Stitching Together by Annie Mok

(edsdeadbody.com) Brilliant and beautiful reflections upon, and biography of, Jim Henson. The artist proves both a sensitive soul in her personal revelations, exquisite renderings, and empathic rendering of a fellow artist’s life and work. An instant mini comic classic!

Lust for Glory “Save this” ep

(lust-for-glory.com) Raw, dark, swampy riff rockin’ space blues that are more glorious than most, and lustier than almost all!

Tail Dragger “Stop Lyin’”

(Delmark) Holy fuck! I’ve been seeing Taildragger gig in blues clubs and bars and fests and whatever since the 80s, and he’s been a great performer (his sets’ climaxing in a novelty song about his bald head, captured live on CD and DVD by Delmark years ago, and reprised here). But hearing his lost 1982 first recordings argues for his greatness in ways his great live performances only hint at, which is usually the other way around. That his voice was so wizened and evocative and magical thrity years ago is a wonder, that the production by Jimmy Dawkins was done before any 80s tomfoolery ruined blues production is a blessing, and that Johnny B. Moore’s guiter work is so sublime is a treat, and that this sounds more like a dream Maxwell Street performance than almost any studio recording I’ve ever heard would make this a must have…if something else didn’t! The songs were too short for a CD so they also had Tail Dragger just tell stories for fifteen of the colorful, fascinating, dangerous world of West Side blues in the 70s and 80s, his tales featuring stars, journeymen, murder, cross-dressing, and the Lord telling someone to sell drugs. His racantour skills prove as impressive as his singing. As highly recommended as I can get to recommedin’.

Lovers “A Friend in the World”

(badmanrecordingco.com) These spare, semi-electronic audio snapshots of a loving relationship are so intimate that I feel almost guilty eavesdropping…but I cant look away (with my ears!).

The Hypo by Noah Van Sciver

(Fantagraphics) Van Sciver's young, depressed, striving, brave/cowardly, ambitious, confused Abraham Lincoln offers a more three-dimensional, revealing, convincing portrait than the one in the recent Lincoln movie (and even the one in Young Mr. Lincoln with Henry Ford...and even the one in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure). The remarkably evocative art (cartooney, yet the pain on the faces is visceral and real), the storytelling technique (making the 19th Century seem vital and contemporary) and the commitment to research and the mission (so obvious by the love and commitment and blood and sweat put into this) makes this one of the most impressive comics I've read in a while. Warning: a few more hooker scenes that you may want your ten year-old looking at if you're considering giving this to them for their History Fair project research.

Big Hands by Aaron Lake Smith

(oldwaysways.com) In the tradition of Al and the other Aaron (Mr. Cometbus is actually profiled in this issue), this A-Team member takes storytelling/journal style zine making to a level of quality where this might as well be a real live book. Life, career, natural disasters, and family are all dealt with here with some sserious chops and some serious love.

Black Magic Johnson "Call Me"

(blackmagicjohnson.com) Reggie Britton's blues trio sounds like a top notch journeyman blues bar/lounge act, with one shining difference: most, if not all, of these dozen tracks are originals, even though you would believe them if they told you they were all blues standards. The epic "Love So Cold" is ten mighty minutes of "damn it's bluesy in here," "Crazy About You Baby" sounds like a genuine old time blues immortal, "She's Got Everything" is a groovy instant classic, and the sad and soulful title track makes you wish that damn woman would call his ass already! Call him!

The Future Primitives "Songs We Taught Ourselves"

(Casbah) Anyone -- even a mysterious South African garage rock trio -- can go out and cover Link Wray, the Mummies, the Haunted, Beefheart and Thee Milkshakes.  But to do so (and nail it) while sounding like a menacing 1963 Pacific Northwest  all-vampire band that practices under the garage...that's something special!

Fred Roth Revue "Frednotamused"

(ana-them) Freddie's dead pan! Low powered Power Pop that more poof than pops, making it Power Poof. Which is a nice change of power.

Late-Era Clash 24, 25

(Pegacorn Press) Mike Taylor’s beautifully disturbing comics are beautiful and disturbing. While his collage/sketchbook/jam pages that are scattered in the book (and on the cover) take the psychedelic chestnut of the Underground Comix era and add grit, pathos, and humanity to that tradition of drugged-out doodles, it’s the narratives that shine. It’s a discomforting pleasure to experience Taylor’s off-center characters communicate in strange, offsetting ways that challenge the concept of communication (his inky renderings perfectly matching their splotchy inner-workings), and his reflections on art, industry, and selling out make your brain twitch in the right ways.