Louis CK “Live at Madison Square Garden” picture disc. We might all owe a debt of gratitude to Louis CK. Not just for his numerous comedy specials or his great TV show, but for bringing “alternative” comedy to the masses and for making comedy “cool” again. It would be completely ridiculous to say he reinvented standup, but what he most certainly did was present this idea to the mainstream that standup can be smart, challenging, and angry. And while...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Pick Your Poison split 7” by Control and Harrington Saints. While I happily admit that I appreciate the 7” single as a format, a split 7” is often a much harder sell with me. Why? Often, the focus feels too diverted on a split; the amount of time that each band involved has to leave an impression is very short and splitting focus two ways only makes it that much more...
A critical evaluation of Hellboy in Mexico by Mike Mignola, Richard Corben (Illustrations) and Paul Gulacy (Illustrations) Hellboy has always been one of the coolest comics. It’s actually one of those titles that I know I love but I don’t read enough. I partly blame it on my recent avoidance of mainstream comics in search of what the smaller guys have been up to. Turns out that the independent publishers have been knocking it out of the park all...
Ollie Ottoman delves into the new Ultimate Blu-Ray release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice has probably had more shit thrown its way than any other movie this year. And for good reason: its title alone reeks of inelegance and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Even the cover is tedious and uninteresting: it’s the three main characters just standing there…looking at the viewer. But dear readers I am here to tell...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 10” reissue of the Airplane Tracks EP by The Burdocks. It might seem unbelievable, but perhaps the greatest creative crime that Sloan ever committed was being so good and becoming so popular and casting such a large shadow in the 1990s and early new millennium that they completely eclipsed all of the other bands which were beginning to appear in Canada’s maritime provinces. Really think about it, reader – Thrush Hermit...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Blatant Propaganda LP by The Bar Stool Preachers. It’s pretty incredible how much a band seems to change as soon as people start paying attention to them and their fanbase swells. History is littered with band who seemed not to change for years as they attempted to get legs under them (see Social Distortion, Against Me, Black Flag, Bad Religion and Rise Against – to name only the first which leap...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the The Impossible Kid LP by Aesop Rock. I remember the moment that the world of Hip Hop was opened to me. Years ago, I was interviewing Dillinger Four at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, talking to their bass player about music. He said something along the lines of mainstream rap being in a deplorable state; to the effect that standards and quality control didn’t exist anymore – in his opinion. Lucky...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the La Llama Que Nunca Se Apaga 7” EP by Yesterday’s Heroes.
 I could open this review by writing something trite like, “When it’s done well, whether listeners comprehend the language that a song was written in or not is irrelevant; its meaning will come through in the passion with which it was performed,†but that would probably make readers scoff. It should – such statements are often heavy-handed and surprisingly artless...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Anti-State War Machine EP by Kriegs Legion. It’s impossible to listen to Kriegs Legion’s new EP and not flash on the crew of bands which came before them who didn’t exactly typify hardcore or punk rock in any manner, but did explode forth with a sound and vision all their own under those banners. Bands of this tradition included names like D.O.A., Cosmic Psychos, Negative Trend and Agnostic Front; a diverse...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Songs For Our Mothers LP by Fat White Family. It doesn’t happen often in the post-CD, post-digital music marketplace but, with Songs For Our Mothers, Fat White Family has proven that creating a satisfying and balanced long-playing vinyl album – with the peaks, valleys and thematic movements which propel the music along smoothly from A-side to B- without being “a formless collection of songs†– is not a lost art...