The wolves of manga part 2: lone wolf and cub

It is only right when discussing characters with the name wolf, that Lone Wolf and Cub is brought up. This is definitely a classic manga in the respects of both its release date and material. This manga virtually spawned the samurai genera of manga inspiring many other great series. However at the same time no samurai manga is quiet like that of Lone Wolf and Cub. Lone Wolf and Cub is very much not only one of first famous Samurai manga but also perhaps the greatest of its genera. Using simple concepts to create multiple stories Kazuo Koike is able to get the most of his plot.

One thing that sets Lone Wolf and Cub apart from all other manga is artistic style of the work, which is unlike any other manga of its genera. The work of Goseki Kojima the illustrator of the work is carefully layered lay out and each panel filled with multiple levels of ink and lines. This style of art makes it look as though the work contains both pen and calligraphy brush at the same time. The action sequences are amazing with larger panels for the greatest moments; the panels of these scenes are often filled with splattering ink blood and especially energetic action lines. However what is also special about this work is that the background is always incredibly detailed and, yet feels natural and simple looking. Another thing that is great about the artwork is the facial expression of not only the hero, but also all characters, which can express all sort of emotion. The lead character, Ogami Itto, has an especially expressive face, which is tough and serious making it clear just by looking at him what type of personality he has. Characters also are drawn in a way that no two characters look alike in appearance. The biggest stress on character design is realism as oppose to beauty or a brutally ugliness like other works. The artwork of Lone Wolf and Cub is definitely drawn by a master and works in harmony with the works realistic and yet exciting stories.

The story much like Lupin the Third takes place through short stories based on a group of main characters. Unlike Lupin, however there is an overall storyline that exist to move along the plot, though it is not essential to understand the stories. Lone Wolf and Cub is the type of story Frank Miller wished he had written (he worked hard creating many covers for the series American release), involving a Ronin’s and his young son’s quest for vengeance. Ogami Ittō was once a proud samurai and the executioner for the shogun, however Yagyū clan was jealous of his success and wanted his post for their clan. They murder his wife and household brutally, leaving only his newly born son left alive and frame him for the intent to kill the shogun. He instructed to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for his crimes by the Shoganate. However instead of killing himself and his son he instead chooses to live his life out as an assassin and murder the head of Yagyu clan. Ittio sets out to do this while taking care of his young child and killing any one who gets in his way or he is hired to kill and becomes know as the fearsome assassin Lone Wolf.

This story is really a harsh tale that sticks to the reality of the Tokugawa era Japan, while still adding exciting opponents and situations for him to face. The tough and effective plot outline for the story makes them typically involve either involve the Lone Wolf performing a assassination, defeating other assassins and swordsmen either from Yagyu clan or the Shogun or, a rescuing his son from danger. In all of these stories for the most part the Lone Wolf always ends up doing the right thing despite his for hire position, making him a lot like, “the man with no name” from Westerns. What is also so amazing is how most tales wraps themselves up nice with a single story. My biggest real complaint about the stories is that, although the Lone Wolf views and, helps solve conflict, he rarely has personal conflict. Typically the right answer is always the noblest one and typically involves force. What is interesting about this though is despite the danger the Lone Wolf is in he never shows fear and always has a plan to end up on top in the end, and will allows help the good side no matter the risk involved. Itto will for example purposely get him arrest and fight a gang of prisoner with only a stick of wood or battle elite samurai and ninja if he is asked to by a client.

Each adventure always introduces a new situation and/or special opponent for the Lone Wolf to take on or protect his son from. Another wonderful element in this manga is its ability to give women a strong role while keeps them relatively historically accurate. Though there are many scenes depicting the cruel rape and murder of women, at the same time there are many females that are depicted as power figures. The Lone Wolf many times most face elite female assassins, crime bosses and, thieves; these women are many times more powerful then the men around them. Also none of Lone Wolf and Cub tries to add in needless fan service or over sexualize women, all women in the manga have important roles to play in the story and aren’t merely written in for show. With all the variety of personalities and characters Itto encounters it is really the story keeps fresh and interesting, as well as extreme both in action packed violence as well as realism.

