Whitechapel - PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T09:58:32-07:00

I think Kieron's too buried in work to start this at the minute, so I will.

We've got a new series of Phonogram coming out soon. Here's the postcard we launched with at San Diego last month:

I'll let Kieron fill you in on the particulars when he has time, but here are the basics. It's a seven issue series, starting in December. It's in full colour. Each issue has a 16-18 page main story illustrated by me, with 6-8 pages of back-up stories drawn by different artists.

It's in Previews next month. IT WOULD REALLY, REALLY HELP US IF YOU PRE-ORDERED. Really. Not only do we need the sales, you may not be able to find a copy if you turn up at the store on week of release without doing so, as it might have sold the copies it had. We saw this with PG: Rue Britannia, and even more so with Suburban Glamour.

Why go for the singles instead of the trade? Well, cutting and pasting from the Phonogram Blog over here:

1) Commerce one first: We need the mini-series to sell so Jamie can eat. It’s in full colour now, so we need to raise the numbers on the issues a little. As lovers of comics ourselves, we both tend to wait for the trade when there’s no reason to do otherwise.
2) And rapidly, we’re already on art. The “reason to do otherwise” had to be making a comic where the singles are ridiculously compelling, singular objects in and of themselves. These aren’t singles as a stepping stone to a spine. These are singles like… well, a pop single. A condensed blast of everything we give a toss about.
3) I’ll admit, there’s a little bit of open perverseness to trying to make the single exciting. When the industry wisdom says one thing, turning our innovative energies towards an increasingly disrespected format is fun.
4) But even without that: Once collected the main story changes its nature. Reading a single issue gives you a single story, that can be enjoyed in the context of the other back-up stories. In other words: reading the singles puts greater attention on each stories merits as an individual story. Reading the stories in a row puts greater attention on the novelistic connections between them. Having all seven in a trade, then having more stories afterwards breaks the effect. The story, once collected, needs to end, not to change into something else.

So, to reiterate: The back-up stories and text WILL NOT be in the trade. If you want them (and you should, they are ace), please buy the singles.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:01:20-07:00

And we'll be both hanging around if anyone has any questions. Ask us about the relative merits of the Foals and the Ting Tings. I dares yous.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:04:52-07:00

I wouldn't wipe your knob on the Ting Tings.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:06:48-07:00

You are on the right side of the war, Sir.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:10:30-07:00

Prog-rock.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:11:48-07:00

Shitty pop.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:12:22-07:00

STILL BETTER.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:19:12-07:00

I will be buying the shit out of this, in multiples, as I did with the first series.

Welcome back, lovelies. I'm so pleased to see youse.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:20:35-07:00

So, Phonogram 2, ladies and gents, written by Kieron, drawn by someone who's not me...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:31:53-07:00

cannot fucking wait. one of the best minis of, what was it last year? or the year before??

whatever. as a music nerd, even a genre that i am not immersed in makes for better reading than 99.9% of stuff. especially since you can tell that it comes from a deep love of the subject matter.

plus, i actually learned from the first one!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T10:34:09-07:00

I missed Phonogram when it first came out, but did get the TPB and really enjoyed it. And then dug Suburban Glamour. So yeah, I'll be adding this to my pull list over the weekend.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T11:00:11-07:00

Loved the first series (even though I came to it late) and the backmatter was one of the main reasons I bought the singles rather than the trade.
Good luck with this, adding to pull list tomorrow

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T12:17:57-07:00

Foals over Ting Tings, anytime!

Can't wait to get my hands on the singles...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T12:18:41-07:00

I am getting the singles like last time. And I might actually get some of the reference this time around since it seems at least a little contemporary in its soundtrack.

(And I like the Ting Tings. Not brilliant or anything, but fine. It's not like they're fucking Alphabeat or something.)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T12:28:37-07:00

Fuck. Yes.

Phonogram made me dive into my dusty stacks like a hungry, hungry hippo and gave a whole new context to WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING ALL MY LIFE, namely music magic.

Too bad I have no idea who or what those, I assume bands, are... Time to find out.

Thanks, boys.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T12:31:35-07:00

I usually trade-wait but I'm tempted to pick up the singles for this.

And for the record, prog-rock is the worst thing to happen to music ever.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T12:32:22-07:00

I didn't even know about Phonogram: Rue Brittania til the trade came out, so I had no opportunity to check out the backmatter. As someone who both loves backmatter and loves Gillen and McKelvie's work, I am ALL OVER THIS.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T13:17:31-07:00

Hallelujah.

The Ting Tings are what would happen if the movie Juno were a band, only Michael Cera's character had been replaced with a mute, pants on head mouth breather.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T13:22:38-07:00

Great news!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T13:22:51-07:00

The Ting Tings are what would happen if the movie Juno were a band, only Michael Cera's character had been replaced with a mute, pants on head mouth breather.

i saw them on conan obrien and had no idea they were a band that people knew about. then again,im behind on pop music MOST of the time. i just heard this "katy perry" nonsense the other day for the first time. goddamn shes adorably sexy, but ugggggggh someone shut her up.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T13:30:55-07:00

I want to punch Katy Perry in the neck. Repeatedly. With something topographically interesting wrapped around my fist.

Er.

Phonogram! Is wonderful! I have the first series in singles, but need to break down and buy the trade so I have a lending copy (just in time to catch people up for the new stories). I'm curious to see how it does in color--very exciting for you guys, I'm sure, but I did love the low-fi b&w of the first set. McKelvie's artwork handles the pop-austere sensibility really well.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T16:42:42-07:00

Woo! There's a wet spot on the couch where I was sitting!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T16:58:55-07:00

I wouldn't wipe your knob on the Ting Tings.

i've decided to enslave my entire island and force the inhabitants to build giant shrines made out of cigarettes and dog carcasses dedicated to you.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T17:02:21-07:00

oh, i would like to put it out there that i included sigil magic on one of the records i designed, on the b-side label, as sort of a tribute to morrison and phonogram.

if you ever happen to come across a copy of the PHOENIX THRASH DETONATION 7" comp on 625, its there- one on each side of the hanged man art on the b.

it was inspired by grants part in the book of lies as well as the scene in PG where old seven inches are being burned for tracking purposes (i think, i havent flipped through phonogram in a while)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T20:35:54-07:00

Seth Bingo looks nothing like Kieron.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T20:37:36-07:00

@Jo (and joe.distort)--

I want to punch Katy Perry in the neck.

I'm part of the contingent that wants Jill Sobule to punch Katy Perry in the neck.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T21:13:08-07:00

Very excited about this one. Can't wait to get my paws on it.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T22:32:45-07:00

you know, had I not read this and discovered you want/need people to buy the issues, I would have waited for the trade, but I'll add it to my pull list and get the issues. It's in next month's previews or the one that's already out? My catalogue is at work, because I do my ordering on the clock.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-07T22:58:33-07:00

@buzzorhowl:

YES. She gets first shot, no doubt.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-08T03:03:19-07:00

*Preorders furiously.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-08T04:06:53-07:00

Bring it on, boys! ^_^

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-08T18:33:50-07:00

Jeremeyes - Next month's.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-08T19:52:10-07:00

Awesome, I've already started spreading the word. I'm always trying to decide to wait for trades or just buy the issues, trying to both support the artists/writers while carefully walking the poverty line. It's nice when you get a definitive answer from someone you really respect and enjoy.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T02:12:06-07:00

i was looking forward to this, but i like the ting tings, so now i won't be getting this. i won't even be looking in it's general direction ever ever ever again. you so totally just lost a reader. no matter how awesome the first phonogram was, and how much more awesome this looks. THE TING TINGS ARE THAT GOOD.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T05:46:25-07:00

...you do realise Kieron loves them yes? He's just as wrong as you are.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T06:27:35-07:00

ah, in that case i'll only read his words and completely ignore your art, no matter how sassy and tempting it may be. i might even invest in a bunch of black markers to completely block out everything except the text. it's the only sane defense i can come up with for the ting tings.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T06:34:45-07:00

As long as you buy the book. :D

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T07:13:05-07:00

...is this the point where i scurry back into the shadows muttering 'curses' under my breath?

okay, you has the sale. on a less insane note, this is one book i've been looking forward to, and in no way am i going to miss the single issues like what i did with the first series. i shall now quit hijacking this thread.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T09:41:07-07:00

You might also want to hound your local comic shop into making sure they preordered every issue too. People that are used to popping the same numbers into the same boxes tend to forget. Make sure they know missing these sorts of books will cost them your business.

I missed the last two issues of Subrban Glamour even with preordering, just because the guy was too lazy to be bothered or something. So I took my money elsewhere.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T10:31:29-07:00

I love love love Phonogram: Rue Britannia. Not only would I be buying this in singles, but I'll doing my part to make sure every music and comic fan I know picks up volume one before The Singles Club hits the stands.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T15:43:14-07:00

This looks like another pile of money i shall be throwing your way. Not only will i be buying the singles (and arguing with my local comic shop owner about them) but i`ll be getting extras to wave under my friends noses and shout "READ THIS"
Sometimes it even works.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T17:09:37-07:00

Can't wait for this.

Can't wait.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T21:20:24-07:00

Who are all these whey-faced pop bands and singers? I demand someone tell me...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-09T23:33:49-07:00

I like the Ting Tings I think. I saw one of their songs on TV a few weeks back in the early morning, and I meant to go find more.

Hooray Phonogram!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-10T09:43:49-07:00

@Jamie McKelvie: Hey, I enjoyed things about Phonogram although I am kinda left out on the whole thing though because I'm not a brit pop master of any kind nor do I listen to much of it (I found myself constantly having to sample the referenced bands on iTunes).

I did enjoy the fact that Wu-Tang got a mention though. The fact that vinyl is more of a key to hip-hop than any other modern genre deserves exploration. (DJs, scratching, and sampling easily feels like it could be a key to unheard of phonomancy.)

I'm digging your very selective tap into anime/manga (2nd panel, 3rd row and the kawai character really pop.)

My Question: I commend the fact that the trade will exempt elements of the floppies but it seems less effective at making money...like a Blu-Ray with less special features then the last DVD release. Then again you guys are actually in the business so I'm probably just ignorant to what does or doesn't sell.

From my perspective trades bring comics closer to the mainstream for a variety of reasons and are the primary means I have of enjoying a book (and that goes for everyone I know). I bought the Phonogram trade because the floppies are impossible to find and I'm more likely to buy a trade if its thicker.

What am I missing here?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-10T10:54:28-07:00

I'm going to write some more about the series later, after I've finished this review-thing I'm writing. In passing...

Walker James: Well, DVD/BluRay or - I think more accurately - TV-show-episode/DVD collection isn't the only model to look for inspiration. We've looked as much at Single or EP/Album for inspiration. In our case, we turn the singles and the trades into fundamentally different experiences. We'll almost certainly be including some of the more traditional back-of-trade material in the collection - the making of, character sketches, etc - which won't be in the singles. As well as trying to make the singles interesting to people, we're also trying to keep the trade as an attractive, singular object too - as we're aware there's a proportion of our readers who buy both, and we'd like to make it fun for them too.

