Krautrocksampler Top 50 Albums

Yeah, I've listened to a few of these records - the alphabetic Top 50 from Julian Cope's genrexploding tome, Krautrocksampler (1995). But not near enough for someone who actually claims to be a fan. (Maybe it's the lack of Agitation Free that agitates me?)

Okay, so I'll link at least one big tune from each... Try to say (or learn) something about each one... And if the full album stream is available, I'll put that one linked from the record title.

1. Amon Düül - Paradieswärts Düül (1970)
They had a single, which was "Eternal Flow." So, Amon Düül was like a hippie arts & music commune happening. But things didn't go so smoothly, leading to a break. Of which the regular version was the lesser.

2. Amon Düül II - Phallus Dei (#13, 1969)
The splitters (II) got the better of it. Amon Düül II let loose and certainly get crazy - all over the place on their debut. I'd just listen to the album from the start (title link), but here's one of the later tunes: "Henriette Krotenschwanz."

3. Amon Düül II - Yeti (1970)
See how there's like a 4-to-1 albums advantage here? Another top-notch record of jammin' out - dig this killer video for "Eye-Shaking King."

4. Amon Düül II - Carnival in Babylon (1972)
Okay, I've never gotten these next two... will have to check them out sometime. I found this 'vid from 1973' (almost at random): "All The Years 'Round."

5. Amon Düül II - Wolf City (1972)
O "Deutsch Nepal" video, you had me at 'animation from Ralph Bakshi.'

6. Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)
Side A is "Amboss," the German word for 'anvil.' Whereas, side B is "Traummaschine." Traum means 'dream'... and I leave the rest of the translation to you. Ashra, Tempel. Ash Ra. Guitars, rock, ambient, space, long-form, cosmic drift, into... jams.

7. Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen (1972)
So, yeah - the self-titled one is the only Ash Ra that I've got. This is post-Klaus Schulze who left both Tangerine Dream and this band after like one album each. You could do worse than to explore this excerpt from "Suche und Liebe" maybe?

8. Timothy Leary & Ash Ra Tempel - Seven Up (1973)
I don't think Timothy Leary was German... maybe Irish? "Time," the B-side to "Space."

9. Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn (1973)
I've never seen or heard of this album outside of Cope's list (and it's not the only one). Therefore, I'd bet it's just mind-blowing! Is it? "Jenseits [A]?"

10. Can - Monster Movie (#17, 1969)
Legendary band! I wish I could claim to be more of a fan of their original (American) singer, Malcolm Mooney. But that's not exactly the case. "Yoo Doo Right" though, right? Do you?

11. Can - Soundtracks (1970)
These are tunes from/for films. A bit o' Malcolm, and a bit o' Damo (Suzuki) - their subsequent (Japanese) signer. I'm not gonna look it up, but like someone named "Mother Sky" like 30th best 'guitar rock' song or somesuch. It is real good.

12. Can - Tago Mago (1971)
Entering in the classic period of awesomeness, Can's next few albums would be stellar. I'd love to get my hands on a 7" single of epic jam "Halleluwah." Bonus: some video for "Mushroom!"

13. Can - Ege Bamyasi (#4, 1972)
The krautfunkiest. Here's some real official video for "Vitamin C"... apparently? Not from 1972, I am thinking.

14. Can - Delay 1968 (1981)
I myself have never bothered to get this long-shelved Mooney-era album. One day, I'm sure. One song I do have would be "Uphill" - it's on the Anthology: 25 Years collection (1993).

15. Cluster - Cluster II (1972)
Is there even a Cluster I?? O yeah, with Conny Plank. He's gone by this time, so it's just the awesomely named duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius - and makin' like "Live in der Fabrik." It's e-lec-tron-i-cal!

16. Cluster - Zuckerzeit (1974)
The video description for "Heiße Lippen" says this album was produced by Michael Rother, "their bandmate in Harmonia" and member of Neu! (foreshadowing)... That explains quite a bit actually. For some reason, only opening track "Hollywood" is blocked on YouTube - SoundCloud workaround!

17. Cluster - Sowiesoso (1996)
"Zum wohl" or the title track? On the way more mellow, from Rother's motorik movement towards Eno's ambience.

18. Tony Conrad & Faust - Outside the Dream Syndicate (1972)
Just drone out to the whole gig! Know your Dream Syndicate.

19. The Cosmic Jokers - The Cosmic Jokers (#6, 1973)
The whole album there starts with Side 1: "Galactic Joke." Or you could try Track 2 = Side 2: "Cosmic Joy."

The (possibly/partially true) urban legend was summarized in my Top 10 entry for this one:

Haha! The galactic joke is on you - and the musicians here. Kosmische label-head offered drugs to jam, recorded, ripped, and sold it up! You'd think Ash Ra Tempel and Klaus Schulze would be wiser upfront, but they had to find out by hearing themselves playing in the record stores. Not only that, but there were like four Cosmic Jokers albums mixed up out of these drug-jam-parties! It's a trip.

Their Wiki page might give a more technically accurate description, but basically...

