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Archive for the ‘Supernatural’ Category

Terry Pratchett–Snuff (2011)

Posted in Beer, Death, Discworld, Dreams, Drinking, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Oddities, Poo, Racism, Religion, Sinéad O'Connor, Supernatural, Terry Pratchett, Violence on February 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

snuffSOUNDTRACK: SINÉAD O’CONNOR-How About I Be Me (and you be you)? (2012) .

sineadI was a huge fan of Sinéad’s first album.  And I liked her second one too (the one that made her a star).  I even followed her through a few of her later albums (while she was getting a bit more publicly odd).  But then it just got to be too much work (she released a bunch of albums which I couldn’t keep up with).

But this album promised to be a nice return to form.   And so it is–her voice sounds great and there’s many of the elements of good ol’ Sinéad here–the jangly guitars, great backing vocals and awesome mixture of gentleness and rage that really marks Sinéad’s best work.

“4th and Vine” is a boppy reggaeish song about love and marriage.  It’s nice to hear that kind of cheer from Sinéad (even if it didn’t all work out).  It’s followed by “Reason with Me” a sympathetic song from the POV of a junkie who plans to call that number one of these days.  “Old Lady” is a simply beautiful song–in which you can really hear how well Sinéad’s voice has stood up through all the troubles she’s been through.  But more than that, when the guitars kick in, you can hear that she still has the chops to write a great song.

“Take Off Your Shoes” is one of those great Sinead songs that gives you chills.  I’m not sure what she’s on about with the blood of Jesus and all, but when the song kicks in and “you’re running out of battery” wow, what a great song.  “Back Where You Belong” is one of Sinéad’s more delicate songs–a plea for peace from men on behalf of boys–the chorus is soaring and gorgeous.

“The Wolf is Getting Married” is being released as a second single this month (good for an album to have that long of a shelf life).  It starts a little slow but once the verse really starts it’s pure Sinéad–that guitar backing is just like Sinéad’s earlier hits).  And the lyrics, which are simple enough, are fun to sing with.  “Queen of Denmark” is a stunning, vulgar track that is really amazing.  It’s great to hear her when she is passionate and angry and indeed here she is–soaring voice and loud guitars and all.

“Very Far from Home” and “I Had a Baby” are sweet songs, they are enjoyable, but feel like decent end-of-disc songs, especially after the power of “Denmark.”  The final track, “V.I.P.”  ends the disc quietly, with a gently sung, almost a capella track about the true nature of very important people.  The song  ends with a whispered prayer and a chuckle.    It’s a really solid album and I’ve enjoyed listening to it many times (but I really don’t like the cover).

Perhaps, as my friend Louise has been telling me all along, I should check out those discs that I missed.

[READ: February 1, 2013] Snuff

I can’t believe I have two books in a row that deal so largely with poo!

Terry Pratchett is back with Snuff (actually, he has a book of short stories and a new novel named Dodger since Snuff came out).  Sarah gave me this for Christmas two years ago and I have just gotten around to reading it.  Which is a surprise as I love Pratchett and have read all of his books (for the most part).

This book seemed a little big.  It is 400 pages, as long as Unseen Academicals, and I was a little daunted by it.  But as soon as I read the first few pages (again, no chapters here, just section breaks), I was back in the world of Commander Vimes (or arch Duke or something) and back in Discworld.

Commadner Vimes is a wonderful character–a policeman who is street smart and very wise, even if he’s not proper smart.  He’s an excellent everyman character and the kind of person you wish was running things in your town.  Or someone else’s town.  For Vimes is off on vacation to the Shire, the childhood home of his wife Lady Sybil.  And Vimes is out of his element (which is always funny).  And he also senses that something is amiss here in the idyllic countryside.  So, despite Sybil’s gentle warnings to be on vacation and come in and be social, Vimes is on the case.

The case, as it were, is about goblins.  Goblins are a new race in Discworld.  Everyone always treated goblins like vermin–they smell bad, they steal chickens, they live underground  they are worthless.  And the goblins seem to agree (well, that’s what generations of maltreatment will do to your self-respect).  But Vimes gets mixed up in a murder–and when a goblin pleads for mercy but is killed anyway, that is murder vermin or not.  And when Vimes discovers that goblins can talk, emote and, indeed, play the harp–well that makes them a little less verminous, no?

