I’m really not sure how to evaluate—or classify—Panda Riot’s, “Far & Near.” The Chicago band’s synthbeat and shoegaze vocals may lull and disarm, but then a song like “When You Said, When I Said,” will cut in with razor guitar lines. You may remember their awesome cover of MIA’s “Paper Planes” from back in 2008. On this EP, they seem to be playing with their genre—not standing dream pop on its head so much as taking it to the edge of the precipice. Then jumping off.
Very interesting stuff. It’s shoegaze for folks who find shoegaze boring. Like me. For fans of: Liz Phair, The Stars, The Cocteau Twins.
Oh, and remember their cover of MIA’s Paper Planes? Check it out…..
I decided to bust out my weekly musings on superdoings into print and moving media this week, because there’s just so darn much I wanna talk about!
Please, give me comments if you like these features—I enjoy writing them, but I know that most of my regular readers come here for music . . .
1. MORGAN SPURLOCK MOVIES. The top story this week has to be that one of the most brilliant documentarians of all time, Morgan Spurlock, is going to turn his lens on the San Diego Comic-Con. Stan Lee, Joss Whedon and Harry Knowles will executive produce. They’re also looking for folks to interview and put in the movie. Here’s the details:
We are looking to cast original, eccentric, funny, touching, and mildly obsessive people that will capture the excitement, enthusiasm, joy, and passion of comic book, anime, sci-fi, and fantasy lovers everywhere. If this Convention will be the highlight of your year and you have a story to share about your passion, let us know. Join the fellowship, take part in this epic documentary, and write us at ComicConDoc@gmail.com. Include your name, phone number, a picture, and tell us your story.
2. MARVEL MOVIES. I guess the hype machines are going again. Rumor has it now that the 2012 film will feature the Skrulls and a hypnotized Hulk. True Merry Marvel Marchers know that Loki got Hulk to do nasty stuff way, way, WAY back in The Avengers #1, so we’re not totally rewriting history here. Just mostly. Rumor also has it that the film will be (ugh) in 3D. Non-rumor has it that Dominic Cooper is confirmed to play Howard Stark (Tony’s poppa) in the Captain America movie. I expect he’ll be designing the shield that made a cameo in Iron Man 2.
3. D.C. MOVIES. Is anyone who saw the preview even close to being interested in seeing Jonah Hex when it comes out in a few weeks? Looks terrible. On the other hand, Green Lantern moviepeople are already talking sequel. If the flick is good, I’ll consider forgiving them for stealing away our chances of getting a Deadpool movie any time soon.
4. IRON MAN, COWBOYS & ALIENS, AND HOWARD STERN. On Sirius Radio’s “Geek Time” show, Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau said that “Senator Stern” was named after Howard Stern, and offered the radio host a role in Cowboys & Aliens. (Stern said he wasn’t interested.) But of all the so-called superhero geeks associated with The Howard Stern Show and with Geek Time, had nobody heard of Roger Stern, the most important and influential Iron Man writer in history? Seems to me Favreau was clearly kissing Howard’s behind.
5. SMALLVILLE. Will be cancelled after next season. It’s about time. The show is getting old. Very old. And they’re still not saying whether he’ll put on the suit. Or if Lex Luthor will return. These are the two biggest faults with the series, so if these aren’t fixed, I doubt I’ll stick with it. I fast-forward through almost every episode these days, anyway.
6. METRIC—YES, THE BAND. And for my regular music readers, this last item: I’m not a fan of the Scott Pilgrim comic (it’s not bad, it’s just not my thing), but the movie looks great. As does the soundtrack, which will feature Metric, among other bands. Remember when Metric used to be one of the hugest things on the blogosphere, along with Rilo Kiley?
1.Intro
2.Infinite
3.Gone Again
4.Mixen’ Em Up (feat. Biggie, Big L, Tupac) 5.Warning Shot (Mariah Carey Diss)
6.Whatever
7.Just Dont
8.Lets Get It On (feat. Big Proof)
9.Beef (feat Mos Def, Big Proof, Nas)
10.Big Man Someday (feat. Lil Wayne) [Blend]
11.Jealousy Woes
12.Not Afraid
13.Backstabber
14.What You Gonna Do (feat Dr Dre, Obie Trice)
15.Waiting (feat. 50 Cent)
16.Shittin’ The Club
17.Never Too Far
18.Weezy Who (feat. Lil Wayne) [Blend]
19.Despicable Me [Freestyle]
20.Gone Again Part 2 (feat. Jay-Z)
21.Squirt Lemon In Their Eyes (feat. Magic) [Umastered Premake]
22.They Come, They Go (feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne) [Blend]
23.We Are Legends (feat. Tupac, Michael Jackson)
24.Fiya (feat. Nate Dogg, 50 Cent, Young Buck)
25.Love (feat. Obie Trice, 50 Cent)
26.Airplanes (feat. B.O.B., Hayley Williams)
27.Still Remember (feat. Lil Wayne) [Blend]
28.Pistol x2 (feat. Lil Wayne, D12) [Blend]
29.Shadys (feat. Kanye West, Bobby Creewater) [Blend]
30.Outro
Houston Texas’ John Dew is another rapper who wants you to hear his music so bad, he’s wiling to give it away. There’s a lot of guys like these days—I must get ten or twelve submissions a week—so I need quick screen-out factors. But in this case, it was a screen-in factor that got my ears busy. On track six of Summertime Johnny, Dew teams up with one of my favorite new rappers: Hollywood FLOSS.
