more cosplay from NY Comic Con 2011
October 20th, 2011 by Mr. C
(all photos by mr c)
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DJ Z-Trip + Tom Morello at New York Comic Con kick-off concert 2011
October 19th, 2011 by Mr. C
(photos by mr c, vids by chocko & mr c)
Tom Morello (Guitarist from Rage Against the Machine & AudioSlave) was the 1st act to perform on friday night at the IGN Theater. Unfortunately, we had ramen noodles dripping down our chins as we rushed from the port authority/hells kitchen area back to the Javitz to catch his performance. I guess we were lucky in a way to at least catch the last song of his set as Morello lit up a nice rendition of the Ghost of Tom Joad as he dished out some guitar licks that would keep the zombies and vampires away! Rock on! The crowd really brought the noise to show appreciation as Tom went buck wild on the guitar! Chocko provided a mondo video of the performance below.
DJ Z-Trip was on next and he simply destroyed it on the first night of New York Comic Con as he johnny blazed on the wheels of steel at IGN Theater in what he called a special one off set for NYCC 2011! Z-Trip is known for serving up some fine–prime 1st grade mashups of old skool hip hop, classic & modern rock and soul to soul, wall to wall vinyl, now blending in the techniques of new age turntablism to boot! This special comic con 2011 ree-mix was devised by this honorary mixologist of the night which took about a week or so to formulate as he stated! The geek crowd would get a heavy dosage of flava’ in their ears with some well known tunes of superheroes, kaiju’s, & video game inspirations to infuse along with the hip hop and rock tracks! Armed with a Mac, a pair of turntables, & a microphone offered by the glitz of an LED table holding his weaponry with projected images on a screen behind him, Z-Trip set it off one time for our minds! “Z” sampled tracks from Rush-Tom Sawyer, Black Sabbath-Iron Man, Guns N Roses-Sweet Child O’ mine, Rolling Stones-Satisfaction, Nirvana-Smells like Teen Spirit, Rage Against the Machine-Freedom, Johnny Cash-Ring of Fire, Pink Floyd-The Wall to Eric B & Rakim-Follow the Leader, Pharoahe Monch-Simon Says, Public Enemy, House of Pain-Jump Around, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and yes..even Puff Daddy as he phased in soundtracks from star wars, godzilla, & many other comic book characters. Meanwhile, the images on the L-E-D DJ booth and projected images on the screen would all be in sync with the theme of his mixes which provided some really cool visuals! Towards the end of his set, he saluted all the 99%’s out there and ended the night with an inspiring Curtis Mayfield joint. The performances by Tom Morello and Z-Trip was such a tremendous way to celebrate the weekend to come!
To get some nice elbow grease of Z-Trip at his best, pickup his album “Uneasy Listening” and “Live at Future Primitive Sound 2”. You can also get a glimpse of Z-Trip in his prime as he digs in the crates for some funky vinyl on the most excellent documentary from 2001 profiling some influential DJ’s called “Scratch”.
Also, check out Tom Morello’s comic book “Orchid” on Dark Horse comics.
Tags: comic con 2011, mr c, music, tom morello, z-trip
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New York Comic Con 2011
October 18th, 2011 by chocko
The New York Comic Con (October 13-16, 2011) at the Jacob Javits Center brought out fanboys, nerds, gamers and geeky girls from all walks of life to have some fun and celebrate comic books and pop culture.
(photos by chocko)
Tags: comic convention, cosplay, jacob javits center, nyc
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Corey Glover + Daniela Cotton played at Maxwell’s
October 13th, 2011 by Mr. C
The distinct vocals of Corey Glover (Living Colour) and Daniela Cotton blessed the stage at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ to a very modest crowd much to my surprise even for a party, hardy Tuesday in hobo-NJ where frats meet brat packs surrounded by finance rats.
Daniela opened up the night with her hybrid blend of rock, blues, funk, and even a dash of country at times when she sings her slower tempo tunes. I absolutely love her powerful-high to the mountain top vocals offering shades of raspiness from her diminuitive frame yet she is still able to deliver a gentle and heartfelt performance with songs like ‘Bound’ and ‘Shame’. Daniela played a bunch of newer songs including Lighthouse Keeper slated to release on her new album in February. She ended the set with a knock’em out of the park rendition (rock & soul edition) of Purple Rain by Prince which she also mentions will make its way to the studio! Cotton’s set included her oldies but goodies: Shame, Bound, Rare Child, & Make u move. Her band members provided a base clearing, inside the park home run performance with Marc Copely on lead guitar (awesome rock-out riffs & some wah-wah), Winston Roye on the bass guitar (funky,funky bass lines), & the animated John Clancy on drums (dope rhythm). Daniela Cotton’s band also did a tremendous job backing up Corey Glover. For a second, I thought Vernon Reid, Will, & Muzz were in the house in costume!