Wait, what’s this got to do with poo?  Well, Miss Felicity Beedle, Discworld’s premier children’s author, has written a book called The World of Poo (which is actually for sale on its own too, ha) which Young Sam Vimes loves.  It is his favorite book after Beedle’s earlier book Wee.  And so Young Sam is off collecting samples of poo to dissect, and the Shire is a great place for it.  Well, when Vimes meets Beedle, he learns that in addition to being a children’s book author, Beedle has been teaching goblins how to be more…well, not human exactly, but more approachable to humans so that they may be recognized as valuable creatures. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #13 (2006)

Posted in Adrian Tomine, Africa, Alex Robinson, Alison Bechdel, All Songs Considered, Anarchy, Ander Nilson, Archer Prewitt, Art Spiegelman, Ben Katchor, Books about music, Books about writers, Boredom, Bud Fischer, Bust, Canadian Content, Charles Burns, Charles Schulz, Chester Brown, Chip Kidd, Chris Ware, Collecting, Comic Strips, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Culture Shock, Daniel Clowes, David Collier, David Heatley, David Lasky, Death, Debbie Dreschler, Depression, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Essays, Esther Pearl Watson, Excerpt, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gary Panter, Ghosts, Gilbert Hernandez, Gilbert Shelton, Glen David Gold, Graphic Novel, History, HOB, Huh?, Ira Glass, Ivan Brunetti, Jaime Hernandez, Jeffrey Brown, Jesse Reklaw, Joe Matt, Joe Sacco, Joel Priddy, John McLenan, John Porcellino, John Updike, John Woodring, Jonathan Bennett, Julie Doucet, Justin Hall, Kaz, Kim Deitch, Kurt Wolfgang, LGBTQ, Lilli Carré, Lloyd Dangle, Louis Reil, Lynda Barry, Malachi B. Cohen, Mark Beyer, Mark Newgarden, Marriage Trouble, Masturbation, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Michael Chabon, Military, Milt Gross, Oddities, Olivia Schanzer, Parts & Labor, Philip Guston, R. Crumb, Rebecca Dart, Richard McGuire, Richard Sala, Rodolphe Töpffer, Ron Rege, S. Kierkegaard, Seth Tobocman, Sex, Short Story, Sonic Youth, Supernatural, Surreal, Tim Samuelson, Tom Hart, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), War, William Faulkner, World Cafe Live on January 29, 2013| 1 Comment »

13SOUNDTRACK: PARTS & LABOR-Stay Afraid (2006).

partslaborParts & Labor have changed t heir style over the years going from noisemakers who have a melody to being melodious noisemakers.  This album is one of their earlier releases when noise dominated.  Right from the opening you know the album is going to be a challenge.  The first song has pounding drums (electronics that sound like bagpipes) and heavy distorted shouty vocals.  By the end of the songs there is squealing feedback, punk speed drums and screaming distorted vocals (complete with space sound effects).  It’s an aggressive opening for sure.  Song two opens with a long low rumbling and then “Drastic Measures” proves to be another fast-paced song.

“A Pleasant Stay” is 5 minutes long (most of the rest of the album’s songs are about 3 minutes).  It continues in this fast framework, although it has a bit more open moments of just drums or just vocals.  The way the band plays with feedback in the last minute or so of the song  very cool.

“New Buildings” has a hardcore beat with a guitar part that sounds sped up.  “Death” is a thumping song (the drums are very loud on this disc), while “Timeline” is two minutes of squealing guitars.  “Stay Afraid” has a false start (although who knows why–how do these guys know if the feedback sounds are what  they wanted anyhow?).  The song ends with 30 seconds of sheer noise).  The album ends with the 5 minute “Changing of the Guard” a song not unlike the rest of the album–noisy with loud drumming and more noise.

The album is certainly challenging, it’s abrasive and off putting, but there;s surprising pleasures and melodies amidst the chaos.   Indeed, after a listen or two you start to really look forward to the hooks.  If you like this sort of thing, this album s a joy.  It’s also quite brief, so it never overstays its welcome.

[READ: April 15, 2011] McSweeney’s #13

I have been looking forward to reading this issue for quite some time.  Indeed, as soon as I received it I wanted to put aside time for it.  It only took eight years.  For this is the fabled comics issue.  Or as the cover puts it: Included with this paper: a free 264 page hardcover.  Because the cover is a fold-out poster–a gorgeous broadside done by Chris Ware called “God.”  And as with all Chris Ware stories, this is about life, the universe and everything.  On the flip side of the (seriously, really beautiful with gold foil and everything) Ware comic are the contributors’ list and a large drawing that is credited to LHOOQ which is the name of Marcel Duchamp’s art piece in which he put a mustache on the Mona Lisa.  It’s a kind of composite of the history of famous faces in art all done in a series of concentric squares.  It’s quite cool.

