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Archive for the ‘Graphic Novel’ Category

Periodical: Geek Monthly

Posted in Arcade Fire, Artists, Authors, Book Reviews, Corporate skewering, Fantasy, Film & TV, Food, Foreign Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Futurama, Geek Monthly, Graphic Novel, Magazines, Magic, Music, Smarty Pants, Technology, TiVo, Video Games, Work, Yuck! on April 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

geek1I have a Periodicals page already, but I rarely look at it or update it.  So, over the next few months I’m going to mention a magazine that I subscribe to.  When I’m all caught up, I’ll remove that page.

I was inspired to do this when I got the latest Geek Monthly. I stumbled upon Geek magazine last year when I was gathering magazines for the library’s annual magazine survey.  I really enjoyed it and when I saw the next issue it was a Futurama feature, so naturally I had to subscribe right then and there.

And since then I have not been disappointed.

They have fun geek quotes from famous and non-famous people.  Some short articles about tech gadgets and new products. And an Ask Alienware category for high tech and gaming questions.

geek2They’ve also started a Green section (this latest one has a computer built into a cardboard CPU unit…very cool).

They also have a music section (six album reviews and an interview with a cool geeky person).  This latest issue has a great interview with Will Oldham & The Arcade Fire.

There’s obviously the interview with the cover person (Zach Braff & Nathan Fillion are recent cover stars).  Plus, there’s other film-related articles.  (An interview with Wallace Shawn and an inevitable piece on Battlestar Galactica).  There also usually an opinion piece about a film or TV topic, and sometimes a debate on a subject (Film Adaptations of Books).  There’s also a regular Rant from Mark Altman, and Secrets of a Lady Geek.

As you get near the back, you get film reviews (mostly sci fi & horror, but there’s also some comedies and documentaries), and DVD reviews.   And, of course book reviews (comics and otherwise).

And then you get one of my favorite sections: product reviews.  The Office Arsenal shows awesome gadgets that you can bring to work (sadly I don’t work in an environment where Nerf rockets and Super Soakers would be appreciated.)  But the best part has to be random reviews at the back of the magazine.  Things like: MyGlowKeys, or Van Dorn Gourmets Onion Dip and Bath Bomb, or the thing that’s been making me laugh for days: FX Neo: Hard Minty Eyedrops, which has the hilarious review: “Hard. Minty. Eyedrops.  I can’t think of two more terrible adjectives for something I’m supposed to stick in my eye.  Hot stabby eyedrops?  Grating infectious eyedrops?  Nope, can’t do it.” (more…)

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McSweeney’s #2 [Blues/Jazz Odyssey? “Pollyanna’s Bootless Errand.”] (Late Winter/Early Spring 1999)

Posted in Adventure, Amanda Davis, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Ana Marie Cox, Bill Clinton, Brent Hoff, Colleen Werthmann, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dave Eggers, Flash Fiction, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Glasgow Phillips, GQ, Graphic Novel, Heidi Julavits, John Hodgman, Jonathan Lethem, McSweeney's, Mekons, Meta, Neal Pollack, Paul Collins, Paul Maliszewski, Politicians, Sarah Vowell, Short Story, Sigur Rós, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, The Baffler, The Believer, Zev Borow on March 17, 2009| 3 Comments »

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SOUNDTRACK: SIGUR RÓS-Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (2008).

sigurSigur Rós are nothing if not ethereal.  Their music is constantly floating up in outer space somewhere.  So imagine the surprise when the first song of this disc opens with some thudding drums.  And, there are acoustic instruments aplenty this time around.  Their previous disc Hvarf/Heim had them playing a number of acoustic pieces in various unexpected settings.  And clearly the experience must have been a good one.

“Illgresi” is largely played on an acoustic guitar and “Ára Bátur” opens with a very pretty piano melody.  But lest you think this is Sigur Rós unplugged, “Ára Bátur” turns into a nearly 9 minute epic complete with orchestra, choir and as much ethereal sounds that you can cram into one song.  Indeed, a few songs before that is “Festival” another nine minute epic.  Although like in the beginning, there is a lot of bass, and a lot of drum.

