RIP せば じゅん aka Nujabes

I am stunned. Just read about the way too early passing of one of my top sources of inspiration through sound- Nujabes. Shing02--one of his most famed collaborators-- helped to put together this memorial post yesterday.

Jun Seba's genius understanding of linking jazz with 90's hip-hop and other styles in my humble opinion was never before so eloquently mastered or blended in a way that touches the soul.  Nujabes is right up there with the pioneer/stewards of this movement- Pete Rock, Guru, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fat Jon.

So many of his tracks puts us in those other realms of mental relaxation- Counting Stars, Feather, Kumomi, Highs 2 Lows and so on. 

Rest in Peace.

This post was written by:
big O

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I have proof... ODB IS STILL ALIVE!!!

Let's start off with some math shall we?? (now with click-able links!!)

The Black Keys + Various Rappers = BLAKROC

That's the quick and dirty. The following is the long and clean??

This is the story as it was told to me: producer extraordinaire Damon Dash was at a company picnic and playing a game of Red Rover after finishing a delectable glass of lemonade. On his side was a slew of MCs (Mos Def, Ludacris, Q-Tip, etc), on the other... The Black Keys. Ludacris ran first and once he hit the Black Keys' wall of sound, a great cacophony of beautiful music erupted. That's when Damon Dash exclaimed, "Blues and rap! It's the two great tastes that go great together!!!" He ran and grabbed a Reese's Peanut Buttercup and then threw everyone into the studio.

So that's what BLAKROC is, MC's rhyming over Black Keys' music. For those of you that don't know, The Black Keys are two white dudes from Ohio that create blues music that has a dirty fuzzbox, speaker soaked in cheap whiskey and smoke sound. (Check out their Danger Mouse produced Attack & release album!!) MC's on this are as follows: Ludacris, ODB, Mos def, NOE, RZA, Pharoahe Monch, Raekwon, Jim Jones, M.O.P., & Q-Tip. Impressive pedigree if I do say so myself.

The first track, Coochie, is easily one of my favorite cuts out of the last year. ODB kills it. It's his best posthumous track closely followed by his guest spot on Mark Ronson's Toxic. (yes, it's a remake of a Britney Spear's Toxic and it is great). I'm pretty sure ODB, Tupac, and Biggie are in some John Galt-ian Fortress of Solitude (looks kids! a high-brow literature and comic reference all in one fatal swoop!!) still kickin' it and rhyming for each other and occasionally letting out a track or two.

I'm not going to talk about each track as they are all good if not great. Run out and pick it up... and grab some Black Keys & Reese's Peanut Butter Cups while you are there.

This post was written by:
mrbucky

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if you don't know, now you know- Red Hood: The Lost Days / Batman Under the Red Hood

DCU: The Source just announced a 6-ish mini-- Red Hood: The Lost Days-- to coincide with the next animated flick set to hit this Summer- Batman Under the Red Hood.  Both stories are masterminded by SF's own, Judd Winick and for anyone that read the original story by Winick & Doug Mahnke (with fab covers by Jock) is probably going bananas like I am over this news.

Judd Winick states, “I’m thrilled to return to this character, and it’s both a joy and challenge to tackle this new story. LOST DAYS tracks the time from the Red Hood’s rebirth to his return to Gotham. In it, we get to understand this anti-hero in a new way. I think it explains both how he’s sympathetic, and an unrepentant monster. He’s a wonderfully complex character, and I hope this adds some even greater depth to his mythology.”

I expect this this mini to carry over and dive deeper into the story that capped off the series in Batman annual# 25, which is simply one of those classic reads that you can't help but re-read and urge others to jump into. 

And as for the flick-- how can you not salivate like Cujo at experiencing some of the Death in the Family story threads animated?!?!  Yes indeed.  DC Animated is really doing wonders for diehard fans and casual readers by weaving these classic tales into a singular story. For more tasty deets check the Under the Red Hood first look that was included in the spectacular Justice League Crisis on two Earths DVD.

This post was written by:
big O

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They Make Good Dwa-rings Brah:February 2010

Just because its the shortest month of the year, does not mean there was a shortage of fabulous comic book art. Here is the top 7 artists for the month of February.



7. Riley Rossmo / Cowboy Ninja Viking #4
This artist from our neighbors up north, makes multiple-personality-disorders assassins cool (say that 3 times fast). Double-R uses black and white art with creative color tones to have the uber-violent action jump off the page. Along with writer, A.J Lieberman, CNV is one of the most creative and hilarious books out there.



