robot Kiss band’s song “Rip and Destroy” (to the tune of “Hotter Than Hell”) which the fans at first hate but quickly come around to.  And then decide that it would be a good idea to rip up the theme park (which we sadly do not get to see).

Of course, watching this version makes me want to see the original TV version just to see what the differences were, but it sounds like that DVD will never see the light of day.  I wonder if I still have that VHS tape anywhere?

[READ: January 15, 2010] North World Vol 2.

As Volume 2 of this saga opens, we see Conrad settling down.  He has retired his sword, moved home with his dad and begun working in his dad’s business as an accountant.

But he really can’t settle down.  The local thugs are still plotting revenge against him and his coworker, Kailee (a kick ass witch), shows up wondering why he hasn’t completed his assignment yet.  His assignment?  Conrad was tired of slaying evil giant animals, so he took a bigger assignment.  Go to Coeur de Lac to fight a demon summoner.  The problem is that Couer du Lac is where he’s from, and where he ran away from many many years ago.

He’s conflicted about going home, but when he gets back to Couer de Lac, he realizes that things seem not quite right. (more…)

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Renee Lott–Festering Romance (2009)

Posted in 3 Inches of Blood, Alexisonfire, Boredom, Canadian Music, CBC Radio 3, City and Colour, Death, Ghosts, Metric, Neil Young, Oni Press, Renee Lott, Romance, Rush, Supernatural, The Tragically Hip, Word usage on January 31, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:CBC Radio 3

I listened to CBC Radio 3 briefly when I had Sirius Radio, but I just learned that I could listen streaming online.  In addition to playing (as they say) Independent Canadian Music, they also have a really multifunctional website where you can input any band’s name, read about them and listen to bands’ tracks.  And of course, you can also listen to their live streaming station as it happens (you can even play recently played and even upcoming songs).

Since it’s a CBC station there are no commercials.  And since they are from the CBC they focus exclusively on Canadian bands.  I’m not sure how literally to take the Independent part; however, they don’t include Neil Young, Rush or The Tragically Hip.  But you can get City And Colour (and even AlexisonFire) and even Vancouver’s own 3 Inches of Blood!.

So let’s say you want to hear some tracks from Metric, a band you’ve heard good things about.  Type in their name, get to their page, and play away.  As far as I can tell, the band uploads songs and videos for you to stream.  And, unlike other streaming sites, you can listen to the same tracks multiple times.

If you like your music Canadian and independent, this is the place to be.  Check it out!

[READ: January 29, 2010] Festering Romance

Recently I complained that the Oni graphic novel Wet Moon had the worst title I have ever heard.  And then I found out that “wet moon” is actually an astronomical phenomenon, and I retracted that complaint.  Regardless, this graphic novel now replaces that one as the single worst title in the history of books.  Festering Romance?  Surely not.

Merriam Webster gives us this: 1. To generate pus  2. Putrefy, rot  3. To cause increasing poisoning, irritation, bitterness.

So, okay, the 3rd definition might work, but you have to overlook those first two really radically inappropriate definitions first. (And if you’re afraid to read a book with that title, rest assured, there is no festering pus of any kind in the book).

This terrible title does a huge disservice to what is a really, really great comic, and apparently the first self penned releases by Renee Lott. The artwork is fantastic (more on that in a moment) and the plot was really moving.  I enjoyed it enough to have already passed it along to someone else. (more…)

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T. Coraghessan Boyle–“A Death in Kitchawank” (New Yorker, January 18, 2010)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Music, Kathleen Edwards, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Nostalgia, T.C. Boyle on January 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Failer (2003).

I really enjoyed Edwards’ Asking for Flowers.  So much so that I decided I had to track down her earlier discs, too.  This is her debut album (aside from a self released demo type EP that I don’t think is available anymore).  And, no doubt, it will get re-released one of these days making the 500 holders of that first EP very cross indeed.

I’m very torn as to whether Edwards is a country singer or not.  My gut says no, because I like her so much.  And yet, there are many country tinges that sprinkle this disc.

But that’s really irrelevant, especially if you like the disc, which I do. The amazing thing about Edwards is that it’s hard to tell what disc her songs come from.  She has a singular style of writing and singing that makes her songs timeless.  This is not to say that she’s stuck in a rut by any means, because nothing sounds tired.

