Graphic Novel Read of the Month : MILES DAVIS AND SEARCH FOR THE SOUND by DAVE CHISHOLM

This is a relatively pricey book for what is a very slight hardcover. I was unfamiliar with the writer/artist and had only the very cursory understanding of Miles Davis that most of us over a certain age have. But based on praise for this book by a streaming channel I watched, I gave this book a chance.

Bloody Hell. This book is phenomenal, and worth every penny I paid for it. The art is not just beautiful, it is conceptual.

It strives in its wonderful construction and flow of images, to give a sense of Miles grasping toward this sound he was continually pushing toward and evolving from. And Chisholm’s inroad into this story, bits of Miles’ own autobiography, is genius. Chisolm’s storytelling of this larger than life visionary whose orbit is some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century…  is compulsive and addictive and brilliant. And Chisholm himself being a life long musician, imbues into his storytelling and his art, that love for music, and that ephemeral sense… of the sound.

The highest praise I can give this book, is  I am now on the hunt for everything by Dave Chisholm as writer/artist. And I am on a hunt for the music highlighted in this book. The book brings into relief the monumental effort to conceive this sound, and that we have it available on Cds is a gift. That it was recorded at all is a gift, and having read this book I have to add to my anemic Miles Davis collection ( I only have KIND OF BLUE) and get everything by Miles Davis and many of the other geniuses highlighted in this book. On CD of course. LPs are not my thing ( I don’t mind getting the odd one for the album art, or liner notes, or because it is not available on CD, but otherwise CD all the way), I grew up in the age of LPs, and I thank heaven for the improvements of CDs. I am not one of those who confuse nostalgia with the truth. LPs sucked. It is like cassettes… a degenerative medium, the more you play it, the worse the sound gets. Optical drives freed us of that. Let us not toss them out, in favor of nostalgia that lies… that has always lied.

We now live in the age of streaming and Itunes and Spotify, and those are all great for finding music, but once you find that album you love, there is no substitute for really enjoying it then owning it in a well mastered, mp3 free, CD. Mp3s are great for finding music, however full wav cds are great for actually experiencing the music.

I have a great portable CD player, great headphones, and thanks to this book and a few other things, I start 2024 with a MASSIVE CD buying spree.

Because a lot of people are short sighted, and are letting the best format consumers have ever had, CDs (optical drives), dry up. Not me. I will always have an optical drive in my car, my house, my laptop, and a portable player to listen to when in the mood.

I would urge you to pick up these CDs while they are in print, and while you can.

Get two, one to keep, and one to sell when they go out of print and others are looking to hear this music, not on degenerative, scratchy LPs, or compressed to death MP3s, but in the best fidelity possible. The CD.

Enough with the praise. Here are the links:

 

 

This is a relatively affordable selection of some of Miles’ musical high-points. Click on the images, grab yourself a Cd if moved to. All purchases through the links earn this blog a few much appreciated pennies, and you get great music and reads. A win-win!

Favorite Streaming Film of the Day : Netflix’s HALLELUJAH : LEONARD COHEN , A JOURNEY, A SONG

I first heard the song HALLELUJAH sung by Jeff Buckley, and I think that is the perfect introduction to this most labored over, and ultimately most beautiful song.

If one can compare a song to a sword in the stone, a sword made (years in the making, the forging) by LEONARD Cohen, it was then shaped and sharpened beautifully by arranger/producer John Lissauer, championed and kept alive by Bob Dylan, reforged by LEONARD Cohen into something drastically different, and tempered to its perfect cutting edge, its ultimate form (combining both of Cohen’s versions, the Spiritual and Secular versions) by John Cale of velvet Underground.

The song, with Cale’s cover, his merging  of the different versions into one perfect version, the lyrics were now perfect, the song was now perfect, the sword was now perfect. It waited only for the right person to pull it all the way from the stone.

The perfect song, waited for the perfect voice, Excalibur waited patiently for the coming of the boy King.

It waited for Jeff Buckley.

And Jeff Buckley pulled it from the stone, and King met sword. His version is still for me, with the hundreds of people who have covered it since, Buckley’s is the definitive version, it is a moment of grace… captured… distilled.

