Wednesday, January 25, 2012

BEST MUSIC: 2011, With Music Players!

With 3 Music Players!

A N N A
C A L V I

ALL THE
REAL MUSIC!

Nevermind those suburban-angst
'Best Music' lists that taste like paste!

These tunes will break down your get down
and go through your breakthrough!

Shortcuts to Music Players:
• BEST ALBUMS: 2011
• COOL SONGS: 2011
• BEST RE-ISSUES: 2011

B E S T
N E W
A L B U M S :
2 0 1 1

Indie Rock, Funk, Electro, Folk, Garage, HipHop, Soul, Grrrl, and the indefinable!

The Kills, "Blood Pressures"

BEST ALBUMS 2011
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• tUnE-yArDs, "w h o k i l l"
Polymorphous polyrhythms.
Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner create pan-world beats out of tape loops and chants.

(See also: Fela, Talking Heads, The Slits, M.I.A., St. Vincent)

• The Black Keys, "El Camino"
Blues with a new fuse.
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney sound big, think big, play big.

(See also: The White Stripes, Gary Clark Jr, The Alabama Shakes, Black Pumas)

• Charles Bradley, "No Time For Dreaming"
Gutbucket Soul.
What if James Brown kept making great Memphis Soul records?

(See also: O.V. Wright, Sharon Jones, Lee Fields)

• Gillian Welch, "The Harrow and the Harvest"
Alt Folk.
Underneath Gillian Welch and David Rawling's raw americana lies a wry gaze.

(See also: Emmylou Harris, Roseanne Cash, Lera Lynn)

• Anna Calvi, "Anna Calvi"
PostPunk Blues.
Cinematic guitar-scapes with an edge that could take your head off.

(See also: Ennio Morricone, David Bowie, PJ Harvey, St. Vincent)

• Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi, "Rome"
Morricone moodscapes.
Channeling the sounds of '60s Italian soundtracks, with guest star roles from Jack White and Norah Jones.>

(See also: Portishead, Calibro 35, Adrian Younge)

• Shabazz Palaces, "Black Up"
Avant-HipHop noize worlds.
Dense, abrasive, distorted, forward.

(See also: Rammellzee/Gettovetts, Public Enemy, Nephlim Modulation Systems, Flying Lotus)

• Nikka Costa, "PRO*WHOA"
Prince's true foil.
The soul sister sways away from Stax funk toward Minneapolis techno-funk this time.

(See also: Sly Stone, Betty Davis, Prince, Lenny Kravitz)

• Cults, "Cults"
Girl Group Indie Rawk.
Spector chorals with arena chords and hiphop stomp.

(See also: Shangri-La's, Beach House, Ting Tings, Sleigh Bells)

• A.A. Bondy, "Believers"
Epic americana, beautiful and haunting.
The former frontman of Verbena trades grunge-punk for eerie folk dreams.

(See also: Vashti Bunyan, Leonard Cohen, Father John Misty)

• Tom Waits, "Bad As Me"
Grizzled bar burners.
Roots music shot through with corrosion and mischief.

(See also: Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart, Mark Lanegan)

• Feist, "Metals"
Moody instrospective ballads with some clang.
Leslie Feist redefines herself with restless experimentation in mercurial tunes.

(See also: Joni Mitchell, Cat Power, Keren Ann, Angel Olsen)

• Mayer Hawthorne, "How Do You Do"
Fresh-minted Soul.
Clean Soul production and Pop chops belie a barbed wit.

(See also: Motown, Philly Soul, Monophonics, St. Paul And The Broken Bones)

• St. Vincent, "Strange Mercy"
Angular Pop.
Anni Clark is a mirror funhouse of striking images seen from skewed angles.

(See also: David Byrne, Beck, New Pornographers, Mitski)

• Ty Segall, "Goodbye Bread"
Garage Punk.
A perpetual emotion machine blasting torrents of fuzz.

(See also: The Sonics, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Kills, Thee Oh Sees)

• The Go! Team, "Rolling Blackouts"
Pep rally arena rock.
Like cheerleaders amping up a dance party at a rock stadium.