Economics wise, it's a an odd one. In short, while long-term we'll almost certainly make more money on the trades, to get to the trades, the singles have to sell enough to avoid being canceled. Phonogram sold reasonably enough, but since the second series in colour, we need it to sell more. I suspect we'll get higher orders anyway from the switch due to the fact some people only ever order colour and the general increase in reputation - Suburban Glamour's orders were higher than Phonogram's. But we need to make sure. If we get canceled before we get to the trade, it'll be heartbreaking.

So, as people who rarely buy singles unless there's a good reason why, we were thinking of ways to make one which we would buy. In fact, we couldn't help ourselves. And we came up with this.

However, it's really not a case of the trade being a lesser thing - it's a different thing, conceived with a different purpose. Read individually in the singles, each story's individual character is paramount. The second you put them in a row, the more novelistic collective experience moves to the fore. Reading them all will give a different experience to reading any single - however, if we /did/ include all the backmatter in the end of the trade, we'd undermine that novelistic effect. We'll turn what is meant to work as a coherent statement back into an anthology. People wouldn't dwell on the 7 stories as a collective thing, but just turn the page and move onto a little 2-page thing which would disrupt everything - as that story almost certainly had a different set of ideas in mind than the main body of THE SINGLES CLUB.

(In the same way, there's many great albums which aren't served well when they're repackaged with a few extra demo tracks stuck on the end - as the album is meant to stop, and was beautifully created as a 30-60 minute *thing*.)

Equally, I suspect most people who bought the trade won't even be aware that the singles were anything different. This is very much aimed at the sort of people who *do* at least keep one eye on the singles. We really need them.

(And, years down the line, we'll probably do a B-sides and rareities thing. Like, 4 years down the line, in all probability, assuming we get that far)

Basically, it's a case of us looking at what's necessary to Do This Thing and to try and turn it into the most satisfying piece of art we can.

(God, I said the "A" word. Sorry! There'll be gags too.)

There's also a tiny Wu-tang reference in the second series. I should do more.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-10T11:41:46-07:00

In short, while long-term we'll almost certainly make more money on the trades, to get to the trades, the singles have to sell enough to avoid being canceled. Phonogram sold reasonably enough, but since the second series in colour, we need it to sell more.

Ah, now it makes sense. I hadn't taken the grim possibility of cancellation into account. At second thought the DVD/Blu-ray thing barely relates. I imagine they sell stuff like Terminator 2: Judgement Day on BD without a single special feature because they know that there are two groups that currently buy Blu-rays: film buffs (less common) and rich people (more common). A rich person wont mind buying the movie again as a fully loaded BD so they can make more money in the long run.

(God, I said the "A" word. Sorry! There'll be gags too.)

Don't apologize...I even see video games as art (the move to 3-D was like when talkies came out so games just aren't appreciated yet.)

I actually do appreciate floppies as a mode of art more than trades that feel more like entertainment. The different paperstocks between series are a huge key to that (the gloss and feel of Suburban Glamour is very unique). The more content dedicated and less advertisement like covers also key into that (I preferred getting the singles to Phonogram because the covers were so interesting). This is the main reason a floppy is higher art to me: so much as an unsharp edge on a floppy makes me so upset that I can almost never enjoy it again. A damaged old trade is still potentially enjoyable.

Your comments show that you're more inspired by music than I could have imagined. You even referred to a trade as a B-side! Music has only inspired the mood of my creations and the fact that it influences your content and publishing is very amusing.

; )

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-12T03:09:54-07:00

Sounds intriguing - which, honestly, is the most important thing. I already know the art and story will be bang-on.

Certainly, you brought back some bloody HORRID memories with some of the musical references in Phonogram: R.B - but I'm a big-hearted bloke and forgive you (even for reminding me of Shampoo's existence).

I'll be doing the pre-order fandango, fear not.

Just, don't make me rue it, eh?
(Seriously. Shampoo. I hate you with the sting of a thousand bad-tempered scorpions on a beerless day. I had purged them from my synapses until you came along, you sods. See? I'm reduced to using itallics for emphasis!)

But yes. Pre-ordering. Done deal.

Benedictions!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-12T04:16:31-07:00

James O'Dwyer: I would never hurt you again.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-14T17:49:56-07:00

Ooh, I'd almost forgotten to pre-order. Comics shop will be getting a call tomorry-like.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-14T21:39:09-07:00

Kieron, you are an evil man; and I hope your pillow is urinated upon by malodorous hedgehogs :D

That being said, I look forward to the comic.

Benedictions!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-14T22:08:24-07:00

Aaaaah! Music to my ears...

What else can I say?

i.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-15T03:39:25-07:00

Firstly, Foals/ Ting Tings. You're both wrong, they're both awful. But Foals are more awful.

Secondly, stroke of genius getting David LaFuente on one of the back-ups. He's going to be huuuuge.

Lastly, I shall be bugging people at work to try and make sure that we order more overstock on the singles than last time.
Kieron, expect a mail from me, I need to pick your musical brains...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-15T06:16:22-07:00

Chris: Agree entirely on LaFuente. He's going to be enormous. And he's annoyingly nice too, unlike McK and I who are dipshits.

Will look forward to your mail. Do not take my advice on music, ever.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-18T11:51:00-07:00

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-18T19:21:25-07:00

I'll be there before 11pm. :D

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-19T02:41:07-07:00

anyone ever tells you they don't like the pipettes, they're lying. mckelvie, you just won teh internets with that image!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-31T06:05:34-07:00

@Kieron: Yeah Lafuente is going to be ridiculously huge. He's got that kind of style and imagination, that I'd read probably any book he draws. And his eye for fashion is fantastic. A lot of artists just draw boring clothes for their characters. But Lafuente draws stuff I'd wear. McKelvie has a similar sense of cool.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-31T12:38:43-07:00

McKelvie has a similar sense of cool.

NO NO NO DON'T TELL HIM THAT

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-31T15:19:32-07:00

It just means Jamie spends a lot of time staring at girls and can accurately copy what they like wearing, as opposed to most comic artists who don't dare to stare, and silently copy pictures of whoever those two women are in that American kids comic everyone talks about all the time in American comics that no-one has ever read in the UK.

Er... Merc: Can't let anything go to his head. I'm going to go around to his house and bully him. He lives round my neck of the woods.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-08-31T16:01:46-07:00

It just means Jamie spends a lot of time staring at girls

Scandalous lies!

as opposed to most comic artists who don't dare to stare, and silently copy pictures of whoever those two women are in that American kids comic

Or: porn.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-02T14:24:12-07:00

Is it true I have to be punched in the nethers for owning a Kula Shaker cd?
What would balance the equation?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-02T14:45:54-07:00

Is it true I have to be punched in the nethers for owning a Kula Shaker cd?

Yes.

What would balance the equation?

Punching yourself in the nethers.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-02T14:47:28-07:00

*golf clap*

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-02T15:03:39-07:00

I smell a Kula Shaker collaborator.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-02T17:17:33-07:00

I'm prepared to accept that most everything I like is lame.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-03T03:57:04-07:00

Note for Posterity (I.e, I'm sitting on my posterior making notes) :

Reading the Phonogram: RB comic while listening to the phonogram last.fm station really works.
Especially when, through sheer coincidence, a song matches up with its reference in the book.

Thus far, Echobelly's 'Great Things' and Kula Shakers have reared their heads at the appropriate times.
I had to go to my own playlist for 'Common People'.

Down to business though, guv'nor - is the comic available for preorder yet?

My local sayed me nay this very day, and I was most put out.
Were they accurate, or merely fobbing me off like the kind of lazy prat I secretly suspect I may have been dealing with?

Benedictions

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-03T09:00:58-07:00

Nicofopolous: It's okay. Some of my best friends have Kula Shaker CDs. Well... people who used to be my best friends, anyway. I don't see them often any more.

To be fair, no-one sees them often any more. And they don't see sunlight.

Where was I?

James: No, it's not actually available to pre-order properly yet. It'll be in the next Previews, so it'll be able to have the number. However, it's never a bad idea to express your interest to your local comic shop in advance. At the least, it makes them aware there's a comic coming up that there's demand for.

(i.e. EVERYONE BULLY YOUR SHOP CONSTANTLY*)

KG

*If politely.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-03T10:34:43-07:00

Currently a Pandora user, any bands I should base a station on to learn what it is to be cool?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-03T10:39:08-07:00

The Ting Tings? Seriously?

(Don't worry, I won't hold it against you and still send you my money.)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-22T12:57:51-07:00

New interview with Kieron and Jamie. As if you lot didn't already know.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-22T13:14:23-07:00

@nicofopolous

I own K. Hell, it's the Asian pressing that has their cover of Hush as a bonus track. You are not alone.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-22T13:54:19-07:00

Have signed up for tithing at newly adopted LCS. Have also bought two copies of the trade for round one, because evidently I want to keep you all in bonbons, or something.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-23T08:14:32-07:00

We are also a big fan of Humbug. We salute you, Jo

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-26T16:25:04-07:00

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-26T16:51:56-07:00

To add onto the complains about The Ting Tings: they're on fucking in-store-play for Barnes and Nobles nationwide!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-27T01:25:16-07:00

Holy shite, that cover is awesome. The colours alone are brilliant.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-09-29T16:23:55-07:00

Can't wait for PG2! The first was stunning in so many ways. Hurry up December!

Oh and to add to the Ting Tings debate, my Girlfriend thinks they sound like a dreadful band called Shampoo, that put me off for life!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-01T06:03:12-07:00

See? SEE?

'Tis not just I who would have the band Shampoo afflicted with rabid wombats.
Let this testimonial stand for all time!

That being said, on the sugary all-is-nice side, my pre-order is made, plus a standing order for all the singles as they come out, and I patiently await their shiny arrival.

But yes ~ rabid wombats... the beserker troops of our inevitable wombat overlords. Shampoo deserve 'em say I.

Benedictions!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-02T17:52:26-07:00

Click the image below to read the first five pages of PG: The Singles Club, along with seven pages from our guest back-up artists.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-03T04:52:32-07:00

Oh, and I'll be at Birmingham Comics Show this weekend, so please come along and say hi if you're around.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-03T06:19:06-07:00

Looks awesome, as per usual.

...I should just stay out of this thread. The fangirling is becoming embarrassing.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-16T01:29:41-07:00

I went to Birmingham, and Jamie's table seemed to be staffed by a skinny eight-year old wielding a potato peeler angrily at people.

Or maybe it was the combination of 'flu remedy and hangover.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-16T02:20:11-07:00

Shampoo were fucking awesome.

I'll fight anyone that says otherwise.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-29T06:23:26-07:00

Here's issue 3's cover.

Hurrah for comics!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-10-29T07:19:01-07:00

Since I didn't say anything in twitter, that cover is great! :)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-11-01T21:11:11-07:00

Still looking forward to its release.
The covers are a nice way to keep the old interest piqued, though.

