(Some of my) FAVORITE COMICS OF 2015

They say that timing is everything, and in this age of nanosecond attention spans and constantly refreshing newsfeeds that's more true than ever. So it's with great delight that I present here a brief and certainly incomplete list of Some of My Favorite Comics of 2015.

Every year more and more cool comics are released in droves, and every year I have less time to read them. But I buy them, and they stack up in boxes and overflowing shelves waiting for that moment when I can retire from the daily grind and sit down and read all those DeForge books. And mark my words, friends -- That day shall come.

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Extra Good Stuff by Dennis Eichhorn and Various (Last Gasp) More from the genius storyteller Dennis P. Eichhorn, released shortly before his death. Extra Good Stuff (like 2014's Real Good Stuff) teams Eichhorn up with some of the hottest, brightest cartoonists going today (Noah Van Sciver, Max Clotfelter, Tom Van Deusen, Aaron Lange) as well as old time favorites like Mary Fleener and Triangle Slash. A blast from the past blowing open the doors of today! Or something. Excellent.

The Complete Hairy Who Publications edited by Dan Nadel (Matthew Marks Gallery) It's hard to wrap my mind around the sudden increase in interest, or at least in publication, of the Hairy Who, some of the most influential but underappreciated artists of the late 20th Century. Decidedly unhip at a time when conceptual and minimalist art was in fashion, in the late 60's and early 70's this Chicago based artists group produced work that was funky, emotional, bright, weird and graphic, drawing inspiration from everyday life, including comic books. For each of their exhibitions, they produced a catalog that was more of a comic, featuring work from each of the members, Jim Nutt, Karl Wirsum, Gladys Nillson, and this books collects 'em all in ravishing full color.

Big Pussy by Gina Wynbrandt (2D Cloud) A hilariously self-abasing and brilliantly acerbic comic from young wunderkind Wynbrandt depicts the artist negotiating life, lust, and love in the Internet Age. Smart, wickedly funny, and transgressive. More comics like this, please!

Remember This by Disa Wallander (KUŠ) This funny and gently sardonic story examines our memories: why do we have them, why don't we have them, what do they mean? How does art encapsulate time? That sounds stuffy, but this comic is anything but. A delight.

My Hot Date by Noah Van Sciver (Kilgore Books) This one could just as easily have been Noah's St. Cole or Fante Bukowski (Fantagraphics), I Don't Hate Your Guts (2D Cloud) or Blammo #8.5 (Kilgore). The fact is, no one in comics right now is blasting away skill-wise as breathlessly as Noah Van Sciver. His writing continues to get even better, his drawing effortlessly depicts a real, tangible, livable world with ease and understated power, and now that he's figured out his secret coloring technique, in which colors pop and ebb with distinct and beautiful shadowing and tonal effects, he's simply unstoppable. Noah will bury us all, but at least we get to come along for the ride.

Ikebana by (Retrofit/Big Planet Comics) The silent protagonist of Ikebana guides us through a humorous look at the foibles of art school and then moves into the "real world" with a ruthless clarity before climaxing in wonder and surreal ambiguity. This short comic is endlessly surprising and deeply affecting, and stayed with me long after I read it.

Terror Assaulter: OMWOT: One Man War On Terror by Benjamin Marra (Fantagraphics) Marra's ridiculous and pitch perfect satire of masculinity and violence is odd, funny, disturbing, idiotic, and brilliant.

Hey America! Wake the Fuck Up! by Ron Regé Jr. (Self-published online) As Amerika® descends deeper into cruel stupidity and vacuous self-absorption Art can still remind us of who we really are, and who we want to be. Regé's brief response to modern life does not mince words or ideas, but is still full of compassion and heart. Fantastic, powerful, and much-needed. Link

Stroppy by Marc Bell (Drawn and Quarterly) Marc Bell's first extended foray into comix storytelling in some time is a savagely funny and absurd look at hyper-capitalism and corporate control. Poor Sap Stroppy unwittingly gets mixed up in a Capitalist Poetry scheme, while his evil boss Monsieur Moustache plots his fiendish creative coup. All with Bell's trademark nuttiness and surreal good humor, natch.
 