20. The Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Supermarket (1974)
The whole album there starts with Side 1: "Kinder des Alls." Or you could try Side 2, parts 1 & 2: "Galactic Supermarket." These first two are the only TCJ that I've gotten - worth pursuing further, though. Let's find out!

21. The Cosmic Jokers - Planeten Sit-In (1974)
Wait, Harald Großkopf? I guess I never put it together, but he's been on all of these. Also, you can proceed straight to a more jamming middlish freak-out section.

22. The Cosmic Jokers - Sci-Fi Party (1974)
Looking at the tracklist, I think this one collects tunes from other projects - possibly alternative takes or mixes or whatever. Like "Der Herrscher" is probably from Tarot (#49).

23. The Cosmic Jokers - Gilles Zeitschiff (1974)
I'm tellin' you - Julian Cope really digs The Cosmic Jokers. Intended videos have been removed at the last minute.

Adapt!! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

24. Faust - Faust (1971)
There's no denying Faust is legendary, but... There's something that keeps me from getting on board with them. Some thing(s) pretty significant. I've never been a huge fan of cut-and-paste (unless you're like Teo Macero), and I really don't care for much of the components that Faust actually cutted-and-pasted. The problem might be mine, but there it is.

25. Faust - So Far (1972)
This was supposed to be their Faust Sell Out album. I'm pretty good with the lead-off track, but yeah. Maybe the inscrutability of the debut (and the legend) casts too much shade on the rest? I'm going to listen to this record now - until I need to listen to something else for posting.

26. Faust - The Faust Tapes (1973)
Or maybe I should listen to The Faust Tapes, for possibly the first time? "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" isn't halfway over. [It was at this point, I began reconsidering the wisdom of putting all fifty albums in a single post. 'Will this benefit anyone... besides me?' Best to plunge through, so as to avoid an existential crisis of confidence. 'What is blog... for?' J'ai mai aux dents. Lalalalala!!]

27. Faust - Faust IV (1974)
So later on, Faust named one of their songs "Krautrock" - why not? The Flaming Lips included "It's A Bit Of A Pain" on their Late Night Tales comp (#5 Repertoire, 2005).

28. Sergius Golowin - Lord Krishna von Goloka (1973)
What's up with these Swiss non-musician, spoken-word figures of mystical youth culture? Like hippie poetry slam in a language I don't speak, with a better soundtrack. "Die Weiße Alm" is The White Alpine Meadow.

English lyrical translation = Kṛṣṇa Consciousmess Wow.

29. Guru Guru - UFO (1970)
No Hinten (1971), no Kanguru (#9, 1972)? Strange. Guru Guru is somewhat notable for their drummer, Mani, being the singer & bandleader. Yet more jazzy-jammy-trippy rock explorations into outer-space. Finishes up with "Der LSD-Marsch."

30. Harmonia - Musik von Harmonia (1974)
Okay, so - Harmonia is all of Cluster (Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius) plus half of Neu! (Michael Rother). I think maybe it started off just a side-project lark, but turned out really good. Check out the "Watussi" and the "Dino."

31. Harmonia - Deluxe (1975)
Haha, "Gollum." Produced by Connie Plank (original member of Cluster)! Drums by Manu Neumeier (of Guru Guru)! I'm gonna get me this one. Gollum.

32. Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk (1972?)
Not sure which one this is supposed to be - the 1971 self-titled debut, or the 1972 sequel? There's links to both. I'm not saying Cope doesn't believe it, but it's questionable to leave off the entirety of Kraftwerk's more famous & influential later work. His list, though.

33. La Düsseldorf - La Düsseldorf (1976)
The other half of Neu! (Klaus Dinger), plus his brother, plus a '72 Olympian. (Maybe? seems unlikely...) "Time" from another 'Konrad Plank' production.

34. La Düsseldorf - Viva (1978)
What?! La Düsseldorf had some hits? Like Wiki-worthy singles? Best-selling "Rheinita" (#3 in Germany), and the higher-charting "Silver Cloud" (#2)... whoa.

35. Moebius & Plank - Rastakraut Pasta (1980)
Yeah, this is Dieter Moebius of Cluster and Conny Freakin' Plank, but still. I don't think this one's ever making my personal (lesser than Julian Cope's) Krautrock Top 50. Hmmm... post idea. Anyway, maybe I just take issue with the name and year and entire concept of this one: "Feedback 66" and also "News."



36. Neu! - Neu! (#3, 1972)
I love Neu! Who doesn't? Maybe I should have started the list with this one. Maybe I do need to make my own Krautrock Top 50 Albums list. I love making lists! Who doesn't?

So this starts off with "Hallogallo," and that's enough to rank it high in any year. And guess who produced? Yup, Konrad 'Conny' Plank again. When you hear motorik, you should first hear Neu!, and then the other bands that followed them. We don't need no syncopation. "Sonderangebot" cymbal-swirls into your cerebral vortex. If you like what Pink Floyd was doing in 1972, or what The Alps were doing in 2008, you should like "Weissensee." Penultimate track "Im Glück" is drone/ambient ultimate. "Negativland" will destroy you. There's another part at the end ("Lieber Honig"), but I want to talk about how Side 2 comprises a three-part suite called Jahresübersicht [year overview]. There's no mention of that anywhere on my copy, but it's all over the internet. Always something...