So, yes, this issue is all about comics.  There are a couple of essays, a couple of biographical sketches by Ware of artists that I assume many people don’t know and there’s a few unpublished pieces by famous mainstream artists.  But the bulk of the book is comprised of underground (and some who are not so underground anymore) artists showing of their goods.  It’s amazing how divergent the styles are for subject matter that is (for the most part) pretty similar: woe is me!  Angst fills these pages.  Whether it is the biographical angst of famous artists by Brunetti or the angst of not getting the girl (most of the others) or the angst of life (the remaining ones), there’s not a lot of joy here. Although there is a lot of humor.  A couple of these comics made it into the Best American Comics 2006.

There’s no letters this issue, which makes sense as the whole thing is Chris Ware’s baby.  But there are two special tiny books that fit nearly into the fold that the oversized cover makes.  There’s also two introductions.  One by Ira Glass (and yes I’d rather hear him say it but what can you do).  And the other by Ware.  Ware has advocated for underground comics forever and it’s cool that he has a forum for his ideas here.  I’m not sure I’ve ever read prose from him before. (more…)

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Bannister & Nykko–The ElseWhere Chronicles Book One: The Shadow Door & Book Two: The Shadow Spies (2007) [translated 2009]

Posted in Bannister, Boredom, Carol Klio Burrell, Children's Books, Fantasy, Fears, Nykko, Short Books, Supernatural, The Board of Education on January 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

elsewhere1SOUNDTRACK: THE BOARD OF EDUCATION-“Know Your Inventors, Part I” (2008).

boardI enjoyed yesterday’s Board of Education song so much I wanted to listen to more.  So I went back to their first album for this song whose title intrigued me.  To my surprise, the song is very slow, a languid kid’s song?  Of course, this being a kid’s song, it does run through a series of styles.  The song picks up the pace some, then throws in a waltz, a little disco and a mildly catchy chorus (all in three minutes).

The song is about the inventor of pavement (“nobody knows his name”): William W. Averell, and it’s informative and kind of funny.

It’s not nearly as catchy as yesterday’s song, but it has moments of joy.  I now wonder if this is a different sound for the band on their first album or if all of their songs sound different.

You can hear it here.

[READ: January 21, 2013] The ElseWhere Chronicles Books One & Two

I found this series at the library–Book One was prominently displayed and it looked really interesting.  The artwork on the cover (and inside, it turns out) was really compelling–simple lines (little white circles for eyes for some of the characters) and a bunch of kids looking scared–what more could you want?

So it turns out that Book One is cool, but Book Two is amazing.

In Book One, Max Theo and Noah are watching a funeral (well, they are sitting in a graveyard) for Old Man Gabe, a local eccentric who lives in a haunted house.  Meanwhile, a young girl, Rebecca, is with her family watching them bury her Grandpa Gabe.  (I don’t know if this is significant, but Rebecca is black and her parents/guardians are white with two white children, but nothing is made of this in book one except that someone points out that she is black.  She says she was adopted, and that’s that).  She never met Gabe (and neither did her father–who has a hip soul patch).

Rebecca wants to explore Gabe’s house–she is not afraid of it being haunted (there’s wonderful surprises as they tread through the building).  But all of the rooms are strangely empty.  Except the library which is full of books, including some written by Gabe.  There is talk of demolishing the house, and Rebecca is now determined to save the books.  But the kids also discover a kind of movie projector.  And when they turn it on it opens a kind of portal.  And Rebecca gets sucked into it.

The boys eventually get her out–she says it was locked from her side and she looks awful.  But before they can lock it again, she is grabbed by something from the other world and dragged back in.  Max jumps through the portal to save her and they are both trapped in this new world.  The reason I said book 1 wasn’t as good as 2 is because the world they go into is dark with lots of shadows and hard to see things.  It’s scary (but not really) but not very easy to figure out what’s happening.