Benedictions!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-11-06T10:59:39-08:00

Warren says we're lovely. We would like to take this moment to reject the rumours that we've kidnapped Lili and will only feed her if he's nice to us.

KG

******

bad signal
ME

I just read the abovenamed comic, by Kieron Gillen
and Jamie McKelvie. It comes out on or around
December 10. Make a note. Here, I'm even linking
you the cover:

http://www.phonogramcomic.com/blog/?p=97

Save up your local equivalent of three dollars fifty.
Because if you don't go out and buy this on or
around December 10, you essentially fail at comics.
I've just read this thing and I've got an ache in my
chest and I'm looking for something to hit because
the bastard Gillen has outwritten me. Also, McKelvie
has turned in the art job of his career. This comic
makes them both Premier Division.

-- W

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-11-06T15:26:09-08:00

And to think Jamie did that while playing that much Guitar Hero during issue 1....

Looks bloody awesome.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-11-06T19:41:39-08:00

Any possibility that the covers from both volumes will ever be collected into a HC or similar deal?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-11-07T00:52:57-08:00

Ananzitusq: I'd guess anything would be possible, but it's not something we've even considered.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-02T04:30:21-08:00

BIFF!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-02T06:30:43-08:00

Dear Mssrs McKelvie and Gillen,

You're (both) the ginchiest. (Or, that looks and reads f*cking gorgeous.)

-n/e

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-02T07:15:28-08:00

...and now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head for the rest of my natural life. THANKS, FUCKERS.

But seriously, it's gorgeous and I wants it. If it appears on the 10th, it'll be the best totally unintentional birthday present ever.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-02T07:25:54-08:00

how weird is it that I was just thinking "when the fuck does the new Phonogram series launch" on my drive in to work this morning and then, voila... here's the happy news it's supposed be out on the 10th.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-02T08:20:37-08:00

um. it's *dEUS*

Other than that :)

Unlike the original I *will* be getting this in floppies.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-02T11:44:52-08:00

i don't know anything about cool music, but the girl on that last piece of art is cute (i have a thing for girls like that). and i shall support yous guys single issues. It's all about the monthlies!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-06T01:46:13-08:00

It's coming out this week. Woo!

Er... quick thing. If you haven't actually reserved or pre-ordered a copy of 2.1, you may want to give your shop a call and ask them to keep a copy for you. Pre-orders were less than we were hoping - not terrible or anything, but about the same of the first issue last series. And since the first issue sold out and went through a second printing, we've shifted over 10K trades, it's in colour and we've done so much to make the singles be a totally unique thing this time around, that's a bit of a disappointment. C'est la vie.

Your shop should be able to order more at least initially - we over-printed a lot - but I suspect what there is out there will sell out quickly. So well worth bagsying one.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-06T03:24:11-08:00

Pre-ordered and eagerly looking forward to picking it up, guys.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-10T14:54:21-08:00

And, it's out in North America and - in 12 scant hours - in the UK. Anyone read it?

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-10T15:31:00-08:00

Yes. The opening story was good, but "She Who Bleeds for Your Entertainment" was genius. The art throughout was great -- Mr. McKelvie has made big improvements (to go from very good to excellent) and the addition of Wilson was choice.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-10T16:42:03-08:00

I agree with McLean, Indie Dave is always a welcome face anyway.

but "Murder On The Dancefloor" was awesome. Besides the fact Marc is a great artist, I thought it really captured what Phonogram is all about.

I'm really excited for that issue based on "Atlantis to Interzone"

great work guys, here's hoping it makes you rich beyond all dreams so you can do more volumes

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T01:40:07-08:00

McLean: I thought She Who Bleeds turned out okay too. Was a fun one, because it was a collaboration with Laurenn - as I say in the back matter, THE WORD was hers, and I just riffed off it randomly. And Wilson's a revelation. What he does to the final four pages is... well, fuck yeah, y'know?

Ananzitusq: Sadly, even in our dreams, we're very poor. So it's not exactly hard.

Oh - there's another three B-sides featuring Indie Dave, including one next issue, so you're sorted for all your not-going-out needs.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T02:14:24-08:00

Read it, loved it, but had The Power of Love stuck in my damn head for HOURS after...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T03:18:08-08:00

@Kieron: This is just a random behind the scene's question, but what's the writing process on PHONOGRAM like for you?

Also, Lloyd resembles a Jonas Brother.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T06:51:59-08:00

AdamK: Imagine what it's like writing Phonogram. Finding yourself listening to A-ha on repeat for hours.

Ananzitusq: what's the writing process on PHONOGRAM like for you?

Well, drinking and crying mostly. I'm actually writing some Directors Notes on some pages in Issue 1 for Broken Frontier right now, which may answer some of it but what do you actually want to know?

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T12:21:55-08:00

Well, I'm curious as to how much you plan ahead per issue in so much as do you have the whole story in your head or is there a lot of "play as you go" type improv?

You list what you were listening to while writing the issue, and of course without music there would be no Phonogram, but how much direct influence does the music have? Have you ever made drastic alterations to a script or story idea because of what popped into your head while a song was on?

gosh, that was a lot of questions, I feel like I'm a pip from NME or something.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T14:03:40-08:00

If Only I didn't have such a crushing work load I would go out a request LCS get them immediately if they didn't have them already. Damn philosophy degree.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-11T18:57:52-08:00

I got it! I made sure my friend got it! I can't wait for the next one.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T05:27:55-08:00

Ananzitusq: I vary my method depending on what I'm actually doing, really. In the case of the Singles Club, with its sort-of fractal structure, it involved a fair bit of planning. However, I didn't nail things down completely before starting - there's these big cross-over links between the stories, which are the landmarks. The main structural thing for timing most of the issues is Penny's dance at the end of the issue - the majority of the cast are there, watching her. I have these main events, and as long as I hit them, I'm sorted. I wrote the issues out of sequence - starting with 2, going back to 1, then forward to 7 (I think), most of 6, then back to 3 (I'll check all this before I hit the backmatter). When I had all the scripts done, I put them in a document and went through them all and hammered it with a big old hammer to remove anything which contradicted the timeline. The kind of skeleton of the thing is actually the playlist - there's about 30-40 minutes of songs which I've totally worked out, so know that if Blondie's Atomic is playing where all the characer are or whatever.

(As an example of hammering, the bit in Issue 1 where Penny goes and mopes in the corridor after the toilet scene? That mope is actually much longer in the timeline than you'd think - about 3-4 songs and 10 full seconds of moping. Of course, you're only going to realise that if you go through all seven issues with a really find comb)

Re: Music. Music more informs mood than anything else, which is why I'm playing it. Normally when I'm actually scripting (And the playlist is mainly for the scripting) I know where I'm going. However, in the pre-script stage, music changes everything (In fact, the episodes normally germinate with a record). And some really big changes can happen - Issue 6, for example, had a completely different end until I found myself listening to Los Campesinos late one night and had a realisation of what it *actually* needed.

Darkest: A philosophy degree? Pah? What is such a thing? Pop singles ar eorever.

Trini: Hurrah!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T06:00:07-08:00

oh lordie, i loved it. even more'n the first. penny's justification for dancing, seth bingo's face when he finally plays pull shapes... all awesome.

actually, thinking about it, was that seth's choice or the silent girl's choice to play penny's song...?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T06:35:54-08:00

Kieron: Wow thanks!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T07:33:57-08:00

that was great. love single issues where it feels like a "big deal", like you are supposed to read it that way. art looked amazing, backmatter is awesome (and am i a dick that i left the issue with one big question? what if that question was "WHAT THE HELL DID HE MEAN ABOUT CASANOVA COMING BACK AS A WHOLE OTHER KIND OF BARKING???!?!?!"), extra stories worked well and gave a variety that gave me the feeling that the issue was more of a neat mini anthology and it is very nice to return to this world/characters.

thanks guys, i wasnt sure if i was going to like this after the way the issue started, but i was won over pretty goddamn quick. i seriously hope this book is a monthly. DONT SAY ITS NOT! this is one to pimp out to others.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T13:48:12-08:00

lordmitz: "actually, thinking about it, was that seth's choice or the silent girl's choice to play penny's song...? "

TO BE REVEALED, TRUE BELIEVER!!!!!!!

joe.distort: It's as monthly as we can make it. Eating may get in the way.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T13:54:02-08:00

joe.distort: It's as monthly as we can make it. Eating may get in the way.

By which Kieron means, Phonogram doesn't really pay, so I take other gigs at the same time (for example, I'm also working on Cable for Marvel at the moment). I really want to make it as on time as possible (and only being 16 pages on my part helps).

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-12T15:18:07-08:00

haha, thanks for the clarification. i thought it might be late because you guys spend too much time eating tacos. also:

I'm also working on Cable for Marvel at the moment

that sounds neat, your art in the xmen special was aces. in fact, i only bought it because it had a story with you and fraction together.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-15T07:51:51-08:00

I'm Bristol-based so seeing the city in the book and Keiron around the local stores (Travelling Man, I weep for thee) and both the gents at the cons makes Phonogram more than a mere purchase for me and true to form Singles Club #1 did not disappoint.

From the preview I expected to be hideously annoyed by a vacuous bint often seen dancing (and then usually vomiting) in the clubs and streets of Bristol, but when the story kicked in the emotions felt so real that I was utterly captivated, both by the characters and by the gorgeous art (me love colour). The backups and the extras were icing on a beautifully baked cake.

Kudos, gents.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-15T09:34:58-08:00

You guys, you guys, it's so good. I mean, I'd have to stab out my eardrums if I were stuck in an elevator with Penny, and it's still SO GOOD, you know? I look forward to more, and I promise to do my part to keep you two in calories--my preorder requests are in, for multiple copies, for the duration.

Side note: I am one of those weirdos who really likes black and white comics and seeks them out. I'm sure this is at least partially a reactionary stance; bad coloring hurts me and makes me want to bash my head against a wall. This? Is good coloring. I tend to be wary of the glossy-plus-brights look, but PHONOGRAM looks beautiful and juicy and I want to eat it up with a spoon.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-15T10:53:20-08:00

I identified with the DJ way more than I should've...

Nice work KG/JMcK, loving the colour. Also, Marc Ellerby's strip was lovely (not that the other one wasn't)...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-15T12:32:05-08:00

I ended up with a signed copy I picked off the rack at London's Forbidden Planet (couldn't see any copies at Gosh!). Only thing is, I can't tell whose signature it actually is...

Loved the issue, then realised I didn't own the trade of Rue Britannia, so bought that as well.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-15T14:39:49-08:00

Only thing is, I can't tell whose signature it actually is...

That'll be Kieron's then...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-16T02:19:23-08:00

If you can't even tell it's a signature, it's probably mine.

Thanks, everyone. Bless you all.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2008-12-16T05:28:38-08:00

Finally got around to reading Rue Britannia, and loved it to bits. I may have gotten a bit teary at the end, there.