O wait, there it is! It's written below Side 1's track list, at the bottom of a different column than its segment tracks' titles. I've never noticed that. Wild.

37. Neu! - Neu! 2 (1973)
So this one. The sequel is somehow simultaneously way overrated and unfairly maligned. Yeah, opener "Für Immer" borders on self-plagiarism of previous opener "Hallogallo." Who's complainin'? And sure, all of Side 2 is basically speed-shifted self-remixes of previous tunes. What I want to know is whether Chrome ever covered "Lila Engel." Also weird stuff about "Super 16" and the legacy from the wuxia Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976).

38. Neu! - Neu! '75 (1975)
So the opening track "Isi" was released as a British single but failed. Somehow it fails to surprise me that this wasn't 1975 UK chart material. I would recommend this one (black field, white letters) after the debut (white field, red letters) but before Neu! 2 (white field, gray letters, pink number). "Hero" is a great rock song - it is not about Batman, though.

39. Popol Vuh - Affenstunde (1970)
Although the original Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives from the Postclassic Quiché Maya kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands, and the band has a prominent leader in Florian Fricke, the main connection that comes to mind will always be film-maker Werner Herzog. Wikipedia lists six soundtracks for some of his most famous movies, but it seems like more. Anyway, none of their albums listed here have anything to do with Herzog. Just thought I'd mention it.

Wiki also says their debut "can be regarded as one of the earliest space music works, featuring the then new sounds of the Moog synthesizer together with ethnic percussion." Not sure of the relevance, but here's 2004 re-release bonus track "Train through Time."

40. Popol Vuh - In den Gärten Pharaos (1971)
I dig this tripped-out, meditative spillage. The title track is the first side, and the second side is called just "Vuh." Organtastic!

41. Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra (1972)
Holy stylistic whiplash! So long electro-organ drones into the Pre-Columbian spirit mind, hello piano-forte exploration of European classical odes to Protestant joy. And here's a video for "Kyrie."

42. Popol Vuh - Einsjäger & Siebenjäger (1974)
Pretty sure this was the first Popol Vuh record I ever owned. Way more into a traditional jamband rock style than anything so far. Really nice, tuneful playing. I thought the title was something like "Earth and Sky," but maybe that came from the artwork - it actually translates literally as "one hunter & seven hunters." Starts off with "Kleiner Krieger / King Minos," ends with the massive title track. For more on later Popol Vuh, check out this old post.

Hey, maybe I will leave this as one single mega-post!

43. Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation (1970)
Alright, so the debut album - and the only one to feature Klaus Schulze (Ash Ra's debut) and Conrad Schnitzler (original Cluster line-up), as well as constant TG main-man Edgar Froese. I haven't spent a lot of time with it, but seems like a total late-'60s freak-out. "Ashes to Ashes" swings quite groovy.

44. Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri (1971)
Definitely the first Tangerine album I ever bought - probably not where I'd start with them. Like with some of the other bigger acts, I think I prefer the material later in or after Cope's timeframes. And as the title "Alpha Centauri" would indicate, here is where their space music begins.

45. Tangerine Dream - Zeit (1972)
Okay, these next two are definitely getting there. I mean OUT there. I realize this one's a double-album of space-drones, but I highly suggest going through the whole experience.

46. Tangerine Dream - Atem (1973)
Or maybe this one instead/as well... It's not a double, the overall tone is quite different. And to think, it actually / arguably gets better over the next handful of albums!

47. Klaus Schulze - Irrlicht (1972)
Nice video for "1. Satz: "Ebene"." Klaus Schulze has been mentioned before, as being present for the beginning phases of Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster, Tangerine Dream, in addition to facilitating the Cosmic Jokers' sessions. But he mainly worked alone, playing synthesizer music. Because I'd heard the most about Timewind (1975), I think that's his only solo record I've listened to. This was the first...

48. Klaus Schulze - Blackdance (1974)
And this was the third - skipping Cyborg (1973) for some reason. "Ways of Changes" serves as the launchpad. You may also remember Klaus Schulze because he was my first guess when the Maserati merch-tablist told me that Jonas Reinhardt were some German guy.

49. Walter Wegmüller - Tarot (1973)
This is a real fun one - like a loonier Sergius Golowin (#28), backed by mostly The Cosmic Jokers (#19-23). It's mystical spoken-word in Swiss German, over rockin' Krautjams. Almost at random, check out "Der Herrscher" [The Emperor?] - less Tarotish, but more hilarious are the band introductions of "Der Narr" [The Fool]. But go ahead & explore around. Here's some Major Arcana of the Wegmüller deck, which I think came with this original album.

50. Witthüser & Westrupp - Trips und Träume (1971)
And of course we should finish on an album that I know absolutely nothing about, at all. From a quick trip around the web via the search engine machine, I'm going to say: acid-prog-folk. The last song "Nimm doch einen Joint, mein Freund" sounds in line with the first - a bit more jangly, jaunty and music-hall. Maybe not exactly my thing, but can't everything be.