But despite all of the musical changes, the band is still clearly Sigur Rós.  Jon Thor Birgisson’s voice is still unmistakable, and his lyrics are still inscrutable.  In fact, the final song, “All Alright” is sung almost entirely in English(!) and I didn’t realize until I just read about it recently.

In some ways this disc is not as satisfying as previous Sigur Rós releases as it doesn’t take you to quite the same planes of existence as past discs have.  And yet, in other ways it is more satisfying as it shows an earthbound side of them, allowing us to see their craft in action.

Despite any criticisms, Sigur Rós is still an amazing band, and this is an amazing record, too.

[READ: March 14, 2009] McSweeney’s #2

McSweeney’s 2nd issue retains some of the features from the first, and yet, some things have changed.

Similarities:

First: The cover retains that very wordy style that the first issue had.  There are more jokes (a good pun about Big Name authors).

Second: The letters column is still there.  What’s different is that in addition to some unusual letters (including the complete address of a letter writer), there are conversational letters between Gary Pike and Mr. McSweeney.  There’s also several small entries from Brent Hoff.  We are also treated to a letter from Jon Langford of the Mekons, Sarah Vowell, and a piece from Jonathan Lethem (the last of which was put in the letters column because they didn’t know what else to do with it). (more…)

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Terry Moore–Echo #10 (2009)

Posted in Christmas on Mars, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Military, Mystery, Technology, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, Threats on March 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

echo102SOUNDTRACK–THE FLAMING LIPS-THE W.A.N.D. (2006).

wandThe first single from the Lips last album contains three tracks: the title track, “You Got to Hold On” and “Time Travel…Yes!”

W.A.N.D is quite a departure from the previous few records, as it begins with a brash guitar line, one of the harshest sounding songs they’ve recoded in several years.  Yet despite that, the lyrics are as positive an uplifting as ever.  It sounds like some kind of masterful protest song from the 1970s.  “You Got to Hold On” exhibits some of the sounds of the last two records, although it’s not nearly as lush.  It seems like it might have been a transitional song between Yoshimi and Mystics.  And the final track is a meditation on time travel, narrated by Steve from Blues Clues (he sure does get around…he appeared in Christmas on Mars too).

It was an excellent appetite whetter for the new album.

[READ: February 27, 2009] Echo #10

In Issue #10 we finally learn (although Julie herself doesn’t) just what exactly is all over Julie Martin.  We also get wonderfully complex behavior from Ivy–is she sympathetic to Julie, or is she just moving in for the kill.

An intriguing series just got really exciting.

(Wow, there’s not much to say about one issue of a comic book).

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Brian McLachlan & Tom Williams–No Dead Time (2004)

Posted in Alfie, Books about music, Brain McLachlan, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Oni Press, Smarty Pants, The Divine Comedy, Tom Williams on December 17, 2008| Leave a Comment »

nodeadSOUNDTRACK: THE DIVINE COMEDY-Casanova (1996)

casanovaFollowing Promenade, Neil Hannon released Casanova.  Stylistically it is very different.  It features more of a band, rather than an orchestra (although it retains an orchestral feel).  Perhaps because of this, there were three singles from the album, all of which charted in the UK.  “Something for the Weekend” is a wonderfully fun song, full of twists and double crosses, sex and debauchery and, of course, something in the woodshed (all in just over 4 minutes).  It’s a fantastic lead off single.

The second track was the second single “Becoming More Like Alfie.”  This was long before the remake of the movie Alfie, so I had no idea what the song was referring to.  I have not seen either version of the film, but I know now that Alfie is a ladies man, as the chorus leads off, “Everybody knows that no means yes…”

In fact, the whole album deals with sex.  Loving sex, debauched sex.  Sex, sex, sex.