The way it manages to wreck both nostalgia and cynicism was especially brilliantly done, and always a welcome sentiment. Very much recommended reading for anyone into pop music, be it britpop or not.

Thank you.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-01-05T11:31:27-08:00

BOOF!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-01-05T11:47:48-08:00

i am in love with that woman.

also, "ska attack squad". yes.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-01-05T11:54:58-08:00

Jamie McKelvie is quickly becoming one of my artistic heroes.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-01-05T12:51:29-08:00

I loved the first issue, if I haven't told you already elsewhere.

Also: Sad thing? I'm pretty sure that on a good day, most of the characters resemble myself, my friends and classmates. (Except my Lloyd is more likely to be dressed in the DieselSweeties "Music I like/Music You Like/Music I Use To Like" (which he actually owns) than in a suit.)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-01-05T16:28:00-08:00

I want that as a oversized poster.

NOW.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-02-05T07:34:10-08:00

does adding a book to my pull list (at my local comic store) have the same positive effect as preordering individual copies from previews (@ local store) ? which is best for you guys? i just want to show maximum support for your books.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-02-05T08:21:02-08:00

Okay, I have a really dumb question.... Has more than just #1 come out? (for the second series)

I'm only asking 'cause that's the only one that I've ever seen but looking around, albeit briefly, on the 'net it looks like many more are out already... when did I miss these? Or am I delusional?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-02-05T13:11:41-08:00

@Warped Savant Unfortunately not.

I refer you to the following comment on the phonogram web site

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-02-05T23:10:13-08:00

Dan -- Thank you, that makes much more sense now. (And was also an entertaining little read.) It makes me glad that I've pre-ordered it already.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-02-06T01:52:57-08:00

If you want more Phonogram, send McKelvie food parcels.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-03-17T16:50:09-07:00

Comic in final steps. A few weeks yet with printing and all, but here's the first page to tide people over. Will lob up the actual first 5 page preview the week before.

Honestly! Coming soon!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-03-17T16:52:56-07:00

SO. GODDAMN. EXCITED.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-03-17T16:54:59-07:00

MEEE TOOO.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-03-17T17:28:53-07:00

@Kieron - I think that page you just posted is my favourite thing you've written. It's definitely my favourite overall Phonogram page already.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-03-22T14:36:20-07:00

it lives!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-23T11:58:01-07:00

next wednesday!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-23T14:02:35-07:00

We really are! Unless something goes terribly wrong.

However, while you wait, click through for a preview of the first five pages...

Ta-dah!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-23T14:40:04-07:00

Rejoice!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-29T23:46:16-07:00

It's out now, both in the US and UK. Anyone like it?

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T02:47:43-07:00

Once again, as with the last issue, my local comic shop guy did not get it. In fact he looked like a deer in headlights when I mentioned it. The saddest part is I did everything right. I have preordered each issue individually when they show up in the Previews, but still nothing.

I just hope I can get one before they sell out.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T03:27:24-07:00

Damn, I'm away from my comic shop atm. They only get like two copies. Hmm, is Marc Ellerby selling copies again?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T03:45:30-07:00

thekamisama: God, that's deeply depressing. Good luck, man.

Mojojoseph: Marc probably won't be - his copies were his complimentary ones for his strip. Man!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T04:08:03-07:00

Likewise with the pre-ordering but not having it turn up. Diamond got blamed again, but who knows?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T05:54:20-07:00

Ah, well. There's another comic shop a little further away from me, I may be able to get a copy there.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T08:00:24-07:00

Hopefully going to pick it up tomorrow, have the day off and think a trip to London is in order.

Really sucks that I can't find a comic shop nearer to Guildford than London. (Of the ones listed online close by, one is an empty building now and the other is a kebab restaurant). Meant to be one in Reading, but to be honest, if I have to spend half an hour on the train I may as well go to London anyway.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T08:07:03-07:00

liked it a lot. as a sappy punk rocker who loves slightly mean/forceful girls with piercings and tattoos, i could relate to this a lot more than the first issue. it actually made me kinda sad, and then i was thinking about curse songs. i dont want to do that.

PHONO is so much more reading material crammed into one issue than average comics, and i couldnt be happier.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T09:06:23-07:00

@ Flaybyo - Ther eused to be a comic and games shop in Guildford at the top end of the town, near the theatre. It looked like a lean to against the side of a building, but when you went into it, it was actually fairly big. Has that gone?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T09:24:31-07:00

@Oddcult - yup, gone. A shame, was a good little shop, but the location was so far out of the way that if you didn't know it was there you'd never find it.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T10:05:40-07:00

No joy at my local. They still have 4-5 spare issues of 2.1, so I'm not too worried about them selling out.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T10:38:50-07:00

Actually I'm on my way to get it now!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T12:22:12-07:00

I missed #1 so was just going to trade-wait but I'm going to see if I can find a copy of the first issue so I can read this in singles.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-04-30T18:59:09-07:00

Phonogram #2 was the first comic I can remember to exactly meet my expectations. I've been disappointed by others, there are some that have succeeded because of my original dismissal - but damn. All I wanted was a further exploration of Phonogram's central metaphor, and I was duly impressed. There was a sense from the fifth page or so that I knew where it was going, but it was executed so well that it felt like that friend who finishes your sentences for you then elaborates them to some other level. Plus, the backmatter elucidated the concept of the 'curse record,' something I'm sure a lot of people know but have never been able to explain before. And the Eastern European Curse Girl's speech was charming and, from my experience, accurate. I can't really say anything about McKelvie's art in specifics - I don't have the knowledge or vocabulary - other than it fucking delivered yet again. Actually, flipping through it again, was he always this good at subtle facial expressions? They're spot-on too.

This is rambling, I am just out of band practice and full of wine and am going to see King Khan & the Shrines tomorrow. Even if there is a long wait between this and the next issue, I can reread each issue enough to ease the time.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-01T03:14:16-07:00

Joe.Distory: It's totally our buzzcocks single.

Charlene: It'll be a fun one to follow in the singles. We've really got a lot of stuff in them.

Vian: Yeah, McKelvie's facial stuff is sickening. There's one panel in issue 3 which I'm obsessing with right now for exactly that reason.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-01T13:31:16-07:00

Wow, issue 2 was fantastic.

I went back and re-read issue 1 to see how they both sync up: perfectly.
Indie Dave is increasingly becoming one of my favorite characters in the mythos, and I cannot wait to see his next B-Side.

best wishes for continued success and here's hoping for a third album!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-01T13:38:55-07:00

LOVE LOVE LOVE. ^__^
I'm utterly honoured to have been a part of this.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-01T14:23:54-07:00

O.O!

Miss Vieceli! Your art was gorgeous, and I listened to Wuthering Heights for the first time last night. Your art complimented the song, and I really dug your Indie Dave.

man, I sound like an overly excited fanboy.
*composes self.*

umm..keep on being awesome.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-01T15:57:13-07:00

I shall endeavour to pick this up tommorow as I am going to my local to stock up before I have to revise for final exams.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T09:34:45-07:00

Managed to pick this up today (nicely racked in the 'top sellers' section of Forbidden Planet in London it is). Fantastic seeing how the story intersects with the previous issues one, and now I'm dying to see how the others parts overlap with each other. One of my favourite films is 'Go', which does much the same thing, only with more Katie Holmes and less Britishness.

Bizarrely, my first encounter with the music of Kate Bush was the video for 'Running up that Hill', which for some reason I will never know was shown at my local cinema as the warm-up reel before the screening of 'Back to the Future'. I suspect the damage done to my psyche was permanent.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T10:02:26-07:00

I was reading through again and did anyone else notice that when Marc is talking about 'The Ban,' you can see a silhouette of a girl smoking in both his eyes? Reminded me of The Great Gatsby's cover a little bit.

And during "Wuthering Heights", you can see a symbol on the back right hand of the (a) Goddess, and I noticed this during "She Who Bleeds For Your Entertainment" too. Is this something that will be addressed or has significance?

Also, I was wondering, is there only one Goddess? Because it was established in the first volume that there was a primary godhead and Britannia was just one aspect of her, but what I'm wondering is The Goddess the only one? Is she just the goddess of Britain? Is there a Goddess for America, France, etc?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T11:29:10-07:00

I have finally ordered a copy

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T12:32:27-07:00

So glad the chick who used magic got her song played after all. :)

@Ananzitusq: she is, or at least was, the goddess of Britpop.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T13:25:57-07:00

I am enjoying this book more and more each time I read it. I initially entered the club for Jamie's artwork but will definitely be staying for the last song and lights up thanks to Kieron's script. I felt like I was kind of whisked along with the music in this issue but on reflection i've come to appreciate just how tight and beautifully structured the narrative was.
Many thanks KG & JM; will be getting in early for the cheap drinks next month.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T15:13:47-07:00

@Ananzitusq & thecat17: I took it that there's only the one Goddess, but she has tons of different, transitory, aspects connected to different musical genres. Britannia is/was her brit-pop aspect. The one that cursed Kohl at the beginning of Rue Britannia was her female acoustic singer songwriter aspect (and probably the one that's closest to the true Goddess, since her power is drawn from an entirely female base. Or I'm stupid). She's probably got punk, metal, emo, folk, etc aspects that we haven't seen yet.

And flipping through 'Pull Shapes' again, I realize that Laura Heaven is in fact almost pure evil. She hides from Penny (who is ostensibly her very good friend) when she's having her emotional crisis. At the time it came off as she just needed a few seconds away from her kind of whiny co-dependent friend, but then in 'Wine and Bed and...' she's totally hitting on the guy that Penny's crushing on. I hope we don't have to wait too long before we get Laura's story.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T22:01:05-07:00

Brilliant stuff, guys. Just so utterly brilliant.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-02T23:03:58-07:00

Got this today. Read it when I got home from the comic store, as soon as I finished my free comic book day pickings (which means you guys got read first out of about 25 comics that I actually paid for). Great stuff, as always. I was one of the dudes who wrote to Kieron nitpicking the specific lyrics attacked in the first Indie Dave backup strip, so I enjoyed seeing the reference and learning that I wasn't the only one by a long shot.

But really, I'm most blown away in this one by the deep truth of the concept at the core of Marquis's story. The curse songs, and the sometimes-way-too-long period you can spend after a relationship in which your ex is almost the only thing you can think or talk about, and there are tons of records you suddenly can't listen to anymore. A girl I broke up with four years ago completely ruined Ida for me. I will be surprised if I ever play any of their records again. And that's only one--I have plenty of other stories like that. God, there was one girl that came damn close to ruining the Smiths for me, which would have been a tragedy of epic proportions. Thankfully I could listen to them again with no problems within six months or so. It was touch and go for a bit, though.