Love & Rockets 30th Anniversary!

I didn't realize until I read this Slate article on the San Diego Comic Convention, that it is now Love & Rockets' 30th anniversary...

LOS BROS!!



The TCJ's 90's range of 20th Century comics didn't contain any Love & Rockets, but at higher rankings they start to show up. (I really need to resume that series.) Hey look, I used a relevant L&R panel in the TCJ intro/index post. This one:


Arguably the best comic book series of all time, I would almost certainly put it in my personal Top 5. While we're on "Locas" and Jaime, I need that brown La Llorona shirt. And I also found this Hernandez tribute post, part of a 30th celebration series there...

No cartoonist has ever captured the spirit of rock and roll - listening to it, watching it, performing it, defining your life with it - like Jaime Hernandez. Vanishingly few have even come close; most attempts are cringeworthy. Jaime not only nailed the style, and the intensity, and the specific idiom of his punk milieu (the graffito "NO CLASH, SEX PISTOLS OR THE RAMONES IN 1987!" in the panels below is worth more than entire critics' bodies of work), and the nuts-and-bolts stuff like the body language of people playing music on stage, he also chronicled the lives of the characters involved long enough to be basically the only cartoonist ever to explicitly examine what it's like when you grow up and grow older and discover that you no longer look and act and think like someone in the pit at your favorite band's show.

Right on! ИARDCORE!!



Whereas Jaime's artwork is simply amazing and his story-telling is really, really good (punk rock love in the barrio), his brother Gilbert's artwork is really very good with completely amazing story-telling (ensemble drama in small-town Latin America).

I'll just steal some info straight from his Fantagraphics page:

"I don't think there's ever been a greater cartooning talent in terms of what he brings the serial comic book form." – The Comics Reporter

"There's no denying that Beto's comics reflect one of the highest peaks the comics medium has yet achieved." – The Onion A.V. Club

Recipient of a 2009 United States Artists Literature Fellowship

More recently, Beto has the kids book The Adventures of Venus (2012), Sloth graphic novel (2006), and the "Fritz Trilogy" (2007-2011). O yeah, and The Naked Cosmos tv series! Wild:




Xaime continues expanding the L&R universe all the way through the God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls (2012) and Locas II (2009) collections.



Breaking news! Just yesterday, BoingBoing reported that "Fantagraphics will publish comics in digital format." Love and Rockets: New Stories #1-4 are available now through Comixology.

The Fantagraphics announcement was originally made at the San Diego Comic-Con. Full circle.

Why Can't We Live Together??

No, seriously. How have I never heard of this before?



"Why Can't We Live Together" by Timmy Thomas (1972)

From a list of 500 worst Rolling Stone reviews, #44:

Rating: Unfavorable

"To get to the point: This record is a piece of junk. It drives me out of the room when it's on the record player; it gives me a headache if I stay. Yet it is one of the top 40 best-selling albums in the country...Thirty minutes of listening to a hack organist and a metronome playing basically the same song in eight variations is one of the most abrasive experiences I've undergone in months."
(Russell Gersten, 4/12/73 Review)

I realize I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think it is kind of awesome that a song that consists entirely of a guy singing and playing an organ, accompanied only by a primitive drum machine, could reach the top ten - the simplicity of the presentation is precisely what makes this record so affecting. And I actually prefer Timmy's "Coldest Days of My Life" to the saccharine Chi-lites version.

#3 on Billboard!!



I also love this one, on the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin (1999), #313:

Rating: 3 Stars

"Their music isn't, how you say, universally accessible, and the weirdness gets same-y, but no one else has posited a parallel universe in which the Sixties and the Nineties exist simultaneously, allowing for a peculiarly convincing brand of monolithic robotic swirl." (Arion Burger, 5/27/99 Review)

"The weirdness gets same-y" in a "monolothic robotic swirl"?? What the fuck are you yammering about??

Yeah. The robotic swirl would come on their next album!!

You can start at the beginning of the list - he's currently up to #376 (Snooki-Riding-A-Metal-Phallus cover).

TCJ's Top 100 Comics (#91-#100)

If you haven't seen the intro/index post, check it out first. Short story shorter: I'm counting up The Comics Journal's 100 Best Comics of the 20th Century, 10x10. Here's the first installment...


no. 91 Watchmen
1986-1987
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "In narrowed circles, Watchmen will be dismissed for merely being the fare-thee-well vision of superheroes. True, the 1986 tale is indebted to genre conventions, but it additionally refurbishes devices from science fiction and the mystery novel, specifically the 'murder at the club' sub-species. Here, however, the cast of indelibly delineated members just happens to wear masks. With this, the psychological implications of dress-up heroism are acknowledged, examined, and then folded into richer, more complex patterns of human behavior than covered in any crime fighter's handbook." (Rich Kreiner)

