DON'T FORGET, TRUE BELIEVERS...

Free Comic Book Day is only 3 days away! Always the first Saturday in May, participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books (duh) absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores.

I'm looking forward to the following goodies...

and for the kiddos...

Go to the OFFICIAL WEBSITE for more details and a participating shop near you!

More 'Halloween'...More Zombie!

Excited! I had no clue that there was even plans for Rob Zombie to helm another 'Halloween' flick until my buddy Gep pinged me about it a few weeks back. Looks as if, much like the last reboot, 'H2' will re-interpret the original sequel following the 'night after' and offer up some more Zombified back story/detail as well.

Check out Sheri Moon Zombie returning as Michael's Mammy, effectively making Norman Bates and Jason Voorhees look like a much wimpier pair of mama's boys...

Saturday Bonus Track...

Feeling a little better. Not quite up to a full return to daily poop, but I thought i'd throw up the 'Bonus Track'. I've got a lot of good things still in the mix, just need to focus and drive them into something concrete. Stay tuned!

A live version of 'Emma Blowgun's Last Stand' from Beulah, lifted from their excellent tour doc 'A Good Band is Easy to Kill'...because they/the song freaking rule and it always makes me smile.

Wall of Sleep/So Long (For Now)...

I fell asleep watching TV until 1AM, woke up and i've been up since. Just can't sleep. Again, i've hit kind of a lull in my job search after a big flurry of activity and it's kind of rattled me a little.

May need to take a break from the blog for a while and regroup, refocus, realign, etc. I'm sure it won't be a long hiatus, I just need to do some other stuff. Not sure what that stuff may entail, but I do know it involves getting away from the computer more often. Peace!

How El (uhhh) Needs to Get His Groove Back...

Up way too early after attending to one of the kids and couldn't get back to sleep...still kind of bummed about not getting that job. I've been pretty positive amongst all this, but I am feeling like if I haven't hit a wall yet...it'll happen soon.

Just need to stay energized and keep moving forward. That said, Starbucks is opening in 5 minutes, so at least now I can go get some coffee I shouldn't be spending $ on.

Ugh. How Appropriate...

In a tie-in w/ both my last post and the earlier one about that job interview...today officially became a little bit of a 'Blue Monday'. Per the email I just received, I guess I came off 'great'...just a tad shy of experience in one area in comparison w/ the other candidate.

Still waiting on another interview's results, so...chin up, chin up.

It's Twistin' My Melon, man...

Seriously. How did I not catch this back when it came out...or, worse yet, finally watch it until ~ 7 years later?! I've caught it three different times on IFC over the past few weeks and, quite frankly, could watch again today.

What a GREAT fooking movie.

...OH MY!

Amazingly, I almost forgot to post up w/ major props for 'da Bulls, Cubs and Hawks...what a GREAT weekend that was for Chicago sports fans, eh?

Just Wondering...

...when the hell are we going to get airdates for the new Torchwood?

I've read both Spring and Summer of 2009, but nothing concrete. Cool thing is, it'll air on both the UK and American Beeb at the same time! No waiting...unlike the next Who special, that won't show up until late in the year.

Saturday Bonus Track...

As I said yesterday, I had an interview and thought i'd post up w/ something appropriate while I wait, hopefully, to hear I got the job.

Gang of Four performing 'To Hell w/ Poverty' on the 'Old Grey Whistle Test' in 1981.

No New Poop Today...

I've got a job interview this morning, so cross your fingers for me. Peace!

And Speaking of the Cubbies...

...i'm about due for a new ball cap. Thinking I may go w/ the 1968 Cooperstown 'Franchise' cap from Twin Enterprises, as they fit great and can take a helluva beating.

So Does 'Chinese Democracy' but...

...today, I couldn't agree more w/ Axl's t-shirt. GO CUBS!

I *HEART* THE ENGLISH BEAT

...and that one General Public tune.

Best. Photo. EVER!

