I'm the Goddamn Nightwyrm

“The art of making a successful comic book movie is one of fine balance. The movie must be able to appeal to the mainstream audience while adhering to enough canon to keep the comic fans happy; it must have the right amount of effects to make the movie look convincing, yet retain enough budget to cast decent actors and develop a quality script. Add the premise of an origin story and the filmmakers have to moderate the slow start of back-story with a plausible amount of action. Green Lantern is the latest comic book adaptation to take on this challenge, and it may have found just the right finesse to meet that perfect balance. […]”

It has become somewhat of a cliché in music reviews to refer to an album as defying categorisation – I’ve even been guilty of it myself. Listening to The Quiet Lamb, I realise how quick I’ve been to use this convention in the past; the new album from Her Name Is Calla does not fit into any clear genre pigeonhole and may even be an early entry from a new generation of music. An album of contrasts, its closest relation would likely be post-rock, yet it refuses to be bound by the musical structure of that genre. Coming in at 76 minutes, The Quiet Lamb is an epic journey that transcends musical boundaries, and is both contemplative and exhilarating for its listeners. […]

Imagine, if you will, the London of an alternate world. A world very similar to our own, but for a secret underworld of mystical avatars and magical practitioners, all powered through embracing the nature of music. This is the world of the Phonomancer, where music is magic, where a song can save a life or end it. This is the world of Phonogram. Created in 2006 by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie, Phonogram was an six-issue indie title, published through Image Comics, that grew to become a critically-acclaimed and Eagle-nominated mini-series. The following year, Image collected the issues into the trade paperback titled Phonogram: Rue Britannia. […]

The story of the journey is one of the more classic of the traditional plot devices used in literature and media. The journey takes a character on a mission or quest that he (or she) must accomplish, whilst growing along the way. The story structure most commonly puts the protagonist through some form of gauntlet, undergoing trials and overcoming obstacles. When the journey is combined with the supernatural, the story inevitably becomes one of a quest for redemption. This is the premise behind Midnight Nation, originally published as a 12-issue limited series in 2000-2002 by the now-defunct Joe’s Comics imprint, and now being reprinted as a trade paperback by Top Cow Productions. […]

When I first heard last year that Glaswegian band Mogwai were going to release a live album, I could barely contain my excitement. For one, they are a dominating force in the world of post-rock (or however you like to classify their music). They are also reputed for putting on a fantastic live show and this would be the first live album in their 15-year career, so that only added to the anticipation for this release. During shows of their 2008/2009 American tour, Mogwai recorded a number of tracks over three performances at The Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York. The result was Special Moves, a full salute to their work to date. […]

I’m a sufferer of event fatigue. With some of the big name companies pumping out event series and spin-offs every year like rabbits popping out litters of kits, it is hard not to get jaded with the near-constant barrage. When I heard that Top Cow was entering this market with their own event series, it was with some trepidation that I approached the first issue. Thankfully, Artifacts #1 was quick to calm my fears and even left me excited with anticipation. […]

Every now and then, a listener just wants to plug into some music that’s unashamed fun, and American space-rock band Elsinore may just be an ideal band to help the listener achieve that. With the upcoming release of their second studio album, Yes Yes Yes, Elsinore present the results of two years and over a thousand studio hours; a textured and dynamic album of vivacious yet personal songs that joyfully soundtrack the simplistic bliss of life in the Midwest. […]

Son of the Sun was formed in early 2007 from opposite sides of the United States. At the time, Joseph Stocker lived in New York and Zak Ward lived in California, and the two friends and former band-mates experimented with their reflective, lush musical tastes over the internet, swapping files which eventually brought about their first EP in 2008. After Ward moved back to New York, the duo went on to add Jeremy Franklin, Steve Matthews, and Brandon Delmont, and the band were soon tagged as a band to watch in the upstate New York music scene. Son of the Sun have now self-released their debut full-length album, The Happy Loss, and it’s an album that’s well worth checking out. […]

Elk City is a small Oklahoma city with a heritage in oil, agriculture, and transport, as well as being part of the history of Route 66. It is somewhat of a mystery then as to why a band from New York would name themselves after this small city, especially when the band’s music itself is full of the urban sophistication of their home city. Whatever the case may be, the band Elk City have been making a name for themselves with their foray into 1970s radio pop-style music, and have recently released their sophomore album, House of Tongues. […]

Hailing from Fargo, North Dakota, Secret Cities is a band that was born from the minds of a pair of 15 year-olds at band camp who discovered a shared love of psychedelica. Fast forward to 2010, and the now-trio are about to release their debut album Pink Graffiti. Listed by the influential music site Stereogum as one of their bands to watch in 2010, Secret Cities establish themselves with this album as something quite different but phenomenally good. […]