NYCC 2011

Oct.2011

NYCC

-Jenny Joy

NYCC 2011

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!

You’ve outdone yourself again NYCC!

With a huge turn out of vendors and comic fans alike I think it’s only fair to say the SDCC has some competition this year!

One of the many highlights included the Bevis and Butthead panel :

Mike Judge and guest Luke Wilson, set up the stage for the long awaited return of the popular 90’s Mtv show (liquid television) that came with the promise of laughs using current events. Jokes included jersey shore and teen mom in only a way that the real Bevis and Butthead could expose. Very funny! Upon entry we all received a free t-shirt retailed online at 35$ and fan masks.

One question during the Q&A mentioned Daria and Mike Judge let us know that he was considering bringing the mopey teen back but wasn’t sure if she held an audience, by the crowds reaction he agreed that there was indeed a positive cheer for her return as well.

 When asked about Luke Wilsons involvement with Idiocracy, Mike stated that he was considering a few ideas on making it a live action series.

Another high point was the Walking Dead Panel, moderated by Chris Hardwick

Panel guests included: Robert Kirkman, Gale Ann Hurd, Greg Nicotero, Chandler Riggs, Jon Berenthal, Steven Yuen, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, and Lori Holden

This empire has taken off from the expertly written comic into one of AMC’s Top hit shows. The panel was informative but of course did not give away too many secrets.

However, we do find out that they are going to the farm, and that young Carl who may seem shy now has some bad boy actions coming up in his future episodes.

Kirkman, who writes the comic, Told the audience how it’s exciting and very different to write for the AMC’s series because in the comic for example:

 “Shane in the comic is dead, on the show he is not.”

 “So it’s been fun to re-tell the stories.

Also Mediator Chris Hardwick plugged his show the Talking Dead.

 Chris, as a personal fan of the show meets with guests to discuss the episodes and theories.

Overall gives high promise to a great season with chills and thrills!

Shut up little man: An Audio misadventure

 Was to say the least hilarious!

The film went on a bit too long but it’s best moments are enough to make this one to remember.  This panel did not have a large turnout, however, everyone inside instantly found lucky to have some elbow- room during a viewing of this outrageous story.

Shut up little man is the story of two friends who live across from these men who get very drunk and very loud and go at each other in vicious ways.  They find themselves up all night hearing this and get the crazed idea to record them. From the moment “shut up little man, went from being a funny idea and years of stored recordings turned into making a master tape and giving freedom to all to use it to make something incredible.

The Outcome is non-stop creative and daring also disturbing and dark.

Lamb of God Frontman Randy Blythe Responds to His Incarceration in the Czech Republic

Greetings. This is D. Randall Blythe, checking in from my beloved hometown of Richmond, VA, United States of America. I was recently released on bail from Pankrác Prison in Prague, Czech Republic, after over a month of incarceration. Now that I am out for the moment, I would like to say a few things.

1. While in prison, I had minimal knowledge of how my case was viewed anywhere but the Czech Republic. I was told by my attorney that I had a lot support from peers in the music industry, my hometown, fans, and of course my family. I cannot express how emotional it made me upon my release to read about even a fraction of the voices that were raised on my behalf. From legends in my music community, to fans across the world, and even people who were previously unaware of my existence but sympathized with my plight- I am truly humbled. I cannot thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers. I would especially like to thank the people of Richmond, VA, for standing by me. In the 48 hours I have been home, many people I have never met before have stopped me on the street, waved and smiled as I passed by, or said hello in a restaurant. All have said "We are glad you are home, Randy". You all make me proud and grateful that I call Richmond home.

2. I would like state that I suffered no abuse, from either authorities or inmates, during my incarceration in Pankrác. I received no special treatment, and was in general population with everyone else- make no mistake, it was prison, not some celebrity rehab tv show. But I was treated fairly by the guards and kindly by my fellow inmates. People are dying of starvation all over the world. Men and women are losing their lives daily in the Middle East and other war torn regions. I had food, clothes, shelter, and no one was trying to kill me. I cannot complain over a short stay in prison while many people elsewhere fight to survive on a daily basis.