...and why i'm STILL interested in getting a team together and joining a league. Maybe I can get the 'Stoned Rollers' back together for one last gig? Pic courtesy of the amazing Monkeys For Helping.

I Wonder what MS. PAC-MAN would Look Like...

I love the internet. Yet another completely awesome thing lifted this week from Electronic Cerebrectomy...PAC-MAN Reimagined. I'm sorry, I can (and have) stare at this thing for almost a half an hour.

I swear to God those 'ghosts' are from a Scooby Doo episode though. I'll tell you what else...'Blinky' looks like he might just choke a bitch. Damn.

BOB MOULD

'Life and Times'

A little late w/ a review on this one, but i'd be remiss if I didn't give Bob's latest it's due. Mr. Mould is one of those rare artists from the heyday of the 80's post-punk college alt-rock scene, much like Paul Westerberg and/or Black Francis, that i'll always give an eager listen to w/ each new project. One could challenge, actually, that his post-Hüsker Dü output (both solo and w/ Sugar in the 90's) may just be a bit more consistent than the other two aforementioned artist's post-Mats and Pixies catalog.

On 'Life and Times', Bob continues to hone his alt-pop craftsmanship to solid results. Definitely not as much adrenalin as Hüsker Dü or even Sugar for that matter, but it still rocks...hard. Not as folksy as 'Workbook', but it has similar beautiful moments of more refrained introspection. Not as electronically-infused as 'Modulator' (or even the last few solo albums), but it effectively leverages dollops of similar augmentation where it makes sense. Really, it's a combination of all of those things and I dig it.

Perhaps I don't dig it as much as the previous album, 'District Line', but there isn't a huge gap between the two. The title track is pretty representative of the melding of previous styles I alluded to earlier...sparse acoustic to nearly orchestral to big angry rock (it's all in there). He throws down some absolutely shimmering power-pop on the hooky 'City Lights (Days Go By)', only to melt your face off w/ a blistering, Hüsker-esque 'Argos' a mere two tracks later. I'm a big fan of the pumping 'Spiraling Down' as well.

The ballads peppered throughout are vintage Bob as well, but i'd be lying if I said I didn't like the more uptempo stuff than when he gets his sad-face on. The only real mis-step I hear on 'Life and Times' would be the plodding, synth-heavy final track in 'Lifetime'...just a little too murky for my tastebuds. Also, let me be clear, lyrically, Bob is still lamenting about how bad love can stink, but he just seems more at peace w/ that this time around. That said, it's a solid album worth grabbing...listen to a sample in the AMBFAD jukebox and see what you think.

A Little More WHO for YOU...

Came across this awesome little 'family portrait' of all 10 Doctors. Courtesy of Dave Perillo, who also did some fun horror flick caricatures I posted up during last year's AMBFAD Halloween Spook-tacular.

Be sure to go check out his other work spanning all your favorite folks from across the pop-culture universe!

MARILYN CHAMBERS 1953-2009

A fond farewell and R.I.P. to the other Marilyn...safe travels Behind the Green Door and beyond.

Speaking of TIME...

...it seems it won't let The Bravery go. I'm tellin' you, I can't help but dig this band...no matter how mopey they get. Cool video(s) too.

Ohhhhh...MAGIC BUS!

Yikes! I got so busy w/ a family-filled weekend, that I didn't even notice the second Doctor Who special, 'Planet of the Dead', had aired across the pond on Easter Sunday! I sat down with it this morning after the kids went to school (thanks YouTube!) and wow...IT WAS FOOKING PHENOMENAL! I think I actually enjoyed it even more than the X-mas special and that was great spot of TV as well.

The story was so well written and David Tennant was, again, BRILLIANT as The Doctor. It made the whole experience of watching it extremely bittersweet...w/ both Russell Davies and Tennant leaving the series after the 2009 2-part X-mas special, it feels like a fantastic ride that you never want to end. Michelle Ryan as this go-round's companion, Lady Christina de Souza, was excellent as well. I'd love to see a whole other season of her and David, but (alas) that ain't in the cards.