Headspace sez: "Uh, it's Watchmen... Believe the hype! I won't say that it should have been in the Top 10 of TCJ's list, but this ranking is a travesty. The first significant, successful attempt at a literate mainstream (DC) comic series. A huge factor in the next decade of the mainstream: grim 'n' gritty angst, the existence of DC's Vertigo line, indirectly Image Comics, Alan Moore's ubiquity. Plus you have the actual content of the work itself. It's just plain better than #91."



no. 92 "Pictopia"
1986
Alan Moore, Don Simpson, et al

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "But writer Moore and artist Don Simpson would critique society's sanctioned heartlessness using brutal superheroes as a metaphor. Along the way, they would raise a lament to the demise of comics themselves, both as a social institution and as a valued industry. That's a lot to pack into a 13-page story, one of the shorter works in this list of 100. Moore, a clever student of comics' history and already a jaded hand in the field, was at his most trenchantly concise and riding high dudgeon." (Rich Kreiner)

Headspace sez: "Pretty surprising to have a 1986 Alan Moore work that I'd never actually heard of, much less seen myself. Uhhh... Quick, look over there!! Indeed heavy. I like the Little Nemo homage in the beginning, and I detect a bit of an influence on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, two years later (1988)."



no. 93 Dennis the Menace
1951-1994
Hank Ketcham

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "Dennis began as a fairly conventional gag panel but in a short time both the humor and drawing attained a remarkable level of sophistication. (Surely the early widespread popularity of the winsome five-year-old rapscallion and his exasperated but infinitely patient nuclear family had much to do with its timing at the height of the post-War baby boom.)" (Gary Groth)

Headspace sez: "Just goes to show how much marketing and merchandising can have an effect. I can't help but think of the tv series, refrigerator magnets, 365-Dennis flip-calendars, and probably movies and other swag. I can understand considering Dennis the Menace superior to, say, Family Circus. But I still think of it in the same category: formulaic gag strips with easy, repetitive humor that gets old pretty quick."



no. 94 The Humor Comics of Basil Wolverton
1942-1973
Basil Wolverton

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "No one working in such a 'cartoony' style ever achieved that same sense of real-life possibility - that one of Wolverton's deformed-to-abstraction critters could be in the same room, sweating, grinning innocently, and looking up at you... Basil Wolverton's art and approach to comics remains influential today... a launching pad for many of the wilder forays of the underground generation's work, and all comics holding to that tradition." (Tom Spurgeon)

Headspace sez: "The name rings a bell, but it's that kind of name. I like that his art appeared in Lil' Abner ('40s), Kurtzman-era Mad ('50s) and DC's humor title Plop! ('70s). What, Not Brand Echh wasn't hiring?!"



no. 95 Los Tejanos
1982
Jack Jackson

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "Los Tejanos is the story of the Texas-Mexican conflict between approximately 1835-1875. Jackson's view of the conflict is seen through the eyes of the tejano (literally Texan of Mexican as distinct from anglo heritage) Juan Seguin... Seguin is a pivotal and tragic figure who, due to inexorable political circumstances and innate nationalistic prejudices, was considered suspect to the anglo Texans and, ultimately, a traitor from the Mexican point of view." (Gary Groth)

Headspace sez: "Sorta reminds me of Chester Brown's Louis Riel (1999-2003), which I dug big-time and which obviously came later - in the following century. Except about crazy early Texans, rather than crazy early Canadians."



no. 96 Dirty Plotte
1990-"Present"
Julie Doucet

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "With 'My New York Diary' in the tenth through 12th issues of Dirty Plotte, Doucet came into her own for the first time. The story of a woman adrift in a new city while caught in a relationship gone not dreadfully but pitiably wrong is evocative and genuinely moving while at the same time it maintains the artist's distinctive visual look, albeit toned down a notch." (Bart Beaty)

Headspace sez: "Personal accounts of urban depravity were a-dime-a-dozen in the grungey '90s small press, but I really like Doucet's art style. It could even make me enjoy the stories, and she seem more likeable and fun-loving than purely self-debasing. More pages at the link above..."



no. 97 "The Hannah Story"
1994
Carol Tyler

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "Tyler's 12-page 'The Hannah Story,' about the early death of her sister Ann, and the circumstances that finally enable her mother Hannah to confront this bottomless sorrow, avoids all these pitfalls and emerges as perhaps the saddes and certainly most beautiful of the '90s 'autobiographical' comics." (Kim Thompson)

Headspace sez: "Unfamiliar with this one, but I was never big into the '90s wave of autobiographical comics (and there were soooo many). Not too keen on the art style myself."



no. 98 Barney Google
1919-1942
Billy DeBeck

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "Initially, the strip was merely another ne'er-do-well husband and overbearing wife domestic comedy, but on July 17, 1922, creator Billy DeBeck changed all that: Barney acquired a race horse named Spark Plug, and the sad-faced nag, most of whose anatomy is hidden underneath a moth-eaten, shroud-like, horse blanket, became the Snoopy of the roaring '20s. Barney entered the horse in a race, and DeBeck quickly discovered the potency of a continuing story for captivating readers..." (R.C. Harvey)