And I will always be thankful for Leonard Cohen birthing this song, a song that has outlived all those who made it sing. But we have those songs, and we have the story of Leonard Cohen in this documentary, Hallelulah being very much his changing spiritual and humanistic journey over time, but more it speaks to all of our journeys to find… if we be human… to find a moment of grace. And all the lives that he has touched with his song writing and his life, all the lives and artists that have been caught up in this cry… this broken Hallelujah.

I watched this documentary, and Hallelujah sung by Jeff Buckley is one of my favorite songs, (I generally judge people by whether or not they own Jeff Buckley’s GRACE Album on CD), and I found myself learning a lot about how that song came to be, its progress toward the Boy King, and its life since the fall of that same King.

I learned of the life of LEONARD Cohen, of his journey, of his yearning toward, striving toward… what great art always strives for…. moments of grace. A gift of grace.

I do not think I am an overly emotional person, not on the surface. But somethings touch me deeply. The striving in a world full of pain, to create however fleeting a balm toward pain, toward isolation, toward fear, toward the search… to create art with a capital ‘A’… the sacrifice that takes… the courage that takes… moves me deeply.

I felt while watching this documentary, by the time i came to the end of it, something wet out of my left eye, and my nose was running, and it was stupidly a long time before I understood i had something to say…  i opened my mouth, not sure what waited there… i thought it might be a scream, but there was no noise, no noise… there was just a cold and broken Hallelujah.

I desperately want this documentary (by directors/producers daniel geller and dayna goldfine, and released by sony classics) on DVD or Blu-ray. It deserves more than the impermanence of streaming.

If you find this post of value, please like, subscribe, comment, use the links below, or simply help someone have a moment… of grace.

 

“It is a cold and broken Hallelujah”

-Leonard Cohen

 

 

 

“You look around and you see a world that is impenetrable, that cannot be made sense of. You either raise your fist,, or you say ‘Hallelujah’.

I try to do both.”

—LEONARD COHEN

Favorite Audio Books of May 2021!! CHOICE ONE — Alex Ross’ KINGDOM COME!!

 

I LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVEVEEEEEEEEEEEE this audio book!. I’ve had the audio cassette for years and ripped my copy to cd so I can listen to it when in my car going to/from work, etc.  I Loved the graphic novel so much that when I heard about the audio book, I just had to have it.

And this audio book, actually does what I thought was impossible. it makes the graphic novel, which I consider a masterpiece and one of my favorite books, even richer and more beloved.

That said it has been a good couple years since I have found these CDs and revisited this audio book. I listened to them this week…. and it still hits me the same…. my goodness I LOVE this audio book.

And I know Mark Waid the scripter is not a fan of this audio book, but I adore it. And what gets lost about KINGDOM COME, the graphic novel that inspires this audio book, when discussing it, is it is Alex Ross’ KINGDOM COME. 

Click the image above to own the ABSOLUTE KINGDOM COME while it is still in print. A must own.

Alex Ross was not just the artist on the book, KINGDOM COME, it was his brain-child, he conceived it, this was and is very much Alex Ross’ story that he brought to DC,  this idea of the Twilight of the Gods, even to having his Dad in the book as a central character, and DC paired him with Mark Waid to flesh out the story and create the script and structure.

 

And all due respect to Mark Waid (you can’t have a much better scripter/writer to flesh out your ideas, and make your concept better, especially when it comes to DC Characters and history and imbuing it with a sense of the iconic and the nostalgic);  but I do think we need to give due respect to Alex Ross, and start giving him his due praise for the story even existing, and its romantic, and  even spiritual nature… giving us the gist of this story about —  faith rewarded.

And here another great writer and lover of all things DC, Elliot S. Maggin, takes the Graphic Novel and adapts it for the novel and the audio book, I think with faithful and momentous and heartfelt results.

“5.0 out of 5 stars Read the comic, then read this exceptional novelization

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

The best novelization of a comic I’ve ever read, hands down. In fact, this is better than any novelization of a film I’ve ever read, either. From Elliot S! Maggin comes an adaptation that matches the iconic, mythic feel and grandeur of the original story. He adds such rich detail and additional story that I tend to tell people that it’s not enough to just read the comic anymore, that a full appreciation for and understanding of the story requires also reading this novelization. I give it an enthusiastic recommendation”–Amazon.com Reviewer

Moments in this audio book never fail to give me chills or make me teary eyed or make me inspired. The audio eliciting memories of Alex Ross’ stunning iconic painted moments. So yes, you very much need to have read the Graphic Novel first, to appreciate the audio book.