(See also: World Famous Supreme Team, Le Tigre, !!!)

• EMA, "Past Life Martyred Saints"
Noize Folk.
Erika Michelle Anderson deals in folked-up mayhem.

(See also: Sonic Youth, Anna Oxygen, tUnE-yArDs)

• MeShell Ndegeocello, "Weather"
Supple mood Soul.
Leaning to her melodic and moody side this time.

(See also: Tanita Tikaram, Esperanza Spalding, Georgia Anne Muldrow)

• Girls, "Father, Son, Holy Ghost"

Like "Abbey Road" performed by Pink Floyd.

(See also: Spiritualized, Radiohead)

• PJ Harvey, "Let England Shake"
Protest folk ballads.
PJ is not having any more Colonialist war bull$h!t.

(See also: Patti Smith, Billy Bragg, Tracy Bonham)

• Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears, "Scandalous"
Bluesadelic.
Raw blues with Rock hues.

(See also: Elmore James, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Benjamin Booker)

• Alela Diane And Wild Divine, "Alela Diane And Wild Divine"
Soulful Country.
The hook-up of solo singer with indie band is a double-win of hickory-smoked tunes.

(See also: Karen Dalton, Joan as Police Woman, Laura Marling)

• The Love Me Nots, "The Demon And The Devotee"
Garage Rock.
Snarl guitar, pumping farfisa, mean rhythms, and the lash of Nicole Laurenne's roar.

(See also: The Pandoras, The Husbands, Gore Gore Girls)

• Fitz And The Tantrums, "Pickin' Up The Pieces"
Sheeny Motown Pop.
Mid-'60s Soul with unabashed '80s gloss.

(See also: Smokey Robinson, ABC, Mayer Hawthorne)

• Dum Dum Girls, "Only In Dreams"
Garage Rock goes dreamily lysergic.
Going from solo dubbing to a full band opens up Dee Dee's range and impact.

(See also: Pretenders, The Raveonettes, Tashaki Miyaki)

• Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings, "Soul Time!"
Timeless Soul for Now People!
Leading the true Soul revival, both with her band and her label Daptone Records, Sharon Jones is in the pocket and firing bottle rockets.

(See also: Aretha Franklin, Hannah Williams, Eli "Paperboy" Reed)

• The Like, "Release Me"
Beatlesque perfect.
Like another heaping helping of "Help!" to make you twist and yelp.

(See also: The British Invasion, The Feminine Complex, The Bangles)

• The Kills, "Blood Pressures"
Barbwired bluze.
Banshee rage and serrated guitar that sticks in your head like daggers.

(See also: Pussy Galore, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Dead Weather)

Quality-Is-Timeless, dept.,
(a.k.a., Great Returns By Iconic Artists)
"If it was good in the past, it's still good."
-Sly Stone, Woodstock, 1969

Sly Stone and George Clinton today

The latter part of the Music Player focuses on timeless acts making current music, with songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• June and Jean Millington (of FANNY), "Play Like A Girl"
Classic hook rock.
Fanny were the first all-female rock band signed to a major label to make full albums. Here, the sisters prove quality is timeless.

(See also: Badfinger, Cradle, Bonnie Raitt)

• Blondie, "Panic Of Girls"
Adventurous Pop.
Every handful of years, Blondie comes correct right on time.

(See also: Ramones, Transvision Vamp, Garbage)

• The Cars, "Move Like This"
The Reunion.
Like a lost 1981 album, sounding exactly as good as it should.

(See also: Roxy Music, Split Enz, New Pornographers)

• Gang of Four, "Content"
PostFunk.
Led by guitarist Andy Gill, the quartet pours more yet.

(See also: Defunkt, Tackhead, Erase Errata)

• Wire, "Red Barked Tree"
PostPunk rethunk.
A bit familiar, but always pushing outward.

(See also: Neu!, Can, Elastica, Parquet Courts)

• The Bangles, "Sweetheart Of The Sun"
Sunshine Jangle.
Beat tunes, sunny harmonies, warm songwriting.