Recidivist IV by Zak Sally (La Mano 21) Harkening back to the fuck all days of alternative comics, when the integrity of one's personal expression was the all-consuming goal of our art, Recidivist IV is a deeply intense, dense, and difficult guide to one person's battle with his life and art. Reading the book requires that you sweat it out in the trenches with the author, and when you finally come out the other side you've had an undeniable taste of his struggle. A real achievement in a world where many cartoonists actually seek mediocrity, and ho-hum is often the most one can expect.

(Some of my) FAVORITE COMICS OF 2014

It was a long year for me, that 2014, spent mostly drawing and prepping my own book The Hospital Suite (D+Q), and then travelling around the country promoting it.  By the time I got home it was December, and I had a lot of catching up to do.

I barely managed to do any comics reading last year, though that didn't stop the weekly onslaught of great, interesting, beautiful books.  So there's a lot of stuff that no doubt would have made this list had I had a chance to sit down and read it.  Well, that's what 2015 is for.  Meanwhile, here's a small and by no means comprehensive list of some of my favorite comics of 2014:


Black Light: The Art of L.B. Cole (Fantagraphics)

I waited for what seemed like forever for this wonderful collection of LB Cole's eye-splitting, weird and wonderful artwork: Proto-psychedelic covers for pulps and comics, pin-ups, men's magazines and more, all printed on deliciously oversized pages.





Dessins by Pascal Girard (Editions Pow Pow)

A collection of Pascal's sketchbook pages, this book is everything I love about small press comics.









Chronologie by Dominique Goblet and Nikita Fossoul (Fremok)

I heard about this book years ago when it first came out, but at $50 plus a hefty international shipping charge, I held off.  Then in 2013 at the Pierre Feuille Ciseaux retreat, I saw a copy of the book in the flesh.  This only hurt more as it was even better in person than I'd imagined.  When I saw that author Dominique Goblet was coming to SPX 2014, I hurriedly wrote her an email asking if there was any way she could stow a copy in her luggage for me.

At SPX I immediately went up to her table and introduced myself.  She turned and pulled the book out of her suitcase.  VOILÀ!

Chronologie is a series of daily portraits she did every morning with her daughter Nikita, where she drew Nikita and vice versa.  The drawings are in a variety of media, from simple pencil studies to lush painted portraits, and move through ten years, so, in effect, we see Dominique's daughter grow up before her mother's own eyes.  A remarkable book, and one I'm very glad to have on my bookshelf!


Powdered Milk (series) by Keiler Roberts (Self-published)

Keiler continued her charming series of domestic comics, focusing on her everyday interactions with her daughter Xia, husband Scott, and their dog Crooky.  On their own, these comics are beautiful slice of life stories, told with sharp but deadpan humor.  But underneath runs a darker current of melancholy, which  draws Powdered Milk into the realm of real, powerfully human art.


What Nerve! ed. by Dan Nadel (DAP)

I grew up in love with the "Hairy Who": the group of Chicago artists known also as the Imagists, who made their deepest mark on the culture from the late sixties through the eighties.  Thankfully, their remarkably diverse and challenging, yet down to earth and funny work has seen something of a reassessment in recent times, both with the release of the Hairy Who documentary, and this great show curated by Dan Nadel, which combines the work of the Imagists with other outsiders like the Cailfornia Funk Artists, HC Westermann, Jack Kirby, Destroy All Monsters and the Fort Thunder crew.  I was lucky enough to see the the exhibit in Providence when on tour last fall.  The show was overwhelming to me, and I was happy that the accompanying catalog was as good as it was, allowing me to take the exhibit home to peruse for years to come.