I’ll post links to both items,  and more, throughout this post.

“And fingers that can fuse coal into diamond, crawl across human bone. And in the hush, ears that can hear a cell divide, pick out with chilling ease, the  scream of human rage.”

Holy Effing Crap.

I think the performers with one or two brief exceptions for the bit players, are all fantastic. The main characters, Superman, Batman, WonderWoman, Magog, Norman McKay, Wesley Dodds, Spectre, many more— are all picture perfect.

Alex Ross meets Mark Waid meet Elliott Maggin— all add up to the best DC adaptation ever made.

The cassettes have dried up, but sometimes you can catch one popping up from time to time. And hopefully one day they will release the CD (but wouldn’t hold my breath, considering it has been over 20 years since the Audio Book was released). However, if you can snag a copy, it is worth having.

Strongly Recommended!!!

 

Song of the Day: HALLELUJAH by the late, great Jeff Buckley

One of the reasons I love the Snyder Cut Trailer, despite the fact I do not think a reedited film will make that C-/D+ movie substantially any better ( though I would love to be pleasantly surprised, the trailer does look great), is simply because I love the song HALLELUJAH. Many years ago I listened to the Jeff Buckley version, and my –appreciation– for that song remains undiminished, regardless who sings it. But for that song at its best, you have to go to the Jeff Buckley version, of the Leonard Cohen classic.

First let’s start with the OG, Leonard Cohen.

Now let’s move on to the version that made me a fan of the song:

And finally this live performance video is not Buckley’s best performance of the song. It is tired and worn and imperfect, and tortured, but for all those reasons, it is an essential glimpse at Jeff Buckley before his untimely passing, and an essential inspiration to all of us, in what it means to perform, even when you are not sure if you have anything left to perform with.

 

 

 

After doing this post I checked and to my dismay realized I did not have the Legacy CD version of GRACE. For a physical media head like me, that’s an unforgivable omission.

Come the beginning of the world or the end of it there are a few things every man or woman of note should have: A good pickup truck, a good shotgun, a good knife, some good books, some good movies, some good CDs, and a portable DVD player to platy them all on.

Jeff Buckley’s GRACE should be one of those cds.

Get yours by clicking the image above.

And get a decent portable player, as well as the headphones I recommend, here:

 

 

Jeff Buckley Lyrics

“Hallelujah”
(originally by Leonard Cohen)

Well, I heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah…Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

Well, baby, I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor (you know)
I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

Well, there was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do ya?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah…
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah…
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

5 favorite audio books NOT available via streaming, spotify or Audible! Book #5 WOLFEN!

There are about two dozen truly great audio actors, whose work on audio books, is a MUST OWN. Among them are Orson Welles, David Birney, Harlan Ellison, Roddy McDowall, James Mason, Michael Boatman to name a few.

Some of these guys work, for various reasons such as rights etc, are not available via streaming or in some cases even on CD. But these are preeminent works, of the greatest voice actors of their respective era, giving their greatest deliveries. And they can still be picked up via LP or cassette, at affordable prices, and deserve to be.

Once bought on LP or cassette go ahead and digitize it so you have these must own works in a preserved format. Here then without further ado, is the first of our 5 must own audio books!

Roddy McDowall reads WOLFEN- I am a huge fan of the 1981 WOLFEN film, I think it is a flawed, but unjustly overlooked masterpeice. However, I love this audio book version as much, perhaps even more, and that iis down to Roddy McDowall.

Roddy McDowall, a prolific actor with over 250 credits to his name, who is likely only remembered by a younger generation for his turn in FRIGHT NIGHT (1985),  gave some of the great, humanistic performances of cinema in his abundant career. From Academy Award winning turn in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941)  to his immortal role as Caesar in PLANET OF THE APES (1968) to THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973) to the aforementioned FRIGHT NIGHT (1985), and everything in between, Roddy McDowall, despite the quality of the film or script, never gave a bad performance. The consummate actor, he always carried his role, you always believed him; and he brings that veracity to this audio book, and paints with his voice the hallowed and harrowing world of WOLFEN.

Click on the link below to acquire this essential bit of audio book history.