Daniela’s Small White Town and Rare Child albums are always hot on my playlist!
Corey was batting cleanup as he stretched out his vocals on deck before stepping up to the plate in his Will Calhoun t-shirt & iPad setlist! Glover, if you didn’t know was the lead singer for the very underrated band created in the awesome 80’s called Living Colour! Their sound would infuse metal, hard rock, funk, & jazz with lyrics that would provide in your face political and social messages. All this off the chain energy would be steered by Corey Glover’s voice as he drove everyone home with his animated performance supported by his rock’em out voice with some R&B undertones at times! The old lion still had the same tricks up his sleeve at Maxwell’s as he belted out a few Living Colour goodies like “Open Letter” and “Middle Man”. I wished I had more hair on my noggen as I banged my head around! Corey also delivered some gentle tunes from his solo albums like April Rain, One, Rose which he dedicated to his wife, & the finale song with Daniela Cotton, “Can’t find my way home” as well as a sex ‘em up song like “Do you first, then do myself”. All in all, it was a great performance despite a skeleton crew of a crowd which is why we love Glover to begin with anyway. He brings his heart, soul, & energy to the stage no matter if he’s singing to an audience of 20 or to an arena. Corey mentions that he is currently working on a new solo album.
Get Living Colour’s 2009 album “The Chair in the Doorway”!
You’ll also have a 2nd chance to see this potent combination of soulful juggernauts known as Corey Glover/Daniela Cotton live at the Highline Ballroom on November 29th! Lose yourself!
Tags: corey glover, daniela cotton, maxwells, mr c
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fatty arbuckle & buster keaton in “Coney Island” (1917)
October 10th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle
Stars: Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Al St. John
Genre: Silent film, comedy
Shot on location at Coney Island’s Luna Park, Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton starred in this comedy romp of slapstick proportions as the main character Fatty runs away from his wife on the coney isla beach only to create havoc at the park while he chases a pretty young lady around. You will get a really good glimpse of the glory days from Coney Island-brooklyn with shots of the beach to some really neat amusement park rides like the witching waves, the whip, and the chute! You will even get a chance to see Keaton crack a smile or two working as a lifeguard at the bathhouse before his persona on film of being the stone-face would come into play! There are many hilarious moments in this 24 minute movie but the ones I kept on losing my lunch over were when fatty rode the ‘chute’ with the girlfriend, the scene when Arbuckle dressed up as a lady before Keaton spilled the beans to his wife, and the keystone kop jail scene!
Coney Island would be the 2nd break in Keaton’s film career after The Butcher Boy thanks to the Fatty, plump one himself! These two would have great chemistry together as their physical display of comedy & charm would make anyone roll in laughter! Despite being rotund, Fatty Arbuckle can move move like the wind or more accurately like a hurricane. His agility & gracefulness while performing stunts definitely added to his vaudeville appeal. We all know that Buster Keaton was a great influence to Jackie Chan’s comedic style, but the more and more I look at it, Sammo Hung really reminds me of the great Roscoe! The big dude with the little hat & baggy pants sure packs one hell of a kick! Yes, a front heel kick!
The Turner Classic Movie channel is running a month long Buster Keaton appeciation day every Sunday thru October! Don’t miss out on the chance to see stone-face in action! You might even get lucky and see Fatty Arbuckle do some backflips, somersaults, and a double flying heel kick right through your living room floor! It’s the skinny tiger — fatty dragon show, y’all!
Tags: buster keaton, comedy, mr c, silent films
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The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror
October 10th, 2011 by chocko
Bongo Comics annual Treehouse of Horror issue recently hit the stands and it features special guest artists and writers who tell a spooky tale involving everybody’s favorite animated family. The first story of this triple threat of terror is titled “Rosferatu” and was done by Zander Cannon and Gene Ha. Comic book fans might recognize this artist tag-team from Alan Moore’s Top Ten. The story is accompanied by some of the most creepiest renderings of the Simpsons drawn in a style inspired by old silent horror movies. The art and colors are top notch!