“Songs of Love” follows a few of the more debauched songs with a beautiful ballad of a shy young man who sits in his bedroom noticing that “while they search for a mate/My type hibernate/In bedrooms above/Composing their songs of love.”  The next song “The Frog Princess” was the third single.  It is a sweet and tender ballad of love.  Until you get to the end of the song in which the narrator wonders, “But how was I to know that just one kiss/Could turn my frog into a cow?”

The album is solid and wholly enjoyable.  And it’s clear that Neil wasn’t done with songs about love as shortly after Casanova he released A Short Album About Love.

READ: [December 2008] No Dead Time

From time to time I do an order directly from Oni Press.  I tend to order a bunch of graphic novels at a time, and this was one that sounded interesting.  The general premise is that Nozomi is a young girl who works in a record store.  She’s fed up with the stupid people she has to deal with all day.  (“You were looking for (Led) Zeppelin under Z, weren’t you?”) Meanwhile Seth is an IT guy who is sick of the corporate world, and sick of dealing with his boss.

But really the first thing you notice about this comic, is the totally bizarre looking characters.  (more…)

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Aaron McGruder–Public Enemy #2: An All New Boondocks Collection (2005)

Posted in Aaron McGruder, Barack Obama, Boondocks, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Doonesbury, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Michael Nyman, Poetry, Political Humor, Prison, Q, Racism, Smarty Pants, The Divine Comedy, War, WMDs on December 11, 2008| Leave a Comment »

pe2SOUNDTRACK: THE DIVINE COMEDY-Promenade (1994).

promednade1I heard about The Divine Comedy in the beloved British magazine Q.  I used to get every issue up until about two years ago.  I enjoyed their reviews, and especially enjoyed learning about bands that were under the radar here.  I think the Divine Comedy album that was being talked about was Casanova, but I wound up getting Promenade first.  And once I did, I was hooked.

Promenade is their second album, and it is still my favorite.  It features a musical soundtrack that is similar to Michael Nyman in its electronic/repetitive structure.  Nyman’s The Piano soundtrack came out in 1993, and although Nyman had been writing scores for years, The Piano seems like a pretty close reference point to Hannon’s work.

And yet, despite the “modern” sounding style of the music, the lyrics are old school Britain at its best.  And, Neil Hannon’s voice is truly an old-school croon (it’s almost cheesy, but not quite).  But it’s the words, oh the words, that really sell the disc.

In fact, the song that sold me from the beginning was “The Booklovers,” which is just a list of authors.  Really.  But the list is punctuated with smarty pants allusions to the writers’ works and it’s all wrapped up in a catchy chorus. But that’s not all, each song references literature in some way.

“Bath” opens with an orchestral flourish as a woman, well, bathes. “Going Downhill Fast” is about racing your bike downhill, with my favorite line: “Vacuous vice!/Just once or twice/Thrice/Four times in five we forget we’re alive.” A Seafood Song” and “Geronimo” lead you to the realization that this album is about two young lovers.  First they are having lunch, and then they get caught in a torrential downpour.  “Don’t Look Down” has one of my favorite orchestral pieces as towards the end of the song, the young man on a Ferris Wheel has a discussion with a God “who really ought not to exist” as the music grows more and more tense.

“When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe” is another stellar song that contains a wonderfully building chorus.  “The Summerhouse” is a really nice ballad.  “Neptune’s Daughter” has the story taking a dark turn until the ribald delights of “A Drinking Song.”  This song in particular has been one of my favorites because it is raucous and silly and oh so clever.  It also ends with one of the great couplets in all of drinking songdom: “From the day I was born ’till the night I will die/All my lovers will be pink and elephantine.” It is soon followed by “Tonight We Fly” a propulsive song of the two lovers “flying” over their life together and flying away from everyone.

It’s truly sublime.  I can understand those who don’t like Michael Nyman’s style not really enjoying this disc.  But if you like lyrical wonderment, you must check this out.  Divine Comedy’s next disc “Casanova” removes the Nyman influence but retains the cleverness. By most accounts it is a better album but I still love Promenade.