(See also: The Beatles, Fanny, The Fleshtones, The Like)

• Beastie Boys, "Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two"
Hot and saucy HipHop.
Thye've got an open mind so why don't you all come inside?

(See also: Funkadelic, Public Enemy, Kool Keith, Cibo Matto)

• Poly Styrene, "Generation Indigo"
Dance Punk.
The front force for X-Ray Spex projects new innervisions.

(See also: Nina Hagen, LiliPUT, Gossip, FKA Twigs)

• Booker T, "The Road From Memphis"
Memphis Soul redux.
The core of Booker T And The MG's charts new directions by new degrees.

(See also: Ray Charles, Stax Records, The Blues Brothers, Soulive)

• Nick Lowe, "The Old Magic"
Perfect Pop with feel.
Power Pop upstart has gradually emarged as a songwriting statesman.

(See also: Dan Penn, Elvis Costello, Crowded House)

• Jane's Addiction, "The Great Escape Artist"
Classic Indie-Rock.
Still reigning, still dreaming.

(See also: Led Zeppelin, Butthole Surfers, Blackwater Holylight)

• Sly Stone, "I'm Back"
Funk God.
After a prolonged absence, Sly remakes his hits, plus a few new goodies.>

(See also: Sly And The Family Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic, Earth Wind And Fire, Prince)

C O O L
S O N G S :
2 0 1 1

THEESatisfaction

All the REAL MUSIC
beyond the box!

Nevermind Gloss Pop, Stepford Idols, Karaoke Choruses ("woh-oo-oh"), Ego Brats, Emo Prats, Plinky Folk, Brittle Bombast, Vegas Country, Smug Thug, Mope Noodling, De-mixed Throb, and Robot-o-Tune schlock! >

Here's the
D R E A M
J U K E B O X !
Extrude your mood
and lube your groove!

COOL SONGS 2011
by Tym Stevens
This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.
This jukebox is sequenced into groups of sound, instead of randomly.
All the songs elasticize their genres.
Get your groove on in this sonic order.:
Rockabilly! Beatlesque! Garage!
Psyche! Soul! Blues!
Country! World! Riot Grrrl!
Indie! Electro! Cinematic!
and Cover Songs!

The Black Keys; St. Vincent;
Charles Bradley; Ty Segall

7 hours of brain-boggling, hips-joggling music, featuring the following fine folks in this exact order!:

• Rockabilly! • The Del Moroccos, Screamin' Rebel Angels, The Dark Shadows, and Tom Waits.

• Surf / Beat / Garage! • Cults, Threesome, The Like, The Jayhawks, Miss Chain And The Broken Heels, Les BOF!, The Love Me Nots, Las Vinylators, The Tin-Up Motors, Wer Wie Was, The Ugly Beats, Ty Segall, Bass Drum of Death, Telekinesis, Hollywood Sinners, and Jack Of Heart.

• Psychedelic / Classic Rock! • Mayer Hawthorne, Elks Skiffle Group, The Bon, Weyes Blood, thenewno2, Smith Westerns, Cerrone, Nicole Atkins, Beady Eye, Girls, Dum Dum Girls, White Denim, The Hook Up, Thee Ludds, Quintron, and Blood Ceremony.

• Blues! • The Black Keys, Cassie Taylor, Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears, Saidah Baba Talibah, and Raphael Saadiq.

• Soul / Funk! • Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, Booker T. Jones, JC Brooks And The Uptown Sound, Randa And The Soul Kingdom, The Bo-Keys, The Sweet Vandals, Komety, Charles Bradley, Graffiti6, Sly Stone, Adrian Younge, Slim Moore And The Mar-Kays, Lenny Kravitz, Nikka Costa, Fitz And The Tantrums, JR JR, Nicki Bluhm, Marques Toliver, and Buddy Miller + Ann McCrary.

• Alt Songwriter! • Lynda Kay, The Civil Wars, Gillian Welch, A.A. Bondy, Emmylou Harris, Cass McCombs, Keren Ann, and Feist.

• World-arama! • Markéta Irglová, Antibalas, Ikebe Shakedown, The Funk Ark, and Aṣa.