6. Ethan Van Sciver / Flash:Rebirth #6
This 6-issue mini-series seemed like it took a year to end. Kind of ironic being that this book is about a superhero with super speed. Regardless, I couldn't imagine anyone but EVS to bring back Barry Allen. Well maybe I can think of one other person - Francis Manapul, artist of the new forthcoming Flash series.



5. Rob Guillory / Chew #9
Mr. Guillory perfectly captures the comedic tone of this wonderful book. There is plenty of little funny tidbits within each panel, that if you blink you may miss it. The collaboration with writer John Layman compliment each other quite well.


4. Olivier Coipel / Siege #2
What good ole' Crazy Bob Reynolds does to Ares is a terrifying image that still resonates in my head ever since I picked up this issue. The guts literally hits the fan. Who knew the French had it in them to create some beautifully wicked art.


3. Jerome Opena / Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5
One of the better books no one seems to be reading or even giving any kind of recognition. Those of you who aren't are missing the gorgeous grittiness of Mr. Opena's work.


2. Arthur Adams / Ultimate Comics X #1
Being one of my favorite artists of all time, I was as happy as a fat kid in a donut shop when he was tapped to do this new series. Let's hope we are blessed with his extremely detailed and magnificent work for awhile.



1. Doug Mahnke / Green Lantern #51
The conclusion of the Blackest Night story-arc is almost upon us. The climactic battle between the rainbow warriors and the killer zombies should not be a problem for Mr. Manhke to capture with his phenomenal work. Clearly, the best GN title since the inception of Blackest Night.

This post was written by:
chessie

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Ticklin' Spines - 3/17/2010

Title - Writer/Artist / V-variant cover (artist)


Batman #697 - Tony Daniel / Daniel


The Brave and the Bold #32 - J. Michael Straczynski / Jesus Saiz


Deadpool:Merc with a Mouth #9 - Victor Gischler / Bong Dazo


Green Arrow #31 - JT Krul / Diogenes Neves (cover - Mauro Cascioli) / V (Mike Mayhew)


Green Lantern Corps #46 - Peter J. Tomasi / Patrick Gleason & Rebecca Buchman / V (Rodolfo Migliari)

Siege #3 - Brian Michael Bendis / Olivier Coipel (cover - Gabriele Dellotto) / V,2 (Joe Quesada, sketch)


Spider-Woman #7 - Brian Michael Bendis / Alex Maleev


The Torch #6 - Alex Ross & Mike Carey / Patrick Berkenkotter


Vengeance of Moon Knight #6 - Gregg Hurwitz / Jerome Opena (cover - Leinil Francis Yu)


X-23 #1 - Marjorie Liu / Alina Urusov

This post was written by:
chessie

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Classic Material- Batgirl: Year One

So what- so what- so what you want?!  This is more the underground classic (ala Binary Star or Afu-Ra) originally printed back in 2003 by the scribe combo of Chuck Dixon/Scott Beatty, Marcos Martin on pencils, Alvaro Lopez on inks and Javier Rodriguez on colors.  Where Beatty helps to bring the many classic Babs/Batgirl moments from one of his many DC encyclopedias-- Dixon weaves in his love and craft of portraying character growth-- as is the case with Oracle narrating how things went down for her at the start of her world-saving career.

Her first night of jumping into tights takes place at a social costume party where she helps to save the day from Killer Moth and you can't get a better response than the look of Bruce Wayne's mug on this surprising new addition to his Bat-fam.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree with Batgirl showing some of her detective skills from her father, but Gordon hints on how he is on to his daughter's moonlighting and his displeasure (just like he didn't want her to be a cop).

The book has the look and feel of a perfect flashback story, with original costumes and environments reflecting the 70s but with a fresh design especially with the use of modern colors and action back-splashes (minus the corny kaboom and pow!).  Dixon carries over from his take on Birds of Prey with the first team up between Black Canary and Babs, along with sharing the first kiss with a playful Dick Grayson.

I really appreciated how this origin story is revisited with vast layers of introspection, like how Babs was never really comfortable with the Batgirl label or early struggles with not getting the cred she deserved though that is where she thrives now as the behind the scenes, information broker for the superhero community.

The nine prequel issues (also available in trade format) are packed with action, nostalgia, romance, some foreshadowing at what we know transforms Babs to become Oracle (see The Killing Joke) and oozes of effective comedic timing like where we find...

Robin dressed as Batgirl to convince Lt. Gordon of his daughter not being the new caped crusader in Gotham. 


This post was written by:
big O

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