[READ: January 2008] Public Enemy #2

Sarah bought this collection for me for Christmas last year.  I don’t read a lot of comic strips, but occasionally one pops up on my radar.  I had seen a few Boondocks comics and really liked them.  This is the 2nd to last collection of the strip (I think…some are called treasuries, so I’m not sure what the distinction is). (more…)

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Charles Burns–Black Hole (2005)

Posted in Altoids, Bad Company, Black Mountain, Black Sabbath, Canadian Music, Charles Burns, Dungen, Fleetwood Mac, Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Heavy Metal, Jefferson Airplane, Set at School, The Believer, YA Books, Yuck! on November 10, 2008| 1 Comment »

black-holeSOUNDTRACK: BLACK MOUNTAIN–In the Future (2008).

black-mountainAn ironically titled disc, surely.  Black Mountain is a Vancouver-based band that specializes in 70’s era psychedelia with a heavy dose of Black Sabbath.  Yet, like Dungen or other bands that tread this “revivalist” style, they don’t mimic the sound..they definitely sound contemporary, but the vibes of the 70s are constant.

Black Mountain features two singers: Stephen McBean and Amanda Webber.  Webber’s voice in particular harkens back to an amalgamation of Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, Nancy Wilson and the collective voice of Fleetwood Mac. McBean sounds like several singers of the era too.

“Stormy High” opens the album with the best Black Sabbath riff that Sabbath never wrote.  It sounds like something straight out of Sabotage.  “Angels” slows things down into a kind of Bad Company vibe, complete with trippy 70s keyboards in the middle of the song.  “Wucan” sounds more contemporary (the vocals in particular remind me of something, but I can’t place it) and “Stay Free” is a nice acoustic ballad.  “Queens Will Play” gives Webber the spotlight and the song in particular sounds like a wonderfully creepy take on Fleetwood Mac.

Although some of the songs are longish (6-8 minute), most of them are fairly brief.  Except, of course, for the 16 minute “Bright Lights”.  I think it’s fair to say that 8 minutes could be cut off of this song and it would still be great.  The middle riff-tastic part is really fantastic, but the opening and the noodley keyboard solo could easily be lopped off.

The disc also came with a bonus disc of 3 songs.  Each one adds to the mythos of this fascinating band.  I’m curious about their debut release as well.

[READ: November 8, 2008] Black Hole

My friend Andrew loaned me this book.  I had recently read an interview with Charles Burns in The Believer (and more abou that in a moment), which excerpted this book.  It looked really good, but then I promptly forgot about it.  And Andrew filled in the gap for me.

Charles Burns’ work appears in astonishingly diverse places.  I know him mostly because he is the cover heavy-metalartist for The Believer, (his interview in that magazine is pretty great) and his been since its inception. But I also know him from the early 80s when he was an artist with Heavy Metal magazine–when I did a search for this magazine, this was one of the results, and I distinctly remember it being in my magazine collection (gosh, some 25 years ago?). (more…)

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Terry Moore–Echo [Issues 1-5] (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Knocked Up, Loudon Wainwright III, Marriage Trouble, Military, Pregnancy, Sci-fi, Supernatural, Technology, Terry Moore, Threats, War on August 21, 2008| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III-Strange Weirdos: Music from and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up (2008).

I can’t say I really noticed Loudon’s music during the movie.  Of course, when I read about it later, it turned out that the versions in the movie were instrumental.  Ahhh.  So, this “soundtrack” contains the instrumental tracks from the movie with words added (which is how they were originally recorded, so all is right once again).

This collection of songs is, to my ears, Loudon’s least funny collection.  Which is fine.  There are a few turns of phrase that raise a smile, but mostly the songs are thoughtful and thought-provoking.  They work very well with the theme of the movie: parenthood, children, relationships, love.  (Even though the movie is funny, these songs aren’t).