That said, we'll have another special airing later this year prior to the big Tennant X-mas finale, in 'The Waters of Mars'...which looks pretty badass as well. Wonder if we'll find out anything more on those '4 knocks' and how they tie in w/ The Doctor's inevitable regeneration. Time(lord) will tell, I suppose. Allon-sy!

'I Don't Know, I Can Imagine Quite a Bit.'

Saw this on Electronic Cerebrectomy and couldn't resist posting it up. I felt a disturbance in the force...or maybe that was my pants.

SWEET HOME (OPENER), CHICAGO!

Hope the weather holds out, Cubbies home opener against the Rockies today! They've been doing pretty well so far on the road, hopefully, they can recapture last season's good mojo at home. GO CUBS!

AMBFAD (Comic) Book Club

Wow. A month or so ago, I was beaming that I had found the trades for both volumes of Jack Kirby's 'Eternals' at my local Half Price Books. Last Thursday...I hit paydirt once again. I was actually in selling a couple of my TPB's that, after reading, I had decided I didn't really care for. After collecting my money, I wandered over to the comic section and POW...a mint copy of Image's hardcover collection of Kirby's 'Silver Star'!

To provide a little background, Jack had been working in animation for Ruby-Spears Productions after leaving Marvel in disgust near the end of 1977. Almost four years later a new publisher out of San Diego, Pacific Comics, enticed him back by giving him complete control and ownership of the properties he was bringing to their company. This was a practice pretty well unheard of at the time and one could challenge it set the stage for a wider, more indie, playing field outside the Marvel and DC company-owned universes.

'Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers' debuted for Pacific in late 1981, followed a little over a year later by the six-issue miniseries 'Silver Star' (which Kirby called a 'Visual Novel'). Outside of the historical relevance from a business/creative perspective, it's also historically relevant as, aside from 'The Hunger Dogs' graphic novel that he did for DC in 1985, 'Silver Star' was Kirby’s last fully developed personal project.

I'm halfway through and the artwork is pretty much vintage Jack, maybe not quite on par w/ earlier stuff...but insanely creative as much as anything else he did. Again, it's art you have to focus on or you miss so many great things in the detail. The inking is a bit rough, but the coloring is good (issues #5-6 were actually re-colored by Image founder Erik Larsen!). Additional nuggets include a screenplay version of the comic that was never pitched and penciled concept art.

The story itself is a little out there...okay, A LOT out there. The story seems to revolve around a genetically engineered man, Darius Drumm, who is attempting to kill (often succeeding) other genetically engineered men and women...people whom Kirby has given the scientific name of 'homo-geneticus' but whom he also refers to by the odd name of 'super-normals'. It seems, however, that another 'super-normal' named Silver Star appears to thwart his plan to bring about a sort of End of Days.

Fun stuff in that whacked-out Kirby style of sci-fi heavy grandeur and philosophical backdrops, but be forewarned...the dialogue is often nearly painful to read. Extremely ham-handed even for a comic book, it proves to be the only downside to the lack of any sort of editorial control on Pacific's part. That said, still a blast to read and still worth adding to your collection...i'm glad I did!

Saturday Bonus Track...

I'm late serving up a review of Bob Mould's new disc...not too bad as a whole, but i'll provide more details next week. In the meantime, how's about some mid-90's Bob?

More specifically, how's about some Sugar? Even more specifically...the toon-infused video for 'Gee Angel'.

Oh. Canada.

How about a triple-shot of some tasty Canadian alt/indie-pop? I've had that TPOH tune in my head all morning, as it's recently struck a slight chord personally. You get a double-whammy w/ that Odds video, as it also features Dave, Mark and Kevin from The Kids in the Hall. Round it out w/ some classic super group-age from the New Pornographers.

AMBFAD (Comic) Book Club

I've continually extolled the virtues of one of my favorite comic artists, Mike Allred, w/ earlier full-fledged love-fests over both 'Madman' and 'Red Rocket 7'...only the art of Kirby and Ditko before him can elicit such a vibe. Currently, i'm finishing up the TPB's for his interesting contribution to Marvel's X-Men franchise in the 'X-Statix' spin off that ran from 2002-2004.

