Today’s video of the day is Lady Soliloque’s ‘The Doctor is Extra-Terrestrial’, a mashup remix of Doctor Who composer Murray Gold’s ‘I am the Doctor’ and Katy Perry’s ‘Extra-Terrestrial’.
Deathstroke is confirmed as playable character in Batman: Arkham Origins challenge mode pre-order now for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for exclusive early access to the Deathstroke pack.
Join the methodical and intrepid Erasmus Drake of Scotland Yard, and the irrepressible, unsinkable Dr. “Sparky” L. McTrowell, airship pilot and adventurer in steampunk stories of mystery and intrigue in a London that never was!
Londoners Get Ready to Walk, Jog, and Run to Help Support Cats Protection Charity
Krypton Radio Newswire
Doing it for the Super Kitties, mate!
Cats Protection, a Feline Welfare Charity is helping our fuzzy friends throughout the UK by raising money, caring for, educating pet owners and helping find homes for thousands of cats in the United Kingdom. Coming the 13th of May 2012, Cats Protection is holding a Superhero marathon as part of its fundraising efforts, and if you happen to be in the London area or are willing to travel bit, you to can join in! Free superhero suits will be provided and the registration fee is only £20, Minimum of £100 for sponsorship!
Come and join us to run, walk or jog 5km for Cats Protection. Over 1,000 people are expected to take part and now this is your chance to join them!
We are looking for Superheroes to take part in the Do It For Charity Superhero Run 2012 and raise much needed funds for Cats Protection. We are an official charity partner of the 2012 run and we’re looking for people to join the Cats Team and release their inner superhero! No previous experience is required and with a bit of training the distance should easily be within your capabilities. The spirit of the event is ‘taking part’ not ‘winning’ so you can run, jog or walk – you decide!
Cats Protection - Helping Cats In the UK
Cats Protection is the UK’s leading feline welfare charity. Our vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs.
Cats Protection is the UK’s leading feline welfare charity. Our vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs.
It’s an ambitious vision. However, we truly believe it can be achieved because of our passion, our professional approach and simply because cats are among the UK’s most popular companion pets.
Cats Protection has simple and clear objectives to help cats:
Giggling-Jiggling Bears, Dancing Fish, and Danny DeVito. It’s a Dr. Seuss Movie Alright
By Staff Editor & Film Critic, PK.
If you’ve been following us on Facebook, then you undoubtedly have seen some of my posts. Pondering the question, are modern day 3-D movies worth all the hype I keep hearing about? Well, after taking perhaps a little too much cold-flu medicine and feeling my eyeballs vibrating out of my skull, I decided the logical course of action was to go see a movie. After bouncing out of my car at the theater, I stopped and read the signs carefully. Of all the movies I could see today, which one would appeal the most to a cynical, sarcastic, and slightly high, yet cranky radio editor. Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance 3-D was available, but I thought, “nah”. I’m in pain already, that’s overkill even for someone who enjoys the occasional slap and tickle of a bad movie.
I admittedly have yet to see the new Ghost Rider movie, but it’s one of those rare sequels that gives off the ripe cheese odor straight from the previews. I’ve seen some of the old school 3-D’s using the headache inducing glasses with bright red and blue lenses. But life events and my being a cheapskate had prevented me from seeing a movie using the newer tech. Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax would be starting soon, and I thought it would be good to review a family movie for a change. I also want to extend my sympathies to the lady working the ticket booth, who was being mobbed by a small army of young girls ranging in ages from 5-14, and the parent/guardian of the group who was using the opportunity to teach them math problems while giving them money to buy their own tickets.
Taking a look at upcoming movies and hoping they don’t stink!
By Staff Editor PK
I’m a critic, what can I say? As much as I love movies and especially the Superhero themed ones, I gotta be brutally honest in what I think of them. So I thought I’d share my thoughts on a few of the upcoming movies that I’m anxious to see. Now we at Krypton Radio are not just hardcore fans of Superhero movies, we all enjoy a wide variety of genre’s and so that you don’t feel burned out on the latex clad heroes coming to save the day, I’ll review some other up and coming films that would be great for the entire family!
About:From Studio LAIKA the creators of the hit stop-motion children’s film Caroline, comes ParaNorman. An animated action comedy about a young boy with the uncanny talent to talk to the dead and who embarks on a quest to save his town from rampaging zombies.
Featuring the voice talents of: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Alex Borstein, Tempestt Bledsoe, and Hannah Noyes.
Review: I have to say this looks promising, I’ve seen Caroline and it was smartly written and very well animated. This trailer so far is showing just as much promise, and while zombies movies get old at times, I’m hard pressed to turn down a well written animated film. ParaNorman looks to be a well rounded feature film for kids and grown-ups who are still kids at heart.
Rating & Premieres: Not yet rated (but thinking it will get a “G” rating) – August 17, 2012.
Appropriate for: Young kids and just anyone who enjoys a good animated film.
About: Nicholas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze in this sequel to Ghost Rider; hiding from the devil in Eastern Europe and recruited by a secret group of monks from the Church, he must protect a young boy from the devil. Blaze must come to terms with his Ghost Rider powers and discover if he can save the boy and get rid of his own curse, if he would only embrace the power of the Rider.
Featuring: Fergus Riordan, and Ciaran Hinds as the devil.