The collection is certainly one of Loudon’s strongest.   Many of Loudon’s musical partners in crime are here: Richard Thompson, Patrick Warren, Van Dyke Parks and, special guest Joe Henry (who I don’t know too much about, but who plays a lovely guitar).  The first three songs, “Grey in L.A.” “You Can’t Fail Me Now” and “Daughter” are possibly three of Loudon’s strongest songs in years (He didn’t write “Daughter” but he sings it wonderfully…and I think better than the original, which is a bit too jazzy for my tastes.)  The rest of the album continues in that vein: mellow folk music but with enough of an edge to keep it from sounding monotonous.  Loudon is releasing another new album this month, and I hope he keeps up this high quality!

[READ: August 14, 2008] Echo

When Strangers in Paradise ended, I was quite sad.  One of my favorite comics by one of my favorite artists was now out of my life.  And slowly, I forgot about Terry Moore, and moved on to other things (like the Buffy Season 8 comic).  Well, while I was at ALA this year, Michele Gorman, the wisest person in the graphic novelverse, asked me how I liked Terry’s new book.  Wha?? I said.  She said, it’s called Echo, and it’s fantastic.  And, so I got home, looked it up online and immediately subscribed and got the back issues.  1-4 came right away and #5 just arrived.  And I’m all caught up. (more…)

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David Goldberg, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg–Superbad: The Drawings (2008)

Posted in Art, Comedy Album, David Goldberg, Evan Goldberg, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, NPR/PRI/PBS, Paul F. Tompkins, Seth Rogen, Short Books, Smarty Pants, Superbad, The Sound of Young America on July 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PAUL F. TOMPKINS-Impersonal (2007).

Since the book had no words, I figured I’d review a record with no music. We heard Paul F. Tompkins on some random NPR show one night during dinner. They played the “Peanut Brittle” skit and Sarah and I were in tears. The kids must have wondered what was going on. We could barely eat; for six minutes we ignored all but Paul.

I tracked down the CD and it is very funny. Tompkins has a wonderful delivery and a way of making asides that keep the joke going longer than it should, but still staying funny. The very premise of the first joke is seeing a goth girl running, which is funny in and of itself, but he takes it in a new direction and turns it back against himself. Some other great tracks include the hilarious “Elegant Balloons” “Genetic Engineering” (house bears!), and the so true it hurts “Letters to Magazines.” Oh, and “Jazz” is also very funny, and I even like jazz.

It is clearly impossible to describe a comedy album without retelling the jokes, but I will say that Sarah and I had both listened to the CD individually, and then on the way back from the airport we listened to it together and were in tears yet again. Now we even get to make a few remarks just to relive the hilarity.

A little research uncovers that Tompkins was a player and writer for Mr Show as well as the Tenacious D series. And, in fact he is bubbling under in many venues. I guess don’t read credits well enough to have remembered him. So, good for him, and thank you NPR.

More research uncovers that this NPR shows was The Sound of Young America. Diligent readers will know that I discovered Simon Rich on this show as well. So I have listened to this show twice and come away with new material both times. I should make this a regular listen. You can hear an interview with Paul here.

[READ: June 21, 2008] Superbad: The Drawings

Now this book has nothing to do with the Ben Greenman books I mentioned earlier. This is a collection of 90 some pages of phallohgraphics (ie drawings of penises). If you’ve seen the movie Superbad, and who hasn’t, you’ll know there’s a story about the Seth character drawing penises and getting into trouble. Well, this is the collection of all the penises that the cowriter’s brother David Goldberg drew for the movie.

What can one possibly say about this except that the book is hilarious, childish and totally obscene. From an artistic standpoint, the drawings are first rate. Somehow, he was able to draw penises that look just like McLovin, Seth and Evan. Why on earth would anyone buy this? Beats me. I know I did. I’m sure I’ll peruse it from time to time and then hide it when my kids get old enough to browse the bookshelves.

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Christine Norrie–Cheat (2003)

Posted in Alexisonfire, Art, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Christine Norrie, Graphic Novel, Marriage Trouble on June 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: ALEXISONFIRE-Crisis (2006).

