Archives for December, 2009

Erasing is a pain! Erasing 40-odd pages, making tiny corrections (with more to be made later), while trying not to spill toooo much coffee because your table shakes… it’s all a pain.

Anyways, that’s what I’m doing right now. In New Mexico, the hometown from whence I just was (?), I finished inking Chapter Two of Birds & Wolves. A milestone, soured by bittersweetness. Sometimes I wonder if people read more sadness than there is in the story, but then again, it may just be very sad, and I’m adult enough to not feel the sadness anymore. HA!

So, Chapter Two’s almost finished. After that, some slight revisions to it, little fixes here and there. Then hopefully, more fixes to Chapter One, then the creation of the purchasable copy. Revised Chapter One, Chapter Two, and an in-progress Omnibus edition of both Chapters. So, stay tuned, I guess. And do me a favor and listen to Side Two of both Low and “Heroes”.

Sorry, guys. It’s been far too long!

So I’ll do a little thing here. I’m inking page 79 right now. For reference, Chapter 2 has 81 pages, so JUST THINK WHAT THAT MEANS! It means that I’ll likely be done with Chapter 2 by the end of the year. It won’t be out quite then, though. I think I’m going to do some more revisions to Chapter 1 first, then put them both up online for consumption! There’ll be a Chapter 2 stand-alone thing, and a Chapters 1 and 2 omnibus thing, which is sort of a thing for me so that I can see how the book is reading. Hopefully it is reading well!

I’m listening to a lot of David Bowie, as you may know if you know me. It’s starting to hanker me (did I use that word right? Whatever. In working-on-planning-on-working-on Album #5, I keep saying to myself “It’s got to be like Scary Monsters,” or “It’s got to be like Low,” or “it’s got to be like Hunky Dory.” The other day I realized that what I’m really saying is “It’s got to be good.”

I listened to “Never Let Me Down” today, which is often regarded as his absolute nadir (more so than Tin Machine!) My official opinion is “it’s not actually bad, y’all.”

Here’s what I wrote about it on my tumblr today:

“I’m listening to the much-maligned ‘87 (and Cry) Bowie album, “Never Let Me Down.”

I’m shocked, honestly. Because I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as it’s cracked up to be. I think it’s a lot better than “Tonight,” the album that came before it! Sure, it’s wayyy 80s, and it’s very very busily produced, but I think it’s got a lot of great moments in its 80s production. And the songs aren’t bad, either! They still have catchy melodies! What’s the deal, universe? Just because a Bowie album doesn’t sound like “the future” doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Thus far, the only real “UGH” moment is the monologue that begins “Glass Spider,” but the song that follows is pretty great!”

It’s true, it’s a far-out album. Give it another chance, guys! You all used to hate Lodger, too, and now look at you! (Never Let Me Down is not as good as Lodger.)

Lastly, a couple of weeks ago I played a show with Pool Holograph, Granny Frost, and Renee-Louise Carafice. It was quite an exciting night, lemme tell ya, since I’ve listened to Renee’s song “House on Fire” on repeat for most of the last two months. She is a very nice person, too! It’s so great when people you like listening to are also people who are nice to talk to! Anyways, my usual policy of “video taping my own shows” fell through (due to a cable pressing the record button off, I think), and there’s no video proof of the show.

But someone at ElasticArts, where the show happened, bootlegged it! With mic stands and everything! It’s like my first bootleg, guys! A recording I didn’t do!!! Be stoked.

And, because I love you, here’s the set. It’s one file, but the tracklist is in the “comments” section of the info. Also important about this set is the return of “All Things Being Equal” to the set, and the inclusion of a brand-new song, “Burque Spirit!”

Violet Mice, 12.5.09

Enjoy!

This post is going to be totally unrelated to me, so I’ll begin it by saying “I’m penciling page 72-73, and I might be 10 pages away from finishing Chapter Two.”

Okay, now, the speculation. Kerry Brown, producer, etc of the new Pumpkins album, “Teargarden By Kaleidyscope,” just tweeted (I can’t believe I just used that word here) that the first track will be released in the next week. So, does that mean Tuesday to Tuesday, or Sunday to Saturday? That’s speculation one.

Speculation two is which song will be the first? The fan community is pretty sure which ones are among the first four, so let’s hear ‘em:

“A Stitch In Time”

This song is supposed to be “more psychedelic” (IE, more sitar) in it’s studio incarnation. That makes me nervous, I like it as is, but we’ll see!

“Widow Wake My Mind”

This is my personal fave of the bunch. It’s poppy and catchy, but is it strong enough to make a huge first splash?

“Astral Planes”

This is the one that we aren’t 100 percent sure on, but it’s probably one of the four. This is a good rocker, a psychedelic (I only overuse that word because Billy does) barnburner that can satisfy the rockers, right? Meh. It’s pretty good.

“A Song For A Son”

This is the one people think will most likely be the first. Honestly, it isn’t my favorite song, but it’s about the only New Song from the 20th anniversary tour that wasn’t instantly derided, so it’s got the critics on it’s side? I doubt it. Honestly, I feel like this song sets Billy up for more failure and derision that it’s worth.

So, fingers-crossed, Teargarden begins in a week. Will it be The Smashing Pumpkins’ stellar return-to-form, an album widely praised by everyone just like the old days? Or will it go the way of TheFutureEmbrace, Zwan, and Blinking With Fists?

Good luck, Billy. You may just need it!