And Kieron, if you ever drunkenly heckled me for wearing a Joy Division "Closer" t-shirt, I'd yell back, "With children my time is so wastefully spent." So there. Haha.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-03T07:20:19-07:00

# Ananzitusq - thank you SO much! You know how to make a girl smile :)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-03T10:49:41-07:00

What would happen if you requested the Sugarcubes? Or does it depend on the track?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-03T14:47:46-07:00

The answer to that is in issue 4. :D

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-04T08:27:57-07:00

DavidJejune: While we haven't made anything explicit yet, this is basically the correct interpretation. That's why the Ladyfest Goddess was protective to Britannia - she' s one of her smaller aspects.

And Laura's issue is 5.

Ananzitusq: Re: Tattoo on hand. You're onto something, and the first to notice that I've seen.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-04T10:16:17-07:00

I picked up this on a whim. And it was fucking brilliant. I loved every second, had to go back to the store to add this to pulls and grab the last copy of issue 1, too.

What's the scope of Phonogram proper? I don't know how big Rue Brittania turned out to be, but is this going to be an England-only thing? Not necessarily the scope of the series, just the scope of the magic.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-04T17:52:13-07:00

DavidJejune

Heeeeey. :(

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-05T04:13:47-07:00

Vermilious: It's a world level book. As in, stories can go wherever or whenver we want them to and phonomancery has been practised throughout all human history. In practice, most of the stories are in the UK.

David: Man, I got Gerard Way's name wrong in the back of PG2.2. You're in good company.

(Sorry)

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-05T10:19:15-07:00

Well I got a copy of #1... but there were no #2s :-( So I've ordered it off ebay. Loved #1!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-05T10:20:06-07:00

Oh, I meant to say, I *loved* that you mentioned East 17 in the back of #1. Awesome :D

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-06T15:42:53-07:00

Wonders if there will be a forthcoming series taking place in the rave era...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-07T03:55:27-07:00

Can anybody tell me if I can pick this up in melburn?? I have obviously not read it, but need something new to keep me occupied.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-11T03:09:06-07:00

thecat: Not planned, but there was another non-Phonogram story that McK and I wanted to set there.

Charlene: Good luck. And thanks!

Geist: This is what Google says, but I honestly dunno.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-11T13:01:13-07:00

Geist: I get all of my comics from Minotaur Bookstore.

They're excellent at pre-orders and you may even get lucky if you ask them to try and track down 1 and 2.

I definitely recommend pre-order for the single issues, though, as there are a lot of comics lovers in melbourne, and the good stuff tends to go quickly, leaving a lot of folks waiting for trades

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-05-11T13:05:43-07:00

Well, the lords of Britpop have done it again.

Brilliant art/story/piercings.
I have since been getting this insane urge to tell people at work to 'Call me Mr Logos!'

Additionally - 'Curse track' will be locked in my vocabulary for evermore

Nice one, and well worth the wait.
I'm looking forward to #3

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T06:30:15-07:00

We've got a new issue out this week. And there's a preview online, because we can't help but show off our finely honed body of work.

Go Emily Aster!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T07:06:42-07:00

Did I say delicious? A slip of the tongue. I clearly meant mind warpingly stupid and banal

And who's this you've brought with you? Why, It's The Most Evil Woman in the World. Isn't that amazing!

Good sirs, you have preemptively made my week. As phonogram does every time. Thank you.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T07:10:56-07:00

PRETTY!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T07:39:12-07:00

I'll be heading down to my Local Comics Shop (a 22 mile journey) specifically to pick this up on thursday. Considering I will consequently have no money to buy things like "alcohol" and "food" for a few days afterwards does not dissuade me. This is a compliment.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T08:14:30-07:00

Well, that's next Saturday sorted then, to London!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T08:20:52-07:00

Oh, thats nice...

I'm loving the colours.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T14:34:41-07:00

huh, my comment disappeared? needless to say, i am very excited for this wednesday. so much great stuff!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-14T20:12:34-07:00

yessssss.

more clues for the magic tatoo! go Indie Dave!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-15T04:26:43-07:00

Vermilious: I'll admit. I have a lot of fun writing Emily and Seth.

Stuart: Poor booze :(

Thanks everyone. Hope you dig it.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-16T14:11:50-07:00

Alright, mainly pumping this for tomorrow's release.

First off, Comic Book Resources gave issue #3 a 5-star grade review:

I'm looking to the Kid With Knife B-Side, but more so the Emily Aster A-Side.

I'm terribly excited to meet the legendary ice queen, but I hope not too much of her mystery is revealed.
Talk amongst yourselves.

side note: how is PHONOGRAM selling? I know the early numbers for issue one were obviously fantastic with the second run, but how did issue two go? hopefully like gangbusters!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-17T01:55:06-07:00

I'm pumped too.

If anyone's interested in following the reviews, I collate them all here. Four really positive ones so far.

Anazit: Selling okay. The sell-out wasn't actually that great, really. It sold out because orders were identical to the first issue of the first season, despite everything that's happened since. So the sell out was... well, we'd be surprised if it hadn't sold out. It was a case where we knew that demand was higher than orders, but there's little you can do. That we're basically making no money from the issues is what was slowed down the issues coming out, as Jamie had to go off and do a variety of WFH projects to get a roll of cash so he could afford to draw 'em for nowt.

(And the issues coming out slower, I suspect, will impact on the sales. C'est la vie.)

We're optimistic that we'll make some money when it hits the trade. PG: RUE BRITANNIA has just sold out of its first printing of 12K or so, so there's clearly an audience.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-17T06:25:51-07:00

Kieron, Jamie, I just wanted to add my own appreciation to the thread.

I really loved the first two issues of The Singles Club. The overall concept and execution was enough to completely reel me in. Personally, I’ve always seen music as a very powerful force, especially when it’s used as a means through which to filter experiences.

As a musician myself, I’m very interested in the intent of music and the perception of that intent by listeners. For example, Coil’s ‘Time Machines’ album never fails to takes me some pretty weird places (mentally speaking) whenever I listen to it, but I can never quite work out if that’s because I expect it to have that affect, or because of some secret musical alchemy Balance and co. worked into the recordings.

You really should do something based around the early English industrial scene. It was such a vibrant and interesting time for music, especially in terms of looking at ‘music as magic’. Many of them dabbled in the occult, coupled in some cases with some heavy drugs use. But more importantly, they were trying to push boundaries. Coil, Current 93, Nurse with Wound, Throbbing Gristle… all fascinating musical entities in their own right.

I’m planning on reviewing the first three issues of The Singles Club over at Exquisite Things, which is a blog I write with the assistance of a close friend of mine (who, incidentally, also writes for Rock-a-Rolla magazine). Yep, we’re both big music fans!

We’ve been trying to sneak a bit of music content into the blog by running a ‘comic creator’s Top 5 albums’ feature, where we’re asking creators to give us their top 5 records of the moment, just whatever they’ve been listening to lately. So far we’ve had contributions from Warren Ellis, Carla Speed McNeil, Antony Johnston, Brendan McGinely and Brian Wood (whose Top 5 will be posted up later in the week). If you fancy contributing please drop me a line at bisonkills[at]gmail.com

Matt.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-17T06:38:39-07:00

You really should do something based around the early English industrial scene. It was such a vibrant and interesting time for music, especially in terms of looking at ‘music as magic’. Many of them dabbled in the occult, coupled in some cases with some heavy drugs use. But more importantly, they were trying to push boundaries. Coil, Current 93, Nurse with Wound, Throbbing Gristle… all fascinating musical entities in their own right.

Yeah, but hardly anyone outside of people interested in the genre anyway have heard of that lot, and let's face it, most of the 'music' is pretty much unlistenable.

They weren't so much into 'music as magic' as harnessing the energy that was built up in clubs and at gigs. 'Techno-shamanism' and 'Techno-paganism' is generally now taken to mean dodgy witchy-wannabees that simply use online message boards, but at their origins, they really meant 'techno' as in the genre of music and surfing the vibe that was created at raves, or using it to enter shamanic style trance states, for workings that went beyond pure entertainment. So many people have forgotten that, but then, I expect the memories of many of the people who were there are the time are full of all sorts of abscences now.

I actually have a synopsis for a comic that's set in this area, and linking it up with the crop circle-making scene. I wrote it when I was a part of all that, but it never got completed, and now I think it might need a few years to mature, in much the same way as Phonogram needed some distance from Britpop.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-17T08:22:51-07:00

Yeah, but hardly anyone outside of people interested in the genre anyway have heard of that lot, and let's face it, most of the 'music' is pretty much unlistenable.

They weren't so much into 'music as magic' as harnessing the energy that was built up in clubs and at gigs. 'Techno-shamanism' and 'Techno-paganism' is generally now taken to mean dodgy witchy-wannabees that simply use online message boards, but at their origins, they really meant 'techno' as in the genre of music and surfing the vibe that was created at raves, or using it to enter shamanic style trance states, for workings that went beyond pure entertainment. So many people have forgotten that, but then, I expect the memories of many of the people who were there are the time are full of all sorts of abscences now.

I actually have a synopsis for a comic that's set in this area, and linking it up with the crop circle-making scene. I wrote it when I was a part of all that, but it never got completed, and now I think it might need a few years to mature, in much the same way as Phonogram needed some distance from Britpop.

Hey Oddcult,

Fair point that they are obscure fairly figures as far as popular music goes. I do agree that the early English industrial scene would be far too niche to base an entire comic on, but I do think it could serve as a nice reference point for an aside within the context of Phonogram.

Personally, I don’t see how figures like Jhon Balance or Genesis P-Orridge are any more obscure than say, Diamanda Galas. It’s worth keeping in mind that Throbbing Gristle’s first official (and very bloody) set, caused outrage in Parliament and amongst the general populous of the UK. TG were dubbed “wreckers of civilization”, so there’s some level of notoriety there. Peter Christopherson of Coil worked as part Hipgnosis, so he’s cranked out a fair few classic album sleeves. I can’t help but feel a lot of what went on in the mid-late 80s percolated down into the collective consciousness on some level or another. I’ll readily admit that I’m a bit biased, I have a special interest in the period and the music… but surely that’s what Phonogram’s all about. Obsessing over music.

In terms of how listenable the music is, well I guess that’s all a matter of personal taste. A great deal of how we perceive music is ‘learned listening’, drilled into us from an early age. Certain tonalities and frequencies will at first sound deeply alien, even uncomfortable, simply because we haven’t been exposed to them enough. That said, I find a lot of Coil’s output to be fairly melodic and then there’s always ‘Of ruine or some blazing starre’ by Current 93, which isn’t exactly heavy going either. By in large it’s pure pastoral folk, albeit with the occasional warped psychedelic touch here and there. Admittedly, this came later in the early 90s but it’s still part of their back catalogue.

Ah, anyway… I am rambling here. I do like your idea for the comic by the way, it definitely sounds like it has promise.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-17T14:49:00-07:00

side note: how is PHONOGRAM selling? I know the early numbers for issue one were obviously fantastic with the second run, but how did issue two go? hopefully like gangbusters!

