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Monday, December 10, 2007
Don't you remember you told me you loved Jeffrey Morgan's Slush Pile #3 baby!

Markisan Naso - Darwyn Cooke: The Comics Journal Interview (Fantagraphics) :: "Superstar" is an appellation that gets bandied around so much these days that even Andy Warhol would blanch at its misuse. But Darwyn Cooke fits the bill, and this profusely illustrated cover story in issue 285 of The Comics Journal will tell you all you need to know about who he is and how he came to be.

Darwyn Cooke - Batman: Ego And Other Tales (DC Comics) :: Meanwhile, this new hardcover collection of early work is a good starting point to find out why Cooke's so hot right now. Then graduate up to his truly epochal The New Frontier and watch in awe as Cooke coolly retrofits DC's entire superhero history into hep hyperdrive.

Stuporhero -Last Star Shining (Basement Tape) :: This here fellow 'n' femme dynamic duo serve up a polished puree of pure pop simplicity with a side order of hard rock dexterity that merges mello Portishead and aggro Eurythmics. Bonus points for having the greatest drummer since Moulty Tucker.

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover (Jagjaguwar) :: Hello soldier boy, oh boy, they're spewing out their own quirky Euro glam version of Sparks. So come on-a their house for a ribald rubdown that'll make you get in the schwing, boy, with everybody and everything. I mean, they ain't got a song called "Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns" for nuthin' bub.

Cipes And The People - Conscious Revolution (RG2) :: An opening Kraftwerk "Elektrisches Roulette" riff quickly shifts into a routine reggae mode that's sufficiently sincere but not nearly as interesting as if they'd kept the electronic blips 'n' blorps percolating in the background. Next time, think inside the Bloc.

Mason Casey - Sofa King Badass (Northern Blues) :: Sofa, so good, so what?

Castanets - In The Vines (Asthmatic Kitty) :: "Sounded Like A Train, Wasn't A Train" is a great title and the song itself sounds like Music For Airports with a ponderous drone vocal. The rest of the album has an ominous delayed flight patina.

Girl Nobody - Balaclava Casino Heist (Jericho Beach Music) :: Album title of the year and, even better, they live up to it with a dissipated disc chock full o'tangy twangy female pout that's as hypnotic as a heroin Holiday and twice as addictive.

Mem Shannon - Live: A Night At Tipitina's (Northern Blues) :: Competently crafted blooze from New Orleans that touches the usual funk-rock bases, but it's nothing to float home about.

Coalesce - There Is Nothing New Under The Sun (Hyrda Head) :: Finally, a screamo album consisting almost entirely of all Led Zeppelin covers that's heavier than anything Jimmy Page ever conjured up in his dampest Crowley wet dream. Bonus points for having the good taste to include "Out On The Tiles." And did I mention that they also cover Black Sabbath as well? Baby, I ain't foolin'.

WANT MORE? READ "JEFFREY MORGAN'S MEDIA BLACKOUT" EVERY WEEK IN METRO TIMES DETROIT!