 

The Wolfen Audio Cassette – June 1, 1990

Material Type:	Fiction, Audio book, etc.
Document Type:	Sound Recording
All Authors / Contributors:	Whitley Strieber; Roddy McDowall Find more information about:

ISBN:	1558002227 9781558002227
OCLC Number:	21983678
Notes:	Abridged from the author’s book of the same title.
Performer(s):	Reader, Roddy McDowall.
Description:	2 audiocassettes (approximately 180 min.) : digital, Dolby processed, 1/8 in. tape
Responsibility:	author, Whitley Strieben.

Currently Listening To – SICARIO and THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING by Johann Johannsson

I am currently listening to the score of the late, great, ‘left us way too soon’ Johann Johannsson.

I absolutely adore the compulsive and propulsive score to SICARIO, and currently listening to his completely different but completely as mesmerizing score for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.

What amazes about his score is it does not tread water, it does not overstay its welcome, or pad out the running time with filler. The score gets in, delivers its moments to you, and gets out.

Not a wasted chord, which is incredibly rare. These days a lot of scores feel like they are trying to make a minimum length, they feel padded. Not so with SICARIO or what I’m hearing on THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING. There does not feel to be an extraneous or tired chord,

His style in its surety, and experimentation and power, is reminiscent of the film scores of Quincy Jones at his best, most notably Quincy Jones phenomenal score for his ground breaking IN COLD THE BLOOD, which hands down is one of the greatest scores ever made. And why the EFF almost 60 years later that score is not available on CD, (akin to the way the best films of Ousmane Sembene, CAMP DE THIAROYE etc, are not availanle on DVD or Blu-Ray – I’m looking at you ARROW and CRITERION) is not an oversight, that is a crime.

 

Click on the image to pick up the album, the only way to hear Quincy Jones seminal work. It is a MUST OWN. 

 

But getting back to the scores of Johann Johannsson, which thankfully are available on CD, if you don’t own his CDs, forget just streaming compressed MP3s, buy a quality $50 portable player, get some decent headphones, enjoy the music as close to the way the artist intended as possible.

Use the links below… and put aside witch hunts and social media bs posing as law, and politicians using fear to further grab power and disenfranchise the masses.

Put aside social media weaponized to remove and demonize those who actually stood up to oligarchs, and fought for you the people.

You, the people, who are so easily stampeded by hashtags and twitter and face-book into eating your own (you butcher the dogs that defend the flock…for being dogs, unaware that they were the only things that kept the wolves at bay)…

 

Let’s put all that on the back-burner for now, and embrace music, that may just help us…think better, in a world where so few of us think at all.

Enjoy these marvels,  from a marvel of a composer. Use Spotify or Amazon Music to try before you buy, then Click on the images to order it in still the best format… CD.

 

 

 

Come back for future installments where we cover the below albums, and much more. And till then subscribe, comment, email, like, and support the links.

It all helps to keep this blog going, and a voice that is perhaps a little different…. out there.

 

Thanks in advance for your support!

 

Today’s Deal of the Day – Please click and Support!!!

 

Today’s 2nd Deal of the Day – Please click and Support!!!

 

 

• Black Panther 2018- I hate the fact they only offer the compressed MP3 version on CD, and not a full , wave, uncompressed CD of Goransson’s award winning music. The closest they offer is an LP, and I am not an LP fan, LP does not offer the dynamic range of CD and is a degradation prone medium. I’ll get it for now, but I want a full uncompressed CD! Just for longevity sake. More on this in an upcoming installment.

• The Crow

1994

• Love Jones

1997

• The Sheltering Sky

1990

• Apocalypse Now

1979

• 2001: A Space Odyssey

1968

• The Harder They Come

1972

• Super Fly

1972

Under The Skin
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Score by Mica Levi

 

One Day Left for Prime Deals 2019! And here are the ones everyone forgot!

A lot of people are concentrating on the tech deals, but there are also deals on what Amazon initially built its empire on… books.

 

Here then are great book deals recommended for you to pick up this Prime Day… and beyond. (While supplies last!).

Everyone is aware of Kareem Abdul Jabbar as one of the great basketball players of all time. Fewer are aware of him as an acclaimed writer. From non-fiction books on all Black tank units in World War II, to his recent Graphic novel work, Kareem Abdul Jabbar proves himself as compelling a writer as he is a personality. I recommend this Prime Day, picking up his books and audio books.

 

https://amzn.to/2jGI80Y

https://amzn.to/2lJvqiN

https://amzn.to/2kcEoV8

https://amzn.to/2lJxIhT

https://amzn.to/2lImXML

The last link above is for the audio cd. There is only ONE left. So hopefully I beat you guys to it. 🙂

 

https://amzn.to/2lkVVek

The hardcover is almost sold out.

