Something for your earholes…
Ok, a few things I’m really excited about right now-first of all I’m a huge fan of just about any music, yeah I have favorites but nothing for me is better than stumbling upon something new. This month I ran across two unique new albums that not only blew my mind but also were combined with another passion of mine-artwork.
First off the second CD by Satillo-Monocyte (released by artofact records) by the multi-talented Menton3; who is also the co-creator and artist on IDW’s Monocyte. The comic itself is the best thing I’ve read in comics in a long time, it’s non traditional style combined with Menton3’s phenomenal fine art makes it worthy of being in a gallery somewhere. Ironically Menton3’s artwork (including art from the comic as well as many original paintings) can be found at galleries across the country. The CD he creates is a companion to the four issue series and is simply put-incredible. It has a very old school industrial feel to it. Think of Enya and Skinny Puppy having a bastard child raised by Pink Floyd. As for complementing the book it’s a perfect fit. In fact I listened to it the first time with my eyes shut and the images from the issues I had read flooded my mind like they were meant to be together. If the song was about war and famine the music made it feel like you were a passer-thru in such territories. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I’d like you to check out my more detailed reviews (on everything/everyone) that I discuss here at the website, www.comicbooked.com where you can catch my reviews of the comic that have been released so far and both CD’s in this upcoming week. But I digress Monocyte the CD is pure quality, take away the comic and you still have a great CD, in fact here’s a link to a “commercial” for the CD off of YouTube —http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=MDF0mP-X4nA——that should be enough to get you curious.
Now the other gem I found was Monica Richards’-Naiades. I received my copy and right away without hearing one nite was blown away. This thing was a book, a thick, heavy book. Each page was a work of art by such visionaries as (All of it is exclusive artwork just for NAIADES):
*Bernie Wrightson (Swamp Thing, Creepshow)
*James O’Barr (The Crow)
*Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra: Assassin, The New Mutants)
Miran Kim (X-Files, Deadtime Stories)
*Kelley Jones (Batman, Sandman)
*Nat Jones (Death Dealer, 30 Days of Night)
*Menton3 (Silent Hill, Monocyte)
*Chrissie Zullo (Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love)
*Andrew Mangum (Grimm Fairy Tales, American Wasteland)
*David Ocampo (Freelance Artist and Colorist with Andrew Mangum)
Milx (Silver Surfer, Wake the Dead)
*Jordie Bellaire (Colorist for Hellraiser, Planet of the Apes)
*Don Bishop (Traditional Artist)
*Cathy Ashworth (Traditional Artist)
Jim Neely (Anafae)
*Lee Kelly (Abstract Artist)
*Daniele Serra (Fade to Black, Teenage Timberwolves)
All of this fantastic artwork combined with the lyrics on a super strong card stock making each page heavy-literally and metaphorically. Now the music, I would say dint let the artwork distract you from what’s going on musically but believe when I say that’s not a problem. To try to fit this album into a category is near impossible-there’s obvious classical influences along with acoustic, ambient, even some punk rock. I need to clarify but it seem that’s besides a couple of collaborators Monica does the music all herself. Her fiancé riffs on some guitar and bass I believe and was in a punk band himself back when DC was the center of punk rock in a band called Grey Matter although now he known for something completely different-basically being chained to a typewriter, and entertaining us with scares. You may have heard of him before, Mr Steve Niles. But enough about that guy. Monica Richards nails this album on so many levels. I personally loved it from start to finish. I thought it was cohesive and each song complimented the next, never knowing what genre she was going to bust through with each new song. Making music is nothing new to Richards, she has also been on the punk scene since the early ‘80’s and has more albums then I could have imagined. She doesn’t allow herself to be pigeon holed into a style or genre yet she dominates any one she tries. So you not only get a 32 page hardcover board book which is 7” wide by 8” tall, full of unique artwork by the greatest artists in the business, made just for the music but you also get a powerful, soulful, rockin chick with over 20 years of experience truly giving you a musical experience you will not easily forget. Again here’s a “commercial” from YouTube for a taste of the music-trust me when I say it is worth every penny——http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=8Sn2jdz2ZKE
Please check in with me where I dissect both albums (and maybe share a song or two with you) over at www.comicbooked.com in the music section. There you will find a much more in depth review-This was just a quickie telling you to pick up these albums now!!