Then they run into an old man (who speaks English and a young girl (who doesn’t) .  They assume he is Grandpa Gabe, but he later claims he is not, he is Norgavol and he explains this world to them.  A little. (more…)

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César Aira–The Seamstress and the Wind (1994) [translated 2011]

Posted in Adventure, Books about writers, Canadian Music, César Aira, Constellation Records, Elfin Saddle, Fables, Fantasy, Foreign Books, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Poker, Rosalie Knecht, Short Books, Supernatural, Surreal, Translation, Travel on January 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

seamSOUNDTRACK: ELFIN SADDLE-Devastates [CST087] (2012).

elfinElfin Saddle continues their streak of oddly juxtaposed music that works very well.   The band specializes in a kind of Middle Eastern folk music (there’s a lot of Jewish-style singing), but with Emi Honda singing Japanese-style vocals it really alters the overall sound.  They also use a lot of raw sounding “instruments” many of which are found or quite simply, junk.  Check out the instrumentation list: Jordan McKenzie: voice, guitar, half-accordion, drums, varied percussion, membrane pipes, organs, piano, pvc processing, tapes, phonographs, speakers, etc.  Emi Honda: voice, ukulele, drums, half-accordion, musical saw, extra percussion.  It’s that extra percussion and etc. that you hear a lot, rattling around in the background of these songs.

They play complex rhythms (with lots of low end drumming) underneath ethereal noises (music boxes and the like).  And all the while, Honda and McKenzie trade off their unusual vocals.  It’s mesmerizing.  When the band really starts rocking, like in “The Changing Wind” you hear how well it all works together, and how well the two play off each other.  The slower pieces, like “Boats” are very cinematic, probably because everything sounds so real–you can see the items that are making these odd sounds.

The music is definitely not pop, but with just a listen or two, you can really appreciate what they’re doing.  If you like your folk a little noisy or your rock a little experimental, this is a great record to check out.

[READ: January 13, 2013] The Seamstress and the Wind

Things that I have said about every book of Aira’s that I have read: they are all short, he writes a lot of books (according to Wikipedia he has written at least 45 books since this one came out about twenty years ago), and they are all nonlinear.

And so it is with this 130 page book.

As the book opens, a young boy named César Aira is playing with his friend in the back of their neighbor Chiquito’s truck.  They are playing a game of ghosts when suddenly, César finds himself walking in a trance back to his house.  Turns out his friend Omar couldn’t find him for hours (and when César snaps out of it, indeed hours have passed).  And yet, despite this story, it turns out that really Omar is missing (what? who knows?).  Omar is the son of the local seamstress, Delia Siffoni.  She is sewing a wedding dress for the art teacher, Silvia, who is (scandalously) pregnant.  When she hears that her son is missing, she freaks out and calls out a search party.

She concludes that Omar was hiding in Chiquito’s truck when he left for Patagonia.  So she takes a taxi to chase after Chiquito.  Since the dress is due to be finished right away, she takes it and her supplies with her in hopes of finishing it on the road.  When Ramón, Delia’s husband realizes what she has done, he chases after her.  And when Silvia realizes that her dress is driving away in a taxi she follows Ramón.  And so it becomes a road novel in which none of the characters are together.

By the end of the story there has been a terrible accident with a taxi crashing into a truck.  There has been a poker game where one of the two women has been lost in a bet (unbeknownst to her) and we have met The Wind (Sir Ventarrón) who helps the seamstress with her problems.  Indeed, Sir Ventarrón becomes an integral part of the story, including a flashback when Sir Ventarrón assisted a snowman in his quest for eternal life (yes). (more…)

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Steven Millhauser–“A Voice in the Night” (New Yorker, December 10, 2012)

Posted in Dan Deacon, Holidays, New Yorker, Religion, Short Story, Steven Millhauser, Supernatural on December 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_10_12Steinberg.inddSOUNDTRACK: DAN DEACON-“Electronica Hanukkah” (2010).

elechanDan Deacon is rapidly becoming one of my favorite oddball musicians.  I really don’t know very much about him, but he seems willing to give away music to various projects and put them for free on soundcloud (he has a proper album out as well this year which has been well received).

“Electronica Hannukah” is a paean to consumerism–set to a noisy processed electronic beat.  The superprocessed chorus voice is, well, super processed.  Deacon’s song is snarky and funny and yet the harmonies are actually quite pretty.

I’m not sure that this is what the holiday is about.  But you can determine that for yourself.

