overlooked, underrated pt 2

A few more entries in my favorite overlooked albums list



Morrissey -- Kill Uncle
After Southpaw Grammar, this album probably receives the most ire and criticism of Moz's solo attempts. I've never understood why. I think it's a damn solid album, full of gems and career highlights. In fact, I've listened to this one so much that my CD has tiny holes worn through the top side, making it unlistenable now. Thankfully I was able to rip it into iTunes before that happened.








Morrissey -- Maladjusted
This one isn't spat upon so much as it's simply ignored by most. And unfairly so.
All in all, this album was probably the last good album the man recorded (he's still making records that follow this same blueprint, yet those have been received unwarranted praise from all corners, while this one is continually forgotten -- even the recent resequenced reissue didn't do much to improve it's general legacy).





more to come...

overlooked, underrated

Recently, PopMatters posted an article on "10 albums that supposedly suck, but don't" -- which got me thinking of my own list of personal favorite albums that are often looked down upon or ignored by long-time fans. Sometimes, a band will branch out and try a new sound, or find itself drifting into some different territory. Some times, this change is awful. Other times, it's just new and different; and after time, it comes to stand out as something to give a second (or third or fourth) chance.

Here are a few of my favorites, in no real order.



Twisted Sister -- Love is for Suckers
Originally conceived as a solo vehicle for Dee Snider, this is a huge departure for a Twisted Sister record and often receives a lot of unfair criticism. It was never meant to be a proper "metal" album, and so it can't really be criticized for not meeting any kinds of "metal" standards. It was meant to be a more pop-oriented, more radio-friendly device to launch Snider as a solo artist. Depending on whose story you hear/believe, one side or the other -- Snider or Atlantic records -- was a bit weary of releasing it as a solo record and demanded it be released as a Twisted Sister record. The album itself had been recorded with a series of studio musicians (Kip Winger among them), but the other members of Twisted Sister received credit on the album. So, in the end, fans were given a "Twisted Sister" album that had not been recorded by the band proper, so sounded a far sight different than expected. It was also a Pop album disguised as a Metal album -- never a good thing.
And unfortunately, the backlash the band received, in addition to conflicts within the band itself, was too much. And an album that most of them had nothing to do with was to be their swansong.

If you can put aside any notions that this is supposed to be a "metal" album, I think you'll find a pretty strong (not perfect), utterly enjoyable pop album.






GWAR -- Carnival of Chaos
I once read a review that described this album as the "thinking man's GWAR album," and I kinda have to agree. After setting the world on fire with Scumdogs of the Universe, watching it burn with American Must Be Destroyed, and then feeding it to the World Maggot with This Toilet Earth, there wasn't much left for them to do. So, they brought about the end of times with Ragnarok and reveled in it all with Carnival of Chaos.
They tried some new things, tried some new sounds, and (unfortunately) set the stage for their near-demise. While certainly not a flawless album, it's certainly one that deserves more attention than it currently receives; as well as a higher rank among the GWAR echelon.







Misfits -- American Psycho
Yes. We all know that the Michal Graves era of the Misfits could not hold a candle to the (classic, legendary) Glenn Danzig era of the Misfits. Such an argument is ridiculous, cliche, and should not still be happening in 2011.
That said -- if you're able to take this (first) reincarnation of the band on its own terms and its own merits, you'll find a really solid horror-themed pop-punk band who released two solid albums. The first one -- American Psycho -- is the stronger of the two, and definitely worth a re-appraisal if you happened to be one of the ones who initially cast it off.





....more to come....

Wuving the Oaf

The Wunderful Ed Luce -- creator of the Wuvable Oaf comics -- was recently interviewed over on the Accidental Bear blog. You should definitely go read it.

Also, Luce will be at Floating World Comics on August 4th, premiering the latest issue of Wuvable Oaf, as well as exhibiting a selection of art work.

*Hint Hint* His show would make the perfect prelude, or follow-up, to the No Dust Here show which will be at the Basil Hallward gallery at Powell's Books starting August 4th -- a show that I will have a few pieces in. *Hint Hint*

No Dust Here

I've recently posted some information on No Dust Here -- an upcoming group art show/project I'll be taking part in during August -- over on my photography blog.

Black Moon

Thanks to the glory that is Janus Films and their continually outstanding Criterion Collection...um, collection -- I've recently been turned on to the staggeringly beautiful weirdness that is Louis Malle's Black Moon. An English-dialogue French Surrealist revision of Alice in Wonderland that concerns itself with ambiance and atmosphere, rather than any actual plot. Bitchy fat unicorns, brother/sister make up parties, an elderly matron whose best friend is a rat and who breast feeds from her daughter -- it's an incomprehensible, indescribable fever dream that follows dream logic from start to finish. While it's not a film that will connect with everyone, it's definitely a film that will leave its mark with all who give it a chance.