• Riot Grrrl! • Poly Styrene, Thao And Mirah, The Go! Team, Those Darlins, The Coathangers, The She's, and PJ Harvey.

• Alt Rock! • St. Vincent, The Kills, Arama Mara, The Raveonettes, The Cars, WILD FLAG, Kaiser Chiefs, Wire, The Bots, Gang Gang Dance, Matana Roberts, and Harriet Tubman.

• Electro! • SBTRKT, The Cool Kids, Clutch Douglass, Liam Finn, JD Samson, Phantogram, POLIÇA, and Doomtree.

• Cinerama! • Julianna Barwick, Chrysta Bell, Lana Del Rey, The Tremolo Beer Gut, Los Lobos, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Danger Mouse and Jack White, Anna Calvi, The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, Ramin Djawadi, and Adrian Younge.

• Cover Versions! •
List = Original By / Cover Artist
Songs are sequenced in the chronological order of the Originals.

John Barry / Messer Chups • Eddie Holland / The Moons • The Byrds / The Watson Twins • Sam And Dave / Isreal Hagan and Jack Penetrator • The Eyes / Les Fleurs de Bach • Shuggie Otis / Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings • Neil Young / Charles Bradley And The Menahan Street Band • Nazz / The Bangles • Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot / The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger • Os Mutantes / Alice Smith + Aloe Blacc • The Beat / The Muffs • Cybotron / The Dirtbombs • Pixies / Trampled By Turtles • Nirvana / Pitty • Goldfrapp / Suzi Quatro.

B E S T
R E I S S U E S :
2 0 1 1

Quality is timeless.

The Beach Boys, "SMiLE"

BEST REISSUES 2011
by Tym Stevens This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

• 1950s •

• "Let's Have a Party: Girls Gone Rockin', vol. 2" (1950s Rock'n'Roll women)>
Rock is a feeling, felt and expressed by everyone. Party out with Janis Martin, Etta James, LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Laura Lee Perkins, Jean Chapel, and Jean Chapel, and many more who deserve the spotlight.

• 1960s •

• THE BEACH BOYS, "The SMiLE Sessions" (1967)>
Brian Wilson created a beautiful response to "Sgt. Pepper" and it never came out. Until now. Count your lucky blessings and soar in one of the most lustrous song cycles ever made.

• JIM FORD, "Harlan County" (Country Funk!; 1969)>
Sly Stone's friend, and ambassodor of Country Funk.

• 1970s •

• MARVIN GAYE, "What's Going On" (1971)
This is one of the greatest albums ever made.

• SUZI QUATRO, "Suzi Quatro" (1973)
The tightest, toughest album of the Queen of Glam Rock.

• STONE COAL WHITE, "Stone Coal White" (rare Funk Rock band)
Funkadelic had unsung Funk Rock rivals who deserve limelight, such as Purple/Image, Stone Coal White, Black Murder, The Next Morning, and Mothers Finest.

• "The Fame Studios Story: 1961-1973" (Muscle Shoals compilation)
Fame was the initial core of Muscle Shoals Soul, the Alabama counterpoint to Stax in Memphis. Everyone recorded there to bask in it, from Aretha to The Stones.

• PINK FLOYD, "Wish You Were Here" (1974)
One of the best records in Rock history.

• CRASS, The Remastered Albums (1977-84)
Punk was inherently political, but Anarcho-Punk bands like Crass went all the way, fighting for true revolution with every fibre.

• THE ROLLING STONES, "Some Girls" (1978)
Punk also kicked many of its forefathers into making tougher, more daring albums, like this career highlight.

• 1980s •

• ESG, "Come Away With ESG" (1983)
Minimalist Funk, from the NYC Downtown vanguard.>>

• 1990s •

• TALK TALK, "Laughing Stock" (1991)
In their span, Talk Talk arced from New Wave to Psyche Soul to finally Floyd-esque Art Rock. This album is the apex of that.

• U2, "Achtung, Baby" (1991)
The album where they ripped it up and started again.

• NIRVANA, "Nevermind" (1991)
The seismic impact of this album in the early-'90s was a big as The Beatles and as shocking as The Sex Pistols. Win-win.

• QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, "Queens Of The Stone Age" (1998)
The debut album from the Stoner Rockers.

© Tym Stevens

"A splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

Monday, January 23, 2012

BEST COMICS: 2011

STARSTRUCK

Shortcut links:
• Best Graphic Novel
• Best Comics
• Graphic Novels
• Best Collections/ Reissues
• • Where We Come From, Dept.
• Movies And TV

• Rest In Power

B E S T
G R A P H I C
N O V E L S :

• STARSTRUCK Deluxe Edition, by Elaine Lee, Michael Wm. Kaluta, and Lee Moyer ⇧

Still the smartest, funniest, and most creative series there is.

And this lavish, giant-sized omnibus packed with goodies blows all other competition away.

▶ STARSTRUCK Strikes Back!
▶ The Roots And Branches Of STARSTRUCK

B E S T
C O M I C S :

D C

• BATWOMAN, story by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman; art by J.H. Williams III/ Amy Reader ⇧ _______
The best of the best.

• SWAMP THING, by Jeff Lemire and Yanick Paquette _______
Pulls off the impossible, by bringing back all of the best elements of the Wein-Wrightson original, the Moore-Bissette-Totleben renaissance, and with a new sense of surprise. Astounding so far.

• ANIMAL MAN, by Todd Snyder and Travel Foreman _______
Matches the original heyday of Grant Morrison with better art and its own sophistication. A fine companion piece to the new SWAMP THING.

• ACTION COMICS, by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales _______
The 1938 Superman was a populist everyman who fought for the workers and took down the fatcats who lorded over them in the Depression.
The new Superman is again an avatar of the foreclosed, the downsized, and the penniless under the heels of the greed machine.
Look, up in the sky...it's our raised fists!

V E R T I G O

• THE UNWRITTEN, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

M A R V E L

• ULTIMATE COMICS: SPIDER-MAN, by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli ⇧ _______
While some jerks overreacted to a new Hispanic/African American Spider-Man, what we really got was a tender coming-of-age story of a charming teen kid starting his path to glory. Excellent all around. >

• MOON KNIGHT, by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev _______
Bendis and Maleev...hey, what more could you ask for?

T O P
S H E L F

• LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDIANARY GENTLEMEN: 1969, by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill ⇧ _______
Alan Moore takes on the literature and pop culture of late-'60s London.
A dream come true.

D A R K
H O R S E

• DOLLHOUSE: Epitaphs, by Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Andrew Chambliss, and Cliff Richards ⇧ _______

The DOLLHOUSE tv series reached its height with the shocking leap into a dystopian future in its final "Epitaph" episodes. The scriptwriters return to sketch out the deeper details of that future in this mini-series, with the promise of more to come.

B E S T
G R A P H I C
N O V E L S :

• HABIBI, by Craig Thompson ⇧ _______
BLANKETS (2003) was an intimate story with a wide canvas.
HABIBI is an intimate story on an epic scale that encompasses religions, countries, cultures, and gender. Ambitious and stunning.

• GREEN RIVER KILLER: A True Detective Story, by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case _______
Noted pop culture writer Jeff Jensen details the personal dimension of a notorious true-life case solved by his father.

• CELLULOID, by Dave McKean _______
One of the best fine artists in the field doing an experimental meditation on erotica.

• BATMAN: NOEL, by Lee Bermejo _______
Lee. Bermejo.

• NEONOMICON, by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows _______
Alan Moore deconstructs and rethinks the H.P. Lovecraft mythos, turning its latent biases and psychological underthemes inside out into new fruition.

• FINDER: VOICE, by Carla Speed McNeil

• ANYA'S GHOST, by Vera Brosgol

• HARK! A VAGRANT, by Kate Beaton

• DAYTRIPPER, by Gabriel Ba

• LUCHADORAS, by Peggy Adam

B E S T
C O L L E C T I O N S :

• WONDER WOMAN Chronicles, vol.2, by Wm. Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter ⇧ _______
Moulton's 1940s proto-feminist parables are still light years ahead of any version of her done since, and Peter's nouveau art is still as wonderful as it is unsung. >

• MISS FURY Sensational Sundays 1944-49, by Tarpe Mills _______
The pioneering cartoonist given her proper retrospective.