This manga set the standard for all other samurai manga, in both action and realism as well as in characterization. Though many samurai manga have a similar feel to Lone Wolf and Cub, no manga has ever quiet been able to replicate its feel and style. This is definitely a most have manga for those who are fans of story based around samurai’s or westerns, or who love manga filled with sophisticated plots with massive amounts of battle. If you are not really a fan of either then this manga may not be what your looking for, however I suggest checking it out and reading it just to be sure.

One microphone filled with sound: mono

The history of recorded music began and mostly likely at the ends of time will still have a strong connection to poetry. There are many different forms of poetic music covering a number of genera, be it medieval chant to hip-hop poetry has always been closely linked to music. Few musicians however have the true talent to connect poetic words with good music, and even more rarely do more then one person with such a gift join together with such a talent. The Lonesome Brothers luckily not only have not only two great musicians with such skills, Jim Armenti and Ray Mason, they also have a wide variety different styles of both poetry and music. Despite these differences the musician’s on the album Mono combine musical mind of both to create a blend of style that is strong. For this reason this album touches the heart while not feeling contrived.

“Original, creative, pumping, swaying, digging, rocking, blues busting, curve making, straight shooting, no bullshit songs and solos distinguish the Lonesome Brothers from any other band you’ve ever heard.” This is the quote straight from the Lonesome Brother web site about their music and is probably the best description of the style of music played by the Lonesome brothers. No two songs by this group are the same, and they definitely like no other group I have heard. The group has a mix of a wide variety of styles to create a new sound, some of its influences include blues, folk, country, rock and many other styles can be heard in this music. It’s the type of music you have to hear to really understand due to the many styles and complexity of the music.

This album is really so original it’s hard really to describe it currently. What is really apparent lies within music construction, like the music of Bob Dylan and other folk artist it is the vocals that dominate most of the album. All other instrument is used to increase the expressive power of vocals or to ordainment through counter melody. That’s not to say their aren’t solos or moments where instrument take over the theme, however it is clear even in these passages that it is the vocals that are of prime importance to the work. Thus solos are typically are relatively simple in content but deep in meaning and are melodic and, sung like. This sort of restraint shows a level of sophistication that many bands of this sort lack. The Lonesome Brothers style still allows plenty of opportunity for creative expression; because of the caliber of musicianship within the band it is able to keep the instruments exciting. This use of instrumentation is unusual and fits perfectly with the original style of music and deep vocals within the music allowing to breath.

The Lonesome Brothers don’t really fit into any generic musical category; this is because they mix so many different styles that it is impossible to choose one or even two styles to represent the work of this band clearly even in this album. The two main writers of the songs, Jim Armenti and Ray Mason have two very different type of composition. Ray musical style has rhythmic and direct instrumentation, his songs many times describe a characters personality either by taking the part of that character or a person describing the character as their personality is described. His music is influenced strongly by pop, jazz, blues and southern rock, as well as his bass playing. Jim’s music has a very different, Jim music favors the use of larger strummed chords and, the typically has a more poetic style describing feelings on a subject. Jim is clearly influenced by folk music, rock and folk blues; it is also clear by his use of chords that he is guitar player. Though this is clearly an over exaggeration, for analytical purposes it really shows how amazing it is that two very different types of composers and, artist came together to create this kind sound. At the core of the Tom Shea fuses the sounds together with his excellent reserved and, tasteful drumming, as well as a great flavor from the steel guitar by Doug Beaumier and countless other musicians that worked on the album. It’s amazing to think this was all recorded on a mono-microphone in a tent and sounds as great as it does without any real major tweaking.

The best music is the type that is willing to be original and take risks; this is definitely that sort of music. There is no music I ever heard like The Lonesome Brothers, the style of instrumentation; the powerful messages of the songs and the genius of the musician are all at an extreme level of musicianship. This band is truly the best and only music of it’s kind, and deserves your ear if you haven’t or even have heard it before. This album is truly worthy of the praise I give it and more, the songs are memorable and it will stay with you a long time like any great cd’s music should. If you are familiar with The Lonesome Brothers or new picking this one up is definitely is way beyond a smart move to make. In fact this band is so good I suggest getting your hands on as much of their stuff as possible.