Originally, Allred was paired w/ Peter Milligan to helm a revamp of X-Force but, X-Force was canceled with issue #129 in 2002 and re-named X-Statix. There were a few tweaks made to the previous team, but characters more like popstars or reality TV contestants than traditional superheroes remained. Milligan continued an uber-satirical take on the superhero team and general cynicism toward the entire genre that alienated a lot folks w/ their take on X-Force...but garnered some decent critical response from folks like Rolling Stone.

Outside of Mike's fantastic art, it's a page-turner for the off-the-wall storylines rooted in the parity between superheroes and the cult of celebrity. Even though I love the more traditional stuff, I equally enjoy weirder twists on the genre. That said, at some points, Milligan's writing seems too forced (or maybe canned)...even for a comic book. Regardless, you have to give props to a writer so no-holds-barred, he was prepared to deploy Princess Diana as a character in a story-arc beginning in X-Statix #13...slated to return from the dead as a mutant superhero.


That didn't happen (public outcry), but the overall series so far is still a biting commentary you can sink your teeth into. Unfortunately, after a story-arc that pitted X-Statix against The Avengers, low sales prompted the title's cancellation in 2004. In the last issue Milligan and Allred killed off the entire team, serving up one one last parody of the superhero genre, while tying up the remaining plot threads. Luckily, this freed up Allred to do more Madman and his own take on the superhero team, The Atomics...which, i'm sure i'll pimp later.

Bunny Bonus Party Cut...

I know Easter isn't until Sunday, but I wanted to post up w/ this vintage UPA 'Peter Cottontail' toon from the 50's. Equally as swinging as the 'Frosty the Snowman' one I shared around X-mas. Fun stuff.

Hippity Hoppity and You Don't Stoppity...

Taking the boys to the mall later this morning to see the Easter Bunny...who they're absolutely fascinated with right now. They think the whole concept of a walking, talking rabbit who breaks into your house to hide badly-colored eggs, cheap toys and sub-par candy is awesome. Ahhhh, to be young again.

(Kick-ass art courtesy of the brilliant Todd Schorr)

Almost Forgot...

1-0...WE'RE GOING TO THE SERIES! BWAHHHHH!

ANNNNDDDDDD NOW...

A lot to do today and going to take in some NBA action tonight (THANKS, B.K.!). I haven't been to the United Center for a Bulls game since Jordy was still w/ the team. Do they still throw down to the Alan Parson Project?

DOVES

'Kingdom of Rust'

I was unsuccessful in posting up w/ a review last week, but good things come to those who wait. Appropriately, the new album from Northern Soulsters, Doves, is most certainly a good thing. I stated in an earlier post that while i've always enjoyed the band, that i've never quite achieved a hardcore fan status...'Kingdom of Rust' seems to be doing a great job changing that w/ each and every listen.

The album has one foot firmly planted in the band's Brit-pop origins (big swirling guitars abound), but, as with previous releases, they continue to broaden the scope of their sound to something much bigger. The Blade Runner-esque opener of 'Jetstream' slips into the rumbling Spaghetti Western-flavored title track perfectly and then explodes into the excellent pounding/fuzzy rock of 'The Outsiders'. If you aren't intrigued after that solid trifecta of tunes, I feel a little sorry for you.

Things keep moving in the right direction w/ the chiming anthem 'Winter Hill' and slow-burn to explosion of '10:03'. The band eventually stops to take a bit of a breath and brood a little on the ghostly 'Birds Fly Backwards', but actually snap back w/ a nearly-funky 'Compulsion'...a tune that even channels moments of Blondie. The whole dilly rounds out w/ more big-anthem goodness on 'Lifelines', cinching up a completely classic body of work. Bottom line, i'm SOLD...these guys are phenomenal.