Heroical # 1 and 2 by David Plunkert (Spur Design)

I saw these at Jim Rugg's house and had to have them.  (They're available online.)  Plunkert's designerly but raw and charming comics and art harken back to the glory days of RAW, when weirdness and smart production skills combined to form the first real Objets d'art of the comics world.  Full of robots, Lucha Libre, cut and paste, and action lines, these comics are a breath of fresh air-- fun, funky, unpretentious and amazingly well-done.


Facility Integrity by Nick Maandag (Pigeon Press)

It's been to my delight and relief that finally some cartoonists out there (like Dash Shaw) have begun to confront the Death Spiral of Late Capital in smart, funny, and brutally honest ways.  This new, viciously funny satire of the stupidity of corporate control describes a boss determined to increase productivity through manipulating his employees' bathroom habits.  Maandag's Streakers from 2011 was my book of the year, and somehow Facility Integrity takes the absurdist but pitch perfect satire of Streakers and improves on it.   BOOK OF THE YEAR!


Rudy by Mark Connery (2D Cloud)

Great to see a humble and truly underground comics talent get his due, in this career spanning collection edited by Marc Bell.  Connery's Rudy the Magic Cat was a mainstay of the 90's underground zine scene, and here his absurd, lysergic stories and doodles have retained the freshness of their wild-eyed, thoroughly un-commercial origins.  Printed in tiny quantities and usually given away or left in public places for passers-by, Rudy zines had a mystery and a charm to them that comes clearly across in this nicely produced collection.


Strange Growths #16 by Jenny Zervakis (Self-published)

One of the greatest, criminally unsung cartoonists of the 90's continues to produce her work in small batches, on her own schedule.  This issue features comics about placemats, snow, dreams, and lost dogs, alongside short, weird illustrated stories.  Jenny's poetic work is soft, but sad, and plain, but deeply rewarding.



I Don't Hate Your Guts by Noah Van Sciver (2D Cloud)

The prolific Van Sciver released a number of books in 2014, all of which could have and should have made this list, but I Don't Hate Your Guts, a scratchy, improvised, full color 30 day diary comic, sums up the confidence that Noah has developed through sheer hard work, exploring and refining his talent.  Funny, tragic, real, and absurd in equal measures, no one's doing what Noah does.


Recidivist IV by Zak Sally (La Mano 21)

Harkening back to the fuck all days of alternative comics, when the integrity of one's personal expression was the all-consuming goal of our art, Recidivist IV is a deeply intense, dense, and difficult guide to one person's battle with his life and art.  Reading the book requires that you sweat it out in the trenches with the author, and when you finally come out the other side you've had an undeniable taste of his struggle.  A real achievement in a world where ho-hum is often the most one can expect from comics.


Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio (Abrams)

Edited by Mark Evanier, this oversized collection of original art scans tells the tale of the years Jack Kirby and his partner Joe Simon ran their own comics studio, producing gripping war stories, horror, crime, romance, and superhero comics for outside publishers.  It's fascinating to see Kirby's iconic style refine itself through the years, but the real surprise for me were the examples of work by other talented members of the studio, like Mort Meskin, Al Williamson, and Bill Draut, whose rock solid crime and war stories contained herein are the definition of 50's Comics Art.


La Rêve Américain by Laurent Lolmède (Alain Beaulet)

One of my all-time favorites, Lolmède, visits America and fills his sketchbook with US scenes, all drawn in his wild, grotesque and expressive style. Ouais!








The Lonesome Go by Tim Lane (Fantagraphics)

One of the most original cartoonists working today, Tim Lane makes comics that, while drawing from a similar stylistic well as Charles Burns, John Hankiewicz, and the Beats, are thoroughly his own.  The Lonesome Go mixes multiple episodic storylines into sketchbook musings, photographs, epigraphs and lyrics that dart at and subtly reveal aspects of his "Great American Mythological Drama":  a surreal mélange of identity, darkness, love, loneliness and betrayal.  In a comics scene rife with copycats and half-baked effort, this book successfully carves its own space, on its own terms. There's never been another one like it.