Yeah, no. It's selling out, but was so under-ordered that that was sort of inevitable anyway. It's a frustrating situation, because we thought the much larger sales of the first trade would lead into orders for the second series, but it didn't pan out. When it became clear that I would then be in a position of making no income for 6 months, I had to put the book on hold to make enough money to get through the rest of the series.

Suffer for your art, and all that.

Thanks to everyone picking it up.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-17T19:19:39-07:00

I need to win the lottery so i can bankroll your writing and drawing for the rest of time.
Anything to make series three a reality.

I'm going to wizard world philly this weekend and it breaks my heart that I'll be hunting for series one singles that give you no income.
I sound like a sped-up teenie-popper, but nevertheless, this is fucking quality work and I look forward to it every month.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T08:11:42-07:00

KID-WITH-KNIFE backup=the funniest thing i have read in weeks.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T09:40:35-07:00

Seconded on the lottery thing.
As per your comments in the back of this book, was the KwK backup intended to clear up the end of Rue Brittania? Because you mentioned something about people thinking there was no resolution. I mean, I got what was going on, so that just rendered it a delightful take on the book. Which was perfect.

I know I said it earlier, but I'm very sure. Phonogram consistently makes my week. Musically too, apparently, as I went out and bought The Knife's Silent Shout this morning. Good stuff.

Keep em coming. Any lottery proceedings go straight to you guys.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T10:35:25-07:00

KID-WITH-KNIFE backup=the funniest thing i have read in weeks.

I second this. That Mystical Machine Gun line was a slice of fried gold.

Another fine, fine issue, guys. I have to try to read Phonogram last when I pick up my comics, because everything in the week, no matter how good, tends to pale in comparison.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T11:09:09-07:00

Have only read the A-side story so far--read it this morning while getting ready for work, a page at a time while brushing my hair and such--but loved it. Can't wait to get home and read the rest of the comic.

While I was opening the store this morning, I was walking around muttering, "Why, It's The Most Evil Woman in the World. Isn't that amazing!" under my breath, and chuckling to myself. Excellent bit, that.

Also, though, I feel like the whole Emily Aster story just leaves me with more questions than answers. I hope we'll see more of her soon.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T11:21:39-07:00

I want McKelvie to draw Kid's roof mounted gattling gun in a future issue.

My sister keeps asking me what the forst series of Phonogram is about, I'll let her read the Kid b-side as a teaser...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T12:51:17-07:00

I cannot wait for KwK's A-Side in issue 7, what about everybody else?

It should be really curious because Kid isn't a phonomancer, so his take on the evening is going to be interesting.

Has anyone noticed the meta-plot yet? I remember reading that by the 3rd or 4th issue you'd be able to see the larger story arc play out.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T12:54:15-07:00

i think PULL SHAPES was first for a reason and that we havent seen what happens next on purpose as well.

beyond that, im just enjoying the awesomeness

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-18T13:10:52-07:00

Jah. Oh shite, ya know I never thought to think that this is going in chunks either.
Issues one through three were "act one" then so on and so forth.

I need to go back and re-read issues one and two now.

I know that Indie Dave's quest is taking place after the events of series two, mainly because of the release of CONTROL, and Emily is still the persona in control unless I'm totally missing out on the subtext going on in that B-Side.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-19T04:49:06-07:00

We would spend any lottery-income frivolously

Re: Early Industrial. I agree they're interesting actually, and could totally support a story. Britpop was a bit of a stretch too, y'know? At least for part of the audience, the exploration is the point.

Re: Indie Dave's quest. I'll admit in advance, we're cheating a little with Indie. The strips aren't strictly speaking in chronological order - it's just in the order which makes most sense in terms of the emotional beat of it. 1 and 2 were in 2006, and in time order. 3 is in 2007. 4 is in 2006 and before Singles Club happens. 7, if it happens, is... oh, you'll see.

(So, yes, Emily is still in control in 2007.)

Glad people are digging the series. We're having a lot of fun.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-19T06:06:44-07:00

!
This ride continues to be worth more than the price of admission.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-19T09:11:36-07:00

KwK needs a spin-off series. That b-side was genius.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-19T09:56:41-07:00

He's the lead in issue 7. Which is fun, shall we say.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-19T11:41:14-07:00

@kieron- what other book did you have out this week that mckelvie was talking about (or is this some joke i didnt get?)?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-06-19T14:13:58-07:00

Ta-dah.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-01T14:50:44-07:00

Re: Early Industrial. I agree they're interesting actually, and could totally support a story. Britpop was a bit of a stretch too, y'know? At least for part of the audience, the exploration is the point.

Kieron, glad you agree that there's some value to the idea. I just think we have a VERY rich musical heritage here in the UK, with some very interesting individuals and ideas attached to it. Would be amazing to see early industrial mentioned, even just in passing... as you say, the exploration is the point.

To be totally honest, when I first came to Phonogram I thought much of it would go right over my head, especially in terms of the Britpop / indie references. It's not really my scene so I half expected to be a little lost. However, the central ideas and concepts behind Phonogram are universal to music lovers. For that reason I found myself connecting with The Singles Club.

Very glad the good people at Page 45 pushed the book so hard! Their Comic book of the month club is an invaluable source of good new reading material.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-01T15:20:32-07:00

the central ideas and concepts behind Phonogram are universal to music lovers

thats why i love it. im a huge music geek, but know very little about most of what is referenced in this book. its also why i love all the backmatter, because i devour music journalism. oh whats this in my man ourse? the new issue of MRR? exactly.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-22T12:58:33-07:00

Well folks, issue 4 is out today!

Did the first read, and loved it thoroughly. The double page splash towards the end was gorgeous and really worked for me, especially after reading Kieron's essay at the end. Also, I thought it was a great touch having Seth and The Silent Girl remove the boarders of the comic panel, really drives the point home in a subtle manner.

Of course, as the resident fan of Indie Dave, this issue's B-Side with him was awesome. Really great to see the amount of character development he's undergone since volume one.

I'm thinking of giving a copy of the first volume to a professor in the fall. I'm taking a graduate course called "World Wide Weird" focusing on the use of magical realism and/or "weird" elements in fiction. So authors like Lethem, Borges, Murakami, etc. I think it'd be interesting to get his opinion and also see what we could possibly do with it in class.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-23T11:12:54-07:00

Hands down, one of, if not the best single issue I've read in ages. That last bit just expressed what I honestly think every music lover feels. And, if being the best single issue I've read in ages wasn't enough, the "Atomic" page was easily my favourite comic page of possibly ever.

The best Phonogram issue ever and probably my favourite comic of the year, this.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-23T12:50:35-07:00

i was a little worried upon first flip through when i saw the format...but it worked. and it worked well once i realized what was being portrayed really.

i cant kiss this books ass enough.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-23T13:00:18-07:00

I'm just sad I don't know anyone whose going to comic-con that could get me a t-shirt and an issue of the fan magazine!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-27T09:39:06-07:00

there were no t shirts i guess? and i got A COPY OF THE ZINE HEADING BACK TO ME!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-27T09:55:07-07:00

Am I the only one to get the Dexy's joke? Please tell me I'm not or I'll have to post a certain album cover that you really don't want me to post.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-27T10:01:46-07:00

DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE POST THAT

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-07-27T10:05:29-07:00

I'm not doing it from work, that's for sure...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-07T05:38:30-07:00

Hey all,

Review of Phonogram: The Singles Club issues 1-3 up at Exquisite Things blog. Go read.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-08T07:26:49-07:00

Which is a fine review.

Glad everyone is digging it.

And because everyone else is wimping out of linking it:

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-08T10:24:09-07:00

A blog post review of issue four here.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-09T01:57:39-07:00

As Gillen's link doesn't seem to be working:

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-18T09:28:03-07:00

I know this isn't related to PHONOGRAM, but just wanted to say congrats and "this is rad" to Kieron for being the new writer of Thor for Marvel. I look forward to reading it!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-18T11:43:03-07:00

Finally tracked down copies of the last two issues on Sat (Dear Orbital, why-o-why do you not keep copies - is it because Forbidden Planet have 1000s?).

Both were fantastic and particularly the Konichiwa Bitches issue, which is just pipped by the complete gut wrenching awesomeness of issue two for best issue yet.

On a side note, I liked the first series quite a bit but the quantum leap between that and this series is astounding. Well done both of you.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-18T13:12:27-07:00

AAAAAAAAAA YOU FUCKING COCKSLAP PULLING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-18T13:31:39-07:00

Been slightly absent and so have fallen down on the fawn-all-over-Gillen-and-McKelvie front. Consider this my heartfelt apology and amends-making:

You guys. OMG, YOU GUYS, IT'S SO GOOD.

Have bought doubles of all the SINGLES CLUB issues, and wish I could justify triples. So far, the Seth and Silent Girl issue is my favorite, mostly because it's simultaneously a pause and bird's eye view of the immediate narrative arc, and I had been waiting for both of those things. Also, I just love both of those characters.

I recently gave away a copy of the RUE BRITANNIA trade, to predictably glowing reviews. I will eventually convert everyone I know.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-18T15:17:23-07:00

I'd gloat, but I too feel the horror.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-23T08:27:20-07:00

Anaq: Thanks, sir. It will be fun. Yes.

Greg: Possibly. Forbidden Planet London are the one shop in the world who seems to have ordered too many copies of PG. I hail them for it. And thanks. We think we learned a lot with the first series, and it's great putting it into practice.

Jo: THANKYOU!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-08-25T11:35:22-07:00

I want Seth in my pants. No, actually, I want Silent Girl in my pants. Scratch that. BOTH of them in my pants. Now that would be a wild party...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-08T23:46:36-08:00

I've been away from Whitechapel for a while, but when's the next issue occuring?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-08T23:55:55-08:00

This week, apparently.

HOORAY!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-11T19:36:48-08:00

It's criminal nobody has posted today!

"The Phonogram Ska Attack" squad might have been my favorite B-Side so far. As a ska-kid, I found the short story completely captured EVERYTHING right and wonderful about Ska. Please do a one shot in the future.

I was wonderfully surprised by the issue's end by Laura Heaven. I've been looking forward to her story since issue one, and I did not expect her to be a villain at all. The way she was written was excellent, because she was human and not just an angsty young thing. I know that Series 3 exists in the land of fantasy at this point, but if it does become reality, do you have plans to revisit Laura?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-11T19:56:26-08:00

The shop I go to (and had it pre-ordered at) didn't get it in today. I was more than a bit annoyed.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-11T20:54:47-08:00

I just picked up issues #3 and #4 last week because I'd moved to a new city and they had to special order them for me. I am so happy to have them now though, because issue 4 is probably my favorite issue of any series that I've read in recent memory. Seriously. I keep going back to it because it's the whole story is just so much fun. It's so impressive how you can make the story work with just one static location and pretty much the same shot throughout most of the story. Just so much fun.

