Fluxblog #105: Gorillaz, Filthy Friends, Annie Hardy, Superorganism
If you're interested in mainstream comics you should check out my guest appearance on the Nerd It Here First podcast, where I was interviewed mainly about the very weird situation Marvel Comics is in lately. Marvel's movies have been a nonstop series of blockbusters, but the publishing arm has experienced a serious decline in sales that has run parallel with a boom in DC Comics sales, the removal or replacement of most of their iconic characters, a small exodus of top writers to Image, and an ongoing series of PR blunders. I had fun talking about this stuff, in part because I rarely get to do so.
April 24th, 2017
Plastic On The Ceiling
Gorillaz featuring De La Soul “Momentz”
If you could go back in time and tell me as a teenager in the ‘90s that Damon Albarn from Blur would one day find even greater success as a respected rap producer, I never would have believed you. But here we are 20 years after “Song 2” and Albarn has been doing Gorillaz so long that it’s not even a novelty anymore. “Momentz” is his third collaboration with De La Soul, and it might be the best so far – obviously “Feel Good Inc” is a classic and “Superfast Jellyfish” has its surreal charms, but I love the way these guys sound rapping over the ecstatic pogo bounce of this track. The music is so hyper and supercharged that it sounds like it could break apart at any moment. It makes perfect sense that the De La guys would hear this track and decided it had to express a “carpe diem!” sentiment. It’s basically “1999” all over again: “We could all die any day, but before I’ll let that happen I’ll dance my life away.” The thrill in this song is in how close it comes to crashing and burning, and hearing these guys rap as if they’re trying to make the thing go even faster and harder.
Buy it from Amazon.
April 25th, 2017
The Two Of Us Explored
Filthy Friends “Any Kind of Crowd”
Filthy Friends is essentially the touring version of R.E.M. minus Michael Stipe and Mike Mills, but with Corin Tucker from Sleater-Kinney on lead vocals and Kurt Bloch from the Fastbacks on guitar. It sounds almost exactly like what you’d expect, but… even more so. “Any Kind of Crowd” sounds as though Corin specifically requested Peter Buck to go full-on Reckoning, and he graciously obliged. I’m pretty sure even a layperson could identify Buck’s playing on this song – it sounds like the platonic ideal of himself, like a perfect early ‘80s R.E.M. song that we all know but never actually existed. Tucker sounds fabulous in this context, and the jangling, easygoing vibe brings out out the warmth in her voice, and files down the sharper edges that get highlighted in Sleater-Kinney’s more jagged and urgent style. They’re so simpatico that this song, which would’ve felt light and summery no matter what, comes out feeling especially fun and relaxed.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
April 26th, 2017
God Above And Devil Below
Annie Hardy “Want”
Annie Hardy’s music in Giant Drag was usually quite playful, and at times overtly silly in a bratty, stoner-ish sort of way. Her first solo record has a very different tone, a direct result of her experiencing some truly awful trauma – the death of her infant son, and a year later, the death of that son’s father. She sounds shell-shocked and anguished in this music, and her words are direct and plain spoken. On “Want” she wails “I want my baby back, what else can I do?,” and sometimes sounds like she’s on the verge of tears. The music, which falls somewhere in the space between the most ragged and desolate Neil Young stuff and Beck’s Sea Change aesthetic, feels both intimate and epic. There are moments of catharsis in this song, but it mostly sounds lost and crestfallen. It’s a song begging for answers or release or some kind of sign, but all it can offer in return is raw, undiluted grief.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
April 28th, 2017
The World Is Too Heavy
Superorganism “It’s All Good”
The Twitter bio for Superorganism proclaims “WE ARE DIY,” and yet they’re hooked up with Rough Trade, featured by Apple Music, and pushed heavily on what remains of the music blogosphere. The whole thing makes me nostalgic for the old mp3 blog days, right on down to the mid-00s twee peppiness of the track. I wouldn’t be surprised if nostalgia for that era – over ten years ago now, I am very old – is part of what inspired this group. “It’s All Good” is light and fun, but also a bit screwy and strange, so it’s riding this very appealing line between super accessible and genuinely alt. It’s undeniable, but I am obviously the mark for this sort of tune. I say that like I’m certain that this is some sort of scam, but I really don’t think so. I think this is sincere music. Just forgive me if I’m skeptical of the “WE ARE DIY” thing.
You can’t actually buy Superorganism’s music anywhere, but it’s streaming on all your major platforms. They’re DIY like that, y’know?