(Some of my) FAVORITE COMICS OF 2013

Everybody who knows comics knows we're living in a true Golden Age -- never before have there been as many varied, high quality comics coming out of the woodwork as right now, and that includes self-published work, so-called "Graphic Novels", the new wave of Independent Floppies, books of historical research, and reprints of classic newspaper and comic book comics that have been shrouded in mystery for decades and decades.

Last year I felt overwhelmed with the amount of stuff-- good, readable, must-read stuff.  This year there was as much as before, if not more, but maybe I'm adjusting.  More than anything I'm just blown away by the amount of good comics I read this year.  What follows is only a partial list, in no particular order.

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Cartoonshow (series) by Derek M. Ballard (Drippy Bone)

In these twisted sex, non-sequiter, sci-fi comics, Ballard breaks down our fears, obsessions and manias into short, cold, beautifully grotesque, and confounding slices of right now.

Bittersweet Romance by Bald Eagles (Drippy Bone)

Bald Eagles throws all of our uncontrollable fixations into panel after panel, page after page.  In this splatter-filled grotesquerie he delves with serious and unblinking focus into the "Battle of the Sexes" and comes up stunned, confused and bloody-handed.

La Montagne de Sucre by Sandrine Martin (L 'Apocalyse)

This beautiful wordless book gives us a series of mesmerizing, lush, black and white pencil drawings that may or may not have any narrative qualities.  That said, cumulatively they describe the joys, fears, dangers, and ecstasy of love...  Surreal, hypnotizing, erotic.  One of the most intriguing and gorgeous books I've seen in recent times.

31 Drawings That Have Something To Do With Being In Love And Not Being In Love by Eleanor Davis (self-published)

Beautiful, sad, joyous, wordless drawings:  trees, couples, peeing, music, chimneys.  Davis' seemingly effortlessly perfect drawing is exquisite, while never losing its menacing edge, and is the kind of drawing I've been aspiring to all my life.  I don't know what to say really, just this is one of my favorite books of the year. 

Mad Artists Edition by the Usual Gang of Idiots (IDW)

When I was a kid, it was Mad Magazine that turned me on to to the subversive power of comics.  I began scouring the 7-11s and grocery store magazine racks for anything Mad related.  It was when I found the Super Specials known as The Nostalgic Mad, which bound in facsimile reproductions of issues from the original comic-book sized MAD run of the 1950's, that my mind was truly blown.  I certainly didn't understand half the references in these old MADs, but my fascination with them as broadcasts from another, lost, and very weird world drilled me to the core.  They were my gateway into the world of COMICS, the ubiquitous yet secret world in which I was going to devote my life.

So when IDW announced they were releasing selections from the early MADs in their Artists Edition series, I was overcome with delight.  The AEs reproduce original art from old comics at full-size, in hi-resolution full-color scans.  When the book arrived in the mail I was amazed at the size of the box, and when I opened it up tears formed in my eyes.  What a thing of beauty. I felt everything I'd ever loved in comics come full circle for one brief moment.  And for one brief moment the whole Universe was all right.

Powdered Milk (series) by Keiler Roberts (self-published)

In short, quietly stated passages, Roberts depicts the day-to-day realities of raising her daughter, and its attendant domestic scenery, in gently rendered, funny, and brilliantly deadpan comics.  Lurking beneath the surface, though, lie all kinds of anxieties and pain, and taken as a whole the comics resonate with a kind of mournful but joyous vision-- the knowledge that we are right here right now, but not for long.  Perhaps my favorite new comics artist of recent times.

Scrooge McDuck: "Just a Poor Old Man" by Carl Barks (Fantagraphics)

Being a cartoonist, I've heard over and over about this guy Carl Barks, the so-called "good duck artist." And it was always something I meant to get to someday, but never felt too serious about. Like when my friends twenty years ago would try to get me into the Beach Boys, and I'd be like, "Sure, but it's still songs about cars and surfing!" And then I finally heard Pet Sounds and became the biggest Beach Boy fan around.