I've started to try to track down some of the music mentioned throughout the series, and I found "Can I Take U 2 The Cinema" on Youtube, but I can't find a downloadable version which is annoying me to no end.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-12T05:44:28-08:00

Gillen says on his blog that the entire print run has been pulled and pulped cause they got the barcode wrong. Which might explain why people are having trouble finding it.

Should be back in the shops next week.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-12T09:22:04-08:00

Now check this out: I guess they started shipping them over to Europe before they could pull and pulp them, but I actually got my copy of it today ...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-12T09:47:48-08:00

This is my hope for when I go comic shopping at the weekend.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-12T11:27:28-08:00

yeah wait i thought it all got pulped? i dont know because my shops ENTIRE FUCKING ORDER didnt come due to a dumb mistake on their part. i love those guys, but sometimes....

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-13T09:57:56-08:00

The Bristol branch of Foreboding Prices (bless 'em) are selling the typo versions, so not all have been returned for pulping.

Excellent issue. Clearly I'm going to have to reread them all.
(By One Of Them Coincidences I was listening to Long Blondes earlier in the week so it's got that synchronicity thing going for it.)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-14T04:46:29-08:00

Forbidden Planet in London has tons of copies. As usual.

This one was my favourite issue so far. Just incredible. I'm really curious about Lloyd now. I think he might be about as fucked up as I am...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-14T13:50:31-08:00

When I walked into my LCS this week, the conversation went as foloows:
LCS guy:Here you go. Now, this may be a misprint
me: it is
LCS: And I'll get you the real one next week. you don't need to buy it
me: but I will. and the one next week too. Thank you

Made my week. Made it so much. Thank you guys. And loved the backup. Great job.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-15T14:36:45-08:00

Gratuitous double page spreads for the win!

Loved that moment, made me laugh out loud on the train back from London that did, got some very strange looks.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-16T02:10:59-08:00

Glad everyone seems to be digging it. Sorry about delay. And, yes, this is now totally a good time to re-read the lot.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-18T09:43:22-08:00

Hello beautifuls.

Phonogram 2.5 out today. It looks like this...

Already getting reports of sell-outs. Already getting reports of the fact the reprint hasn't turned up yet. Same as it ever was, in Phonoland, when it's always 5 minutes before closing time and the barstaff are serving the people you fancy in front of you.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-18T20:09:19-08:00

I was right(ish). Laura is evil(ish). And I guess the Emily Aster 'pull-quote' on the cover sort of gives it away but I'm guessing Laura is basically who Emily was about a week before she became Emily (metaphorically speaking).

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-18T20:27:24-08:00

Kieron?

For having done "The Phonogram Ska Attack Squad" — and especially that double-paged spread — I am now forced to love you forever.

You brought it on yourself, dude.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-19T06:05:02-08:00

"Lust etc." was one of my favorite throwaway lines on Someone to Drive You Home. As shady romantic pitches go, it's less "I'm gonna sell my ass to you" and more "I dunno, you sold yet?", and that always cracked me up.

Also, ska.

Totally looking forward to getting this.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-19T06:23:32-08:00

Loved the issue: loved the development of Laura, and especially loved the essay/commentary/backmatter bit. It was just an amazing discussion of what makes writing effective; for me, it's right up there with an essay Pynchon wrote to introduce his short story collection, "Slow Learner."

Fantastic.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-19T09:56:33-08:00

the main story is still chugging along, still loving it.

the back up is where its at though, as this is the closest thing to a reprersentation of MY phonomancy. the bit right before the spread, the "cant touch us as long as the songs playing"-thats it right there. now, my crew leaned more toward THE BLUE MEANIES, VOODOO GLOWSKULLS or SKAVOOVIE and the EPITONES but it didnt stop us from respecting the old school and throwing down when we saw the TOASTERS or THE SPECIALS play. i finally feel like the "world" aspect to this book is becoming inclusive of my life.

just please, please promise me you wont do a "punk" short and have kids dancing to CLASH records. it would break my heart to see this decade ignored for a 30 year old album! (or punks dancing to records, and not a live band!)[also, im not seriously telling you how to write your book...]

PHONO 2.5 list:
drinking: murphys irish stout
listening: SAWN OFF/ HEALTH HAZARD split 7"
petting: cats

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-19T11:42:06-08:00

@joe.distort: Yeah, that was what I was like, too. "Finally, my kind of magic."

(I once had a kid starting a band in my hometown say, "There's no greater compliment a ska band can get than having Brandon dance to them.")

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-19T19:00:35-08:00

Excellent issue as ever although a black mark for messing up the attribution of "shyness that is criminally vulgar" ("How Soon is Now ?'" not "I know its over"). I'm sure the horde of rabid Smiths fans will descend on your doorstep shortly ;).

When can we expect #6 and #7 ?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-20T02:27:00-08:00

[Bashes head on keyboard. Sorry!]

6 is at the printers now.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-20T08:24:10-08:00

Is it bad that I know the t.A.T.u. cover of 'How Soon Is Now?' better than the original? I suspect it is.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-23T02:25:43-08:00

The Smiths, like Joy Division, are a band whose songs are always much better when covered by other people.

The songwriting is great, but their performances are pants. Although, the rule also applies to Joy Division remixes, which are also always better than the original untouched tracks.

Snake River Conspiracy's cover of 'How Soon Is Now?' is the best one. Paradise Lost's is the worst. The jailbait ruskie lesbos get an honourable mention, though, definitely.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-23T03:34:22-08:00

@Oddcult

Have you heard that compilation where a bunch of bands cover the whole of The Queen Is Dead? Rather mixed bag.

Back to Phonogram: Fucking hell. I come back from holiday and find that my comic shop didn't reserve my copy of the latest issue for me. When I'm one of the few people who pre-ordered it from them. If music literally was magic, which band would I have to listen to to extract some mystical revenge on them?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-23T03:45:18-08:00

I haven't heard it, because I don't really go seeking out Smiths stuff, due to a hatred of them caused by a traumatic experience with a rabid Smiths fan. However, I've occasionally heard songs I've really liked, which have turned out to be Smiths covers, so I'm willing to give them some credit for being great songwriters, despite the unpleastant and painful twitch that hearing Morrisey's voice directly causes.

Commissioned covers albums are generally a bit pants though. The one exception being the one of Iron Maiden songs covered by (mostly) eastern european electro-pop bands. Which is magnificent.

I haven't had a copy yet either. Just getting the usual refrain of 'Diamond messed up the order', which I hear almost every time I pre-order an indie comic.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-23T08:24:14-08:00

If music literally was magic, which band would I have to listen to to extract some mystical revenge on them

THREATENER. revenge needs yelling.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-11-30T08:22:59-08:00

I bought the trade of Phonogram: Rue Britannia today and felt like such a knob for not getting it far far earlier.

That was bloody good. I've been getting the Singles Club issues since issue three and now I'm making sure I get the final two issues.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-04T06:56:09-08:00

PHONOGRAM: THE SINGLES CLUB #6 preview.

Seems like it's out next week.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-04T07:08:11-08:00

Woohoo exciting!

Jamie: Your artwork is very solid, man. Reminds me somewhat of very the very clear vector-illustrated infocomics you would find in your camera's catalog.

Kieron: Why is it that the fact I know Oasis, Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, the Klaxons and nothing whatsoever about "The Knife" kind of make me feel like a loser? Even though this mirror-staring dance-broad would typically not interest me?

Yes, she really wouldn't interest me.

Well maybe with tape on her mouth she would. And undressed. From behind.

Ohmygodwhatamisaying?! See what your comic does to me, man, see?!

Dude, are you pimping this good stuff on Pitchfork, Last.fm, and the Sound Culture podcast? Because you really should! Oh, and by the by, I've been digging Lee O'Connor's attitude-filled artwork for a while now. Good choice, mate!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-04T12:23:49-08:00

So can we discuss the madness of that preview?
I've been waiting since what? Issue one to discover more about Llyod--erm, Mr. Logos and what exactly he's up to with his magic. I take it this is the issue where we go further into the magical side of things? Because that moment of him reaching up to grab the panel to put into the Grimoire suggests that, also it is interesting to note that this is his 7th project. I assume that his name also represents his Phonomancery, that he uses music and diy art to rearrange reality to either his own whims or agenda. OR, these Grimoires are used as memory kingdoms of a single night but like I said, rearranged and constructed for a certain aim.

Then again, I could be completely misunderstanding the concept of Logos entirely.

Will we see any more of Indie Dave on the B-Sides for the next two records?
I'll have to do some more study on the concept of the hero but seeing him from Rue Britannia to his current status, it makes me think that this is a reverse journey, the hero coming up from the underworld first rather than later. Oh shit, arguably Indie Dave is also doing something of Plato's Allegory of the Cave because in our first encounter he is in the cave (his house) painted with shadows (the memory kingdoms) which only simulate a false reality, the light comes from the burning vinyl stacks before him which blind him to the current world. His liberation only comes from the encounter with the Goddess who represents the individual in the cave who discovers that his reality is just projections from men acting in front of a fire, this being the artists mentioned by the Goddess, and his journey into the world (Wuthering Heights) to discover truth and reality.
That is probably incredibly muddled but I wanted to write it down before I forgot it. Feel free to completely laugh this off.

As always, great work guys!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-08T02:29:16-08:00

I WILL BE BACK TO THIS!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-08T03:29:01-08:00

Actually, will do this before the big thread.

Ganzeer: Hands above the table, young man.

Yeah, Lee's fantastic. There's a project we've been wanting to do for years together called THE LUDOCRATS. I found myself skimming through the one-finished script on the way back from ATP, and found myself smirking at some of it. Genuinely proper headcase mentalist. Lee's designs are phenomenal.

Ananzitusq: Won't say anything more about 2.6 until it's actually out. Except... no, not until it's out.

Indie Dave turns up in the final issue in a 4-pagers by Becky Cloonan. I am enjoying your riffs on him, however. It's an archetypal journey, really.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-08T08:11:59-08:00

Kieron: Not much to say before the arrival of 2.6 tomorrow but thanks for looking over my crazy musings. It's really awesome to be able to communicate with a writer like yourself. Thanks!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-09T19:52:36-08:00

KIERON FUCKIN' GILLEN

I love you

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-10T05:11:00-08:00

I also love me!

(Thanks)

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-10T07:43:19-08:00

If my proclamation of love wasn't indicative enough, Issue 6 is my favorite single issue of the year hands down.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-10T09:31:13-08:00

I laughed so hard at the Kevin Rowland annotation that the gf thought I was having a seizure. Needless to say I then had to explain who Kevin Rowland is, who Warren Ellis is, *that* picture and why it was so funny.

I'm not sure things will ever be the same.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-11T02:58:44-08:00

Anazitusq: Thanks!

Aled: Those sort of conversations never go well. I had to explain half the rules of a ridiculously complicated game - Solium Infernum - to explain why I was so stinkingly furious a couple of nights back.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-11T08:48:00-08:00

Two things:

I'll post my thoughts on this issue and other musings next week after I finish writing this term paper.

and

Rough date on issue 7? (forgive if it's been posted on the blog, haven't checked it recently)

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2009-12-11T11:40:48-08:00

January. Probably 3 weeks in.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-13T13:50:50-08:00

Okay - 2nd week of February, apparently. Man!