[READ: December 19, 2012] “A Voice in the Night”

This is a multipart story told in multiple sections.  We have three story lines labeled I, II, III and each story line is broken so that the next can continue.  That may sound more confusing than it needed to be.  So let’s step back.  In story line I, we see the biblical story of Samuel, whom God called in the middle of the night.  In story line II, we see a young boy staying awake in case God calls him in the middle of the night.  In story line III we see that boy as an old man whom God has not called.

There are four breaks in the story, one for each time Samuel was called.  The first three times, Samuel assumes it is his holy master Eli who has called him.  But Eli is asleep and tells Samuel to go back to bed himself.  On the third visit Eli says that it must be the Lord calling him.  And he should answer correctly.

Unlike Samuel, the boy in the second story line is not a believer   His father does not believe and the boy does not want to stay for the religious part of Sunday school.  And yet the story of Samuel stays with him all the time and he tries desperately to stay awake in case the Lord calls.  Which he may not really want anyhow, as it means a lot of work. (more…)

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Adam Blade–First Hero [The Chronicles of Avantia #1] (2010)

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, All Songs Considered, Children's Books, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Mates of State, Short Books, Supernatural, Threats on December 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

first herpSOUNDTRACK: MATES OF STATE-Live at the 9:30 Club, Washington DC, April 4, 2009 (2009).

mos930I enjoyed the Tiny Desk show from Mates of State quite a lot.  And this concert which is a full band (and occasionally just the husband and wife duo) was equally fun.

They play 15 songs in about an hour, some are short but there are a couple longer ones as well.    The band plays big songs with large hooks–a couple of listens and you are singing along with them.  They perform a kind of orchestrated synth pop, and while the songs are sweet-sounding, there is more to them than just hooks.

Most of this concert comes from their 2008 album Re-Arrange Us.  There’s a few tracks from  2003’s Team Boo as well.  All in all it’s a great show.  There are a bunch of songs on here that should be huge, they’re so catchy.  But Mates of State remain under the radar.  Discover them here.

[READ: November 3, 2012] First Hero

After finishing the available Beast Quest books, I learned that there was another Avantia series called The Chronicles of Avantia (four books so far).  Since Clark enjoyed the Beast Quest series so much, we decided to check this one out, too.

Well, wow is it a different beast altogether. First off, the book is much bigger.  Second, the words are more complicated and third, the action is much more violent.  This is not your second grader’s story of trudge, trudge, trudge, defeat (but not kill) the beast and then gain a prize.  Rather, our hero must avenge his father’s death before the villain literally destroys the cities of Avantia looking for the Mask of Death.

The action takes place long before the action of the Beast Quest series–so long before that they may as well not be related except for the land (although we haven’t heard of these towns either).  Even the beasts are different.

The main character in this series is a boy named Tanner.  He is the Chosen Rider of a phoenix-Beast called Firepos.  What’s interesting is that some of the story is told from Firepos’ point of view.  The main bad guy in the story is a guy named Derthsin.  Derthsin killed Tanner’s father (when Tanner was 7) and also kidnapped his mother.  There’s nothing too explicit about the death (except that Tanner witnessed it–yipes!)  The death is revisited and is certainly uncomfortable reading to a  7-year-old.   Tanner was raised by his grandmother Esme.  Esme, too, is killed by Derthsin (this one of a bit more graphic and Tanner is present) and boy was that awkward. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Rachel Rising 5-7 (2012)

Posted in Bob Mould, Death, Graphic Novel, Pearl Jam, Supernatural, Terry Moore, The English Beat, Violence, Yuck! on November 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE ENGLISH BEAT Live at KEXP , March 8, 2007 (2007).

Afebkexpter enjoying the 2010 Bumbershoot concert I found this earlier in-studio show from The English Beat.  It’s amusing that it’s longer than the Bumbershoot concert (they play three of the same songs and eight in total).  This set introduces a few less “famous” tracks, like “Hands Off She’s Mine” and “Ranking Full Stop.”  They also play a “new” song called “Said We Would Never Die,” a sweet ballad in which he sounds a bit like Bob Mould singing.

When they play “Save It for Later,” they introduce the song with a verse from Pearl Jam’s “Better Man,” which must be a nod to Pearl Jam’s constant placement of “Save It for Later” in the jam session at the end of “Better Man” when they play it live.  The song ends with a lengthy sax solo.