Headspace sez: "When she was a young girl, my grandmother's father won a Shetland Pony while gambling - and he named it Spark Plug. Personally, I mainly remember Snuffy Smith (Barney's hillbilly cousin introduced in 1934), who always seemed a racist caraciture of white country people."



no. 99 The Bungle Family
1924-1945
Harry Tuthill

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "Tuthill's grubby, uningratiating drawing style and the verbose density of balloon prose hardly make a good first impression. Tuthill's genius was as a writer able to put over one of the darkest visions of American life this side of Nathaniel Webster. The lower middle-class Bungles, George and Josephine, have no more charm than the style they're drawn in: they are petty, mean-spirited, with no self-awareness, constantly bickering and back-biting among themselves as well as their neighbors and landlords." (Art Spiegelman)

Headspace sez: "I'd never heard of this strip before this article, and I've never heard of it elsewhere either. You can find more examples on this page. Seems like a whole lot of bickering..."



no. 100 Prince Valiant
1937-1971
Harold Foster

[Click to enlarge ~ source]
TCJ pull quote: "A superb draughtsman and a master of complex composition, his work is never formulaic: whether drawing a wistful maiden lost in thought on a parapet, or rendering a warrior manning a catapult on a chaotic battlefield, each is always depicted as an individual possessing distinct characteristics of dress, physical appearance, and expression. His charming and earthy rendering of everyday domestic life also balances the more romantic elements." (Greg Cwiklik)

Headspace sez: "As a kid occasionally reading the Sunday funnies, Prince Valiant always struck me as alien as Mary Worth or Steve Roper. Something you had to follow every day, through each week. But I would still check it out, because it looked and felt much, much cooler to a little boy."

The Comics Journal's Top 100 Comics of the 20th Century

A short time ago, I dropped into local anarchist hangout Sedition Books for the first time. Lucky for me, they had a well-worn copy of Seth Tobocman's War in the Neighborhood - which I promptly stole. Or liberated. Or negotiated a mutually-acceptable exchange of goods or services or legal tender. I'd been casually looking for it awhile now, and I thought it had appeared in this comics list - but it must have been somewhere else, because I checked and it actually wasn't on the list at all.


I'm no kinda comic book philosopher or theorist or critic, but you know who is? The Comics Journal, that's who! It's not the only publication to attempt a sustained, serious look at all things comics, treating the entire medium as worthy of critical analysis - but arguably the biggest and best.

There are two published, ranked lists that have exerted a big influence on me, a confirmed list-maker. First would be the SPIN Alternative Record Guide (1995). The other appeared in TJC #210 (Feb 1999): their Top 100 (English-Language) Comics of the (20th) Century. So every week or two, I'll go through 10 entries in the big list, counting all the way up to #1.

It'll look a little something like this...


no. 210 "The 100 Best Comics of the Century"
Feb 1999
The Comics Journal

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TCJ pull quote: "This list is a call for a[n] uncompromising re-examination of the comics medium in terms of its best works. It is our hope that in viewing the achievements of the comics art form across a century - from the lurid, pulpy fun of its adventure comics to the well-crafted drama of its serial strips to the startling idiosyncratic delicacy of its high-end artistic triumphs - comics readers will see the medium in a new light. Casual or occasional readers may find a number of comics worthy of their attention, while more serious readers may re-discover them." (Tom Spurgeon)

Headspace sez: "I am one of those casual or occasional readers. I'm only passingly familiar with many, many of these titles. And completely unfamiliar with many... which is fine. TCJ will always be way more focused on pre-WWII newspaper strips than I ever will. And where I do know what they're talking about, I have several serious beefs with rankings - also fine. Hopefully, it will make for an interesting series of posts, if inevitably for a limited audience."



Very nice magazine cover by Seth (#52). I'm estimating that in 1999, I could've identified the character, comic, and/or artist for 35 of the 56 figures (only 62.5%). Answers towards the end of the series, many moons hence...

I'll add in the Top 100 list below, with links to each post o' ten...



#91-#100 Full post HERE

91. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
92. "Pictopia" by Alan Moore and Don Simpson
93. Dennis the Menace by Hank Ketcham
94. The humor comics of Basil Wolverton
95. Los Tejanos by Jack Jackson
96. Dirty Plotte by Julie Doucet
97. "The Hannah Story" by Carol Tyler
98. Barney Google by Billy DeBeck
99. The Bungle Family by Harry Tuthill
100. Prince Valiant by Hal Foster


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Astral Book Club - Eye Mind

Oh, how I wanted to enjoy Paul Drummond's Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound (2007). It even has a Forward by trusted psych apostle Julian Cope! But "enjoy" is not the word...

For some background on the band, check it out!


The "saga" in the title gives the impression of an epic adventure yarn, but you're really getting more of a "historical accounting." It is informative. Heavy with dates and details, the book is not however rich with the wild spirit of the Elevators themselves. I wouldn't be too surprised to learn the author's background was in Napoleonic military history, and rock 'n' roll just some quirky hobby.