Edwards is a wonderfully talented songwriter, with a gift for storytelling and a wonderful twist of wordplay: “One more song the radio won’t like”; “And if you weren’t so old I’d probably keep you / If you weren’t so old I’d tell my friends / But I don’t think your wife would like my friends.”  And beyond that there are simply great songs: “Hockey Skates” is a wonderful metaphor (and a damn catchy song).  “National Steel” has a wonderful hook.

I really can’t get enough of this disc.  Or her follow-up either.

[READ: January 20, 2010] “A Death in Kitchawank”

My recent comment about T.C Boyle’s named being shortened from Coraghessan must have been an editorial choice by Harper‘s because here it is in full splendor in the New Yorker. I also find it odd when the same writer appears in two locations very close together. Is it like when an actor has a big movie out and appears in several periodicals in a month?  I suppose Boyle has a book coming out?

Whatever the case, I enjoyed this Boyle story quite a lot too. And, once again, it undermined my expectations of what he writes (so I guess my expectations should change by now, huh?).

This story is set in a lake community in Kitchawank, NY.   When the story opens we see a woman tanning herself to a golden brown (this is the first clue that it’s set in the 70s. Which it is).  We watch as the woman, Miriam, relishes her family’s life and their friends in their close-knit, Jewish, lakefront community. (more…)

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Jan Van Meter, Andi Watson, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Christine Norrie & Chynna Clugston-Major–Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero (2003)

Posted in Andi Watson, Books about music, Boredom, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Christine Norris, Chynna Clugston-Major, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jan Van Meter, LGBTQ, Marriage (Happy), Oni Press, Punks, Romance, Set at School, Tom Waits, YA Books on January 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:  TOM WAITS-Glitter and Doom Live (2009).

Sarah bought me Tom Waits’s 3 disc collection for Christmas last year and I was sure it would be another Waits Xmas since this was nicely timed for an under the tree gift.  But no!  I had to buy this one myself (she says she forgot, but as punishment I may just make her listen to this one).

It’s a two disc set.  The first is a collection of live tracks from all over the world (well actually Birmingham, Edinburgh, Tulsa, Knoxville, Milan, Jacksonville, Paris, Dublin, Atlanta and Columbus–a strange Western Europe-Southern U.S. Tour, apparently).

I’ve never seen Tom live, although I have seen videos from Big Time.  And this is the first batch of live tracks I’ve heard in these latter days of his career.  And I have to say he sounds great.  The gravel in his throat is thick and gritty, yet he still hits all the notes.   And while his studio tracks are full of all kinds of cool instrumentation and embellishments, the spare live band (who sound fantastic) shows that his songs are great even without the bells and whistles.

The funny thing to me is how “Dirt in the Ground” an older song that I love sounds so very different, even though Tom’s voice isn’t all that different.  Of course, he plays some even older tracks that are totally reworked. And they sound great, too.  This all keeps the tracks fluid and seamless, and while the older tracks wouldn’t sound dated anyhow, it makes them all sound new.

Disc Two is a 35 minute track called “Tom’s Tales.”  It is a spliced together “story” of all the interstitial talking bits that Tom throws into his shows.  There’s jokes, there’s stories, there’s nonsense, and it’s all good fun.  For all his dour music, he;s quite a funny performer.  It’ll probably get one or two plays at most, but it’s certainly fun to listen to.

I just read a review of the disc that complains about the separation of music and talk.  And I see the critic’s point: cutting out the banter removes an essential part of Tom’s shows, while having all the talking bits together kind of dooms that disc to be listened to only once or twice.

While I agree with the sentiment, I’m not sure about the musical disc lacking something without the banter.  While it would be fun to have it in there, there is something nice about having just the music.  (And of course, there is one tale tacked on like an encore break (and one song at the end of the music disc, too).  It keeps the flow very solid and makes for an excellent song collection.

It’s a great place to find out what Tom has been up to on the last half dozen or so albums.

