Archive for February, 2012

Black Lips – Arabia Mountain (Music Review)

Arabia Mountain cover

Black Lips - Arabia Mountain

Forget people like Kurt Vile; garage rock may be the true heir to 90’s slacker scene. The lo-fi sound and unassuming production make for an exciting contrast with the craft that the best performers bring. Black Lips may not sound anything like Pavement or Sonic Youth, but they invoke the same impression of being both your stoner friends and musical geniuses.

The breadth of sound on Black Lips’ Arabia Mountain is impressive. The gentle introduction to “The Lie” recalls “Stairway To Heaven” more than the demon god that the song is about, and “Time” has the freewheeling poppiness of a subversive Beach Boys. “Dumpster Dive” begins in a sloppy garage-folk style, but throws in piano flairs once the band starts rocking out. “Bone Marrow” is a post-breakup pep talk driven by clapping hands and heavily reverbed drums. They pull from all elements of rock tradition, from classic pop to modern metal and even to the creepy lounge music of “Noc-A-Homa”.

The aren’t limited by any concern for accuracy: A song about how Spider-Man “kills them dead” is followed by one celebrating the satanic messages hidden in rock music. However, their subject matter varies widely, with no theme (from women to drugs to everyday life) coming up enough to wear out its welcome. Each song has something to say – not always anything sophisticated, but none are a waste of time either.

Generally, though, the songs start out at their most creative and all veer towards the same territory by the middle: Chanting out enthusiastic but flat vocals along with music which tries to match the singer’s cadence with a surprising simplicity. At times, they could practically be a satire of spastic high schoolers unsure how to write songs. Fortunately, this sound is more of a home base for the band than a crutch. They circle around that simple territory, but always return to whatever specific style they are playing with at the moment – and their ability to write complex songs is evident, if obscured.

With sixteen tracks, it’s impressive that the band never seems to repeat themselves. They also avoid any missteps, with the possible exception of the slower space rock of “You Keep On Running”. Arabia Mountain is a fun journey through the possibilities offered by garage rock. If no individual song seems to contain enough promise for a full career, the overall effect is much more satisfying.

Grade: B


2012
02/06
CATEGORY
Music
Rock
TAGS
Leave a comment

New DC Comics, Part 1

We’re now entering into the sixth month of DC’s relaunched universe, and the situation looks similar to what the first month promised: Plenty of bad titles, but also quite a few good ones, with several unusual series that would never have gotten a fair chance under normal circumstances. At this point, I think that there have been a few more disappointments than I expected, but the DC Universe still seems healthier and more promising than it did beforehand.

These series are now mature enough to be harsh reality to set in. It seems that only about half of them still have the same creative team that they started with, and DC has already announced the first six cancellations. But the most cynical predictions haven’t been borne out: The customer base is still supporting more monthly titles than DC had before, and every title has stayed on schedule. The matter of scheduling has been one of the bigger surprises, actually. DC and Marvel have both been notorious for delays in recent years, but since the relaunch, DC has been quick to swap out creators or provide fill-ins where necessary. It sometimes hurts the quality, but it maintains the thrill of a monthly story, and is probably part of a strategy to keep new readers who aren’t committed enough to follow favorite creators through inconsistent schedules.

I’ve tried out twenty-two of the fifty-two series, though that number is dropping heavily now that I’ve seen what I like. My plan is to review all twenty-two of those this month. To start with, here are four basic superhero titles that reached a good conclusion with issue #5, so I’m ready to review them before #6 arrives in the upcoming weeks.

Continue reading →

2012
02/05
CATEGORY
Comics
TAGS










1 comment

David Anthony Durham – Sacred Band (Book Review)

Sacred Band cover

David Anthony Durham - Sacred Band

David Anthony Durham’s Acacia was wordy and awkwardly paced, but raised unusually nuanced moral questions for a fantasy story. The sequel, The Other Lands, lost sight of the moral topics but made up for it with tighter writing. While Sacred Band doesn’t fully live up to the potential of either, it makes use of both books’ strengths to provide the most satisfying volume of the trilogy.

Picking up immediately where the second novel left off, this could easily have been the latter half of one big book. War is looming, and the Acacian royal siblings are scattered around the world dealing with their own problems. The question isn’t just whether the “good guys” will win, but what the world will look like after they do. Their family has been responsible for too many atrocities for the reader to simply accept their victory as a happy ending, and all the siblings have different visions of how, or if, they should change that legacy.

These ethical questions aren’t always subtle, but they do fit in the story very naturally. Meanwhile, Durham includes a few too many subplots and is drawn to fantasy clichés, but he writes with a fluidity that makes this rise above most earnest high fantasy. Sacred Band’s biggest strength, though, is in drawing on the previous books in the trilogy. Though sometimes messy and inconsistent, they built up a strong emotional core, and this final novel isn’t afraid to cash in on everything that they set up. Almost every plot thread from the series is tied up in a way that feels both satisfying to the reader and well-earned for the character.

Durham has strong ideas and solid writing. I do hope that for his next novel, he sets his sights higher than princes, princesses, and dragons, and keeps the focus on the more original parts of his vision. However, the Acacia trilogy was an enjoyable read wrapped up in a satisfying way, and I don’t want to sound too hard on the current book. Where Sacred Band is flawed, it’s highlighting the marked improvements its author has already made in the course of a few years, and when it’s at its best, it provides some unique thrills for high fantasy.

Grade: B

2012
02/03
CATEGORY
Books
TAGS
Leave a comment

Before Watchmen: My Reaction

Promotional image for The Comedian's spinoff

As I’m sure you’ve heard, DC Comics announced this morning that they’ll be releasing prequels to Watchmen. Generally regarded as the pinnacle of superhero comics, it’s long been accepted that the work stands alone and should be untouched. In fact, author Alan Moore has been publicly feuding with DC for years, and has made it clear that he is against any use of Watchmen beyond his original story.

So is this where I join in the general outrage and explain why I think this is a stupid idea at best, if not indicative of deep moral and creative bankruptcy in the comics industry? On the contrary, I’m in favor of it.

Continue reading →

2012
02/01
CATEGORY
Comics
Essays
TAGS


Leave a comment