Nuggets of interest abound. Stories like how a young Roky was banned from church because his long hair might offend the visiting LBJ. Or how a phantom band was available to cover the Elevators' whole set when they were too messed up, or didn't show up at all. The problem is: you've basically read the entirety of those stories... just now.


There are repeated (and repetitious) "cat & mouse games" with law enforcement - but details are rare, and sketchy when provided. They apparently stashed pot on roadsides outside Kerrville, so they could go get it at night... and smoke in the car before the cops pulled them over. Which makes absolutely no sense, as told.

There are a series of bandmates' and friends' girlfriends that leave them for Roky. But they're usually only mentioned when introduced ("Jim was dating Nancy, a young beauty from Corpus Christi...") and when jumping ship 50 pages later ("Nancy got Roky alone and declared her deep, abiding love"). Nancy wha? For the first half of the book, time flies by - tons half-remembered trivial minutiae share equal footing with far fewer half-remembered critical events.


But I'm glad I got it, and I'd still recommend the book for the serious 13th Floor... uh, scholar [see Cope, Julian]. For a few reasons. First, those nuggets of interest are numerous enough, regardless of pacing. If you take a step back and squint a little, you'll get a serviceable picture of the mid/late-'60s freak lifestyle in Texas. Beyond tidbits like Spring being "the home of redneck hippies," there's the whole general fear & loathing of the time and place.

Also, some of the central players get drawn more fully as people. Roky least of all, probably because the legend of the fragile genius-holy fool is so firmly in place. But loads of great information about the mysterious Clementine Hall and her deep involvement in the band. Her husband Tommy's role as messianic acid guru has been pretty well nailed down. Fortunately for him, he's left a paper trail of endless talk - so you get a lot of his crackpot ideas and tendencies straight from the horse's mouth as it were. And lead guitarist Stacy Sutherland's struggles with the lifestyle and his personal demons are detailed way beyond the vague post-Elevators info I'd heard before.


Finally, there's the chapter on Easter Everywhere (1967), which ties together lots of information on the source texts for Tommy's metaphysical theories and lyrics - primarily "Slip Inside This House." Again, with loads of direct quotes from the man himself. Since I consider this a seminal '60s psychedelic record, the fairly brief section was probably all worth it. Hell, I would have just made writing and recording info about half the whole book! With less of the "played the Vulcan Gas Company show on March 8th, 1967, the band continued to struggle with Tommy's complex new arrangements." O well...


Okay, okay... I think that pretty much covers it (and then some). You can sample the publisher's preview. Here's a review at Texas Psychedelic Rock (below the giant banners), which says a lot of the same things - just more briefly and bitterly. Plus, check out the recommended online/free 13th Floor bio at the very bottom of this page (in two parts). And here's a more positive review.

Lips Non-Disco Addendum

As promised, here's some bonus Flaming Lips stuff outside the traditional discography.

Text:
There are only a couple of books to mention. Mainly, Staring At Sound (2006) by Jim DeRogatis, Chicago Sun-Times music critic. An early champion in the press, he got to witness personally the Clouds Taste Metallic recording sessions. Well researched and interesting throughout, it's a good history of the people and the band.


For the super-fan, there's Waking Up with a Placebo Headwound 1987-2004 (2004), a coffee-table art book of band-related photos, mostly by Wayne's wife Michelle. Plenty of behind-the-scenes and live concert photos, it's a real nice 'n' hefty package.


Audio:
I won't go into the endless array of maxi-single EP's released in the wake of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' success. But that's kind of the kind of thing I'm talking about.

For the early stuff, you can't go wrong with the Restless collections. Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid (2002) is a 3xCD box-set from the very beginning through Telepathic Surgery (1989). That's all 3 albums and the EP, plus outtakes, Wayne singing EP songs, live stuff, covers of The Who, Led Zep, Neil Young, Sonic Youth, and the Batman tv theme. But for some reason, only the [edit] version of the experimental epic "Hell's Angels Cracker Factory."


The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg (2002) is just 2 cd's, containing In A Priest Driven Ambulance, 3 other great songs from the Unconsciously Screamin' EP ("Lucifer Rising!!"), the "Drug Machine in Heaven" Sub Pop single (with Sonics/Elvis Costello medley b-side), and a 2nd cd of The Mushroom Tapes demos and other miscellany.

The first Warner Brothers single was titled for a River's Edge quote: "Yeah, I Know It’s A Drag... Wastin’ Pigs Is Still Radical." Wherein the b-sides blew away anything else from the main album, being a double-shot of Echo & The Bunnymen and a beautiful 2-track demo called "Jets (Cupid's Kiss vs. The Psyche of Death)."


The Day Andy Gibb Died, a 1995 bootleg, pairs a noisy recording of a noisy 1990 show in Norman, OK, with some awesome covers 'n' stuff. The Sonics/Elvis Costello b-side, a Led Zep/Sonic Youth combo, one each from T. Rex and Bowie, a warped medley of Bee Gees, Syd Barrett, Dark Side of the Moon Floyd, and Chainsaw Kittens. They always had really excellent taste in cover songs!

