A proper news-filled update is forthcoming (all is well and lots of fun is on the way, I swear it!), but I have some blog things that I’d like to get out of my system first…
Crickets #7 blew me away in a way that I hadn’t felt since #3, but even better. I’ve loved all chapters of Sammy Harkham’s “Blood of the Virgin” of course, but this latest entry was something especially touching. I also enjoyed that this issue seemed to come from out of nowhere and that Philadelphia’s Partners and Son had a copy – it really made me glad to be living in the city in a way that I really haven’t felt in these Pandemic years. Find yourself one at cooler comic shops or online. It has my highest recommendation.
The Velvet Teen‘s Out of the Fierce Parade celebrated 20 years last week. To say it changed my life is an understatement – my adoration with this album led to my befriending the man behind Slowdance Records, which led to an internship offer that brought me from out of Connecticut and over to Portland, Oregon. I’m not sure if I would’ve ever left my home state without that push and belief in me, and it led to a real cool time of my life. The album is still great, I encourage you to check it out again or the first time, if you’re so lucky. Time flies.
Here’s some tape recommendations (as of this post there are still copies):
- Gage Maurie A Compilation (In No Particular Order) (Spared Flesh)
Rippers and trippers from one of my favorite labels on the rise right now. - The Lost Days Lost Demos (The Long Road Society)
5 really great songs – it’s Tony Molina, shouldn’t be a hard sell. - Kids on a Crime Spree Fall in Love Not in Line (Slumberland)
Been waiting for this one since ’11. I was immediately impressed by KOACS and then they went dead quiet! I had all but given up on new music let alone a new album, but then suddenly we were rewarded with this gem. - Hook-Ups Domestic Fantasy (Smoking Room)
I love anything from Smoking Room and this one was no different. Just a fun tape to throw on whenever (I swear I’m not underselling it).
In the ‘Oops File’, I guess I never really mentioned this but Dan Saraceni (The Only Ghost in Town, By Surprise) and I have been putting out a weekly film noir podcast called Out of the Podcast and we’re now on our second year. Pretty wild – check us out, or at least check out the movies. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
I put some new artwork in the art section. Hoping to collect all of that stuff and more into something that you can physically flip through this Summer… also would like to get more art done, but it seems to be getting more challenging to do that as the years pass.
That’ll do it. Eventually I’ll do some deep dive posts on Green Acres and Supreme, the two biggest things I’ve binged and obsessed over as of late. In the meantime, let’s make it through the rest of this bitter cold weather (Smarch at its finest) and take care of one another – that includes yourself!