[READ: January 17, 2010] Ground Zero

Trade paperback #2 of Hopeless Savages collects the entire second series, with a few extras thrown in (and a very nice introduction).  And while I enjoyed the first series, Ground Zero is leaps and bounds more sophisticated and satisfying.  Even the title is a pun, what with Zero, the youngest Hopeless-Savage being grounded for most of the story.

The main focus is Zero’s burgeoning romance.  She is mostly off the boys at her school (typical comment: Your name is Skank, you must be easy), until she meets a boy in her science class who totally impresses her.  He’s named Ginger, after Ginger Baker, nice touch there.  And in a flashback we learn that although she hasn’t paid him any attention, he has loved her for years since their first accidental meeting.

I’m going to quote from Andrew Wheeler’s introduction because he sums up exactly what I think of the story: “It tells us that the most courageous thing of all is simply to fall in love.  The bravest thing to do is to place your heart in someone else’s hand.”  And that hits the nail on the head.  Pretty good for a comic book. (more…)

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Douglas Coupland–Generation A (2009)

Posted in Books about writers, Boredom, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini music, Death, Douglas Coupland, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Dystopia, Funny (strange), JPod, Kurt Vonnegut, Natural Disasters, Nature, Research, Rheostatics, Technology, The Future, Video Games, Violence, Yuck!, tagged on January 14, 2010| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Static Box (complete) (2008).

I’ve decided not to review all of the volumes of this fabulous free box set.  Rather, since I have now finished it, I’ll sum up and say that it is a fantastic collection from start to finish.

The final disc has a series of great cover tunes.  And of course, there’s the final songs from the final Massey Hall show which are quite emotional, even all these years later.

There’s one or two songs that I probably would have left off for sound quality reasons (although usually they’re pretty interesting/essential for what they are).  There’s one 8 minute song, “Monkeys Will Come” that has quite poor sound quality.  However, it is a recording of the song that the Canadian government asked them to record for Canada Day in 2000.  And I assume there are no better recordings of it, so it’s nice to have.

The best part of this collection is that it allowed me to see which concerts were worth downloading in their entirety (the site has a ton of concerts for downloading…a ton!).  It also got me to track down the two Violet Archers CDs, which I’m quite excited to be getting soon.

And, while I’m in a Rheos mood.  Martin Tielli’s final CDs in his subscription collection just made their way to my house and they are weird and wonderful.  And, I just learned that Dave Bidini put out a solo record a few months back, so that’s worth tracking down too.  Go Rheos!  You are all very star.

[READ: January 12, 2010] Generation A

I was quite excited when this book finally came out.  I had been dipping into the Douglas Coupland back catalog (including watching JPod the TVseries), so this book is a treat.

Strangely, when I started reading the book I realized I had no idea what it was about.  At all.  So, the first thing to note is that it is not in any way a sequel to Generation X.  None of the characters are the same, the setting is not the same, there’s no connection whatsoever (or if there is I didn’t see it).  The premise of the title comes from a Kurt Vonnegut address.  It is quoted on the book jacket and in the book itself, so I won’t quote it here, but the gist is that young people were dismissed unfairly when labelled “Generation X,” so they should insist that they be called “Generation A,” the beginning of the alphabet, and the start of it all.

But when the book starts, it’s hard to understand what that has to do with anything.  Because, as we learn right away, the book is all about bees (which explains the yellow and black cover design). (more…)

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A.J. Jacobs–The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment (2009)

Posted in A.J. Jacobs, Books about writers, Boredom, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Funny (ha ha), Marriage (Happy), Memoirs, Morality, Political Humor, Rheostatics, Smarty Pants, Technology, tagged on January 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS–Static Journey Volume 2: Melville (2008).

At this stage, I realized just what the fine creator of this box set has set out to do: he is basically recreating the Rheos’ discs with live tracks, demos and other cool things.  Initially I assumed that everything would be chronological (live concerts only from that tour, for instance).  But he has gone beyond that simple task and is selecting the best version he can find.  So a concert from, say, 2007 which features an awesome recording of a track from Melville will follows a track from a show circa 2000.  It’s a very cool way to experience the disc.

And of course, if there isn’t an available live track, he plays the album track.

