Twelve More Wrappers!

A whole bunch of the 'lost' gum wrappers I had on my laptop, including several of my favorites:

"The Tree"

Probably my favorite colored-pencil design,
and the one I spent the most time coloring.

"Mislabel Original"
An exact copy of a fox design I had in
my little notebook. This is my favorite
of my designs to sketch.

"Mislabel - clean"
What the name says.

"Mislabel - 1"
This is the first of the truly mislabels -
I still really like the idea.

"Mislabel - 2"
I prefer both the lettering and the fox
in this one over the "Mislabel - 1"

"Lighthouse"
The first design I colored in. Also, a very rough
and early example of the wave-pattern I use for
other, non-gum wrapper seascapes.

"Telephone"
My family has a rotary phone like this set up
in our sitting room, that I use whenever I'm there.

"Piggy"
So, it turns out that the cinnamon Orbit gum
stains the wrapper pink, letting you only draw
pink things on it. Hence, a pig.

"Hands Recursion"
Based on a sketch I did in physics several years ago.
It looked a bit cooler when I was actually drawing it,
what with the 3rd hand and all.

"Lava Lamp"
I like the shading on the wax. No other comments.

"Jimmy the St. Pat's Eggplant"
I wanted to draw an eggplant, and I wanted
to try and draw a vest. Together, they're better.

"Gamboy Original"
I think this was the 3rd sketch I did on
gum wrappers. I also still have my Gamboy,
in working condition!

MORE GUM WRAPPERS!

WOW. I completely forgot to get these gum wrappers correctly saved on my computer. I was wondering why it seemed like I had missed a few in my earlier posts ... Anyway, here's about 1/2 of the "missing" gum wrappers, I'll put the other ones up Monday sometime.

"Emoticon-Man"
This one makes me :D

"ZOMBIES!"
I only regret not adding more green to the skin.

"The Brain"
Based off a sketch in my anatomy notebook.

"Control Board"
Little sketch of the KMNR control board

"Mini - rough"
This was a practice sketch for another drawing
that I never actually got started on.

"Desktop"
I drew the book, felt really good about it,
and then quickly added the background to flesh
it out a bit more.

"Lexography - 1"
Turns out 'Lexographic' isn't a word, it's a portmanteau
that the author of the book I read it in had made up. Damn.

"Lexography - 2"
I like the first one more.

"The Dancers"
Other people have told me they really like this one,
but I spent so much time on it that I just see
all the bits I think I could do better.

"The Sprite"
I have no explination.

Set list, 2.12.2010

Here's the set list for my show, "The Culmination of All Things" on 89.7FM KMNR-Rolla today, 1-3PM central time:

MUSIC REVIEW - Galactic

Galactic – Ya-Ka-May

I have long been a huge fan of the New Orleans’ style of brass-band and organic funk. From The Dirty Dozen and Rebirth Brass Bands, to Dr. John and Allen Toussaint, the New Orleans style of funk, jazz, and loud brass are things I just can’t get enough of, especially the music produced in the last few decades.

Starting in the 1980’s it became popular to mix R&B into the mix – Galactic emerged in 1996 as a band devoted to furthering and refining this infusion to the greatest extent they could. Their early albums were soulful N.O. jazz, and were very well received as such. But with their last album, From the Corner to the Block, they collaborated more with hip-hop artists, creating a brassy, bassy rap album.

With their new album, Ya-Ka-May, Galactic seems to have taken a bit of time to try and reconcile their New Orleans funk roots with their recent forays into electronic and rap. The first couple songs on the album are EXACTLY what you would expect from a renowned brass and funk artist, helped by a collaboration with Rebirth Brass Band. ‘Cineramascope’ (ft. Trombone Shorty & Corey Henry), and several other tracks are similarly reminiscent of Galactic’s early works – except they feature a lower, meatier bass line and some evidence of digital overdubs, neither of which are a bad thing.

There are also songs that are almost explicitly rap – ‘Katey vs. Nobby’ (ft. Katey Red & Sissy Nobby) and ‘Do It Again’ (ft. Cheeky Blakk) come off as a bayou-reimagining of crunk, and they do it WELL. And then there are tracks like ‘Liquor Pang’ (ft. Josh Cohen & Scully), a slower, New Orleans-style dirge mixed with some heavy beats and raspy-vocals; it’s awesome.

Overall, Ya-Ka-May is more accepting of Galactic’s past than their last album while also expanding what they are capable of recording. It’s my new favorite Galactic record – which is truly saying something.

Will I play it on my show? Yes. RIYL – Um… Galactic? There's not much out there that's like this right now.


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Scorpicat, Smiley Robber-Baron, Snapman, Sperm Whale, Worm

I forgot I had these last 5 gum wrappers to post - which is sad, because of them 4 are some of my favorites! Thesse are the last group from the Spring of 2009. I have a few from the summer I'm still editing, and a bunch more from the Fall and now, which will be posted ... IN THE FUTURE!

I love scorpicat. And so do you.
You know you do.

Smiley robber baron makes me happy
to have had all my money scammed
in that newfangled train scandal!

KMNR's mascot. Kinda.

^My favorite. But you probably could have guessed that.

I don't know why, but I really like this worm.

MUSIC REVIEW - Jace Everett

Jace Everett – Red Revelations

Jace Everett is going to sell a fair number of his new CD based solely on the fact that the last song on his new album Red Revelations, is the theme to the popular show “True Blood”. However, people who no his previous, more country albums, will be a bit surprised by his latest effort. Produced by indie-bluesman Chuck Prophet, this album features more layering and a production-style more in line with alt-folk and indie. Which I welcome whole-heatedly, since I hate modern country.

The CD is in the recently popular style of blues that invokes the nostalgia of the old west while staying modern – think “No Country for Old Men” as an album. Red Revelations separates itself from several of the other artists currently exploring this genre (i.e. The Black Keys, The Pack A.D., or Chuck Prophet) by staying far away from the political or the dramatic, and focusing strictly on the topics of love, lust, desire, and want. It is an album centered around Everett's chase after a series of women.

Every song on the album can be assigned to one of three blues styles: Slow, lustful songs with squawking lyrics that are reminiscent of bands like Mott the Hoople; galloping blues-rock with staccato finger-picking; and deep, growling songs were Jace sings in a deep, soulful tone, then all of a sudden drops down to a level that vibrates into your chest. The latter are my favorite, being imbued with a dark foreboding that hovers around such songs – similar in to tone to songs with Johnny Cash's low rumble.

Not every song is a winner. Track 8, 'Little Black Dress', was a big, poppy letdown, especially since it was placed between two of the better songs on the album. Track 10, 'What it is', is similarly disappointing. However, there is enough on it to warrant checking out if you're into the blues that have been produced of late.

Check out tracks 1 ('Possession'), 7 ('Permanent Thing'), and, of course, 12 ('Bad Things' – the theme from “True Blood”).

Will I play it on my show? Yes. RIYL – Chuck Prophet, Dan Auerbach.

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