Well, I finally read Carl Barks! There's nothing about this collection that doesn't absolutely impress. The writing is stellar -- hilarious, sly, thoughtful, and fun. The art is so beautiful it feels like you're looking at the real world -- a real world full of ducks and beagle boys! Everything that needs to be there, is there, in its proper place.

Throw in the impeccable production values Fanta has bestowed on this work -- beautiful coloring that never detracts, solid printing, nice soft paper, and helpful and interesting endnotes that put these duck stories in the context of Barks' career, and the larger world of comics, and there's nothing more I could ask for. This book is perfect!

Strange Tales Marvel Masterworks Vol 5 by Various (Marvel Comics)

In this first volume of the Strange Tales Masterworks series to include all post-code work, we're given luminous, wonderful artwork by such geniuses as Joe Maneely, Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnott, Bernie Krigstein, and, in his first work for Atlas/Marvel, Steve Ditko.

The writers were definitely struggling to conform to the restrictive limits the code had shackled them with, and many of the stories simply fade away, or even feature endings that will leave you scratching your head, but to me that's part of the charm. On the other hand, the artwork is stellar, and I'd go so far as to say that this period in the mid-fifties was really the true Golden Age of Comic Book Art. The artists had defined themselves, found their voices, and were consistently producing incredibly strong, idiosyncratic work.

The great thing about this series, and its sister series, Journey Into Mystery, is that with each new volume we are witness to the evolution of 1950's comics, from start to finish, which was a wild ride. And now we're only one volume away from the first appearance of Jack Kirby, who laid the groundwork in these titles for the Marvel Superhero revival of the 1960's. 

Nancy is Happy by Ernie Bushmiller (Fantagraphics)

I've been a big Bushmiller fan for a long time (I got a Nancy tattoo on my 21st birthday!) but have never had the chance to read big chunks of the strip in chronological order before. That old adage about Nancy being easier to read than to not read is kind of true. Each strip is perfectly balanced, rendered, and expressed. I found myself staring at panel after panel with my mouth hanging open -- just absolutely impeccable cartooning!

Young Dumb and Full of Cum by Nick Drnaso (Oily Comics)

This brilliant autobiographical collection features short vignettes from Nick's life, including his First Memory, "How to Dress Up Like Me on Halloween", The Wonder Years, Crushes, and more.  Brilliantly deadpan, with gorgeous clear line artwork, this is a perfect little comic.  

Tusen Hjärten Stark #1 by Various (Domino Books)

This newsprint tabloid anthology features some of the best cartoonists out there today, including Warren Craghead's abstracted poetry comics; amazing penciled comics by Swedish artist Joanna Hellgren; and Elizabeth Bethea's lucid, dreamy stories of prostitutes, shadows, and Malcolm X.  There are a lot of these tabloid comics anthologies making the rounds nowadays, but Tusen feels different in that each artist gets plenty of room to shine, and the work itself is compelling and challenging, not the throwaway fluff that too often plagues these endeavors.  This is a stunning collection of contemporary comics that should be in the hands of anyone in love with the medium.

Real Rap (series) by Benjamin Urkowitz (Oily)

Da Studge is a subway worker who lives with one cat he thinks is two and his mom's ashes, and one day, fed up with wack mc's, he starts making his own rap records.  Real Rap is Duh Studge's story, genuinely funny and surprisingly poignant, as he blunders his way through this questionable world.  Few minicomics present a milieu as solidly hewn and yet unpredictably creative as this one.  Masterful.

Captain America (and the Falcon) Omnibus by Jack Kirby (Marvel Comics)

In 1976 and '77, The King of Comics, Jack Kirby, returned to Marvel, the publisher he carried on his back for a decade, and to one of his original characters, Captain America. This giant collection compiles a couple extra-length Annuals, the epic (and originally oversized) Bicentennial Battles, and his complete work on the monthly Captain America and The Falcon series. This is Kirby Unleashed, from the period where he was writing, drawing, and editing his books, and this run on Captain America is everything we've come to expect from him-- nutty dialogue ("I'm going to do what SHIELD expects of me--! But not before I've had a new hair-do!"), crazy villains and monsters, giant, beastly machinery, and delightful double-splashes all over the place. Cap and his buddy The Falcon tangle with The Night People, The Red Skull, and bio-engineer Arnim Zola (the man with an ESP Box for a head), and every page is a delight.