• FIGURE DRAWING FOR ALL IT'S WORTH, by Andrew Loomis _______
The seminal illustrator's classic tutorial book is reprinted, with a foreward by his acolyte Alex Ross.

• WILLIE AND JOE, The WWII Years, by Bill Mauldin _______
Mauldin's cartoons from the front personified the grunt caught in the cogs, and were an early Neorealist window for the USA public on the realities of war.

• The Complete POGO, vol. 1, by Walt Kelly _______
The definition of smart art. Absolutely essential.

• Will Eisner's PS MAGAZINE, by Will Eisner _______
After his legendary run on "The Spirit", Eisner did 20 years of cartoon work for the U.S. Army.

• KAMANDI Omnibus, Vol. 1, by Jack Kirby _______
Jack Kirby in the early-'70s. Unbeatable.

• CREEPY Presents Bernie Wrightson, by Bernie Wrightson _______
WRIGHTSON's early horror work compiled.

• The Extraordinary Adventures of ADELE BLANC-SEC, Vol. 2, by Jacques Tardi _______
More fun with the taciturn adventurer.

• CHASE, by D. Curtis Johnson and J.H. Williams III _______
Fans may know Chase from BATWOMAN; this overdue volume collects all her early adventures, with art by J.H. WILLIAMS III.

• X-STATIX Omnibus, by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred _______
A huge compilation of their fun and satiric X-FORCE and X-STATIX series.

WHERE WE
COME FROM,
Dept.

• LILY RENEE, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer, by Trina Robbins _______
Historian emeritus Trina Robbins shines light on another creative woman who deserves her place in the pantheon.

• JOE SIMON: My Life In Comics, by Joe Simon _______
The dynamic duo of Golden Age Comics creators was Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Listen up and learn.

• The Adventures of HERGE, by Jose-Louis Bocquet, Jean-Luc Fromental, and Stanislas Barthélémy _______
A biography of Herge done in the style of his beloved TINTIN books.

• The Art Of JOE KUBERT, by Bill Schelly; Joe Kubert _______
JOE KUBERT was an invaluable throughline from the Golden Age of Comics to the 21st Century.
His rustic line and human stories offset the slick in every era, and his School Of The Visual Arts trained droves of great comics creators.

_______________

• SUPERGODS, by Grant Morrison _______
Grant's insights on comic history are required reading.

(His judgement on Alan Moore is lacking, and can be corrected by reading...)

• ALAN MOORE: Storyteller, by Gary Spencer Millidge ⇧ _______
The most comprehensive overview on the multi-talented maestro, including an exclusive CD of his performance recordings.

B E S T
M O V I E S
+ T V :

I write and illustrate reviews of all comics-sourced films at the Four Color Films site.

- - - M O V I E S - - -

Super 8; Hugo; Tintin

• THOR _______
▶ Four Color Films review
Kenneth Branagh really went for it all. The Earth stuff was a little rushed, but Asgard was glorious.

• CAPTAIN AMERICA _______
▶ Four Color Films review
A refreshing surprise. No irony, no jingoism, just a great pulp adventure homage with all the right instincts.

• SUPER 8 _______
My personal favorite of the summer.

In the mid-'70s, science fiction films were declared dead. Then STAR WARS remade the movie industry like The Beatles revised music.> All those 13-year-old fans then made the pop culture of the next three decades. J.J Abrams brings it all full circle with this mysterious and tender homage to the 1977-1982 movies that ignited everything to come.

• HAUNTERS (S. Korea) _______
The bridge between UNBREAKABLE and PUSH. Sharply made, great characters, constant surprises, a rousing finish.

• HUGO _______
A beautiful love letter to early film and classic books. And perhaps the most thoughtful use of 3D yet seen.

• The Adventures Of TINTIN _______
▶ Four Color Films review
My old saw is, "Do Herge's actual clean-line style mapped onto CG puppets."
Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson did the opposite -wedding Herge's world to 3D realism, noir lighting, and Hitchcock angles- and pulled it off spectacularly. A breathtaking avalanche of smart fun.