All of this cool stuff is supplemented with interviews, stage banter introducing tracks (even if the banter is not from the same show as the track).  The live versions on this disc are spectacularly smoking, and the songs sounds fantastic.  And, there’s enough jamming on these tracks so you can see the band really let loose.

Interestingly, I am finding this an excellent way to get reintroduced to the album.   There’s something about an amazing live track that really lets you appreciate the quality of the song.

I’m totally hooked on this box set.

[READ: January 4, 2009] The Guinea Pig Diaries

This was another surprise Christmas gift from Sarah and it was another great one.  I’ve enjoyed AJ’s (as he calls himself in the book) experiments in Esquire.  The book contains at least three experiments which I’d already read in Esquire.  There are some minor changes to the stories (most of which are designed to have them fit in with the general narrative of the book).  But even if you’ve read them (and one of them goes back to 2005!) there’s a Coda at the end of each one with a sort of follow up to the experiment that was not included in the article.

The experiments include (read more about them on his site, but only after you finish all of this!):

My Life as  Beautiful Woman
My Outsourced Life
I Think You’re Fat
240 Minutes of Fame
The Rationality Project
The Truth About Nakedness
What Would George Washington Do?
The Unitasker
Whipped

Jacobs is a very funny writer.  He is neurotic and constantly trying to improve himself.  And so, he undertakes these fairly absurd tasks is an attempt to make his life better/easier/less stressful/more awesome. (more…)

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T.C. Boyle–“My Pain is Worse Than Your Pain” (Harper’s, January 2010)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Music, Drinking, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, Rheostatics, Short Story, T.C. Boyle, Threats, tagged on January 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Static Journey Volume 1: The Beginning (2009).

This is the first disc from the massive 9 volume set available for FREE here.  It features several different early incarnations of the Rheos. There’s a couple of very new wavey/discoy (those bass lines are very disco!) tracks.  There’s a totally bizarre new wave (skinny tie, as they call it) version of The Who’s “My Generation.”   And there’s several tracks with the Trans Canada Soul Patrol a horn-infused version of the line up that was dissolved around the time that Martin Tielli became a full time member.

There’s a few tracks from Greatest Hits, which work well in context, but the highlight is the tracks from the CBC Brave New Waves Show (“Good on the Uptake” and “Crystal Soup” which are unavailable elsewhere (well, the whole show from this radio broadcast is available at the more than complete Rheostaticslive.com).  In fact, just a little research shows how much music is available for free from the Rheos.  It is a pretty amazing collection of stuff that seems to go beyond tape trading trees of live shows, as the available material is rare and largely unavailable in any other format.

These early incarnations of the Rheos are pretty vastly different from the later quirky, wonderful band.  And, with the absence of Martin on vocals, sometimes its even surprising to realize they are the same guys.  But it’s their history and it’s rather fun.  Plus, there’s a number of interviews, most of which allow you to hear the word “Etobicoke” spoken aloud several times.

[READ: January 4, 2010] “My Pain is Worse Than Your Pain”

I’ve enjoyed T.C. Boyle for years now (back when he was called the preferable (if pretentious) T. Coraghessan Boyle). Although I haven’t really read much from him recently (I have a copy of his short story collection that I haven’t read yet).

So this was a nice re-introduction to the man.  I was surprised by the setting of this story (snow covered desolate mountain cabins) as I think of him as more of a desert/southwestern writer.

This story is about a fairly despicable character.  On a drunken bender one night, the narrator sneaks over to his recently widowed neighbor, Lily, to “surprise” her.  It’s pitch dark and freezing cold, so he’s in a ski mask slinking around on her roof.  Oh, and just to make it worse, he’s currently married. (more…)

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Mark Barrowcliffe–The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange (2009)

Posted in Adventure, Black Sabbath, Books about writers, Boredom, Collecting, Culture Shock, Demons, Dreams, Drugs, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Freaks & Geeks, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gods, Hawkwind, History, Kiss, Magic, Manuals, Marillion, Mark Barrowcliffe, Memoirs, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Nazis, Oddities, Racism, Religion, Saxon, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Summer, Supernatural, The Young Ones, Violence, Wikipedia on January 1, 2010| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: KISS-Alive! (1975).