Overall, this set is slightly less enjoyable for me than the Bumbershoot one.  The band adds a bit more jam into the set–the songs are longer and a bit more mellow feeling, which doesn’t work for ska.  But they all sound good and Dave Wakeling is very funny in his chats with the DJ.  He talks about his guitar being in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and the history of the ska movement.  How labels felt burnt that they missed the Sex Pistols and wanted to get whatever the next trend was.  This was interesting in that he talks about reggae and punk bands playing together on the same bill (before the skinheads went racist) and how the mellow reggae and the fast punk kept the dancefloor full if they alternated.  He also says that when they introduced the Beat Girl, it made the boys in the audience stop getting into  fights with each other and try to impress the girls.

As they head into their final song (“Tenderness”) Dave notes that “the first 27 years are the hardest.”  Hear if he’s right.

[READ: January 31, 2012] Rachel Rising 5-7

I have finally gotten around to reading some more Rachel Rising (it’s only been ten months), and I see that there are already several new issues out (I should get a subscription).

As I mentioned in the end of my review of the first four books, Terry Moore has gone to a really dark place with this series.  By the end of Book 7, my mouth was left agape, because I never thought that Terry would go quite so dark!

I like the way that Book 5 is more or less split in half with the first half being all about Rachel trying to fit back in with her friends (Jet reminds her of their pinkie swear to tell the truth about everything).  And yet there’s also Dr Siemen who states matter of factly (at the dinner table) that Rachel is the Angel of Death.

The second half of the book involves the little girl (she’s so cute with her pigtails).  A foster family is coming to take her for the night while the authorities try to figure out what happened to her house and family.  Moore goes dark right away with the man of the foster family showing his true colors, but the girl will have none of it.  And there’s a scene in an elevator which happens in movies, and yet in real life, I’ve never heard of an elevator door that doesn’t open when something gets stuck in it. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Echo #27-30 [end] (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Death, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Mad Scientists, Military, Smarty Pants, Strangers in Paradise, Supernatural, Technology, Terry Moore, The English Beat, Threats, Violence on November 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE ENGLISH BEAT-Live at Bumbershoot, September 6, 2010 (2010).

I’ve always loved ska.  So to see that the (English) Beat were playing shows and playing them for download on KEXP was  a pretty grand thing.

I’m still trying to figure out if these short sets from Bumbershoot were KEXP-only shows (in which the band plays a brief set and then they play the actual show later), but I believe so. Anyhow, the band sounds great, singer Dave Wakeling is a great frontman, telling amusing stories about the songs and generally charming everyone (his singing voice still sounds great, too).

Wakeling has a nice little diatribe about Target.  It begins with him saying how he never was asked to be in a commercial before Target asked him for “Tenderness.”  And now it’s everywhere.  But he’s upset that Target supported the  anti-gay candidate in Minnesota.  He promises that if he ever gets the money from the ads, it will go to support the candidate’s opponent.  He also says that “Mirror in the Bathroom” was not about cocaine–they couldn’t afford it bcak then.

I’m not really sure who is in the band on this tour.  Ranking Roger is apparently running another English Beat band in the U.K.  Sigh.  But regardless, this was like a wonderful flashback to the long lost art of ska.  The set is a collection of highlights from their 80s career.  I mean look at all the great songs they wrote: “I’ll Take You There,” “I Confess,” “Save It for Later,” “Never You  Done That,” “Tenderness,” and “Mirror in the Bathroom.”

Listen for yourself here.

[READ: November 27, 2012] Echo #27-30

The problem with a comic book that comes out every six weeks (especially if you stopped going to the comic books store) is that it’s easily forgotten, no matter how much you like it (my rave of issues 25 and 26 leave me stunned that it has been almost two years since I last read the story).  But I recently went to my local shoppe and scored these last few issues (#30 even signed by Terry himself).  And I immediately got back into the story.

So as #27 picks up, we see that the climax is almost at hand.  Ivy, the hardened agent is growing younger and younger and is forgetting more.  Meanwhile, Julie is almost completely covered by the alloy and is now a giant.  And Annie is surfacing more and more in Julie (Annie is in the alloy’s DNA) which means Dillon is allowed a degree of closeness and closure.

