Friday, October 30, 2015

Drinking w/ Comics #26 - the Halloween Issue!



Mike and I really get into swapping scary comics recommendations: Mike Mignola's Jenny Finn and Batman/Lovecraft mash-up The Doom that Came to Gotham; Tomb of Dracula; Jason Martin and Bill McKay's Night of the 80s Undead; Alan Moore's Swamp Thing; Joe R. Lansdale's Jonah Hex and The Drive In, and the Vertigo Comics' adaptation of William Hope Hodgson's insanely creepy House on the Borderland it's kind of like Fall of the House of Usher with Malevolent Pig monsters!). Also, we drink Ninkasi Brewing's Dawn of the Red India Red Ale and their Sleigh'r Imperial Pumpkin Ale and talk a bit about the new Marvel re-launch.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's Paper Girls has arrived...



... and it's the topic of my weekly comic book rant over on Joup in this week's edition of Thee Comic Column.

New Besnard Lakes!



I always love typing the three words that comprise the title of this post. Because a new record from The Besnard Lakes is a joyous thing to me and they never disappoint. Listening to this makes me reflect on what an awesome arc this band is riding, and I am as sure that I'm going to find it hard to wait until 1/22 when A Coliseum Complex Museum is released on Jagjaguwar as I'm sure it will make my top ten of next year. That's how good the Lakes are - the time for drawing up that list is still fifteen or so months away and I'm already reserving one of those year-end slots for this record.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Alice Glass - Stillbirth



I was late finding out Alice Glass left Crystal Castles. I had mixed feelings about it. Crystal Castles II is, in my opinion, one of the best records of the first decade of this century. The follow-up still has not opened to me and I am unsure if it is me or if it's just not really that good (even though I always assume it's me in situations like this where an artist has previously proven themselves, after three years I'm leaning toward the latter). Ethan Kath, the other half of CC released a new track as well and it was that track that I heard first. It kinda just sounds like he found a new girl - Edith - to sing like Alice. I might be wrong here, but that was my first impression and I've not been back since for reappraisal. Alice Glass's Stillbirth however is new ground for her, and I'm digging it and the message she released with it (read it on PiFk here) so although I'm waiting for more from both sides, at this point I'm more interested in Ms. Glasses direction.



And just for old times sake, one of my favorite CC songs from II. Well, on that record they're all my favorite, so this is just the one that fits my mood more at the moment. This song sounds like being drugged out and wandering the hazy, recessed lighting corridors of a hotel at 2 A.M. That's not what I'm doing, but it's my mood.