This is funny and all, but if Marvel is able to turn Squirrel Girl into a legitimately great comic, then nothing is too silly.

I dropped it early on because it spent too much time with Earth 2 characters and not enough fulfilling the promise of building the relationship between the New 52 versions. Which is still true I guess of this current run.

I think the smaller trade paperbacks are out of print unfortunately. Maybe Comixology? Or try second hand.

You must not be too tired, because that makes a lot of sense. Everything is stuck at one of those two extremes: hipsterism or poptimism. With no room in between for unaffected appreciation. Also I think the validation is more nakedly driven by commercial interests these days, viz the need to accrue clicks by covering…

It IS often clumsily written. But Claremont's X-Men is best approached with a touch of historical perspective. What was remarkable about his run (and I'm speaking second hand here, from people who read it when it was coming out) is its innovations: the 'soap opera' feel of the relationships, the long term set ups and…

That song you posted actually sounds good. However,
"noise over nuance, aggression over art, intensity over imagination."
Just once I'd like to see a modern rock band reverse these dichotomies, just for a change.

I stopped getting all the Secret Wars tie-ins. Once the 'All New, All Different' solicits came out, I realised that nothing that happens during the event to the minor characters will affect the books coming after it, and none of the tie-ins really grabbed me in-and-of themselves.

If you dig Crisis, then try Perez & Wolfman's New Teen Titans. After Claremont's X-Men, it's probably the best team book ever.

Emma Rios you say? I'll have to check this out.

You're right actually. I was misremembering that 'James Taylor Marked For Death' essay. It's been a while since I read his stuff though. I flicked through it just then and I think my point still stands: he talks a lot about his experiences of going to concerts and the culture around the music, but often very little…

"The same synth sound appears on nearly every song here, meaning the album lacks the variety that made Lonerism so intriguing. No individual song could really qualify as “bad,” but after a while, things can’t help but feel a tad predictable."

It's a charming and enjoyable movie that suffers from a lack of energy (maybe due to them trying this new filming technique) and miscasting. Law is a good actor, but he's wrong for this character. Sky Captain is supposed to be a charming rogue in the American 'two-fisted tales' tradition, but Law comes off more like a…

What he seems to have popularised, is the idea that rock critics have to take an absurdly overemotional hyperbolic 'stand' against what they see as the banal taste of the average rock listener.
Like, that's it's not possible for a person to enjoy both The Stooges and James Taylor; as though people don't listen to…

Yeah, but sometime around the turn of the millennium, it codified into genre. The confessional mode of folk, the fractured feel of lo-fi neo-psychedelia, the cut-and-paste production of Beck, and the off-hand-into-a-shriek vocals of emo. There's a lineage that extends from Pavement, through Neutral Milk Hotel and The…

I agree. TBH, it's hard to reconcile this sometimes. One discriminating factor is that with Motown you still had the tactile feel of live musicians and uncorrected singing. You can still feel the talent and hard work of the performers come through. Modern pop production seems intent on eliminating all 'human' elements…

I think that's why there's so much discussion of pop music on the net. It's easier to discuss the context than the music itself. Just like a deep analysis of films requires some understanding of filmmaking process and technique, appreciation of music requires thinking beyond emotional attachments.

My problem is not that the coverage is too 'mainstream', it's that it's pandering to a very narrow definition of what the mainstream is.

Well this doesn't sound completely insufferable at all.

I think social media has changed things a lot. i imagine if I belonged to a Facebook group or followed a YouTube channel devoted to my favourite genres i'd find like minded people, but since Disqus is my only outlet for online discussion, I've limited choices.

Oh, I agree with you in principle. I have tried reading that site before and found it impenetrable.