Dinosaur Jr.- I Bet On Sky (Jagjaguwar, 2012) The opening notes threw me a bit off-balance. I’ve grown to expect Dinosaur Jr. records to open with giant washes of guitar, going full-throttle from the very first second, but this is…
Author: Patrick A. Reed
Hip-Hop Comics: Eric Orr’s Rappin’ Max Robot
The story of Hip-Hop and Comics is long and convoluted. Hip-Hop began as a communal expression, a bunch of kids in the South Bronx looking for a way to have a good time and move away from the world of…
Hip-Hop Comics: An Introduction. Eighties Exploitation- Vibe, Wolfpack.
Hip-Hop comics are difficult to define, much as Hip-Hop itself is. They’re an entirely different thing than Pop Music Comics, and they deserve their own forum for discussion. This is an important distinction to make, because Hip-Hop is more than…
Album Reviews: Public Enemy, Kendra Morris, Beetnix, Arrested Development
Public Enemy- Most Of My Heroes Still Don’t Appear On No Stamp (Enemy Reords/Spit Digital 2012) Public Enemy. Musical innovators, political provocateurs, Hip-Hop icons. This is the first of two new albums they have slated for release before the year…
Comic Review Round-Up: The Only Living Boy, Battlepug, Lady Sabre
The Only Living Boy #1 (Bottled Lightning Comics) The Only Living Boy is an entrancing ballad of a little boy lost, an epic fantasy with an intimate focus. It conjures a fully-realized environment of mysterious ruins and gladiators and monsters…
Starwarsploitation Sounds: Star Wars On Record, 1977-1979 [Revised And Expanded]
[This article was originally published on July 29, 2012 – the substantially revised and expanded version can now be read here.] After Star Wars became a blockbuster success in 1977, it came as very little surprise that lots of cash-in…
Pop Music Comics: David Lapham’s Young Liars
While some pop comics focus on trying to evoke emotions through particular musical references, that’s not the tack that David Lapham took with his (sadly short-lived) Young Liars series. Two song titles emblazoned on a cassette appear at the start…
Mission Of Burma- Unsound (Fire Records, 2012)
Ten years and four albums into the second act of their career, Mission Of Burma continue to work exponential wonders. Their new release, Unsound, is as visceral and immediate as any album I’ve heard this year (and possibly this lifetime)…
Blur- Under The Westway b/w The Puritan (EMI, 2012)
On July 2nd, Blur released two new songs. It’s the group’s first material to see the light of day in a couple of years. And though they’ve stayed busy in the intervening time with sporadic live shows and innumerable side…
Single Reviews: Slavic Soul Party, Public Enemy, Nas vs. Massive Attack
Slavic Soul Party- Jackson b/w Gangsta (Electric Cowbell Records) Slavic Soul Party is a Balkan-fusion brass band that produces a unique form of melting-pot musical madness. Their new single, “Jackson” — now available on 7″ single from Electric Cowbell Records…