“Marge of The Dead” is a zombie tale which manages to throw in some Star Wars references including a light saber battle in which Marge ends up falling off a cliff and messing up her knee. After receiving a knee ligament transplant from a dead body, Marge begins to feast on brains! The art is by Tom Hodges (Clone Wars) and the story was written by Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s. Jane is no stranger to comic books. She writes her own book titled Lady Robotika. Check it out!
“Harvest of Fear” is by the legendary, Jim Woodring, best known for his anthropomorphic character, Frank. The story and art pays homage to the old E.C. Horror Comics. Bart buys a comic at a yard sale and gets pretty spooked by the scary tale within the book. Bart’s reality starts to unravel when the real world and the fantasy world of horror comic books collide. This is a truly fun read with a surprise ending.
Tags: bart simpson, comic book, halloween, homer, review, star wars, the simpsons
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Misfits – The Devil’s Rain
October 6th, 2011 by chocko
Devil’s Rain is the first album of new material by the Misfits in almost a decade. The current lineup is Jerry Only on bass and vocals, Dez Cadena on guitars and Eric “Chupacabra” Arce on drums. First let’s focus on the positive, the packaging of the CD is awesome especially the cover art. The cover of the album featuring the Crimson Ghost was done by Arthur Suydam, known for his work with Heavy Metal magazine and the Marvel Zombies series. The inside of the digipak also features more art by Suydam, the art from “Twilight of the Dead” single and killer photos of the band by Mick Rock. The CD, released on Misfits Records, also comes with a glow-in-the-dark poster of the coolest looking album cover ever by Suydam and on the reverse side-a new photo of the band!
At this point in time, Jerry is the only original member in the Misfits (maybe that’s why his name is Jerry Only?) and ever since Glenn Danzig left the iconic horror-punk band in 1983, fans have been having a tough time dealing with his absence. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Jerry on lead vocals. His vocals come up flat at times and just lacks the power or anger to be singing punk songs. I actually would prefer Michale Graves back singing again. The album isn’t bad, all the elements are there: campy, horror themed punk rock (at times a little metal) songs mixed with some vintage rock influences and homages to sci-fi and classic monsters. Dez Cadena (original member of Black Flag) is in his 10th year as a member of the Misfits and he sings on two songs on the album, “Jack The Ripper” and “Death Ray”. The album was produced by Ed Stasium who produced the 1999 Misfits album “Famous Monsters” and whose track record includes working on albums by the Ramones and Talking Heads.
One of my favorites out of the new 16 songs are the Ramones influenced “Dark Shadows” where Jerry actually sounds decent on the track and the song is catchy. I also like “Father” which asks the question “Father have I the curse of the vampire?” which is a cool lyric. Jerry also sings best on 50’s inspired tracks “Monkey’s Paw” (co-written with Daniel Rey) and “Where Do They Go?” which includes girl backup vocals and handclaps. So, definitely give this disc a spin, but don’t expect to hear vintage Danzig-era stuff.
Tags: black flag, dez cadena, jerry only, ramones, review
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Feist played a Harlem Crypt
October 5th, 2011 by chocko
On the eve of the record release of her new album, “Metals”, Feist played in a crypt at the the Church of the Intercession on W. 155th St. in Harlem, NYC. It was an adventure getting the tickets, a record store in Brooklyn, Sound Fix had 100 tickets for the first people that pre-bought the new album. We luckily grabbed the last two tickets the store had and drove to Harlem and found parking right next to a cemetery. The small crowd of about 100 people were led into the creepy, dark, basement of the church where Feist played nearly an hour and a half of mostly new music along with a band which included a fellow Broken Social Scene member-Charles Spearin, an orchestra and backup singers-Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath, aka the folk trio Mountain Man. The performance was filmed by Mason Jar Music and hopefully we see some footage soon.
The incredible sounding acoustics in the room brought out the best in the music. The percussion sounded thundering, voices were crisp and the orchestra of strings, brass and woodwinds punctuated the new songs while breathing new life into the older Feist songs. Although, “1234” was written on a set list, I guess it was later decided to “86” it.
The small audience was treated to such a fun and special night of music in an intimate space. Hands down, my favorite highlight of the show was Feist’s performance of the new song “Graveyard” where the polite crowd whooped it up when the song crescendoed and sang the “Whoa, oh oh oh! Bring them all back to life” chorus at the end of the song. The crowd started up the sing along again for no reason at the start of the encore, with the band and backup singers joining in too. The song is that catchy!