The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics)

Slowly but surely, through incipient gift combined with constant effort, Noah Van Sciver has become one of the best cartoonists working today.  Laughing in the face of fads, fly-by-night hipsterisms, and irony, Noah has become a real cartoonist, unafraid to take on whatever his muse throws at him.  It's remarkable to think that this brilliantly portrayed biographical look at Lincoln -- before he was Lincoln -- when he was a conflicted, depressed, emotionally ravaged young man -- as good as it is, seems like a warm-up lap for the comics Noah's producing NOW, only a year later.

Blammo #8 by Noah Van Sciver (Kilgore Books)

A combination of various economic forces led the Alternative comics publishers to leave the comic book format behind, but what about those cartoonists who love that form, and actually thrive in that form?  They've found ways to carry it on, and even invigorate it.  Look no further than Blammo, which features each issue ruminative comics fictions, true stories, renderings of old folk tales, the belovedly hated Chicken Strips, letters, and funny cut and paste fumetti.  Like one of those stews made from whatever happens to be in the fridge at the time, Blammo is A COMIC BOOK.  It's fun, funny, heartbreaking and weird.  God Bless Blammo.

St. Cole #1 by Noah Van Sciver (Kilgore Books)

Noah's latest project, serialized online and reproduced here on paper, is another tale of a misfit stuck in a low-wage struggle with life and love.  Noah has mined this territory before (I guess it's close to his heart) but never with the force and inherent power found in St. Cole.  Excellent.

Three New Stories by Dash Shaw (Fantagraphics)

As Amerika continued its descent into utter madness and oblivion, I kept waiting for some cartoonist to climb aboard and ride the sinking ship at last, to acknowledge and reflect back the chaos, selfishness, amorality, and viciousness of our dying empire.  And to do it in a smart, sincere way.  And I'm really glad Dash Shaw did it.

New Jobs by Dash Shaw (Uncivilized Books)

More brutal, brilliant tales from the sinking ship.  You have to laugh to keep from crying.

Missy by Daryl Seitchik (Oily)

I'm not that hip when it comes to the whippersnappers, and honestly I was not expecting much when I cracked open this recent little Oily release.  I certainly wasn't expecting a moving, sincere, smartly observed and rendered look at a lonely mysterious childhood, fully formed in 12 unassuming pages.

Real Good Stuff by Dennis P. Eichhorn (Poochie Press)

I guess I'm old, but I don't care.  I remember when comics weren't afraid to be really wild, not just MTV wild.  In the 80's and 90's Dennis Eichhorn's no-holds-barred comics stories, illustrated by some of the greatest underground cartoonists of that generation, were always a satisfying read.  And now, there are more.  Crazy, true-life stories of fistfights, raw sex, boozing, drugs, and the road, this time illustrated by the next generation of underground heroes: Max Clotfelter, Tom Van Deusen, Noah Van Sciver, Aaron Lange, and many more, plus old standbys like Mary Fleener.  Like I said-- satisfying.

Black is the Color by Julia Gfrörer (Fantagraphics)

Julia's latest weird tale of supernatural love features a 19th Century sailor adrift at sea.  Sure enough, it's not long before the mermaids show up.  Funny, frightening, lovestruck and warm, all rendered in her usual inky, delicious linework.  A Modern Classic.

Couch Tag by Jesse Reklaw (Fantagraphics)

How Jesse has remained so deeply underground up to now is beyond me, but there are few books I've looked forward to and waited longer for than this collection of his stunning, very sad and powerful comics about his childhood, and his life growing up in a mentally and emotionally unbalanced family.  Reklaw has the chops to draw anything, and the skill and taste to write with an understated grace that allows emotions and experiences to well up and breathe on their own.