7 inches...

I've recently started moving my vinyl collection into the digital realm; it's been far easier than initially thought, and it's also reacquainted me with some long lost friends and long lost gems.

So, I thought I'd share these wonders with anyone who happened to be interested:

I've started tossing them up on a new blog: 7 Inches of Ecstasy

For now, I'm focusing mostly on my 7" and "45" records, but I'm sure I'll throw in an occasional 10" or 12" long player for variety.

Come on over and join the party!

I Was There

I've recently started another blog, over in the Tumblr universe. It's nothing but scans of all the various concert/movie/event tickets I've held onto over the years.

It can be found at:

http://ticket-taker.tumblr.com

Come on over!

Stumptown 2011

This past weekend was the 2011 Stumptown Comics Fest. Again, I volunteered for a few hours during the festival in exchange for free entry. Saturday, I spent my time chatting and catching up with friends, sported my Vic Boone hoodie to try and raise awareness for an awesome upcoming new comics series, bought a lot of shit, and had my sketchbook filled in a little.
Sunday was my work day, so I didn't do much other than say my farewells before heading into my real job.

Here are some of the sketches now filling up my book:









a Wuvable Oaf sketch from the wonderful Ed Luce



a sketch from Julia Wertz, formerly of Fart Party



a Spacetrawler-related sketch from Christopher Baldwin




SAILOR MOON, as sketched by Katie Shanahan




from Erika Moen, half of the Bucko team




Hellboy, as "sketched" by Vinny Navarrete



a top-notch top-knot from Sarah Olekysk



a Sex Wizard from Carolyn Main's Sex Wizards

Appreciation: 'Opus'

For the second outing of my Theatre Appreciation class, we went to see Michael Hollinger's play Opus performed by Portland Center Stage. I've been to a few PCS performances, but not many of their contemporary productions -- I've seen them perform King Lear, The Importance of Being Earnest, the obligatory production of A Christmas Carol; but the only modern/contemporary production I've seen from them was The Pillowman, which was merely OK. And therein lies my problem with most contemporary theater productions -- I find them only to OK, usually I find them to be incredibly pedestrian and predictable.
Case in point, Hollinger's Opus. While it wasn't a bad play (it was competent enough and the actor's all had their chops), it certainly wasn't an interesting piece, nor was it as provocative as it thought itself to be.
It was very much a "white people's problems" story ("Do I join the nice small quartet or do I take the audition for the Pittsburgh symphony?"; "If we perform at the White House, do we really have to play 'Hail to the Chief?'"; "We're gay professional orchestral musicians, yet we're still in the closet!"), like one long, highly produced, live episode of Friends. And had I come in with a check list of everything I'd expect to be in a modern/contemporary play, about modern/contemporary "problems," I would have checked off every single plot point on that list.
I find myself having the same issues with most of other contemporary forms of art, but that's another post for another day.

Appreciation: 'The Adding Machine'

This semester, I'm taking a Theater Appreciation class, wherein we will be taking in numerous productions throughout the Portland area. The first one of these was Theater Vertigo's production of Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine -- an American Expressionist piece from the 1920s.
It is the story of Mr Zero, a downtrodden, faceless, nameless man who, on the day of his twenty-fifth anniversary with his company, is told that he will be replaced by an adding machine -- a piece of machinery that not only will make his manual job obsolete, but that "can be operated by a high school girl" for less pay. Zero's reaction is to murder his boss. He is then tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
In the play's second act, Rice skews the audiences expectations for Zero's redemption -- showing his fate to be anything but redemptional.

Expressionism is defined as a movement that "present[s] the world in an utterly subjective perspective, radically distorting it for emotional effect, to evoke moods or ideas." And this where Theater Vertigo's production really shined. The set was incredibly minimal, with only the most basic props used, and the makeup was stellar: masks and half-masks used to wonderful effect, helping to stretch a small company of actors into a much larger number of unique individual roles.

The story itself also hit a little close to home for me -- my employer having recently laid off nearly 10% of its unionized work force. Fortunately(?), I was not one amongst that number, but more than a few friends and co-workers were. So, seeing such a play as The Adding Machine with those lay-offs still in mind added another layer to the experience.


The Adding Machine runs 4/8/11-5/7/11, Thursday/Friday/Saturday only, with Thursday nights being pay-what-you-can. And, it's at Theater Theatre on SE Belmont -- a fantastic establishment for smaller local theater productions.
If you're able, I highly recommend this one.