I was watching the Juno Awards one night and saw that Alexisonfire were going to be on. I’ve been curious about them for awhile, and was thrilled. And, wow, what an impact. First off, I’m very surprised that a band that is this aggressive would be on the Juno Awards (but the Junos are far more interesting than the Grammies). However, when the song “This Could Be Anywhere in the World” started, and the lead singer was growling away, I just wasn’t that interested…it was a bit too death metal/hardcore. But then Dallas Green sang these beautiful counterpoint vocals, and I stopped what i was doing and took notice. The rest of the song bounced back and forth between hardcore noise and melodic harmonies. And it was amazing.

I’ve heard a lot of bands mix styles, some successfully and some disastrously, but this mix of aggression and beauty is really something. I’ve listened to this album a bunch of times now, and I’m still not sure that I really like the growly vocals of George Petit, but I think without them, the harmonies of Green wouldn’t sound quite so good.

So what you get is some complicated songs that lurch between a trashy hardcore feel and a more streamlined poppiness. The two sides play off each other so well, it makes the whole collection shine. There’s a 3rd vocalist who pops in once in a while and he adds a nice flavor to the mix although I’d say mostly it’s his harmonies that work so well.

Lyrically, the band is pretty angry. “Mailbox Arson” should give you a clue to the tone; however, the lyrics are well considered even if they’re not fully understandable.

I’ve not heard the previous Alexisonfire records, but I’m led to believe that Crisis is a huge step forward, so maybe it’s not worth backtracking .

[READ: June 11, 2008] Cheat.

This came as part of my Oni shipment a few weeks ago. I didn’t know anything about this story either, but I took the risk as it’s a typical slice of life story. I was surprised at how there was very little in the book that moved me. It was a very simple story of two couples who, as the title says, cheat. It all seemed a little too easy and obvious (there’s only 4 characters after all) . There were some nice minor twists, but sometimes they came across as jarring rather than twisty. (more…)

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Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007) & Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules [#2] (2008)

Posted in Boston, MA, Children's Books, Dropkick Murphys, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jeff Kinney, Set at School, Short Books, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones on June 21, 2008| 5 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: DROPKICK MURPHYS-The Meanest of Times (2007).

Ever since The Pogues, traditional Irish music has been matched to a punkish attitude. The Dropkick Murphys take this one step further in that they are pretty much a hardcore band, and yet they throw in heaps of Irish attitude, channeled through growing up in Boston, Ma. I got their first album when it came out because I was living in Boston at the time. Then I more or less forgot about them. But The Meanest of Times made some noise, so I checked them out again. Despite their ever changing lineup, the band hasn’t changed that much in all these years. They still write great, fast, beer-swilling sing-alongs. Their vocalist sounds like the gruff, ass-kicking younger brother of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Dicky Barrett. There’s a second vocalist on this record too who is less gruff, but, I feel, less effective. He sings one or two songs, but he’s primarily background in nature. And they still throw in the occasional bagpipe, accordion and mandolin. They have diversified their sound a little bit now. There are a few slower (but no less raucous) songs and even a ballad.

Lyrically, they touch on a lot of “political” issues. Not as in day-to-day politics, but more as in a general outrage at injustice (priest sex scandals, children’s services in the state of Ma, violence and war etc). They also reinvent some traditional style songs. “(F)Lanigan’s Ball,” a remake sort of of “Lanigan’s Ball” and old trad song. And “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye” is an update of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” done as more of a sea shanty–a punk sea shanty.

I’m not sure why hardcore punk matches so well with traditional Irish jigs, but it really does. If you like your music fast and loud, The Dropkick Murphys throw in a few extra ingredients to diversify your portfolio.

[READ: May 28, 2008] Diary of a Wimpy Kid & Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

A lot of kids come into the library looking for these books. When I finally looked at it, it looked pretty funny, so I picked it up. I’m going to review the two books together because the second one is basically a continuation of the first one, there’s not a lot of differences, but, since the books are pretty short, that’s not a problem. (more…)

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