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There are of course multitudes of books that came out last year that no doubt would have made it to this list had I had the money/time to purchase them/read them.  But I guess that's what 2014 is for!

FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2012

Van Halen: Van Halen II (Warner Bros., 1979)

Growing up I had an inherent distaste for bands like Van Halen, as their music seemed to be the soundtrack to every unpleasant encounter I had with the jockos and trendoids in the halls of my high school.  I do remember kind of liking the video for "Hot for Teacher," because, after all,  there's nothing wrong with Sexy Teachers.

It wasn't till after college, when I was working in a warehouse in DeKalb, that I realized there may be more to Van Halen than I'd previously imagined.  A co-worker brought in a cassette of Van Halen I, and that sucker played in an endless loop while we ran the glass cleaning machine.  At first it was kind of an ironic affection I had for the cornier or more theatrical tunes on the album, but at some point I realized: "I, too, have been to the edge; and I, too, have stood and looked down."

It wasn't enough to get me to buy any of their records, but I did begin listening more closely to their songs when they appeared on the Classic Rock station.  And once I did it didn't take long to recognize: "These songs are good songs."

Flash forward twenty years.  I'm living in the gritted-out villa of South Beloit, Illinois.  One of my prime sources of entertainment is digging through the $5 CD bin at Wal-Mart.  LO, there is Van Halen I;  there is Van Halen II.  I'd been eyeing their various Greatest Hits CDs in the Wal-Mart racks for some time, but I just couldn't bring myself to purchase an album with Sammy Hagar on it.  I knew Van Halen I was primo from start to finish, and when I looked at the track listing for II, I recognized "Dance the Night Away," and "Beautiful Girls" as hits, so I thought, "Why Not?"

I came home and put the CD in my boombox.  Snaky lines of phased bass drifted out, followed by volume knob swells of electric guitar... then...  the whole band erupts, and -- Wait -- "You're No Good" is THAT "You're No Good"?  The old tune made famous by Linda Ronstadt?   I guess I never listened to the lyrics.  "I broke her heart, simple and true -- I broke her heart over someone like you..."  Oh, I see.

Then "Dance the Night Away."  In a more angry phase of my life I'd cynically consider this a pander to the radio.  But when you can simultaneously get skinny guys with half-formed mustaches to go to your shows AND get their hot girlfriends to sit on their shoulders there, you're doing something right.  This is an absolute pop gem.

"Somebody Get Me a Doctor" is the song that made me really consider exploring the Van Halen oeuvre   Worried that post-I records would be filled with... filler, I checked out some album tracks on YouTube.  Nope, the album tracks rocked too-- Case in point this balls-out rocker about how difficult it is to maneuver through a crowded bar when you have a hard-on in your pants.

"Light Up the Sky" is some kind of hysterical, brilliant warning about TV Sets that brings the energy of punk to whatever this is... Metal?  Not really.  Hard Rock?  I guess.  But hard rock with all kinds of subtleties, tricked out chording, and songcraft.  Then "Spanish Fly," a nylon stringed solo by Eddie that fades into the raunchy puke of "D.O.A."

"D.O.A."  This is the prime cut for me.  This is what makes Van Halen so fascinating to me.  A lot of hard rock bands posture about toughness, both their own, and the toughness they face in the world as outsiders.  You don't get the sense from these songs, though, that Van Halen thinks they're tough.  If anything, they're more self-deprecating and sly.  They escape hairy situations with their wits, not their fists.  But here's the thing-- sometimes they don't escape hairy situations.  Sometimes they have to face up to them and just simply survive somehow.  Hence, "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love."  Hence, "D.O.A.," with its admission of being "broken down, dirty, dressed in rags / since the day my mama told me boy you pack your bags."  And perhaps the most haunting line in any hard rock song of the era-- "They found a dirty-faced kid in a garbage can."  That dirty-faced kid isn't kicking ass on the world, he's getting his ass kicked by the world.  And that, I think, is why Van Halen is so appealing to me.  It seems more real, more honest, than most hard rock bands.