This was the first Kiss live album and was the album that broke Kiss worldwide.  I’m not entirely sure why a live album of songs that didn’t sell very well would do better than the original studio albums, but so it was.

And, yes, the live recording is pretty awesome.  It is clearly a collection of greatest hits off their first three records, and the band sounds on fire: the songs are heavier and faster and largely more consistent than some of the odder tracks on the original records.

There has been considerable controversy about whether the album was overdubbed.  Wikipedia lists a few different possibilities for what originally recorded sounds were kept for the disc.  It never occurred to me that the disc might be overdubbed (and honestly that doesn’t bother me all that much).  But since I had the pleasure of watching Kissology recently, and I could see the state of their vocals live, it would surprise me entirely if the vocals were not overdubbed.  Not because the band didn’t sound good live (they did), but because they were very sloppy with their vocals, consistently leaving off the ends of lines and things like that, and the disc sounds perfect.

Of course this is all nitpicking.  Alive! is a fantastic document because the live versions add a lot of punch to the originals.  But on top of that, you get fun extras like the drum solo and banter of the 12 minute “100,000 Years” as well as Paul’s drinking banter: “I know there’s a lot of you out there that like to drink…vodka and orange juice!” (How can you pass that up?).  It’s hard to pick highlights from such a good record, but “She” is a particular one with Ace’s wild guitar pyrotechnics.  Right on to the end, the disc is a rocking good time.

It’s also funny to hear that “Rock And Roll All Nite” is not the final encore; rather it is the next to last track with “Let Me Go Rock n Roll” being the BIG FINISH.  That’s the last time that THAT would happen!

[READ: December 28, 2009] The Elfish Gene

I happened to pass this book in the New section of my library and I loved the title.  I read the blurb, made a mental note of it, mentioned how much I liked the title to Sarah and then more or less forgot about it (although, actually, I still see it every day, as it’s always facing out, cover forward).

Imagine my surprise to see that Sarah got it for me for Christmas!

So, yes, this is the best parody-titled book that is not a parody or a make-a-buck joke book that modifies a popular title.  Rather, it is a memoir of a British guy who spent his teen years utterly absorbed in Dungeons & Dragons.  But I must disagree with the Christian Science Monitor’s review as “laugh out loud funny.”  I only laughed out loud once in the book (the dog walking scene is hilarious), but that’s because I don’t think it was meant to be funny (at least I hope it wasn’t).

I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of memoirs in general.  I find them mostly to be a big “so what,” and often without the subtlety required for a good novel.  But the topic here was delicious enough for me to dive right in.  And I think that this book, which I absolutely enjoyed, sort of proves my theory.

Barrowcliffe has done nothing worthy of anyone caring about.  He’s just a guy who played D&D, so when checking out the book, you kind of feel, so what?  Plus, the book is completely unsubtle, with him summarizing his attitude over and over and over.  But nevertheless, I could not put it down. I was hooked from the opening and was totally intrigued all the way to the end.  (I even put down the book I had been reading to speed right through this).

And yet, Barrowcliffe himself is so unlikable.  And not, as he suggests, because of the D&D. (more…)

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Ross Campbell–Wet Moon: Book 1: feeble wanderings (2004)

Posted in Alison Bechdel, Books about music, Boredom, Demons, Drinking, Funny (strange), Goths, Graphic Novel, Kiss, LGBTQ, Ongoing, Oni Press, Ross Campbell, Set at School, Toilets, Universities, YA Books, Yuck! on December 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KISS-Dressed to Kill (1975).

I feel like I used to  give this disc short shrift because (horrors) its cover is in black and white.  But, unlike the first two discs which were heavy (poppy, but heavy), Dressed to Kill is very anthemic and, well, a little wimpy.  Despite these caveats, I still know every word to the disc, and I do rather enjoy it.

In fact, the first four songs on the disc are not featured on Alive!.  It starts out really poppy with “Room Service” which has a pretty wild guitar solo.  The next track, “Two Timer” is a Gene-sung slow track which even has Gene getting into a spoken word bit: “That’s the truth baby, you’re a two timer.”  “Ladies in Waiting” is one of those fun Kiss songs that starts out a little off-sounding but ends up being a really poppy singalong.  “Getaway” continues a trend of songs that Ace wrote but which Peter sings.  (Evidently Ace didn’t feel confident in his vocals yet).  The side ends with the cool “Rock Bottom,” a slow, pretty guitar intro opens into a rocking song.

