Mix Annotations - Spine of Mush
Hi Friends,
This was my first summer in 10 years of not working at The Beguiling, which means it was my first summer in 10 years of not being completely surrounded by comics at least once a week. I didn't think I'd miss working at the comic book store as much as I have. I don't miss having left the clinic, but twice now I've had dreams of sorting overstock books, pawing through shelves, or talking to people who work there. I don't miss customers, but I do miss coworkers I've known for a decade plus, and I do miss having such easy access to so many comics.
When I left PPT, I wasn't suddenly like "Oh no, I can't get free condoms anymore!" but with The Beguiling, my brain has fully gone into scarcity mode on books that I think I need. Before my last shift, I knew that certain books would start creeping up on me, and that I'd have to go back and buy Tokyo Tarareba Girls or The Wrenchies some day. The part I didn't anticipate is suddenly being absolutely obsessed with reading old sci-fi comics. These are comics that I don't normally read, never even cracked open in all of my time working there, but now I can't stop thinking about tracking them down and adding them to my library. Just the other week on Twitter someone shared a page from an old Nova comic, and my gut reaction was "Yeah, that's actually just a great outfit." It takes one random panel and I'm immediately like "Should I read Classic Nova?"
-A panel from some issue of The Man Called Nova-
Now, I don't seriously want to read Nova. The idea of spending another second of my life with Marvel makes my jaw tighten, and most super hero comics are just a horrible reading experience. The art might be nice and the plots might be interesting, but the acting and actual flow of the page are often excruciating. I don't need that kind of frustration in my life. But then later that week I thought "Oh, I should definitely read Strikeforce Morituri."
-The cover of Strikeforce Morituri #1-
Strikeforce Morituri was a self-contained series from the 80s that I think was about aliens invading earth. And then in order to fight the aliens, I think humans developed some technology that could give people super powers, but the recipient would die within a year. I only read a few of these issues when I was a teen, but I remember being really impacted by the idea of their deaths being real and inevitable (compared to regular Marvel where people either never died, or if they did die they could maybe comeback). I'm confident that Strikeforce Morituri is no good, but also I'm confident I'll be reading it before the end of the year. Again, why am I suddenly wanting to read all these old sci-fi comics? Of all the comics I'm feeling a panic to consume, why these?
-Cover of a Strontium Dog collection-
A day later I was like, "I should read Strontium Dogs." But, like, gun to my head? I couldn't tell you what Strontium Dog is about. Heck, I thought it was Strontium Dogs right up until I tried to find the book cover for this newsletter. All I know is that it's old and English. It might be black and white. There's a chance it's related to Judge Dredd? I don't know, but I just keep wondering about reading it. I told Peter about this and he laughed at me, but then said quietly, "You know if you ever need to read something like that you can just borrow it," the same way that a parent might ask if you needed some money.
-Cover of the Space Usagi collection-
I ended up finding a used copy of a Space Usagi collection. I've never read any Usagi Yojimbo, but a friend growing up had the Space Usagi action figure, which they do talk about in the introduction of the book. And you know what, I really liked it! Pretty straight-forward sci-fi adventure, but really top-notch cartooning, and a fun book to read before bed. I think it means I'm going to try to read all of Usagi Yojimbo now? I don't know. I don't have a full grasp of what's going on in my head.
Part of it I think is just the feeling of comics coming back as a hobby. Comics eventually felt like a job when I was with TCAF (because it was a job), and that feeling lingered a little during my tail off from The Beguiling. I think a full season away has brought some of that appreciation back of being just a reader. That said, I'm like 75% of the way towards just working a few hours on Sundays at The Beguiling again, just tidying up before the store opens so that I can afford to buy all these books.
Anyways, here’s the link to the latest mix: soundcloud.com/draiser2022/spine-of-mush
ANNOTATIONS
Teddybears - Punkrocker (ft. Iggy Pop) This song came up during the Silversun Pickups episode of CBB FM. Iggy Pop singing this at 53 years old in 2000 is funny enough, but I have such a hard time with seeing Teddybears performing it in 2021. These songs are for a very specific age range, and once you're out of it, you gotta pass it on to someone else.
Squid - Houseplants I mean, I think people were just loving Squid, or at least their last album. This was probably on a Spotify playlist for modern post-punk.
The Cribs - Men's Needs Close personal friends from my teenage years.
Jane Inc - 2120 Another one that people are just loving these days. I feel like her Toronto music community has done a good job on Twitter and Instagram of sharing her songs and live shows.
Vespre - Lovers Someone shared this on Instagram.
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - It Hit Me Another one people are just loving these days, is getting good reviews, etc.
Stereo Total - I Love You Ono I'd never listened to Stereo Total before this article from Bandcamp Daily, and then this song just ended up stuck in my head for the whole weekend after.
FKA Twigs - Which Way (ft. Dystopia) At this point, close personal friend.
Noriko Miyamoto - Arrows & Eyes This is off another one of Light in the Attic's compilations of Japanese music, Somewhere Betwee: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980-1988, but I am looking forward to listening to the full 1981 album from Noriko Miyamoto.
Pierre Kwenders - Kilimanjaro It's such a dumb feeling, but I am compelled to note that I was already including this song before Pierre Kwenders won the 2022 Polaris Prize. Close personal friend.
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo Sèw The first time I heard Mulatu Astatke was almost definitely from the soundtrack of Broken Flowers (2005). I would've been 16 or 17 when I saw it. I remember people were really hyped about Bill Murray's deadpan acting, and some review specifically mentioned how good the soundtrack was. I don't remember anything about the movie, or really any of the other songs, but I did keep listening to Mulatu Astatke.
Martin Short Loves Mocking Conan | CONAN on TBS Martin Short is my latest YouTube hole. He really is a classically fun talkshow guest.
Ralfi Pagan - Make It With You Someone shared this on IG.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Emile Mosseri - Green to You I can't remember. At this point, close personal friend.
Tess Roby - Cloud Cover Another one that people were just loving on the Canadian music internet.
Floating Points - Falaise I probably gave Floating Points another trying following last year's album with Pharoah Sanders (RIP).
Beirut - The Crossing Almost truly a close personal friend. I wonder if he'll ever capture the moment again like he did in 2006.
Blank Check: Special Features - The Spy Who Loved Me Fan of the podcast. Also a fan of David somehow saying fook instead of fawck.
Eliza Niemi - Sushi California Another hit with the Canadian music internet. I'm not typically someone who gets drawn to storytelling in lyrics, but this album is clicking for me.
Bells Larsen - Wasps (Reprise) From Exclaim's article "8 Emerging Canadian Artists You Need to Hear in September 2022"
While space allows, I’m stashing my recent mixes and annotations in a Google Drive folder, which you can visit here: The Archive
DRAISER 2022
Designed by Olea Kim
New year, New Draiser! This time the fundraising goal is $2500. It would mean a lot to me if you considered joining and donating. I’m happy to talk about the many low-impact ways you can do this! Let me know if you’d like to help, or otherwise you can donate here: tinyurl.com/Draiser2022.
Even if you’ve already donated, please consider sharing it with your friends and family.