The album drops tomorrow, 7-April and I can't reiterate enough how worth picking it up immediately is. I'll be absolutely flabbergasted should 'Kingdom of Rust' not make it onto my 2009 Top 10 and a tad surprised if it ain't on yours too. Seriously. I've posted two tracks already, but do yourself a favor and have one more from the AMBFAD jukebox...then, thank me later.

You Couldn't Tell by the Weather Here...

...but the MLB season is officially underway and the Cubs season opener is tonight! They're playing the Stros in Houston and the Sox home opener was postponed on a count of snow. HA!

I'm not going to let myself get too excited after last year's post-season nosedive, but i'm hopeful for some good baseball and, better yet, this means Summer is just right around the corner. Play. Ball.

Saturday Bonus Track...

Since I made such a big deal about yesterday being Friday, today we gots to give props to SATURDAYS!

What better way than De La Soul and a '(Roller Skating Jam Named) Saturdays'?!

And Since I'm Going Out Tonight...

...maybe you should throw on a record and, please, don't wait up!

Have great weekend, everybody!

Friday, Friday, FRIDAY!

It's kind of been a BLAH week, but I got another job interview request yesterday and i'm going downtown later today for some beers, laughs and live music w/ my pals 'The Jesus' and 'Skinny'. Nice way to roll into the weekend!

We're going to the Double Door to check out some sort of NME (UK music mag) tour package w/ The White Lies, Friendly Fires and The Soft Pack. Check out some tuneage above and see what you think...me, i'm digging it and, more importantly, just stoked to get out of the house!

Van Halen Bonus Party Cut

In the essence of full-disclosure...i'm actually more of a Van Hagar guy than Roth. That said, I can't help but smile watching that. YOWWW!

Runnin' (or Walkin') w/ the Devil...

As most of you know, i'm a huge sneaker freak. Additionally, i'm a recovering Van Halen fanatic as well. It seems both worlds will be colliding at some point, when Eddie Van Halen releases his official EVH Shoes...exact replicas of the 'Frankenstein Guitar' inspired black/white/red striped motif he wears.

No word on when they'll actually be available, but you can keep checking his website, EVHgear.com...where you can buy replicas of nearly everything he plays and wears, from his signature Wolfgang guitar for you guitar nerds, which he used on the band's last tour (upgraded over two and a half years to what he calls "NASA quality"), to the aforementioned kicks.

Frankly, i'd just settle for a decent Van Halen album...but a new pair of shoes will do for now.

'PLANET OF THE DEAD' TRAILER!

Holy. Balls. Trailer for the next Doctor Who special and it looks great. I'm seriously peeing my fanboy pants right now.

HOLD PLEASE, LONDON CALLING...

Looks like things are going really well at the G-20 Summit in London!

Hey, Rage Against the Machine, I feel yer pain...but me buying a comic book or a Slurpee didn't cause the freakonomic collapse. My man Billy Joel didn't start the fire and neither did I, fool.

Check Your Head Bonus Party Cut(s)

'So Whatcha Want' w/ Cypress Hill on Arsenio and 'Jimmy James' live in Japan sometime in '92.

Like Clyde, STILL Rockin' Steady....

Awwwww yeah. The Beasties are coming correct w/ more re-mastered goodness. 'Check Your Head' will get an audio face lift next Tuesday, 7-Apr and I cannot wait! I must have played the original cee-dee a million times back in college and, for that matter, well beyond. Like 'Paul's Boutique' before it, 'CYH' continued to change the face of hip-hop as we knew it by adding live instruments into an already eclectically funky pastiche of crazy samples.

Unlike the re-mastered 'Paul's Boutique', 'CYH' also comes w/ a big helping of b-sides, remixes and other goodies. To note, big fans of the band may have caught some of those extras back in the day, but there were still a nice amount I hadn't heard before. I'm also hearing early reports the remastered version of the original tracks aren't as much of a noticeable improvement as what we heard on 'Paul's'...but it still seems worth freshening up your catalog with.

You can stroll on over to B-BOYS DOT COM and listen to the entire package right now. C'mon, fool...you know it's whatcha want to do.