This is the rare Kiss disc where Side Two has more hits than Side One.  “C’mon and Love Me” (an unusual request, frankly) is a fun rocker with a lot of baby baby’s.  “Anything for My Baby” is a really upbeat song which amuses me for all of the things that he swears he would do for her: steal, wheel and deal, crawl or kneel, etc.  Next is “She,” one of the all-time great Kiss songs.  It’s heavy, it’s menacing, it has an awesome guitar riff and a great guitar solo.  The fact that they tucked it away in the middle of side two is really weird.  “Love Her All I Can” is a fast rocker that’s followed by Kiss’ most popular song of all time, “Rock And Roll All Nite.”  At this point in my Kiss listening career I’m a little tired of this song.  It’s a very catchy anthem, no doubt, but it’s really not a very good song as far as Kiss songs go.

The recordings for the Kiss Alive! disc were taken on the Dressed to Kill tour and yet the live album has the fewest songs taken from this album.  It’s kind of funny that their most popular song comes at the end of this disc.

[READ: December 22, 2009] Wet Moon

This is a fantastic goth-inspired graphic novel with the absolutely worst title ever.  Wet Moon is the name of the town the book is set in, but it is never mentioned beyond the welcome sign, and I just can’t imagine what inspired the name.

Okay, actually, I just looked up wet moon on Wikipedia, and found out that it is an astronomical term for when the “horns” of a crescent moon point up, away from the earth (like devil horns).  And so I completely take back my complaint, as I now think the term is pretty cool and very appropriate.

And that is the only thing that I find disagreeable about this book.  (Well, actually I don’t like the lettering either, but more on that on a moment).

The town of Wet Moon is a college town where goths live and thrive (and no doubt many fans of the book wish the could live there).  Our heroine is Cleo, a young, slightly overweight goth with a pierced nose and bottom lip.  She has just moved out of her parents house and is living on campus.  (There is an implication that her house is a dorm, but if so, it is the single most beautiful dorm ever, anywhere, so I’ll pretend it’s an apartment–I mean, there’s a walk-out balcony for cripes sake). (more…)

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Matthew Loux–Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny: The Legend of Old Salty (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Canadian Music, Children's Books, Dave Bidini music, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Matthew Loux, Mystery, Ongoing, Rheostatics, Short Books, Summer on December 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Melville (1991).

This fantastic Rheostatics album was one of the last ones I bought for some reason.  It came after their debut, Greatest Hits, and is quite a departure for that more simplistic disc.

It opens with the two minute “Record Body Count,” which sets the tone for the disc.  It’s quirky, with different pacings and loud/soft parts, and is quite affecting.  In fact, the entire rest of the disc is quirky and off beat, as befits a disc with a big whale on the cover.

Three great tracks on this disc are “Saskatchewan,” “Horses” and “Aliens (Christmas 1988).”  And the CD comes with a bonus track of their cover of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which is rocking and swaying as a good nautical track should.

The CD ends with “You Are Very Star” a track that ended their live shows.  On the disc, the track is a series of hockey announcements with quiet whistles as the song fades away,

Rheostatics are definitely an unusual band.  Martin Tielli’s voice goes into high registers at unexpected times, he also sing-speaks (and you can hear the Canadian accent) at times.  Tim Vesely and Dave Bidini also have vocal duties, and their more mellow style adds for a nice contrast.  But basically, what you get is unpredictable rock.  And really, there’s nothing better than that.  Especially when, once you get comfortable with the songs, you realize just how catchy they are.

Melville, it’s in Saskatchewan, and it rocks.

[READ: December 21, 2009] Salt Water Taffy: The Legend of Old Salty

This is a delightful all ages comic set on the coast of Maine.  As the story opens we see brothers Jack and Benny (I did wonder if there is some connection to Jack Benny, but I’d have to say no) driving to their summer house in Maine.  Benny is younger and having fun playing the license plate game while Jack is absorbed in his gameboy. (more…)

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