 

And below is his new Mycroft book, the third in the series, coming out this September.

https://amzn.to/2lJMs0d

And I would definitely also recommend the graphic novel, available here:

https://amzn.to/2lJbsEZ

Use the links, get a great item for yourself, and earn a couple pennies for this humble blog. A win-win! 🙂

 

Youtube Channel of the Day : CEREAL AT MIDNIGHT and why Physical media Matters in the age of Digital!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsVgZNzzvedehALS-dTIFhA

 

CEREAL AT MIDNIGHT –  Is the only Youtube channel devoted to physical media, DVDs, CDs, Blu-Rays, etc that I am subscribed to. Just a great channel, with a personable host, showing his love for physical media.Love his channel, highly recommend it for all fans of physical media. They have a nice recent episode, perfect for Halloween, and the films of the great Vincent Price.

For those of you saying either ‘what is physical media?’, or ‘boo! hiss!’ to physical media, here is me… about to break it down.

Here is the thing, streaming is fine, and VOD is fine, and Hulu is fine, and Spotify is fine, but at the end of the day, it is all vaguely out of your control. And we live in a Millennial age where the mob thinks nothing of bigger issues such as Anti-Trust and eradication of public domain and setting up a Monopolistic regime, with no viable competition, just as long as they get to see Avengers in the same movie as Fantasic Four. If you don’t understand that, do a search for Disney, and add all those words i just mentioned… and maybe when the searches return… a lightbulb will go off.

We live in an age where the masses think nothing about the loss of privacy and human rights, as long as they get to easily scream at people in their MMOGonline game.

 

Between you and your entertainment is various levels of gatekeepers, from your ISP to your cloud storage, to your streaming platform. And we live in a bullshit age of witch-hunts and ‘me too’ bs bandwagon jumping, where people can get fired and vilified before they have a day in court, and programs and movies  can be censored or altered based on the screaming of the uninformed mob, or soundtrack altered due to rights issues.

Where you don’t have to be proven guilty, you just have to be attacked like you are.

So suddenly that movie you love, may or may not be available depending on licensing agreements, and it may or may not be the same edit of the version you grew up with. It could be censored to comply with the sensibilities of fools, or the fear of companies , that faceless twitter trolls will say bad things about them.

‘I hate, hate, hate… Peter Pan!’ In my best Dustin Hoffman, Hook Voice.

God bless the child that has his own.

Here’s the thing, gatekeepers, businesses are always behind the curve, and seldom do anything for the good of the people, or posterity. They do it because of expedience and the bottom line, and that is contrary and in direct opposition… to culture. The health of it, and the growth of it.

We here in the 21st century have access to movies from the Silent age of cinema, and radio shows from the dawn of sound, and TV shows from the infancy of the medium, not because of businesses, but in spite of them.

It was collectors decades ago, when businesses could not perceive the idea of a radio show being listened to over, or a television show being re-watched, or a movie after its initial run being rescreened, it was collectors, just normal people like you and I, who preserved these things, when the gatekeepers, burnt the films, and erased the tapes, and recorded over the video tapes, it was collectors who saved much of the early history of mass media. And it was collectors who ultimately taught them, the gatekeepers, the businesses,  to value these things, if not for the love, then for the monetary value it could generate.

But still, for all the teaching, Businesses and the Gatekeepers, while they have definitely learned to monetize, and secure the rights to everything they create, they still have not learned to respect the creations.

The creations remain to them as mercurial and open to change as a ledger balance. While they control art, the gatekeepers and businesses do not understand art. And therefore art will always be at risk in such hands. Will always be at risk in the hands of accountants.

So end of the day, I love having all these shows and movies and music, available via gatekeepers, via VOD, and Hulu, and Spotify, and Itunes, etc.

But end of the day, have your hard media to fall back on, against the day that ISPY or AIRPLANE or HOUSE OF CARDS or insert show here, is not politically correct to view or hear or watch.

End of the day, do not trust the things you love… to gatekeepers. Own the shows you love in a form that no gatekeeper can edit at their whim, or remove, or bar you from.

So that is one reason I’m a fan of CEREAL AT MIDNIGHT. It is a reminder that physical media is still out there, and can be picked up affordably. And is worth picking up.

