NILE and BELPHEGOR

It was a time for Metal, so we also went to see these fellows with my old friend and quaffing partner "Eoghan". As with every gig in Whelan's (for it was there that they played) we arrived late, missing NECROTISING PORK PRODUCT and VOMITORY EXECRESENCE completely. We did however catch the trail end of BELPHEGOR. They seemed pretty hardcore and straight down the line, I salute them.
NILE, meanwhile, made music that I found enjoyably metallic, but they themselves seemed a bit cheesey with their continuous exhortations to us to give them some devil horn action (and why does no one do the goat anymore?). I think they would have been better if they had worn capes – you know what they say: No Hood, No Good. And I did not really get much sense of the whole Egyptological thing they are meant to have going. Would it not have been better if they had been dressed as Pharaohs?

The t-shirts NILE had on sale also spoiled the mood somewhat. The designs on the front were nice enough, but the back bore the somewhat charming message "ANNOINT MY PHALLUS". But the design proved popular, and many a grunty young fellow was gamely looking for his manhood's anointment by the end of the night. I was not one of them.

Metal Pandas

Fruitwa

from Fruits and Votes

Los Campesinos: FAIL

My beloved and I went to see a triple header of bands in Whelan's, but because of that venue's new improved suckass early gigs policy (and not our being too slack to get down early) the band we wanted to see had already been on, and the second band were finishing. Even our pal Eoghan who had arrived at the crack of dawn only managed to see the last song of the first band (who had, seemingly, started before the venue opened). That meant there were only Los Campesinos left. My beloved and Eoghan split for the pub, but I stayed in an effort to see if maybe they would turn out to be awesome this time. Who knows, maybe I was just having one of my turns when they underwhelmed me last January?

But no, they're still not up to much. This is kind of a shame, as they have loads of elements that appeal to me – large line-up, funny instruments, attractive ladies, boy-girl vocals, shouting, etc. But it doesn't really come together. Maybe they need some decent songs, I don't know. The high number of total wankers in the crowd didn't help either.

It was therefore not long before I too was drinking a refreshing pint of Guinness in my favourite local hostelry.

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The Social Event of the Year

And it's only January! Sadly I am unable to attend - not because I am a facist, but because I will be away in Morocco.

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Comics Roundup 4/1/2009

I have somewhat fallen off the Comics Roundup wagon. My own literary endeavours are a factor here. Although I did not stop reading comics in November, I did find myself a bit stuck for time to write about them. Once NaNoWriMo was over, I was then a bit torn between going back and trying to write up all the comics I had read in November, or starting with a clean slate. As is the way of things, I did neither. But now we are in a new year, so I reckon this is a good a place to climb back on the wagon as any. So on with the show.


Madame Xanadu #7, by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley, and Richard Friend

The eponymous immortal fairy lady is now in late Victorian London and trying to stop Jack the Ripper from claiming any more victims, largely without success. This is pretty good, but Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell basically own Jack the Ripper now. Anyone else having a crack at the subject would need to be bringing something very new to the table, and I am not sure if the Madame Xanadu really do.

I have started thinking that one problem with this title is that it is all moving along a bit too quickly. This is the #7 and already the fourth change of time and place. I think maybe they might be better letting the stories breathe a bit more. They are also going to find themselves up in the present day very quickly, and it will seem a bit strange spending (presumably) for-e-v-e-r in the present time period after scooting through so many past episodes so quickly. Another problem with this title is that it seems to be a falling into a very generic storytelling mode – Madame X finds herself in some time period while some interesting historical phenomenon occurs, the strange fellow with occluded eyes shows up and says enigmatic things, and then Madame X moves on once more. I can see this getting very tiresome.

For all that, I enjoyed this issue a lot more than the two set in the French Revolution, so maybe the creators are able to do good stuff even within the constraints of their story's structure.


Incognito #1, by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

This is however more like it. Brubaker and Phillips are the creators of Criminal, a wonderful comic about criminals and low-life types. I have mentioned it previously and recommend it highly. This new title is in a similar vein. In some ways it is a bit like more normal superhero comics, but it is like an entryist title in which the creators have managed to sneak some of their ideas into a superhero-y setting. The main character in this story is a bad-ass former supervillain who testified against his old crime boss and is now in witness protection. The Feds have given him some shitey job as an office drone and are pumping him full of meds to keep his superpowers offline. You get a bit of flashback to his life of crime, and then by accident he discovers that his powers are back. "Wa-hey!" he thinks, but as with Criminal, the reader knows that this will not end well.