3. If it is deemed necessary for me to do so, I WILL return to Prague to stand trial. While I maintain my innocence 100%, and will do so steadfastly, I will NOT hide in the United States, safe from extradition and possible prosecution. As I write this, the family of a fan of my band suffers through the indescribably tragic loss of their child. They have to deal with constantly varying media reports about the circumstances surrounding his death. I am charged with maliciously causing severe bodily harm to this young man, resulting in his death. While I consider the charge leveled against me ludicrous and without qualification, my opinion makes no difference in this matter. The charge exists, and for the family of this young man, questions remain. The worst possible pain remains. It is fairly common knowledge amongst fans of my band that I once lost a child as well. I, unfortunately, am intimately familiar with what their pain is like. Therefore, I know all too well that in their time of grief, this family needs and deserves some real answers, not a media explosion followed by the accused killer of their son hiding like a coward thousands of miles away while they suffer. I am a man. I was raised to face my problems head on, not run from them like a petulant child. I hope that justice is done, and the family of Daniel N. will receive the closure they undoubtedly need to facilitate healing. I feel VERY STRONGLY that as an adult, it would be both irresponsible and immoral for me not to return to Prague if I am summoned.

This is not about bail money. This is about a young man who lost his life. I will act with honor, and I will fight to clear my good name in this matter. Thank you for reading this, and I wish you all peace.

FORMER CRO-MAGS BASSIST HARLEY FLANAGAN ARRESTED FOR ON-STAGE ATTACK AGAINST EX-BANDMATES AT WEBSTER HALL

From the NY Post:

A former member of the hard-core punk band the Cro-Mags attacked two of the group’s current members with a hunting knife in a dressing room before a show at Webster Hall yesterday — biting one and slashing both.

The band was about to take the stage about 8:15 p.m. when tattooed rocker Harley Flanagan, 42, barreled through the East Village venue’s VIP section toward the Cro-Mags’ dressing room, sending nearly 30 guests on the balcony into a frenzy, law enforcement sources and witnesses said. 

“Someone was yelling, ‘Get his hands, get his hands, he’s got a knife!’ ” witness Dave Gustav said. 
“Everything went nuts.”
 

Several beefy security guards rushed to contain Flanagan, who seemed about to boil over before he entered the East Village venue. 

“I talked to him outside minutes before it happened and I knew something was going to go down,” a witness said, according to the Horns Up Rocks website. “He was like a lunatic outside. Next thing I know he’s in the VIP area stabbing people!”

Flanagan, the band’s former bassist and founder, suffered a broken leg by the time security finally pinned him down, witnesses said. Cops handcuffed him to a chair and took him out.

“People started booing him and throwing stuff at him,” eyewitness Justin Brannan said. “His hands were handcuffed but he still gave everyone the finger.” 

William Berario, 45, was slashed above the eye and bitten on his cheek. Michael Couls, 33, — the band’s current bassist, who is known in the hardcore world as “The Gook” — was cut on his arm and stomach.
Both members of Cro-Mags were taken to Bellevue Hospital with non life-threatening wounds. 

Flanagan, a New York native, was also taken to the hospital. He was hit with two counts of 2nd degree assault and weapons charges.

The melee forced the East 11th Street concert venue to cancel the show, which was part of the CBGB Festival and also featured the band Sick of It All.

“You can all thank Harley Flanagan for ruining the night for everyone,” Cro-Mags lead singer John Joseph McGowan told the crowd.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/punk_band_stabbing_2XycabYc7xhi92cSA1fshL#ixzz203YzLJvD

John Joseph addressing Webster Hall crowd after incident:

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION RETURNS IN 2012 WITH NEW ALBUM, TOUR

Meat And Bone is the first studio album by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in eight years. This is straight-up, Grade A Blues Explosion, produced and mixed by Mr. Spencer himself, with no special guests. Meat And Bone is 12 prime cuts of raw rock 'n' roll, recorded on Sly Stone's "Riot" Flickinger console at the legendary Key Club Recording Studio in Benton Harbor, MI, amd mixed in the jungles of New York City. Judah Bauer, Russell Simins and Jon Spencer continue to blow minds with their fusillade of energy and rhythm, and have once again proven that the Blues is #1!

