Category Archives: Music

December 4, 2012 · 8:17 pm

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA #1: SMASHING PUMPKINS REISSUE MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS

Okay, it’s December, Black Friday craziness behind us, and now we consider thoughtful gifts. How about the fully remastered classic from The Smashing Pumpkins, the career-defining 1995 double album, “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” as the number one gift this holiday season? Sure, we’ll get a lot of gifts but, oh, that gift of music. Do you remember where you were that summer when the song, “1979,” was the darling of alternative rock? Well, if you weren’t even born yet, that was the song you heard repeatedly on the radio, just like The Breeder’s “Cannonball” in 1993. The Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” was more than just a song. It was a youth anthem. It was truly the background music, like the entire “Mellon Collie” album, of your life back then. And it deserves to be remastered for a whole generation and those of us who loved it the first time around. You can buy it here. There is the option of getting it as a CD or LP set.

EMI’s reissue of “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” begins as of today! Go buy it as gift, even if that gift is for yourself. And don’t stop there. This reissue is part of EMI’s extensive campaign to reissue all of The Smashing Pumpkins’ pre-“Oceania” discography that will continue through 2013 and encompass all of the band’s albums and B-sides from 1991 thru 2000.

Comics Grinder review is here.

Here are more details on today’s release:

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Goodbye Summer, Hello, Ellie Goulding

We begin to mourn the passing of summer, punctuated by the beautiful hit song, “Lights,” by Ellie Goulding, but we hardly say goodbye to Ms. Goulding. What we say is hello to a marvelous musical career. Ellie Goulding is the electro-pop angel we’ve all been waiting for. Full of mystery and mysticism, the latest enigmatic gem for us to enjoy is “Anything Could Happen,” the first song from the new album, “Halcyon,” due out October 9.

What strikes me about Ellie Goulding is that here you have a performer that embraces drama and intellect. She is a dazzling package of entertainment quite at home with all the glamour and buzz but also a true natural, very in touch with, maybe even better, performing unplugged: just her and her music. Check out this performance of “Guns and Horses” out on some suburban lawn. Yes, she’s the real deal. And, no, we don’t just want unplugged. But it’s nice to know we’ve got a performer with the chops to make it work.

INTERVIEW: FRANK M. YOUNG AND “THE CARTER FAMILY: DON’T FORGET THIS SONG”

Frank M. Young is the coauthor, with David Lasky, of the graphic novel, “The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song.” The book is an in-depth look at one of the leading families of country/folk music. Their story spans the 20th Century and is as much a history of American popular music as it is the story of a family with its leading characters, the patriarch, A.P. Carter, and the matriarch, Sara Dougherty Carter. That these two were not exactly going to have an easy time of it is pretty clear from the start. But, despite their innocence and stubbornness, they would conjure up mesmerizing music to grace the newfound radio airwaves.

In this interview, Mr. Young’s enthusiasm for his subject is contagious. He is quite intrigued by the relationship of A.P. Carter and Sara Carter, two unlikely stars of popular music. But it was A.P. Carter’s ability to recognize a compelling tune and Sara Carter’s haunting voice that could not go unnoticed. Anyone looking for an authentic American grassroots sound would do well to discover The Carter Family. Their story in this book follows their rise, the conflicts and challenges, and the aftermath of an amazing journey into early American show business.

“The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song” is published by Abrams ComicArts. This is a 192-page hardcover book in full color with a CD of Carter Family songs. Visit the Abrams ComicArts site.

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Filed under Art, Art books, Books, Comics, Country Music, David Lasky, Frank M. Young, graphic novels, Music, The Carter Family

Tagged as Art, comics, Country Music, Entertainment, graphic novels, History, Pop Culture

July 24, 2012 · 3:49 pm

COMIC-CON 2012: DAVID LASKY

It is my honor to call David Lasky my friend. I’ve known him for many years as a wonderfully supportive fellow artist. While he wasn’t at Comic-Con this year, the book he, and Frank M. Young, have been working on for many years graces the cover of the Abrams ComicArts brochure for 2012 featuring an amazing line-up of titles and including new arrivals. What you see on the cover is pure David Lasky art. It is his own distinctive style that he has worked so very hard to cultivate. Mr. Lasky’s art is a force to be reckoned with! “The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song” chronicling the first major country music group, comes out in October, 2012. It is a 192 page hardback with a CD of Carter Family songs! Funded in part by a Kickstarter campaign, this is must-have for anyone who loves comics, art, history and music.