Monday, December 31, 2012

The Paul Show #89 - new strip!


Hey, new strip!!!!

-paul

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Some album reviews!

Here's a few album reviews.

Corrosion Of Conformity - Megalodon

The plus side of this album is that it's free. You can download it, right here. The negative side is that you have to give a car company your email address, and who knows what plans they have for it.

Another plus side is that it's from Corrosion Of Conformity, who are my favorites. The negative? There's a f***ing logo for a car company on the cover. Right on the cover. Jesus H. Criminy!

It would be strange to scream "SELL OUT!" at this band, because I'm sure plenty of people did that when they signed their first record contract, or later made a video, or later found themselves on a major label, or later opened for Metallica, etc. And as much I don't want Scion emailing me about buying a car, because I just bought a car and the dealer didn't throw in a CD to go with it, I gotta give them props for supporting a lot of independent bands, even established one, and providing some music to their fans. Frankly, the environment to expect your fans to buy your music so you can keep making more music has disappeared, and to even suggest that they pay for the album they're torrenting is career suicide. I thought about contacting Burger King, "hey, wanna buy a 30 second spot before my song?" Seriously, if someone torrents my music, the torrent site probably has ads (placed by Google), since I'm not getting a cut of that, why not force the listener to hear an ad before my song? They can complain about it after I cashed my advertiser check so I can pay my recording costs.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, thanks Scion for being a benefactor of COC. The songs are pretty good. The last album (that also came out this year) wasn't just a reunion and a throwback to the three piece, it was its own thing, a combo of bits from their past and a new progression as a trio. So, yay for that. I liked most of it. Are the five songs on Megalodon a continuation? There's something that COC was becoming known for in the 00's, a "boogie metal" vibe, and it wasn't as prevalent on the heavier, slightly punkier and rougher self titled album. "Megalodon" and "Strong Medicine Too Late" have that swinging feel, while "Priest Brains" and "The Vulture" keep up the speed in a way similar to "Rat City" and "What We Become" from their S/T from earlier this year. All these songs are pretty good, though I think the only one I'm not fond of is "Feed On." Maybe it's the placement; it starts out much slower than the other song, and then picks up with the boogie in the middle. It's also the longest song of the five. It would have been a decent closer. Over all, it's still a good EP, with my favorites being "Megalodon" and "The Vulture." And, IT'S FREE! So head on down to your Scion dealership and demand a copy. Or just go to the link above and download it and prepare to delete a lot of Scion related emails (note: I haven't received any emails since I surrendered my email to get the music in October).

Man...Or Astro-Man? - Analog Series (Volume 2)

Here's three more songs from the Astro-Men (and girl), to be collected as an album minus a track or two, so if you want all the stuff from these sessions, you gotta pick up these 7"s (or get them on iTunes or whatever). If Vol. 1 was a tribute to their Experiment Zero (and prior) surf material, these three songs sound straight out of the darker and 'experimental' (non-surfy) Technetium and EEVIAC albums. Yet it's more of what you heard on Vol. 1, isn't that weird? Well, it IS weird. And lively. I dig this band and I'm enjoying this new material; if it was flat and unremarkable and they were just dicking around the studio, I wouldn't bother. But they're putting a lot of effort into this new stuff and it sounds both interesting and fun.

Local H - Hallelujah! I'm A Bum

I'm not sure what the title refers to, but the packaging and sound effects between some songs suggest some sort of concept or tribute to being a Chicagoan. When I listen to Anthrax' Stomp 442, I think of NYC, because I know they were fighting it out with the record label and who knows who else while writing and making it, and partying in the roughest Charles Bukowski manner in New York. Maybe not, but with titles like "Blue Line" and "Another February" and "Cold And Mannered," I have a feeling I'll be listening to this a lot during cold walks to and fro train stops on my way to work.

I did most of this album. I play a lot of Local H at work (my old job) and my (former) coworker and I had many discussions about the albums produced from '01 on. We both agree that there's something deep and worthwhile here, but for some reason...on big stereos, something seems off and rough about this. Yet on my headphones or in my car, this sounds great. Maybe it's truly a personal connection sorta thing? Kudos if that's the case. I'm not sure what else to say about this album other than I really like it even though nothing really sticks out. It's just a good album from beginning to end and something that will be required listening during the next few cold months.

Royal Thunder - CVI

I've been introduced to some great music this year; I think I bought more albums this year than in other recent years. A good chunk of that has been because of my seeing Corrosion Of Conformity, and being introduced to bands like Torche and Black Cobra. I saw COC again in October and this band Royal Thunder was the first opener. Bluesy, dark, not heavy metal exactly, but not lightweight hard rock. So when I got home, I bought their first full length CVI from Amazon.

HOLY SHIT.

This is my "Album Of The Year," if anyone cares. That's a hard statement considering that I'm getting new music from two of my favorite bands, COC and Astro-Man, and just how much Torch blew me away when I saw them, to the point where within a week I had all their available albums. They had that much impact me. Baroness, too.

Now, maybe part of this is my love for the band Lost Goat, of whom I will write about in much greater detail. But if you know me and were in my Saturn cruising hither and yon, at some point you had to have heard Equator, this low budget recorded but still powerful, bluesy yet heavy, female fronted power trio of awesomeness, and the 2nd album by Lost Goat. It's one of my favorites and they're one of my favorite all time bands.