The Soft Bulletin Companion is a bootleg internet compilation of unreleased material, some of which has since been put out officially. There's stereo mixes of Zaireeka tunes, the Lips' own original mix of "Buggin'," great outtakes like "The Captain," "1,000 Ft. Hands," and "Satellite of You." Plus an instrumental Rough Mix demo of Skip Spence's "Little Hands!"

The promo-only Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest (2001) contains the Flaming Lips music from Bradley Beesley's documentary Okie Noodling. It's fun and country-ish, "but not too swampy."


In 2005, the Lips did one of the Late Night Tales series of mix-CD's. It's well worth checking out if you like Miles Davis, Roxy Music, Nick Drake, The Psychedelic Furs, Radiohead, Brian Eno, etc... It also contains the Flaming Lips cover of the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" with lyrics from Butthole Surfers' "Moving to Florida," if that appeals.


Video:
I suggest owning all of these...

Black Easter (1987) - Late '80s live concert on VHS! OOP!!

The Fearless Freaks (2005) - A great documentary that focuses on the band members and their lives, as opposed to just the history of the band as an entity.


VOID: Video Overview In Deceleration (2005) - Collection of official videos from the entire Warner Bros era. Unfortunately contains no indie vids.

U.F.O.s at the Zoo: The Legendary Concert In Oklahoma City (2007) - Good 2006 concert DVD/CD set, includes the return of "Love Yer Brain." Which is nearly ruined by inappropriate audience clap-along...

Christmas on Mars (2008) - Well... Seven years in the making, it's a bit of a mess. But it's a Flaming Lips sci-fi holiday classic! Kind of.


Also, this guy's awesome collection of Flaming Lips videos!!

Five Comics Artists For Taking Serious

I fully realized four of my 15 books were comics-related, but I didn't really want to throw out a bunch of art (yet). Was going to do a list of 10, but it would have been way too many images - so maybe later. At any rate, here are 5 artists from the comic/strips world that should be universally known and beloved. For the art at least...

1. Winsor McCay (1867-1934)

Ancient cultures, uncovering impressive remains of still more ancient cultures, often attributed to their predecessors a superhuman stature.

The Comics Journal: Top 100 Comics of the [20th] Century (#5)

Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-1914) was a psychedelic smorgasbord, a weekly Sunday newspaper strip (printed on a full page), and one of the finest artistic achievements of the 20th century. No lie. I'll have to restrain myself, because of this treasure trove of McCay-nia. I mean, wow! The space adventures, the dreamworld comrades, the riot of creatures, cities and palaces, the holiday celebrations - and (being dreams) always with the chasing and the falling. And always with the crash back to reality...

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[The "treasure trove" also has Nemo's predecessor Dream of the Rarebit Fiend and George Herriman's Krazy Kat - TCJ #1!]

One hundred years ago today: Sept. 26, 1909


Not only that, but McCay was also an animation pioneer (1914)!




2. R. Crumb / Robert Crumb (b. 1943)

The giant of '60s underground comix, Crumb started it all with Haight counterculture landmark Zap (TCJ #80) - and was also a pioneer of the realistic autobiographical comic, both alone and on Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. He continued to pollute the world with his crazy ideas, painful self-awareness, thick-legged women, and increasingly amazing technique. (The bizarre scenes, the emotional impact, the detailed cross-hatching!) The original highbrow/lowbrow art nexus, he continues to work on comics, album covers, and like The New Yorker. Resentful of his most famous work, Crumb has moved to France, where he now sketches old buildings. Seriously.

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The documentary Crumb (1994) is also well worth checking out.


3. Chris Ware (b. 1967)

The new guy on the block, Chris Ware is the creator of the Acme Novelty Library (TCJ #17, 1993-), a series of art-object books published in different sizes and formats. Each issue contains a variety of content - ongoing stories, gag strips, fin-de-siecle design pieces, crushingly elaborate diagrams, robots, whatever... Ware's justifiably considered one of the most innovative artists in quite awhile. The book-length collection of Jimmy Corrigan stories is a must-own.

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4. Jim Woodring (b. 1952)

Jim Woodring tells surrealistic dream-logic stories of funny animals (silent) living in a harmful, nightmare world - where geometric shapes coalesce into abstract, organic forms that come alive as sidekicks. Architectural creatures and monstrous buildings, where terrible eyes menacingly watch, and Manhog might interrupt your nice picnic. Frank (TCJ #55) is the adventurous buck-toothed whatsis, kind-hearted and timid in a bizarrely unpredictable environment.

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You can also get a regular dose of stuff like this at Jim's blog:



5. Jim Steranko (b. 1938)

Sure, maybe Jack Kirby should be here instead, but The King's in every list or essay! Kirby did experiment with pop-art collage, but Steranko brought a whole new level of artiness to the game! Like Chris Ware, his work (actual covers/panel-lined pages) fits within a story or can stand alone. Especially when Nick Fury (Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) went from WWII Howling Commando to psychedelic James Bond.

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That last one I actually used as the basis for a Pong flyer. Nice, huh?