Here endeth the rant! 🙂

Best & Favorite of 2017!!!

This is a bit belated but I think you will find a nice overview to 2017 and pointers to 2018 in the ramblings below.

Favorite movies seen in the Theater in 2017:

KONG:SKULL ISLAND

LOGAN

 

I only saw two movies in the theater in 2017, so looking to improve on that in 2018. Nothing in January had me jazzed to pay theater prices for, however I am looking forward to the following in 2018:

EQUALIZER 2

 

FAVORITE TV SHOWS IN 2017:

• LEGION
• TAKEN
• POWER
• AMERICAN NINJA
• CHOPPED
• AMERICAN PICKERS
• LOVE IT OR LIST IT
• LETHAL WEAPON
• THE GRAND TOUR
• GODLESS
• RUNAWAYS

FAVORITE STREAMING TV CHANNEL IN 2017

The one two punch of AMAZON PRIME and HULU gets this award. NETFLIX that was riding high in 2016 with LUKE CAGE and other shows, had a disappointing 2017. With a non user friendly interface compared to Amazon Prime and a selection of shows and movies that weren’t as interesting or well curated as either HULU or AMAZON PRIME, I cancelled my membership at the end of 2017. The last straw being the overhyped and ultimately lackluster PUNISHER series, as well as news of the studios pulling their content from Netflix.

In 2018 the TV shows that I am or will be watching are:

CASTLE ROCK

GRAND TOUR

TAKEN (I think the new showrunner made a mistake getting rid of most of the cast from season 1, but hopefully he can course correct and fix it)

STRIKE BACK and ELEMENTARY return after long hiatuses

LONGMEYER went out with a bit of a whimper, so looking forward to YELLOWSTONE

JACK RYAN

LETHAL WEAPON

CHOPPED

IZOMBIE

BLACK LIGHTNING

AMERICANS

And lastly looking forward to Season 2 of what, without question, was the best, most inventive TV show of 2017, Noah Hawley’s LEGION.

And for those keeping score… LUKE CAGE tied with FARGO Season 2 (Also by Noah Hawley) were the best TV shows of 2015, and DAREDEVIL Season 1 was the best TV show of 2014.

 

BEST MUSIC OF 2017

I loved everything binaural in 2017, adding many great CDs to my collection. THE HEAVY and GREGORY PORTER remained in heavy rotation. Gregory Porter being my favorite live performance of 2017. And I added new interests RAG N BONE MAN, Andra day and Brian Ferneyhough. With Spotify to allow me to try before I buy, I’m looking forward in 2018 to discovering more great music, both old and new.

BEST READS OF 2017

I didn’t read as many novels, or listen to as many audio books in 2017 as I did in previous years, so I definitely hope to turn that around in 2018.

I did do substantially better with Art Books, Graphic Novels, Reference Books, and comics in 2017. Some of the standouts:

 

MATT BAKER THE ART OF GLAMOUR

CREEPING DEATH FROM NEPTUNE

THE WOLVERTON BIBLE

ARTIST EDITION BASIL WOLVERTON (This and the other two previous books having to do with Basil Wolverton, I went all in on him in 2017. Still absorbing these three books here in 2018)

JACKIE ORMES

THE SIGNATURE ART OF BRIANSTELFREEZE

SEX AND HORROR THE ART OF ALESSANDRO BIFFIGNANDI

In 2018 writers I intend to go all in on are Percival Everett, Victor Lavalle, Colin Whitehead and Walter Mosley, as well as revisiting work by Ligotti, Lebbon, Ellison, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Bennett.

 

In 2017 Marvel had a great POWER MAN AND IRON FIST series I was reading, the only thing I was buying monthly from Marvel Comics. And Marvel letting greed get in the way of common sense, killed a series everyone was loving, with a creative team everyone was loving, David Walker and Brian Stelfreeze, to instead both dilute audience attention and oversaturate the market with multiple books, almost all of which are ready to be canceled. So going into 2018, with Marvel sticking to their insane $3.99 price point per book, there are no titles I pick up from Marvel Comics.

