in 1971, Third Eye Inc, a New York City-based poster company, released a series of Marvel Comics black light posters using art from Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, and John Romita among others. 24 of these designs were made as day-glo silk screened posters on heavy paper stock, and sold around the country (Third Eye also released a series of Marvel greeting cards as well). i can only imagine how many teenage brains warped in their fogged out bedrooms to these posters back in the day.
"Tabula Rasa (a clean slate)" is a 4-page graphic short story based on a dream i had a few years ago, just as my inevitable mid-life crisis was kicking in. it was cathartic working on it over the years, chipping away whenever there was time. i felt the story became a sort of metaphor/riddle that my brain concocted, and seemed to challenge me to do something productive with. i suspected that once the story was finished, and if i could get it to look just how i imagined, than it might signify the end of the crisis. and it did.
Al Lover has been a Head Medicine favorite for a while now. his deep, psyched out trip hop is the very finest out there, and his entire catalog is well worth a look. but i find myself gravitating to Brown Acid Redux, a live set from SXSW 2014. over the course of an hour, Al Lover shows off his impeccable taste and one of the deepest crates of any dj out there. he sets the scene with a filthy, unending sex groove and weaves in a tapestry of some of the greatest sounds from around the world... Portishead, Turkish psych master Baris Manco, Butthole Surfers, Tricky, Bollywood legends Kalyanji and Anamdji, Morgan Delt... the list goes on and on... and it is a flawless mix. perfect for a night alone in the womb of your headphones or in a room full of people grinding with their eyes rolled back in their skull. take yer pick.
In 1953, Erich Pabel Verlag first published his science fiction magazine UtopiaZukunftsromane (Utopia Science Fiction) in West Germany. The series ran for fifteen years and produced nearly 600 volumes, and inspired the equally influential West German sci-fi mag Terra. I have not been able to find any information on the anonymous artists who created the many amazing covers, but their work easily stands up next to the best of the American pulp magazine sci-fi artists from that time. here is a small sample of their work, with a nearly complete collection of the Utopia covers on Micky The Pixel's Flickr HERE.
Here's a cool video of the legendary Frank Kozik taking us on a tour of his studio and giving a glimpse into his methodology. Kozik is one of thee most successful artistic iconoclasts out there, so if that's where you wanna be too, you would be wise to take a look and heed his advice.
A collection of interesting reads for your pleasure
Transcending the Blues: An Interview with Legendary Producer Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois is a classic musician and producer, helping create and capture sounds with legends like Bob Dylan, U2, Brian Eno and many, many more. Even now, he is a creatively restless spirit, constantly pushing his personal artistic boundaries. Autre recently published a fascinating interview with Lanois, discussing his past, present, and future. read it HERE
The Trumpler 14 Star Cluster
Photographed by the Hubble Telescope
"This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the star cluster
Trumpler 14. One of the largest gatherings of hot, massive and bright
stars in the Milky Way, this cluster houses some of the most luminous
stars in our entire galaxy." read the entire piece at Spacetelescope.org HERE
An Insanely Comprehensive List of 260 Pop Culture Oral Histories
thanks to Thrillist for putting this truly insane list together. movies like Airplane!, Boogie Nights, Dazed and Confused... music with Elliot Smith, Blondie, the Beastie Boys, Soundgarden's Superunknown... tons of tv shows... plenty of reading material for you to dig through HERE.
a new installment of Head Medicine Weekly every Friday.
In Search of Steve Ditko is a 2007 BBC documentary following Jonathan Ross on his attempt to track down the elusive comic book titan, best known as the co-creator of Spiderman. along the way, Ross sits down with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee and more to discuss the man and his classic work.