• The Extraordinary Adventures Of ADELE BLANC-SEC (France) _______
▶ Four Color Films review
The grumbling adventurer gets a fine film treatment of her illustrated exploits by Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element").

- - - Good Also, Dept.: - - -
• GREEN LANTERN _______
> Four Color Films review
(Wait for it.) I like the 2/3 with the Lantern Corp and outer space.
The remaining third -the earthbound scenes with Hal and Carol- was hokey and cringe-inducing.

• SUPER _______
A bent Indie comedy take on what would really happen if you tried to be a superhero, featuring an unhinged Ellen Page.

• GRIFF THE INVISIBLE (Australia) _______
A modest take on homemade superheroes, with an engaging romance and some twists.

• X-MEN: First Class _______
> Four Color Films review
One-third of this movie is great (Michael Fassbender). Another third is generally good.
But the story is wildly uneven; the Civil Rights opportunity is inexcusably ignored; and reaching beyond 1962 to homage culture styles beyond it creates an anachronistic clusterfunk.

___________

- - - T V - - -

Game Of Thrones; Misfits; Fringe/Fringe

• GAME OF THRONES _______
Only 5% of this is 'Fantasy'. The other 95% is the best character drama about court intrigue one could imagine.

• MISFITS (U.K.) _______
The Sex Pistols of 'superheroes'. Sacrilegious and hilarious.

• FRINGE _______
X-FILES never paid-off any of its set-ups well. FRINGE always does, in an unwinding tapestry that only gets better as it goes.

• THE FADES (U.K.) _______
A supernatural thriller. Like reading one of the finest Vertigo Comics of 1993, with in-jokes galore.

___________

A N I M A T E D

• CHICO AND RITA (Spain/U.K.) ⇧ _______
Beautiful to watch, to listen to, and to feel. Wonderful.

• THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY (Japan) _______
Another gem from Studio Ghibli, this charming tale of miniature people is a winner all around. Smart, heart, art.

• BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD _______
Here, Bat-Mite points out that this show is a love letter to the Silver Age Of Comics. And he's right.
Before we got too dark and serious, comics used to be about fun, wonder, and impossible non-sequiters. This show brings all of that back with hyper zeal. It's great fun in all the right ways.

• BATMAN: Year One _______
An anime take on the classic Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli origin. Effective, though Mazzucchelli's grittier artwork was more effective.

• FUTURAMA _______
Hey...It's Futurama!

___________

D O C U M E N T A R Y
• GRANT MORRISON: Talking With The Gods _______
Grand writer holds forth.

R E S T
I N
P O W E R

• Dwayne McDuffie
• Gene Colan
• Jerry Robinson
• Joe Simon

From you, we exist.
Because of you, we persist.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR! with New Years Songs music player

Count your blessings,
every year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!:
Rock'n'Soul Playlist,
by Tym Stevens This is a Spotify player.
Join up for free here.
Direct online Playlist here.
A history of NEW YEARS songs from the 1950s to today, in chronological order.

Rockabilly! Jazz! Blues!
Soundtracks! Soul! Country!
Garage! Psychedelic! Funk!
Glam! Reggae! Punk!
New Wave! HipHop! Electro!
and more!
Ring out the Old, Ring in the New
with a chorus of friends!

Ella Fitzgerald, The Platters, Otis Redding,
Beach Boys, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix,
George Harrison, Prince, U2,
Killing Joke, The Breeders, Jeff Buckley,
Black Keys, Chris Isaak, Ledisi,
Tom Waits, Beach House, Azealia Banks,
Sufjan Stevens, Whitehorse, Los Straitjackets,
and many more guests!

© Tym Stevens

Saturday, November 5, 2011

ROCK Sex Presents: REVOLUTION! - A 'Fight The Power' Music Player

V FOR VENDETTA,
© Alan Moore and David Lloyd

"Remember, remember
the 5th of November..."

A MUSIC PLAYER with over 200 songs to Fight The Power,
by all your favorite artists with smarts and heart!

Folk! Blues! Country!
Soul! Garage Rock! Songwriter!
Funk! Hard Rock! Reggae!
Punk! Rap! Grunge! Riot Grrrl! Alt Country! Electro!
Indie! and more!

Up with the People,
down with Greed,
break the Banks,
fire the Puppets,
and make a fairer World!

S P E A K
T R U T H
T O
P O W E R

ROCK Roots 20: Politics
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.
*(This Player is limited to the first 200 songs.
Hear the unlimited Playlist here.)

All songs are in chronological order.

Featuring:

' 6 0 s

Woody Guthrie • Chuck Berry
Pete Seeger • Bob Dylan
Sam Cooke • Odetta
The Kinks • The Staple Singers
The Beatles • Buffalo Springfield
Sly & The Family Stone • The Doors
The Rolling Stones • Nina Simone • MC5

' 7 0 s

The Impressions • Jimi Hendrix
Gil Scott-Heron • John Lennon
Marvin Gaye • The Last Poets
The Temptations • Black Sabbath
Curtis Mayfield • War
Stevie Wonder • The O'Jays
The Meters • Bob Marley
Fela • Patti Smith
Funkadelic • Sex Pistols
The Clash • X-Ray Spex
Peter Tosh • Elvis Costello • Sham 69

' 8 0 s

Gang Of Four • Crass
Fear • Poison Girls
Dead Kennedys • XTC • Peter Gabriel
U2 • Pretenders • Billy Bragg
Faith No More • Vice Squad
Public Enemy • Neil Young

' 9 0 s

Sonic Youth • Sinead O'Connor
Fugazi • Bikini Kill
L7 • 7 Year Bitch • Tribe 8
Hole • Team Dresch • Los Lobos

' 0 0 s

Le Tigre • Tom Waits
The Coup • Ladytron
Sleater-Kinney • Boyskout
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Garbage • Peaches
Metric • The Raveonettes

' 1 0 s

PJ Harvey • Those Darlins
Sharon Jones • Charles Bradley
Pussy Riot • John Legend
Deerhoof • Robert Plant
Mavis Staples • Hannah Williams
The Coathangers • Danielia Cotton

' 2 0 s

Black Pumas • Adia Victoria
Greyhounds • Paul Cauthen
Rhiannon Giddons • Durand Jones

and many, many more!

This Public Service Announcement
was brought to you by
Fawkes News.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

BEST MUSIC: 2011, With Music Players!

ALL THE REAL MUSIC!

B E S T N E W A L B U M S : 2 0 1 1

C O O L S O N G S : 2 0 1 1

All the REAL MUSIC beyond the box!

B E S T R E I S S U E S : 2 0 1 1

• 1950s •

• 1960s •

• 1970s •

• 1980s •

• 1990s •

Monday, January 23, 2012

BEST COMICS: 2011

B E S T G R A P H I C N O V E L S :

B E S T C O M I C S :

D C

V E R T I G O

M A R V E L

T O P S H E L F

D A R K H O R S E

B E S T G R A P H I C N O V E L S :

B E S T C O L L E C T I O N S :

WHERE WE COME FROM, Dept.

B E S T M O V I E S + T V :

R E S T I N P O W E R

Saturday, December 31, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR! with New Years Songs music player

Saturday, November 5, 2011

ROCK Sex Presents: REVOLUTION! - A 'Fight The Power' Music Player

S P E A K T R U T H T O P O W E R

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ALL THE
REAL MUSIC!

B E S T
N E W
A L B U M S :
2 0 1 1

C O O L
S O N G S :
2 0 1 1

All the REAL MUSIC
beyond the box!

B E S T
R E I S S U E S :
2 0 1 1

B E S T
G R A P H I C
N O V E L S :

B E S T
C O M I C S :

T O P
S H E L F

D A R K
H O R S E

B E S T
G R A P H I C
N O V E L S :

B E S T
C O L L E C T I O N S :

WHERE WE
COME FROM,
Dept.

B E S T
M O V I E S
+ T V :

R E S T
I N
P O W E R

S P E A K
T R U T H
T O
P O W E R