Royal Thunder: are they the 2nd coming of Lost Goat? Have they even heard of Lost Goat? The comparisons: they are female fronted. Both singers have wonderfully powerful voices. Both bands aren't exactly thrash or death and the guitars aren't exactly distorted beyond heavy nor are the drums going a zillion miles an hour, but the mood and writing present something far deeper and darker and therefore heavier than many of those other bands combined.

And both bands are incredible. I've only heard CVI by R. Thunder and I hope there will be some more soon. The biggest difference is that Royal Thunder has more in the way of backing vocals (I think it's the singer doing all the parts, I'm not sure, but she's fantastic).

Here's a sample, "Whispering World." The whole album is like this, but maybe moodier. There's a lot of dark and slow jams and long songs and then there's straight rockers like this one.

I'm not sure what else to say other than how blown away I am by this album. I've been able to listen to it at any time during the day no matter what mood I'm in. It helps that it totally rocks. I'm not sure what "but..."s to point out; I don't like how suddenly "Whispering World" ends, does that mean that I JUST DON'T LIKE THAT IT ENDS? Goddamn, that's a sign of a great album! It's been on repeat a lot around here.

So, thank you, Royal Thunder, and congrats on getting the King Vermin Album Of The Year Award for 2012. There is no trophy. There's rarely ever an award ceremony, outside of I'll be listening to this album a lot and I told a few friends to buy it. Sorry for the comparison to Lost Goat. Big thank yous to the new bands I've been introduced to and fallen in love with, mainly Torche and Baroness. I hope to hear great things from all these bands in...THE FUTURE!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 13

The finale. Thanks for sticking around.

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 12

Here's the 2nd to last scene. It's just Cobra Commander, and a video.

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 11


Scene 11. Almost there.

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 10


This thing just rolls on. Another scene drastically changed in every draft.

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 9

Scene 9. This scene changed completely each draft. When we did the live reading, it came out pretty well. On an actual stage, we'd have to figure out a lot of staging and lighting that I'm sure the cast/crew would hate. It also introduces several characters who won't make appearances again.


CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 8

Here's Scene 8 from Citizen Cobra. Characters are just C.Commander, Scarlet, and Joe Biden.

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 7

Not today, but I have to review new albums by the following:
-Local H
-Corrosion Of Conformity
-Royal Thunder
-Man...Or Astro-Man?
-...and some other stuff.

In the meantime, here's Scene 7.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

CITIZEN COBRA - Scenes 5 & 6

Here's two scenes. Scene 5 is REALLY short and serves to set up the stage for Scene 6 without a long blackout. Character list below, pointless notes to follow.


CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 4

I apologize for this one. Don't click on the jump if you have low tolerance for sleaze, because I do my best to do my worst. There's some swearing and some terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE innuendo, and I apologize to the Vice President. And to the Onion, of course, and everyone else who gives Uncle Joe this sort of One Louder personality. I'm really sorry...

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 3

Here's scene #3 from Citizen Cobra. Same setting. All the same characters from Scene 2, minus Dr. Mindbender and Storm Shadow. Notes follow the end of the scene.


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

CITIZEN COBRA - scene 2


Here's the 2nd scene of Citizen Cobra. A whole new setting. Character list and then the scene itself after the jump, with notes at the end.

CITIZEN COBRA - Scene 1


The following is the script, 4th draft, to CITIZEN COBRA. This is the first scene. There are notes at the end, including any major changes I had made from the first two drafts, which featured drastically different scenes. Stage Directions and other scene set ups are in italics. I have highlighted anything I took out from the fourth draft for the blog due to any copyrights I might have to worry about, though remember: this is based on the cartoon. I apologize for typos and homonyms. First scene below the jump:

Theater anti-news. CITIZEN COBRA cancelled.

I have a lot of albums I want to review but those are going to wait just a tiny, tiny bit. I have parted ways with New Millennium Theatre and most likely "theater" completely. This is a personal blog, but it's one where I just plan to post what I'm doing and thoughts about the process as I do it. It's not to express my feelings on what is actually going on in my life, beyond album reviews and any humorous anecdotes.

The news results in Citizen Cobra, aka Script #3, which I've mentioned I was working on hither and yon, ceasing to exist as a play. It will obviously not be made into anything else since it's a parody of a cartoon.

I am going to post the script here on this blog and you can read it or you can not read it. I don't know how interesting it will be to read a failed script (or a script I have decided to stop working on and no longer promote or rewrite). I am going to remove lines that are songs that the cast was going to sing, as the lyrics are copywritten. I will, at the end of each scene, include notes of the intention, what the scene is about, and changes I had to make. That might seem unnecessary, but seeing as how it's no longer a play that means it will never see the light of day.

I wrote out and then deleted the reasons why I wrote the play, how I worked on it, and why recently I decided to quit working in theater and cease running Cobra Commander for President Of The United States. It's no longer important, though maybe it'll be obvious while you're reading it. I was upset but I don't have an axe to grind.

I am going to work on my band and my dopey comic strips. If no one listens or reads, that is fine. I am looking forward to getting back to drawing.

If you ever came to see me in Hack/Slash, or saw The Flaming Dames while I worked behind the scenes, or saw Scott Janus: Monster Hunter, thank you so much. If you saw any NMT shows while I was there, they appreciate it. But the shows I appeared in, worked behind, or wrote: I needed the support. Each time was a new ocean filled with sharks and negligent oil companies and your support helped make it a great time!