 

In 2017 DEATHSTROKE by Christopher Priest was the only DC Comic I was getting on a monthly base. It’s arguably the one series that you can just pick up and enjoy without having to read any other title, or care about any other title. Priest has been able to just do… what he does best, create a fantastic read; month in and month out. So it is the only DC book I’m reading in 2018. However, greed rears its ugly heads and the idiots who get paid to make stupid decisions have decided to add DEATHSTROKE to their floundering team book… JLA,  basically gutting the standalone nature of the comic that allows Priest, to do his magic. Basically the same poor decision making that happened last year with POWER MAN AND IRON FIST.

 

I figure the conversation went like this… ‘man everyone is talking about this book, let’s put the characters in multiple other books, and then they will be talking about all those other books too.’ No, you EFFING morons! The reason people are enjoying POWER MAN AND INRON FIST or DEATHSTROKE is because it is well drawn and well written and not part of your insipid crossover infested universe. Your very attempts to duplicate that success, without understanding it, will kill the character in the new book, and kill interest in the character in the original book.

So yeah here’s hoping someone with brains over at DC, vetoes the horrible idea to put DEATHSTROKE in the JLA, because I’m not going to read the JLA, and you’re editorial interference will create a character that no longer works in his solo book. You have therefore killed the golden goose and have nothing to show for it.

 

The good news is when you get sick of the stupid decisions and overpriced ad laden product at DC and MARVEL, you have great content from other publishers to enjoy. Publishers that give you more for your money. Publishers such as IMAGE, AFTERSHOCK, DARK HORSE and many more.

As far as where to buy new comics from, a lot of people will steer you to DCBS. I personally in terms of pure customer service and ease or ordering prefer LONE STAR COMICS. You can order comics in advance from the at http://www.mycomicshop.com at a discount.

 

They are highly recommended, and I use them myself, and this is an unpaid recommendation. Tell them Heroic Times sent you.

 

And wrapping this up, favorite podcasts of 2017:

 

11OCLOCK COMICS

COMIC GEEK SPEAK

WTF with Marc Maron

BLACK TAPES

GEEK SYNDICATE

 

To name a few. Okay that is it for my 2017 Pop Culture overview. Thanks for bearing with it and if you enjoy, spread the word. Enjoy WEEK #6 of 2018!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Deals of the Day! Amazon Edition!

DEALS OF THE DAY!

‘With this CD on Winter & Winter, the Arditti String Quartet celebrates 40 years of cutting-edge performances. Long recognized as the leading string quartet in avant-garde circles, and admired for the brilliance and virtuosity of its performances of the most demanding works, the Arditti gave its first concert in March, 1974, and over four decades it has not stopped rehearsing, studying, performing, and recording the most challenging music of our time. This program consists of 14 short works by some of the most prominent contemporary composers — Wolfgang Rihm, Hans Abrahamsen, Toshio Hosokawa,Brian Ferneyhough, Brice Pauset, Mark Andre, Marco Stroppa, Liza Lim, Harrison Birtwistle, Hilda Paredes, James Clarke, Georg Friedrich Haas, Uri Caine, and Johannes Maria Staud — and the variety of their compositions makes this survey a fascinating exploration of innovative techniques and original concepts. Adventurous listeners will be impressed by the Arditti’s fearlessness and directness in approaching this uncompromising music, and the liner notes by violinist Irvine Arditti provide background information that will be helpful to those just discovering the group.’ — All Music

View/price it here:

http://amzn.to/2EsqSTm

FERNEYHOUGH:TERRAIN – with the 21st century’s most complex composer ‘s most famous CD out of print and commanding multiples of its msrp, this TERRAIN cd is a good way to sample some of the composers best works without taking out a mortgage. Great CD at an affordable price.

Get tge CD here:

http://amzn.to/2BGw1Ed

 

Jack Kirby’s FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS – At over 1200pages this hardcover is big enough to go into battle with, or you can do something more traditional with it and enjoy it and put it on your bookshelf. Rushed out just at the end of 2017, to be part of the 100th Anniversary of Jack Kirby, it is easily the must own collected edition/graphic novel to have. The first printing does have a printing error, all that rushing I was talking about. One page is printed twice. It is an easily corrected error.

You can find details here:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/12/21/fourth-world-omnibus-major-printing-error/

I printed the correct page (found at the link above) on my color printer and slipped it in the book at the correct spot. Job done. And sure we can wait for a corrected edition, or future printing, but considering we have no idea when or if that is happening, my 10 cent fix more than suffices.

Get your copy, while it is still below cover price, here:

 

http://amzn.to/2ErGztV

 

Come back next time for more… Deals of the Day!