Blog: Berkeley Place

No text

So, I get this FreEP from Kae Sun. I'm grooving to it-it's kinda like Ziggy Marley's early stuff, reggae with a pop edge. Lots of rhythmic repetition Good head bobbing. And then I read the liner notes... This is live. This is better than most studio stuff. Outside the Barcode is a free download from Kae Sun's website , where you can also stream it. Here's the "how I made this" video.

No text

Young Empires : Think Bloc Party, but much more danceable. http://w.soundcloud.com/player /?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcl oud.com%2Ftracks%2F31145429&sh ow_artwork=true http://w.soundcloud.com/player /?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcl oud.com%2Ftracks%2F28155812&sh ow_artwork=true

No text

No text

No text

"I slept with all your mothers. I slept in bed with you. I'm slipping under cover. I gave myself to you." Fantastic chorus. Fantastic album cover. Fantastic vocals. Fantastic music. Fantastic album cover. Just fantastic. The debut EP by LA's Harriet is flawless. Get it free here . That's not advice, it's an order. Get it. If you know what's good for you. Oh, and the video for "I Slept With All Your Mothers" is hilarious.

• HarrietMusic - Tell The Right Story

No text

Coming out tomorrow from Dead Oceans is the latest from Bowerbirds . As you'd expect from this band, it's a kind, gentle, and pleasant album, rich with melodies and jingle jangle and remiscent of The Birds. Not music to work out to, but definitely music to come down by. Check out a few tracks, and the tour dates. Tuck the Darkness In In the Yard 03-17 Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle 03-21 Washington, DC – Black Cat 03-22 Philadelphia, PA – [...]

• Bowerbirds - In the Yard
• Bowerbirds - Tuck the Darkness In

No text

This isn't my average every day type GCOAT post. This one's a doozy. If you don't know, the story of The Authority started with Stormwatch and WildC.A.T.S. These were prototypical 1990s books: Big heavy muscles, big heavy storylines, action and noise. Some of the greatest creators of the times passed through it, including Jim Lee, Chris Claremont, Brandon Choi, Ron Marz, Alan Moore, Joe Casey, and Grant Morrison. But I was never a big fan of either title—until Warren Ellis arrived and completely dismantled Stormwatch, the U.N. team that oversaw super-powered threats both of Earthly and [...]

No text

All the AvX hype is a little much...But this is a great ad. Deadpool as the supervillains' bookie...

Band of Skulls don't make music or songs, they make moods. In this way, they remind me of a cross between Mazzy Star, whose music washes over you, and The Smashing Pumpkins, whose edge cuts you and makes you bleed. I've loved BoS since their first album, and they haven't missed a beat. Maybe the most interesting thing about "Sweet Sour," the band's second album, is that there are a couple songs that seem a little straightforward (at first). I'm thinking most specifically of "The Devil Takes Care Of His Own," a [...]

Today's entry in my Greatest Comics of All Time series is another Vertigo title, written by the Eisner-award-winning author of Stray Bullets and DeadpoolMAX, David Lapham. Young Liars is a challenge to read. At first, it appears fairly straightforward: A group of young, troubled twentysomethings having adventures in big city bars and nightclubs. But little bits of a mystery reveal themselves, very, very gradually. Every word in the book ultimately has meaning, as the story is told in layers and is decompressed in the extreme. If you get frustrated by "not knowing" what's going on, this is definitely [...]

Not a ton of news this time, but what there is is pretty good: New Grant Morrison and Brian Wood projects; more details on TV's The Walking Dead; and the new Stan Lee video game. But before you hit the break, peep this: THE RETURN OF TEEN TITANS GO!—THE GREATEST SUPERTOON EVER. As part of the Cartoon Network DC Block, beginning the first Saturday in March. You have to tape a Green [...]

No text

Singer-songwriter John Statz has submitted to my site before, but I haven't liked his work enough to let you all know about it. With his latest album, "Old Fashioned," he finally hit me right. The album is just what you'd expect from its title: A collection of largely acoustic love songs that would be comfortable on front porches. It's ironic that he's delivering it digitally, being that he's got songs on here that are literally about how TV is "killing us" and the entire album is about relying on simple things for simple pleasures. [...]

No text