Here's the cover:

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-13T14:52:39-08:00

That cover is amazing!

I can't wait to see how this set wraps up.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-13T16:10:43-08:00

I am going to have to go and hund down the large chunk of back issues I don't own. Luckily I have a chunk of time and disposable income so I can kill some time before my Uni retakes start up again. I shall send Chaos City comis an E-mail to see if they can get them for me. If not I shall go to where Kieron reccomended. It's been a long time since I've been to Nottingham.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-13T18:44:23-08:00

oh.em.gee.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-13T19:27:13-08:00

I'm going to have to call the shop to double check that I've pre-ordered this. I'm pretty sure I did when I picked up #6, but I'm having a hard time remembering.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-13T20:24:01-08:00

that cover is so gorgeous.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-01-14T01:15:35-08:00

Issue 7 is well worth picking up, as an aside - as the cover notes, there's actually 4 back-up stories this issue instead of two, making 26 pages of comics in the whole issue*. The back-matter got so squeezed that I had to put the interview on a web-page we link in the issue.

KG

*Well, 27 including the new page.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-06T07:20:07-08:00

Issue 7 out next week. 5 page preview.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-06T12:31:35-08:00

Hm, I am intrigued by what's happening to kid with knife.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-06T12:49:31-08:00

*much love at Phonogram* ^____^

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-06T12:53:52-08:00

Can't wait for this.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-06T14:21:01-08:00

KWK just went from 'kind of funny' to 'fucking awesome' with that preview.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-06T14:30:05-08:00

Is KWK doing sweet Parkour or something..else?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-07T00:03:26-08:00

KWK: Natural phonomancer?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-07T06:27:46-08:00

Man, as always, those five pages have made me... wet.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-09T11:48:26-08:00

i refuse to read the previews...each page i see before hand is one less to enjoy on wednesday!

yes, i am a nerd.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-09T17:09:53-08:00

I don't want the party to be over.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-10T11:33:28-08:00

Absolutely fucking genius. Read it three times between the shop and home.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-10T13:44:19-08:00

Jamie McKelvie -- I want that double page spread in any possible way I can get it. Be it desktop, poster, original art, etc. Seriously. Seeing someone able to draw that much joy into a single person is simply amazing. Is there anything I could do to get it?

Kieron Gillen -- Thank you for a lovely set. Very well written. Sorry I didn't insult Jamie like you want people to. If it makes you feel any better I can point and laugh at him in Seattle next month. What do ya' say?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-10T13:54:31-08:00

Snow Storm '10:

PLUS: classes canceled.
CONS: No PHONOGRAM until who knows when.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-10T19:46:15-08:00

I'm right there with Warped Savant about that spread. Amazing.

I also love how KWK processes the world.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-11T02:21:52-08:00

Thanks everyone. It's always a funtime with KwK.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-11T06:55:31-08:00

I wrote a little send-off to the series on my blog, but I just wanted to say "thank you" to Kieron, Jamie and everyone else who's ever worked on Phonogram. If any of you makes your way down to Singapore, I'll show my gratitude in the only way I know how: by buying you as many bloody drinks as you want or can handle.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-11T08:21:17-08:00

the past year or so has been made better by anticipation, reading and re-reading of PG 2

thanks all, you fucking kicked my ass in the best way possible.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-11T15:06:43-08:00

Bristol-based love to Kieron & Jamie for the whole run of Phonogram and Wolf Like Me in particular. I'm just up the road from where KWK did his run (Clifton - but it's OK, we bring down the tone of the neighbourhood...) and I could picture it perfectly.

Also, one of the best examples of magic I ever saw. Cheers, guys.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-11T21:34:12-08:00

So good. It sucks that my first purchased issue of Phonogram is also the last, but it means I have the back issues to pick up....

Between the Singles series and the Rue Brit... TP is there anything I'm missing? (Was Rue Brit in color in singles issues and then b/w for the trade?)

Etc.

Basically, awesome series, sad to see it go, what everyone else said.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-12T00:05:50-08:00

@ebullient,
Nope, Rue Brit was in b/w only. McKelvie made the jump to color for The Singles Club. And what a jump it was!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-12T14:11:31-08:00

I read it.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-13T01:21:56-08:00

So I've read it for the second time, this time I was geeky enough to read it while listening to the song "Wolf Like Me" and it the nice calming breakdown in the song happened just as I turned the page to the two page spread of Penny which just seemed like a perfect match up of tone shift for them both.

I expected KWK's story to be off the wall and awesome, but not to the point where it was chillingly fantastic and made the hairs stand up as I read the last few pages. Happens a few times throughout the series in fact, so truly thanks for that! More comics need to make me so gleefully excited and immersed in them as Phonogram has, especially the second series.

Please let us know if you discover how many sacrifices are needed for a third series!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-13T06:35:00-08:00

Shucks.

I'm too hungover to say anything other than that. I'm just glad it worked for everyone.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-13T15:59:34-08:00

@Allen:
I did exactly the same thing, with exactly the same result (never having heard the track before). Very cool to think it was deliberate on creators part!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-13T17:38:28-08:00

The sort of concept of the issue was trying to mirror the structure of the actual pop song. I think we're minus a verse and a chorus, but the basic sort of shape of it is there. If you squint.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-13T18:32:45-08:00

The Indie Dave b-side was my favorite. thank you for being awesome.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-14T02:30:10-08:00

This is my first comment on this forum after lurking for a year or so.

My command tonight to everyone I know (through the magic of internet):
"even if you don't read comics or think about music or know anything about Britpop (b/c I sure as hell don't), you should still buy Phonogram - The Singles Club."

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-15T01:43:55-08:00

Had a really shitty week last week, but picking up and reading this yesterday really cheered me up no end. Cheers dudes.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-15T08:55:22-08:00

Outstanding issue, fellas. Heck of a way to go out. Hope someday there will be more, and I sure as hell wouldn't have said that after I read the first couple of issues of Rue Brittania...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-02-15T13:53:31-08:00

Thanks, everyone.

Flabyo: We are a total panacea.

Mr Bacardi: I knew we'd get you in the end. Well, hoped. We are always full of hope.

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-03-24T07:23:42-07:00

Hello world. Trade is out today in the US and the UK tomorrow. To celebrate this event, we've lobbed up the first chapter.

DETAILS AND FIRST CHAPTER HERE! CLICK! CLICKY!

KG

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-03-25T12:41:20-07:00

If you take every appearance of the word "Kenickie" in all of Phonogram (including the back matter), note down the Cartesian coordinates within the page, and reassemble it, it forms an ASCII image of Aleister Crowley being fellated by Murdoc from the Gorillaz.

Yes. This is true.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-03-25T13:17:35-07:00

If you take every appearance of the word "Kenickie" in all of Phonogram (including the back matter), note down the Cartesian coordinates within the page, and reassemble it, it forms an ASCII image of Aleister Crowley being fellated by Murdoc from the Gorillaz.

Hmmm, my calculations show that it's an image of Aleister Crowley being fellated by Justin Timberlake. Must have forgotten to carry a 2 someplace...

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-01T15:43:38-07:00

Man, I think I got bit by Phonogram No Idea style on this series. I found two of the original issues of Rue Brit (4 and 5) and now I'm getting the itch to buy the single issues in addition to the two trades I already own...

CURSE/LOVE YOU ELLIS/GILLEN/MY OWN AVARICE/KHAN!

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-07T15:43:54-07:00

Phonogram makes me wish I liked music more than I do, as much as I enjoyed Rue Britannia I kind of felt like I was missing out a little. I do however love a good story and some spanking art and now that McKelvie has this thing in colour I'm seriously thinking about grabbing Singles Club tomorrow at my local.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-07T17:33:15-07:00

So I have now officially bought this series twice now, the second time I got the trade for my friend for her birthday. How many more times do I need to do this for there to be a third series?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-08T08:34:10-07:00

Go and vote for it in the Eagle Awards, if it gets enough of them, it might happen. Link, someone?

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-16T08:03:44-07:00

I read the trade today. I think I enjoyed it more than Rue Britannia. Or maybe just in another way. I hope there's more someday for me to enjoy even more. Or in another way.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-19T13:36:16-07:00

I walked in at half an hour until last call, stumbled across PULL SHAPES on January 15th of this year, fell in love before I even opened the book, just that list alone, needed the rest right away, which proved problematic, tracked down the first series without incident and read and reread and dutifully investigated allusions and made mixes, etc, but couldn't find #3 and #4 of THE SINGLES CLUB anywhere in the world it seemed, special-ordered them from three different stores, who kept assuring me that they'd be along next week and it kept not happening and #s 5 and 6 sat on my nightstand taunting me and then #4 came in, but of course I couldn't read it, though the whole fractal thing was certainly an argument that maybe this time it would be all right to read them out of order but didn't want to break up the intended flow, was just yearning to find #3 anywhere, drove across Texas (well, a little part of it, not the massive distance that phrase implies) hitting quarter bins everywhere and even found #1, bought that to give away and kept looking, and at last #7 came out and I'm sure everyone else thought, At last, but I was shaking my head, whispering, No just a little longer, and still no Emily Aster but finally a couple of weeks ago, one of the stores called at 9:30 one night and told me they had it, somehow they had it, and I ran red lights in case there was some mistake and got it, finally finally had them all, forced myself not to gorge but dole them out one per evening for maximum impact and in order to track down references the following day, I haven't even TOLD you, I had never even heard of the Manics or Kenickie or The Pipettes or The Long Blondes or Los Campesinos! or Camera Obscura and somehow lived this long without ever hearing "River Deep Mountain High" and all of these notes and ideas have cranked my life up and infused it with this almost unbearable glorious seething rhythm, I keep trying to explain it to everyone I know but no one understands, can't or won't see how the magic isn't what's on the page or in the songs and bands referenced, but what happens in between, how we harness that gutter of musical space that borders our three dimensions and their two, what happens when you unpack every reference and allusion and track down the music and experience it for yourself and then come back to the prime text after letting all of those sounds have their way with you and make all these subtle and minute and tremendous shifts inside of you the way they do, just realizing it really all goes back to Emily and the mirror, the means by which we willfully transform ourselves into who we want to be, and I could go on and on and on, and probably will later, but this has been bubbling up ever since hitting that last page, well, since that first cover with Penny actually, obv, and I need to thank you, Gillen & McKelvie & Wilson, thank you for saving me in ways I didn't realize I needed to be saved, thank you for reminding me that the gorgeous distance between E and G# is as far as I'll ever really need to go, and thank you for changing me back into an obsessed and crazed fan ready to cut open his wrist for just one last dose of the good stuff, I almost forgot what this felt like and it is so damn sweet.

PHONOGRAM 2: The Singles Club

2010-04-19T13:43:11-07:00

You're on fire, Rob. Never slow down.