For all the whining by old guys about how the kids these days don’t discover great comics through the comics themselves, but through TV and movies, I offer Exhibit A, the old Spider-Man cartoon show from the late 1960s. As a little kid, in the 60s and 70s, that was how I knew Spider-Man for […]
Review: Music as markers in ‘I Am Young’
Through the years, one thing that has consistently figured into the teenage remembrances of people I’ve known is music. We might have had completely different lives in completely different places, but everyone exhibits musical memories of that age that often form some sort of thread by which we trace our biography. One of the strangest […]
Interview: Nick Thorburn discovers the missing link between humans and penguins
Nick Thorburn is well-known for his work in music, less so for his comics. The Canadian cartoonist is the long-time vocalist for Islands, as well as a number of other music projects, like Human Highway, The Unicorns, Mister Heavenly, Nick Diamonds, and others. His graphic novel debut from Fantagraphics, Penguins, is an allegorical collection of […]
Review: A life unfolds through cassette tapes in ‘All the Sad Songs’
Cassette tapes are one of those things. I don’t know if people who didn’t live decades of their life with cassette tapes as part of them can really gather what they mean to people over 40. I don’t even know an equivalent for those in their 20s now. They were physical media that you could […]
PREVIEW: You’ll Drive in Your Car and Go Real Far when ARCHIE MEETS BLONDIE!
The gang from Riverdale records an album with Blondie. Hijinx ensue!
No Spandex Saturday: The music of Metal Gear is coming to a stage near you.
Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece of ridiculous and grounded thematic storytelling, Metal Gear Solid, has taken its place in the video game pantheon but its music will live on this Fall. The official METAL GEAR orchestral concert series will premiere for the first time outside of Japan in 2018. Begining in Los Angeles on October 10 and ending […]
Kendrick Lamar reveals the tracklist for BLACK PANTHER’s OST and it’s DAMN awesome
Fans of the Marvel movies might remember this 2016 video from the video essay channel, Every Frame a Painting, where Marvel’s cinematic score was lambasted as bland and forgettable. No more, however. It seems the powers that be– or at least Black Panther director Ryan Coogler– have taken the criticisms to heart. Today, Kendrick Lamar, executive producer […]
NO SPANDEX SATURDAY: Kicking off 2018 with a thought on fandom, tied to my favorite band the Descendents.
You can easily recognize me at anything that ends in con, experience, or even mania by my black zip-up hooded sweater with an unmistakable subculture caricature on the back of it, the Milo. A crude drawing of a man who embodies be yourself at ALL costs, even if it means not fitting in with the […]
12 Hours of Halloween: These are the spooky soundtracks you need for haunting
Nothing gives you the inspiration for that finishing touch on your Halloween costume like the right music. For many years our music of choice has been Soma FM’s “Doomed” station, which has a special mix of dark, industrial, goth and metal that never fails to send a shiver down our spine. If you don’t believe […]
NO SPANDEX SATURDAY: It’s Not Dead 2, the return of punk rock and the arts to southern California.
2015 saw the debut of a new music festival for the punk rock loving crowd. Featuring headliners such as the Descendents and NOFX, It’s Not Dead was one of the best single days of music one could experience. It may have taken a little bit of time but the festival will be having its sophomore […]