SET LIST
A Commomotion
Undiscovered First
Mushaboom
How Come You Never Go There
The Bad In Each Other
The Circle Married The Line
So Sorry
Bittersweet Melodies
Anti-Pioneer
Woe Be
Sea Lion
Caught A Long Wind
Graveyard
Comfort Me
Get It Wrong, Get It Right
ENCORE
Pine Moon
When I Was A Young Girl
Let It Die
video by hypeceo
photos by chocko
Tags: broken social scene, church of intercession, lelie feist, mountain man, new york city, nyc, secret show
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Shepard Fairey: artwork in Asbury Park, NJ
October 4th, 2011 by Mr. C
“The Rebel Waltz” mural (depicting Paul Simonon – The Clash)
“Mount Rush-core”
(Joey Ramone,Johnny Rotten,Joe Strummer,Glenn Danzig,Ian Mackaye,Henry Rollins)
Tags: art, asbury park, revolution, shepard fairey
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greetings from asbury park
October 4th, 2011 by Mr. C
(panoramic pics by mr c)
Tags: asbury park
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All Tomorrow’s Parties at Asbury Park,NJ: the hip hop connection
October 3rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Chuck D, Flavor Flav, DJ Lord, Professor Griff, and the S1W’s better known as Public Enemy # 1 performed at the All Tomorrow’s Parties in Asbury Park, NJ last weekend! They were accompanied by a live band which added another layer of funkiness to the situation along with the familiar screeching sounds of the PE sirens! Ree-mix! Part of me wanted the tracks to sound exactly like the cuts from the album, but the live band definitely added another tiered layer of flavor in ya’ ear which included some heavy guitar solos along with the funk in your face bass guitar and drums! Public Enemy were scheduled to play the entire Fear of the Black Planet album, but since Mogwai had to cancel because of health reasons, PE stepped up to the plate and played a two hour set of organized chaos! Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and crew always puts on a great live show! Flavor Flav stepped onto the stage wearing a hoodie but it slowly got unraveled into a Walter Payton # 34 jersey which eventually got morphed into a Run DMC shirt wearing his famous large clock to protect his neck! What time is it?! Chuck D would swirl around the wireless mic like a steel chain used as a weapon before tossing it in the air, casually darting off to catch it, and then swinging the mic with a baseball bat motion! Home run! Flavor Flav went full boar with his familiar knee high stomps, alternating knock’em out, sock’em out, left fist-right fist two step moves! Besides Fear of the Black Planet, PE played hits like Don’t Believe the Hype, Bring the Noise, Can’t Truss it, Shut’em Down, Rebel without a Pause, He got game, & Black Steel in the hour of chaos to just name a few! Some fun moments from the show included a fan going on stage to meet Chuck D & Flavor Flav and to recite lyrics from Don’t Believe the Hype before he proceeded to stage dive back to the floor with NO apparent arms waiting to keep him afloat! Mind you, he was a big guy! Flavor Flav also showed his worth while playing Timebomb on the drums!
Kool Keith, Ced Gee, & TR Love otherwise known as Ultramagnetic MC’s with the help of Kut Masta Kurt on the steels generated a bit of ultra g-funk themselves! Only Moe Luv & Tim Dog would be absent from the performance. It was great to see the swagger of Ced Gee and Kool Keith attack the stage! Kool Keith’s abstract lyrics accompanied by his high pitched tone is akin to a boxer shuffling back and forth with confidence in the ring to also know that he can still sting you with jabs of lyrical madness from outer space! Ced Gee is the total opposite as his no nonsense, pit bull like attitude comes straight at ya’ like a mike tyson right cross when he delivers his aggressive lyrical flow! Ced Gee’s ‘Delta Force one’ tune is still one of my favorite tracks from the Critical Beatdown album. Ultramagnetic MC’s style of sampling really changed the game of hip hop and added another funky dimension to the art form. TR Love & Kool Keith made sure to mention to the ATP crowd that Ced Gee was the mastermind behind all of the beats and production of Ultramagnetic! He also lent more than a helping hand in producing Boogie Down Production’s Criminal Minded. Mad ‘ree-speck’ mang!! The Ultra set that night included songs from the Critical Beatdown, Four Horsemen, & Dr. Octagon albums! Ego Trippin, Watch me now, one two-one two, Delta Force one, Ease back, give the drummer some, funky, & Poppa large were all represented!