The wolves of manga part one: Lupin the 3rd

There is no manga quiet like that of Lupin 3rd and its sequel Lupin 3rd: Most Wanted. Everything within these manga’s are unlike any other manga I’ve ever read; almost everything within them is unusual for a manga. Their qualities make them one of the most entertaining and action packed manga around. Both are very similar making them almost identical in content (which is why I’m reviewing them both) and unlike also any later incarnations of Lupin in distinct way, which is another reason to review this wolf of manga.

The first thing about these bizarre manga’s is the artwork style in both of them, which looks nothing like that found in most other manga. The characters are even more cartoon like and caricatural then even found in Tezuka’s works with strong poses and facial expression of a wide variety that make the art good to look at. Another thing about this style is that it uses strong and dark ink line more often then you usually see in manga works. Monkey Punch’s (the creator and writer) art has an almost sketch like style with lots of line used and rarely much grey tune, instead he prefers to use many light lines to serve that function of grays. All the main character have a stylish late 60’s style appearance and an incredible amount of personality making manga incredibly hip looking. The backgrounds of the work are minimal, but at the same time extremely detailed. This is to prevent distractions from the story and, was clearly not do with the intention of cutting any corners.

This is one of the few manga’s where the personality of the character really matters more then the story. The hero of this manga is very much unlike most anime heroes; Lupin is neither noble nor chivalrous (though he is classy) in Monkey Punch’s version (unlike in many anime adaptations). Instead Lupin is a womanizer, with a wild and zany personality and, an amazing ability to disguise himself and steal valuables. Lupin is the perfect anti-hero, who always makes you want him to succeed strangely enough because he is so selfish and humanistic, at the same time he is a goofy and hip and, never acts in an unpleasantly violently or realistically offensive way. Lupin’s henchmen likewise are different from the most henchmen you see in manga (or any story for that matter. Jigen is an amazing gunman that never misses his mark, has a classy appearance and is the more laid back then Lupin and he counter some of lupin’s recklessness as well, keeping an eye out always for his boss. However, the more interesting henchman has to be Goemon Ishikawa. Goemon is a samurai with a sword that can cut steel who also helps Lupin with his daring crimes many times putting his sword to good use. The female lead in these manga Fujiko Mine is not only amazing beautiful but also incredibly intelligent, flirty and has cunning to match Lupin. She is either out help Lupin or to hinder him and get the treasure first; she uses her charm to control men often including Lupin (though many times Lupin only pretends to fall into her trap). Lupin foil in the series is the Interpole detective Zenigata a run down depressed, but also cunning detective sent to capture Lupin, despite his cunning efforts he is constantly foiled by Lupin’s cunning.

These manga have really little story to speak of, which is why knowing the characters personalities are more important then really knowing anything beside the basic premise. Lupin has no continuous storyline, and is very much a character-based work. For this reason it is a collection of various short stories as oppose to a long narrative found in the manga’s. Story’s typically consist of either Lupin’s daring and cunning capers or of Zenigata’s attempts to capture Lupin and protect valuables. The stories are short, cunning and, creative filled with a adventurous thieving, Lupin knocking up a women but, the most entertaining feature of them are the vast treasure trove of comedy that isn’t afraid to push limits of good tastes to get a laugh. There are many stories involving Lupin nearly avoiding death well seducing a woman as well as many with Lupin disguises himself as every imaginable person and even some animals as well (much like Duke Red from METROPOLIS). These stories and others involving Lupin sex life have been criticized by some for being sexist, however I feel that they are no more sexist then any James Bond movie. In fact I feel that the independence and intelligence of Fujiko and some of the other women in this work makes Lupin far less sexist then most James Bond movies, which usual have the women in them as helpless objects (as well as stupid sexualized names). Still this is definitely not a children’s work and borders at time on offensive, however overall Punch’s pushing of boundaries is more often entertaining and witty then offensive.