#28 was awesome because it tied this universe back to the Strangers in Paradise world even more.  They are still using Tambi, the bodyguard, (from SiP) who worked for Darcy.  In this issue she interrogates another member of Darcy’s team (with the telltale tattoo).  By the end of the book Ivy is a mere child (the fact that Moore can draw this–keeping her Ivy and yet now looking like a little kid with such few lines is amazing). (more…)

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Adam Blade–“Stealth the Ghost Panther” [Beast Quest: The Amulet of Avantia #24] (2012)

Posted in Adam Blade, Adventure, Children's Books, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Magic, Short Books, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert on November 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MATES OF STATE-Tiny Desk Concert #163 (October 5, 2011).

Mates of State is another band that I only know of because of NPR.  I hadn’t heard them at all before this set (and another concert that they recorded for download).  I like them, although they haven’t totally blown me away.

Mates of State make delightful music.  I don’t know if there’s a better word for it–it’s poppy and upbeat without being cloying or treacly and it seems so happy.   The founders of Mates of State are a husband and wife.  They sing quite loudly and often in a high register.  Indeed, the write-up that accompanied this show says that the band is quite scaled back–that they are usually much bigger and louder and that they had a hard time in this small setting.

But it’s a very good set and a nice sample of the kind of music they play.   The set features keyboards, acoustic guitar and a trumpet.  They play two songs from their album Mountaintops, “Sway” and “Desire.”  They also play “My Only Offer” from Re-Arrange Us, their previous record.  Mates of State have released a bunch of stuff on Barsuk records, a wonderful indie label, so they get respect from me.

I was also amused when Kori Gardner commented that this was “the earliest concert they’ve ever done.”

[READ: November 3, 2012] Stealth the Ghost Panther

The final book of this arc has just come out and Clark was very excited to read it.  I’m torn about what to do if Scholastic releases the next story arc.  The books seem to come out every six months, but I don’t think I want to wait six months to read book 26 after reading book 25.  But then do I want to wait three years to read the next arc all at once?  No I do not.  Not since Clark will be ten!  I hope Scholastic picks up the pace here.

Anyhow, this six book arc ended with Stealth the Ghost Panther (the most fearsome beast yet!).  [The one thing I dislike about the series is that every next beast is “more fearsome” than the last, which somehow undermines the fearsomeness of the previous beasts, no?  Honestly, how could that be quantitatively true.  Having said that, this one is pretty scary.  The panther is scary, but worse, if it simply scratches you it turns you evil. (more…)

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The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror 48-Page Chill-Tacular! [#18] (2012)

Posted in Batman, Death, Evil Dead, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Helloween, Magic, Matt Groening, Queensrÿche, Rosemary's Baby, Short Story, Supernatural, The Bride, The Simpsons on October 31, 2012| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: HELLOWEEN-“Halloween” (1987).

Back in the late 80s, I loved Helloween–they played speed metal, they had intricate solos, and they were German–what’s not to love?  Oh, and also, they were quite funny, with their little pumpkin mascot.

In 1987, they released The Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1, a concept album (hooray), with this song as the 13 minute centerpiece.  They also released a “radio friendly” version that’s about 3 minutes long.  How do you eliminate ten minutes of a song?  Take out some verses, some riffs, a whole middle section of vocals, a cool section that sounds like Queensrÿche, a little spoken word section and a whole lotta solos.  Surprisingly you do get the essence of the song, just none of the theatricality.

So Helloween are still around, although I gave up on them after the sequel to this album (Part Two) which really didn’t live up to the majesty of Part One.

But this song is fun and whether you choose the 13 minute or the 3 minute version, Happy Halloween.

[READ: November 7, 2012] The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror #18

Yes, that’s right, I read this after Halloween!  Hurricane Sandy means I can throw convention to the wind until I catch up.  Sarah bought this for me before Halloween, but I didn’t really feel like reading it on Halloween, so here it is.

Unlike in the TV show, this Treehouse of Horror has four stories!  The first thing you have to get used to in Simpsons comics is that the characters don’t look like the ones on TV.  This is deliberate–they get different artists to draw the pages, so the artist’s own style comes in.  The characters are obviously The Simpsons; it’s amazing how many liberties can be taken with icons and have them still be recognizable.

The first story is a parody of Evil Dead.  Homer takes the family to a cabin in the woods where Henry K. Duff created the secret recipe for Duff beer.  But when the recipe is read aloud…the spirit of the beer possesses the family.  This story is actually kind of gruesome, although my five-year old enjoyed flipping through the pages.  The twist at the end is completely unexpected and wonderful. (more…)

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