The new album comes on the heels of the meticulous and loving 2010 reissues of the band’s Matador albums, including the classics 'Extra Width', 'Orange', and 'Now I Got Worry.' (And more recently, the re-release of the long out-of-print seminal Pussy Galore catalog.) It was amid this period of looking back, that Spencer, Simins and Bauer began the process of moving forward. 

"We still have that psychic glue that allows us to create music together," Spencer states. "Over the course of a year touring and writing new songs and recording, we rediscovered our shared history as a band. We circled the wagons, and went back to our roots. In a way this is almost like another first album."  

On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer has destroyed and rebuilt American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon, that it's hard to believe there is anything left. It's been twenty years since The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion first pressed 'record', and twenty years since Spencer and his A-Team of sonic terrorists tore up the indie-rock landscape with fever and a visceral, untouchable vision of rock'n'roll that did for a new wave of blues-punk primitivists what Helen of Troy's face did for the armada.

But make no mistake: Jon Spencer was there first. He is the original. It was his sanctified outbursts and blues-bending riffs that began the new-fangled roots rock revolution and spawned countless imitators. With Pussy Galore, he gargled with the Stones and Stooges and wrestled with industrial noise and fuzzed-out fucked-up sixties garage crud…with Blues Explosion, he drove furiously into the future with incendiary spirit built from courage, audacity, and revolt. Nothing has been the same since.

Meat And Bone track listing:

1. Black Mold

2. Bag Of Bones

3. Boot Cut

4. Get Your Pants Off

5. Ice Cream Killer

6. Strange Baby

7. Bottle Baby

8. Danger

9. Black Thoughts

10. Unclear

11. Bear Trap

12. Zimgar

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES (more forthcoming):

October 6: Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA

October 13: German American Music Hall - Pawtucket, RI

October 16: Higher Ground Lounge - South Burlington, VT

October 18: Horseshoe Tavern - Toronto, ON

October 19: Magic Stick - Detroit, MI

October 20: Earth House - Indianapolis, IN

October 21: Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL

October 22: Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN

October 23: Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI

October 24: The Basement - Columbus, OH

October 25: Rex Theater - Pittsburgh, PA

November 3: Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY

November 8: Casbah - San Diego, CA

November 9: El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

November 10: Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA

November 12: Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR

November 13: The Crocodile - Seattle, WA

November 14: Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, B.C.

Check out the first single, "Black Mold", via SoundCloud here. 

PETE COSEY 1943-2012

The IRT respectfully salutes the life of guitarist Pete Cosey, whose reverb soaked wah-wah style helped define Miles Davis' electric jungle era in the 1970s and who passed away from complications following a surgery on May 30th. He was 68.

Cosey got his start at Chess Records, where he did sessions for the likes of Rotary Connection, Etta James and Fontella Bass, but whose indelible stamp of individuality took root in the legendary sessions for Muddy Waters' Electric Mud and Howlin' Wolf's The Howlin' Wolf Album, two underground blues classics that saw the label try to make Mud and Wolf more appealing to young audiences by pairing them up with psych musicians. But it wasn't until he linked up with Miles in 1973 did Cosey truly let his presence as one of the most advanced minded guitar players be known on such head jazz masterpieces as Get Up with It, Dark Magus, Agharta and Pangaea.

Before he passed, he was most recently jamming with a slew of modern jazz cats like Vijay Iyer, Butch Morris, Melvin Gibbs and Burnt Sugar as part of the experimental supergroup The Rites.

His work helped me appreciate jazz when I first got serious about it and he will be missed. -Ed. 

 Pete Cosey on "Built for Comfort" from The Howlin' Wolf Album: 


Pete Cosey with the Miles Davis Band in Tokyo, 1973:


The Rites: