// Category Archive for: Current Faves

Afrodisiac, A Graphic Novel By Jim Rugg & Brian Maruca

By Danny R. Phillips

Graphic novels are a guilty pleasure to which I have only recently returned. I have always been an avid reader as well as a lover of art, but when I turned 35, I started to think my comic book years were behind me. Then I re-read Watchmen and V for Vendetta and remembered the comic greatness that I had let gather dust in the back of my memories.

Thanks to my returning jones for the graphic novel, I discovered Afrodisiac, a book based around a Shaft-meets-Superman character straight out of the blaxplotation genre of the 1970s. I mean, this cat would make Dolemite and Superfly look like Wayne Brady. With his stable of white “bitches” working the streets for him, his magic pimp cane, his Cadillac, and his tingling Spider Sense-like street smarts, he is both the protector of his city and its sweet, sweet daddy.
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Bettina Köster, Queen Of Noise

By Ann Clarke

I love it when you put on an album, and it just kicks ass immediately. I love it even more when it continues to kick ass, and then when it’s over, you feel compelled to listen to it again! That doesn’t always happen, even with some of your personal favorite albums.

Bettina Köster’s Queen of Noise might not be my favorite album, but it certainly falls into the realm of the type of album I just described. It just kicks ass, and continues to kick ass! (I apologize for my lowbrow description, but I guess it sort of brings the cave-girl out of me!) I mean, seriously; when something just rocks your lame ass, you know it instantly.
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Gorevette, Lustfully Yours

By Mandy Mullins

Grab your dancing shoes and head out onto the floor and get ready to have a great time! In a match made in rock & roll girls heaven, the wonderful Nikki Corvette and Gore Gore Girls’ guitarist/leading lady Amy Gore have teamed up to form an ultra-fun little Detroit super group called Gorevette. Along with Lianna Castillo on bass and Al King on drums, Gorvette have just released their seven-song debut EP, Lustfully Yours.
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Them Crooked Vultures, S/T

By Adam McIntyre

Come over to my recording studio and let’s listen to something very loud.

Here’s why I have a major hard-on for Them Crooked Vultures: it’s tailored for me. I mean, I am its target audience. I have intense respect for each of the four musicians involved, certainly bordering on talent-based mancrushes. I mean. . .
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The Living Sisters, Love To Live

By Chelsea Spear

Listening to Love To Live on an iPod feels wrong. The maiden voyage by The Living Sisters requires the listener to lower a needle onto a fat slab of vinyl and listen to a brief overture of static before their music begins.
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Nine, A Soundtrack Review

By Danny R. Phillips

I’m not much for musicals. People walking down the street, spontaneously breaking into song. . . it’s all very hokey and unrealistic to me. Generally, I think it’s a stupid genre. . . wait, does Walk The Line count as a musical? If so, I liked that one. Anyway, soundtrack albums to musicals are often more painful than the actual film, but there is something about the soundtrack of Nine that makes me let my guard down and dial down the hate just a bit.
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The Rebirth Of The Un-Dead: Q&A With Dacre Stoker

By Lisa Anderson

Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Dracula author Bram Stoker, has co-written an official sequel, Dracula: The Un-Dead, along with screenwriter Ian Holt. I was fortunate enough to get to meet Dacre at a signing at Sherlock’s Books in Lebanon, TN this past December, and he graciously agreed to follow up with an interview by email.
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White Lies, To Lose My Life. . .

By Jim R. Clark

I saw this band for the first time on the Ohio PBS music variety television program called Strictly Global and I was hooked by the dark and foggy video for a song called “To Lose My Life.” These three young guys from Ealing, West London have a wonderful new and old sound.
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Spoon, Transference

By Adam McIntyre

Definitive proof that there is a Spoon.

I wanted a little something different from Spoon this time, and instead of floundering, the Austin, Texas indie rock idols trimmed away some of their own clichés for some spare, sleek grooves.

I have to admire their confidence; surer footsteps were never danced. I mean that—about the dancing. The listening experience is evocative of being in near-darkness watching someone beautiful dancing, both uninhibited enough to be sexy and yet gracefully measured enough to be demure.

Transference sounds incredible, almost Peter Gabriel-like in the pristine production’s service to the almighty beat, with comforting, vibey moments of mono lo-fi recordings cut in for emphasis. The first two-thirds of the album are nearly infallible as individual packages, with the last bit of the record comprised of songs that would be considered pleasant even by harsher critics.

Give this record a listen any time you want the following: something sparse and yet interesting; something achingly lonely and yet danceably groovy; and something understated, yet beautiful.

Transference was released on January 19. Spoon are currently touring the UK and the US. To find out more, visit Spoon’s Official Website or MySpace page.

Wolfmother, Cosmic Egg

By Adam McIntyre

Egg Sandwich

Cosmic Egg contains more high-energy, unapologetic Guitar Hero heavy rock from Wolfmother. The lyrical content is about the same as before (moon, sky, woman, mythical stuff), but the band are tighter from relentless touring and ultimately the record sounds awesome. You need to take this stuff about as seriously as you need to take KISS. Just enjoy it; it’s arena rock for your backyard party. Some of it might even be great for driving fast.

Ultimately, after a couple listens, I think this has been as digested as it’s going to get. If you’re okay with that, grab yourself some Wolfmother. My favorite track so far is “In The Castle.”

Cosmic Egg was released October 23 of 2009. Wolfmother are currently touring the UK, Europe, and Australia. For more, check out the band’s Official Site or MySpace page.