Lupin’s manga’s are definitely some of the most fun manga’s to read, the art style is zany, the characters full of personality and the stories wild, fast and entertaining. One thing that is great about these manga is that you can pick up any volume and not have to worry about missing a story line. Monkey Punch’s Lupin, unlike other interpretation of Lupin the character actually works better with quick stories and a lack of on going plot. Lupin is not afraid to do things differently from other manga’s and clearly shows that a lack of storylines or morality can definitely be a nice change of pace. As long as you’re not offended by Punch’s bawdy humor these manga’s are definitely worth picking up, especially if you want a good laugh.

Jumpin’ the joint: Buck Jump

Of the many albums by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band that I have heard, Buck Jump is one of their top of the line. Despite the fact that this album lacks some of the powerful soul and famous stars of the later albums by the group it makes up for it with a settler line up of songs. It is interesting to look back at this album, the album that started the changes in the Dozen’s style that now sets them apart from other brass band. The album is definitely the best of the bands early albums and deserve special attention for it’s many unusually qualities that drew my attention to this band.

The style of this album is very different then any other of the Dozen’s albums I have heard. It retains the New Orleans feel of older albums while combining the flavor of funk occurring in later albums. However the influence of bebop and R&B is stronger in this album then in any of the bands other works, making it one of a kind. This mixture is like a gumbo, filled with a great mix of various flavors into a single sound. Through the use of simple melodic songs the album is easily fits together and captures the listener’s attention, along with it’s wide variety of tracks. Overall this mixture is just as strong as the purity of later albums like FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND and MEDICATED MAGIC.

Although this album doesn’t contain stellar talent of musicians who would later play with the Dozen, the line up of this album is still outstanding. BUCK JUMP includes many of the core members of the Dozen, along with talented studio players to create the albums tight and soulful sound. Although the band is missing something without players like Jamie Mclean and Big Sam, this album has some of best examples of the soloing ability Gregory Davis, Roger Lewis, Efrem Towns and Kevin Harris. Songs like “Time,” and “Dead Dog in the Street,” are prime examples of the founding members ability to improvise. The studio musicians especially the Trombone and Keyboard player’s have great solos, such as in “Unclean Waters,” where both take a leading role in improvising.

The biggest complaint one can have about this album is that sound is not only tight, but also slightly more controlled then what is normal for the Dozen. In comparison with some of the earlier albums this has the advantage of opening up to the listener more and making the album easier to follow. However, in comparison to later albums it is clear that lacks naturalistic elements found in albums like FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND. This is definitely a topnotch album and despite the lack of other famous members of the group that appear later and reduced the flow of the band it carries many great qualities. This album has strong line up and some of powerful pieces of expression from the group’s leaders.

What really sets this album apart for all the other works of the Dirty Dozen though the arrangements and compositions. The overall complexity of groove of the piece makes the compositions some of the best works of the Dozen, with such tracks like “Pet the Kat.” However it is the powerful backgrounds to the solos that make these pieces stand out. The studio musician live up to impressive title of studio musicians combining with the main players to create background to solos that are complex and played dead on. This really brings to life many songs like “Time,” or “Inner City Blues,” making them memorable. This also the albums has a wide variety of style ranging R&B, reggae music, Latin Jazz, funk, bebop and tradition Brass Band music making it the Dirty Dozen’s most varied album. It does all this while remaining very close to the style found in the groups other albums.

Answer.com has perhaps the greatest description of this album calling it, “Jazz and Joy.” Although it differs from all other albums by the Dirty Dozen it offers a special look at the founding members. It’s use of studio musicians and complex arrangements makes it delight to listen to. This is the sort of album that you can listen to over and over again and hear something new each time. Although it differs greatly from the previous and further albums of the Dozen it should be pleasing to any Dozen fan. This album is the best album to introduce a new listener to the Dozen’s sound as well, because of the variety of the album has to offer.