El-P, DJ Mr. Len, & Bigg Jus collectively known as Company Flow, cold crushed the Asbury Park Convention center to a modest crowd before Public Enemy uprooted the stage! The ATP festival would be the 3rd reunion show for Company flow this year. Chocko is a big fan of CF and he attended the 1st reunion performance at Santos Party House in nyc last july. For myself, I’m a late comer to the Company Flow house party as I was stuck in a bubble listening to the Lost Boyz, Geto Boys, EPMD, & KRS-One. After listening to their set at the ATP festival, I asked myself: what took me so long to rock this funky joint?! My big bobble head really dug the Vital Nerve & the 8 steps to perfection tunes! I gotta catch up with the Funcrusher album!
Portishead was the headliner of the festival and they curated the event as well. It was much thanks to them along with the ATP organizers who made this smorgasbord of bands possible. It all started with the vision of the bands they wanted to see perform! Ultramagnetic MC’s, Public Enemy, Jeff Mangum, Swans, & The Pop Group are usually not mentioned in the same sentence but yet all have influenced many in the music industry. I might have found a music festival that is just as eclectic as my tastes in music!
Portishead also flew under my radar in the mid 1990’s. After I listened to their 1st album ‘Dummy’, I got hooked! Track # 2, Sour Times sounds like they share the same sample(Monk Higgins’s “Little Green Apples”) as Gang Starr’s “Code of the Streets”! The slow tempo, hip hop beats along with some funky sampling and turntable scratching coupled with the soul & jazz inspired vocals of Beth Gibbons really adds a trance like state of mind to groove in order to show and prove! Beth has that smooth, hypnotic, & mesmerizing vocals that sort of reminds me of Lisa Stansfield! Geoff Barrow, the drummer & turntablist is clearly influenced by hip hop which is why Public Enemy, Ultramagnetic MC’s, & Company Flow were on the same bill! Portishead played on Saturday & Sunday. I went to the Saturday show and it was amazing! The lead singer even surfed the crowd! I heard on Sunday’s performance, Chuck D came out on stage to lend some of his vocals from Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos to Portishead’s Machine Gun beat! Here’s the setlist and neat writeup of Portisheads’ performance on Saturday by Stereogum.
Reggie Watts, who I will loosely call the greatest entertainer provided a nice comedic relief to an otherwise dreary and rainy friday night on day 1 of the ATP Festival. I’m not sure how to describe Reggie but his mashup of improv with singing, the human beat box, sampling, recording loops on the fly, and comedy is something I’ve never seen before. He truly is a one man wrecking studio, a real talented mofo! Check this dude out if you get a chance! Your blood pressure will thank you!
Tags: all tomorrows parties, asbury park, atp festival, music
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Red Lanterns #1
September 29th, 2011 by chocko
You may have heard of Green Lantern and The Green Lantern Corps but The Red Lanterns are a group of aliens you don’t want to mess with. The first issue is a bit of an intro for the newbies. Atrocitus seeks revenge after The Guardians of the Universe, a group of immortal extraterrestrials who have the power to time travel and chop a planet in half, slaughter his people. Atrocitus forms the Red Lantern Corps, a blood thirsty band of misfits who go out to destroy and punish as “instruments of vengeance.” The leader of the Red Lanterns is in a bit of rut lately…feeling self doubt and feeling like his days consumed by hate just lacks the kick it used to have. Plus, he feels like nobody in the group respects him. After taking a break and receiving a blood prophecy, Atrocitus finds his purpose in life and off he goes into which is sure to be a life of relentless and bloody rampage. Will the rest of the Red Lantern crew join him for some revenge and violence? We shall see in future issues!
The story in the first issue is excellent and well paced. Kudos to writer, Peter Milligan who has worked on a ton of books for DC and Marvel including X-Men and Detective Comics. The history of the Red Lanterns is covered in the first issue, but it doesn’t get boring for the reader already well versed in the Lantern stories. The pencils by Ed Benes is amazing with attention to detail and the first couple of pages are a doozy. There’s the initial sequence where Dex-Starr, originally a house cat, flies through outer space bum rushes a spaceship full of bad, blue lizard-like aliens up to no good. The splash page is hilarious and the damage Dex-Starr does will get your blood pumping!
There is a little bit of info not covered in the issue, but the red rings the Red Lanterns wear send commands to the one wearing the ring to kill, hate, and destroy! The red rings are their power source, replacing their hearts and pumping red energy into their blood which is forced out of their mouths as they rage. It’s a big mess! If you can relate to violence, rage and a good old blood bath, then this book is for you!
Tags: comic book, dc comics, review, the new 52
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