Now, slow Southern style is not my favorite kind of hip hop. In fact, it’s probably in my bottom three. Along with Crunk and whatever you call that affected, pseudoback stuff Drake does. But Dew brings enough variety to his EP, particularly in the production (less so the flow) to keep it fresh. Lyrically, he’s also several notches above the average myspace rapper. Again, the whole EP is free, but I’m gonna suggest that you cut right to Globe Trotter, with a terrific hook and excellent lyrics about being creative and focused. Southern rap that isn’t always about getting high, getting laid, or getting rich.
Robert Kirkman has established his narrative credibility with The Walking Dead series. It is aptly named, because the book is essentially a very, very long walk through the lives of the survivors of a zombie plague. It has no clear end in sight (other than death), no five-issue story arcs, no predictable characters or cyphers, no spandex, and no color. And even if borrowed heavily from the classic film 28 Days Later in its first issue, any cribbing disappeared quickly and left no lasting effects. The book has been recognized as a masterpiece by no less than The New York Times, and if you haven’t read it yet, this is the perfect time: The first 50 issues were recently compiled in a doorstop-heavy single volume. That may sound intimidating, but I guarantee you’ll read it fast. And want more. But The Walking Dead is so “un-comic-book” that you might be wondering if Kirkman can do anything more conventional.
Well, he has written for some of Marvel’s more off-kilter titles (Marvel Zombies, Ultimate X-Men) and even some straightforward stuff on Captain America. He’s also got his own “family of heroes” title, “Invincible,” which has gotten good reviews but it never really worked for me. I haven’t had the time or money to check out “The Astounding Wolf-Man” and “Capes,” which a lot of folks rave about. (Note: Kirkman recently announced that Wolf-Man will end with #25, so I expect there will be a big bound volume available soon.) But I did see the first Trade Paperback of Haunt on the shelf at Victory Comics in Falls Church and figured I’d give it a try.
The series is part Firestorm, part espionage, and part gore-filled monster flick. The writing is solid, exciting, taut and completely unpredictable. It’s as good as Kirkman’s work on The Walking Dead, but also very difficult to compare. Haunt is more conventional, in that the first Trade is a clear story arc (“The Origin!”), and it’s got more traditional characters as well. But Kirkman handles it expertly–so that it is as fresh as anything else you’ll read.
As for the art, I’ve never liked Todd MacFarlane more. MacFarlane is best known for his Spider-Man work, but unless he was drawing Carnage or Venom, he never really worked for me on that book–his stuff is a lot like John Romita, Jr., but it’s a little too . . . Creepy. His Spawn project was pretty good, but the story never got me. Here, he’s a perfect match. Å possessed secret agent, “Haunt” is a lanky, fluid character with large eyes and claws. In short, he looks like Spider-Man. And the story is in constant motion, just like MacFarlane’s “posed” style. Every frame is a poster. It’s that good. And the pages are well-arranged, laid out with clear vision.
This book gets an A+ from me. You need to buy it. Now.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because these EPs are free, they’re not worth having.
First, it’s Someone Has Foiled Our Plans—the latest release from The Cloud I’m Under is free. The Cloud I’m Under is actually one dude, a New Yorker who makes synthpop that tastes a little like The Cure and Gary Numan. In fact, it’s a lot like Gary Numan. And I’ve always dug him.
Second, it’s the debut release by Brothers at Sea, “This Is a Redemption Melody.” They’re five Orange County, Cali, piano-and-guitar indie rockers. Think The Fray. You can get the entire thing free from purevolume, and taste a song below . . . For Being Brave
I teetered on the fence of whether to review Vanguard Villains’ “Brooklyn Demos” for a little while because it didn’t seem new to me. It sounded familiar to a fault: Downtempo songs about longing with strummed guitar and a strong bass-and-drum line. Loud-soft combos. Urgent hooks and choruses. But when I got to closer, “Unexecuted,” two things happened. First, I realized I had listened all the way to the end, and the time had passed quickly. Second, I found a song that was unlike anything else on the record, with exception guitar work and a bizarre fast break at the end.
Going back over it, I found I dug songs like “Fade” and “Night Howling,” radio friendly as they are. The album has movement and flow, and repeated listenings reveal a depth that is not easily apparent at first. It’s easy to write this band off as another group of ‘90s alt-rock throwbacks from Brooklyn. You can’t throw a rock into a basement below 6th Avenue without hitting one. But that would be a mistake. The Vanguard Villains are more than a few steps above that. These demos have strong potential, and it will be interesting to see how the band develops.
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WHAT THE HELL IS BERKELEY PLACE?"Berkeley Place" has been a blog since 2000.
Berkeley Place is also 6 blocks of Brooklyn real estate, emerging from Sackett St. and ending at Banana Hill, a small park that grows a foot each year from dog shit and the corpses of dead rats. Though its residents have gotten wealthier over the decades, Berkeley Place still houses folks of all backgrounds with interests in, well, everything.
WHAT THE HELL GOES ON HERE?Ekko reviews independent music, comic books, and whatever else interests him.
WHAT THE HELL IS INDIE MUSIC?An independent record label (or indie record label) is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels.
- Wikipedia.org
That means they ain't in the RIAA, dude.
director Jon Favreau said that “Senator Stern” was named after Howard Stern, and offered the radio host a role in Cowboys & Aliens. (Stern said he wasn’t interested.) But of all the so-called superhero geeks associated with The Howard Stern Show and with Geek Time, had nobody heard of Roger Stern, the most important and influential Iron Man writer in history? Seems to me Favreau was clearly kissing Howard’s behind.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because these EPs are free, they’re not worth having.
Second, it’s the debut release by 