Also, I have to say here, Van Halen were definitely listening to punk, definitely affected by punk.  And bands like Black Flag, who were contemporaries, were no doubt affected by Van Halen.  There are plenty of riffs, moods, and phrases here, in songs like "D.O.A.," that would not be out of place on Loose Nut, or In My Head.

Then "Women in Love...."  Was this song a radio hit?  Because it could/should have been.  If not, that just goes to show you how smokin' hot this record is.  And "Beautiful Girls," another classic.

I'm the kind of guy that's pretty obsessive.  Van Halen II was the only album I listened to for about the first half of 2012.  And I never got sick of it.  Five Stars.

T. Rex: Electric Warrior (Reprise, 1971)

Another Wal-Mart $5 Bin score.

Of course I grew up hearing "Bang a Gong" on the radio, and then in the 80's I had some kind of cheapo British various artists LP with "Jeepster" on it, and "Ride a White Swan."  But it didn't affect me too much.  I never got into the whole "glam rock" thing really, so I felt no real necessity to try to understand Marc Bolan/T. Rex, the father/s of Glam.  If anything, I only knew that he was some kind of UK teenybopper sensation, and didn't he make a movie with Ringo?

Don't know why I bought Electric Warrior at Wal-Mart that day.  I guess in intervening years I'd heard enough tales about how influential Bolan was to figure he warranted a checking out.  I still had never really gotten into the Glam Rock thing, but I did have a sensory affection for that kind of warm, pastoral/electric vibe of early seventies rock, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Whoa!

I love everything about this album.  The hooey-gooey lyrics that are nonsense sharpened with a hidden knife; the mesmerising production: ringing acoustic guitars layered with fat, warm electrics, that crazy backup singing that is so crazy it fits like a glove; and the tunes-- bare bones rock n roll boogie in a kinetic, and somehow hazy but utterly cutthroat groove.

Then there are the songs like "Cosmic Dancer," which leaven the playful sexuality of the album with an honest and deeply felt sense of loss and decay.  That $5 Electric Warrior sent me off on a Bolan tangent that I'm still joyfully exploring.

T. Rex: The Slider (Fat Possum reissue, 1972)  

Bolan and Company didn't sound unconfident on Electric Warrior, anything but-- but here on the followup, they sound positively ecstatic.  There's not much new ground broken-- the groove of the previous album is only honed to a finer point-- but what a point!  A song like "Telegram Sam," which on its surface seems just like a "Jeepster" retread, is instead a laser-focused word painting that is impossible to resist. (I'm no dancer, but it's impossible to sit still while listening to this music.)

Bolan manages to utilize the tropes of rock n roll, the adolescent sexuality and primitive rhythms of it, but still maintain a kind of wide-eyed innocence and warmth that no doubt contributed to his enshrinement by teenage girls.  Soaring, anthemic tracks like "Metal Guru" coexist perfectly alongside ballads like "Main Man" and "Ballrooms of Mars." And "Buick Mackane" deserves to be #1 on anybody's hit parade.

De La Soul: Buhloone Mindstate (Tommy Boy, 1993)

After their buoyant, dazzlingly inventive, breakthrough debut, 3 Feet High and Rising, rightfully considered one of the all time hip-hop classics, De La Soul countered with De La Soul is Dead, a darker, more conflicted album.  Their third LP, Buhloone Mindstate rekindles the warmth of their debut, but filters it through a more mature, jazz/soul-based sound.  Although filled with humor and playfulness, the overall feel of the record is more contemplative and patient.  Working live with Maceo Parker's group, Mindstate even features an extended all-instrumental jazz interlude among the vocal tracks.

The scene criticism of De La Soul is Dead is still present in "Patti Dooke" and "Ego Trippin'," but the group's anger here is tempered with wisdom and maturity.  They sound rejuvenated, and as dedicated as ever to following their own path.  As the album title references: "It might blow up, but it won't go 'pop'." This is De La Soul at their best.