Incognito #1 comes with an interesting essay on pulp character The Shadow. If they follow the pattern set by Criminal, this will probably not make its way into the collections.

Live & On Record: Nurse With Wound

Nurse With Wound were playing in the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival, supported by Stephen O'Malley of Sunn-O)))). I was there to check out the action. Stephen O'Malley did stuff not unlike what he would do with Sunn-O))), only without the capes or dry ice. He then joined Nurse With Wound, who seem to be a bunch of musicians, one of whom may be Mr Nurse With Wound. The music was hard to describe, but it was load and discordant and not the kind of thing your ma would like. They also had a nice picture show, and on some of the songs someone from Nurse With Wound would sing, usually in a somewhat challenging manner. One of the sung tracks went from being a dialogue between God and the Devil (sung by one guy switching between a low and a high voice) to a disturbed version of Sheena Easton's 'Nine To Five'. Another was a cover of 'My Lovely Horse' from Father Ted, a rendition unlikely to win the Eurovision. All deadly stuff.

I liked it all so much I bought TWO Nurse With Wound albums. Resisting the urge to buy the limited edition €50 double albums the merchandiser kept trying to foist on me, I instead went for two random records on the strength of their cover. One of them is called Salt Marie Celeste, and is one single repetitive track. It is long and doomy, and I like listening to it when I am in that kind of mood. I suspect it might be good for the Call of Cthulhu games. The other is called Huffin' Rag Blues, and I bought it because of its "Hello sailor!" cover. It is kind of like mutant swing music – or like music from between the world wars but played by a bunch of weirdos trying to make it sound as disturbed as possible. And it features the God-Devil and 'Nine To Five' song, which is here scrunched together and called 'Black Teeth'. Result.

I should also mention the free double CD they were giving away with the programme to the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival. I think it includes acts who played at festival events, plus some local chancers. It is good stuff, but essentially the kind of thing you listen to by the yard, so I cannot recommend any individual tracks.

DEAF is famous for its programmes, which are typically so over-designed as to be completely illegible, or else are so big and/or oddly shaped as to be near useless as a handy guide to what's on. This time round, the programme could be read, but it was both huge and oddly shaped and so impossible to carry around. But the CD it came with made it well worth picking up. Away draw.

THE GREAT DEBATE!

On Internet messageboard I Love Everything, the most crucial question in the history of humanity is being debated - right now. Make sure your voice is heard. Polls close January 19th.

Divine Justice

The BBC reports that a burglar broke into what he thought was an unoccupied Edinburgh flat on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately for him, Mr Torvald Alexander was at home, and he confronted the intruder. Mr Alexander was also getting ready to go out to a fancy dress party, and was dresses as THE MIGHTY THOR. This might explain why the unnamed intruder jumped out a first floor window to escape, losing his shoes in the process.

Mr Alexander denies actually being the Norse God of Thunder, and asserts that he was just wearing a costume he had made himself out of tinfoil.

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Odd iPod Moment #4

I was listening to my iPod on shuffle recently, when some track with multilayered percussive sounds came on. "Ah, Moondog!" I thought, "Excellent". But actually it was the Fun Boy Three and Bananarama.

I know, I know, I have already mentioned this story. But some readers were not paying attention.

Film: "Burn After Reading"

This is the most recent Coen Brothers film. I found it a bit disappointing. Oh sure, there are a lot of funny gags in it (mainly involving Brad Pitt, a comedy genius), but it doesn't really go anywhere, and is a pale imitation of any of the Coens' previous funny films. It hurts that the film is largely devoid of likeable characters. Still, many of the jokes are funny. Never underestimate the comedy power of self-important stupid people. Appearances can be deceptive.

So is it all over for the Coen Brothers? I think this disappointment is their first original film (i.e. neither an adaptation, remake, or from some someone else's script) since the far superior Man Who Wasn't There. They are very different films, but in comparing them you can see how the mighty have fallen.