Review: It burns! Take Ghost Rider dip him in tar from skull to boots, and give a living skeleton the ability to pee fire? Then you apparently have enough of a reason to make a sequel; however you would think that it would be kinda hard to hide from the devil no matter where you are on the planet. Now I actually enjoyed the first Ghost Rider movie, loved it in-fact, but this gave me reason to pause when the directors of the film are the ones intro’ing the trailer and telling us how much we’re going to love the movie. I would think most film-makers would let the movie speak for itself, but they needed to give us a heads up about how much the movie is going to rock. Nicholas Cage is a real hit and miss kind of star in my book, he was truly wonderful in Lord Of War and I enjoyed his performance in the first Rider film, but this makes me stop and groan a bit. I’ll reserve final judgement until I see the movie, but my hopes will not be too high for this theatrical continuation of the storyline.
Rating & Premieres: PG-13 & will be released on February 17, 2012.
Appropriate for: Due to the violence and adult humor, I’d say keep this to kids 13-14 or older.
About:Official synopsis: “On the eve of her coronation as Empress, China’s most powerful woman is haunted by a chilling murder mystery: seven men under her command have burst into flames, leaving behind only black ash and skeletal bones. Recognizing this threat to her power, she turns to the infamous Dee Renjie: a man whose unparalleled wisdom is matched only by his martial arts skills. As he battles a series of bizarre dangers, he unveils a chilling truth that places his life, and the future of an entire dynasty, in peril.”
Featuring: Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Carina Lau, and Tony Leug Ka-fai, amongst a cast of a thousand or more.
Review: While looking through the various film trailers, I really wanted to find a movie that was just a bit different. We’re being deluged with remakes and spin-offs these days, so when I saw Detective Dee it caught my eye enough to give it a chance. I have to say that this is Sherlock Holmes meets Kung-Fu Panda, the scene where a large antlered deer (which was voiced by a goat) is kung-fu kicked in mid-air nearly had me on the floor laughing. If like me, you enjoy a steady diet of kung-fu action, confused comedy and somehow mixed with an engaging storyline that involves old-world China and deer kicking, then this movie is for you!
Rating & Premieres: PG-13 & is already in theaters!
Appropriate for: Due to the violence and adult humor, I’d say keep this to kids 13-14 or older.
About:IMDB Synopsis: An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism. Inspired by true events, the film combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure. Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of the most elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. Each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the deadly terror plot, which stretches from Chechnya to the Philippines and from Ukraine to Somalia. The widening operation sends the SEALs across the globe as they track the terrorist ring to the U.S.-Mexico border, where they engage in an epic firefight with an outcome that has potentially unimaginable consequences for the future of America.
Featuring: Active Duty Navy SEALs, Roselyn Sanchex, Alex Veadov, Jason Cottle, Nestor Searrano
Review: I intended for this to be a list of reviews for mostly family grade movies, but when I saw the trailer for Act Of Valor, I thought this is one the adults need to see. Our real life superheroes are those who take on these kinds of missions, doing what no one else can. They fight to keep us safe day and night, and this movie is a true tribute to the dedication and heroic efforts of our nations military. While the kids are watching Ghost Rider, Mom and Dad need to pop next door to see Act Of Valor. I calling this movie a must see!
Rating & Premieres: “R” & coming to theaters February 17, 2012.
Appropriate for: Sorry kids, but this one is for the adults. But if Mom and Dad feel comfortable with the older kids seeing it, it’s looking like a great movie.
Tell us what you think! What movies are you anxious to see? Let us know in comments, or hit us up on Facebook to share your thoughts!
While it’s obvious that I’m a Superman fan, I’m an even bigger fan of the independent creators who are always coming out with fresh new original content. Sometimes you have to wonder how many different ways you can re-tell the creation of Batman, or Superman’s birth before fans become permanently burned out. That’s why it’s always a thrill to mingle with those in the indie comics industry, and I had the chance to do so at the Long Beach Comic Con on Oct 30, 2011.
At the convention I met with and interviewed Mr. Thom Zahler, the creator of Love and Capes, an honest to goodness situation superhero romantic comedy inspired in part by the television series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Thom who is a fellow Superman fan, looked at the average Superhero story and thought that no one had really focused on the actual romance between the spandex clad hero and his love; but instead always had the typical sequences of heavy action with the small side story of romance, mixed with the hero’s turmoil of being blessed or burdened with his powers.
Love and Capes follows the adventures of Mark a lantern-jawed yet unassuming accountant, and Abby the bookstore-owner love of his life; who must come to terms with Mark’s secret of being The Crusader, when he decides that he must tell her the truth about his past when professing his undying love for her. Faster than a speeding teen-drama, and able to leap tall soap-operas in a single bound, it’s Love and Capes!
Thom Zahler Interview at Long Beach Comic Con
KR: Hi Thom!, really good to meet you! I’ve heard about your work and seen bits and pieces of Love and Capes on the internet, so tell me what it’s all about and how it got started?
Thom: Great to meet you too! Love and Capes is superhero romantic comedy; it’s about a superhero kinda like Superman who says” I love my girl friend, but if I’m gonna tell her that, I gotta tell her everything”. So, is there ever a good time to tell your girlfriend you have x-ray vision? What does she want for Christmas when she knows you can crush coal into diamonds, things like that.
I was looking for a new project in 2005-2006 somewhere around there, I had written a spec sitcom strip for a contest, and found I really liked doing that. But I knew I worked in the world of comics, and knew that I wanted to do something fun to do with comics. Then I had that chocolate and peanut-butter moment, when I realized no one had really tackled the superhero/superman relationship stuff. It’s kinda like Lois and Clark, but Delta Burke never ever shows up in it.
KR: (laughs) So, you’ve been in the comic book industry before doing Love and Capes, what else have you done?
Thom: I had been working for ten to fifteen years, and started off with doing lettering for the longest time, also doing inking. Love and Capes has gotten me more work than anything else.
KR: That’s really cool, so you’ve got fifteen issues of Love and Capes so far?
Thom: Eighteen issues actually! I had thirteen issues done when I self published, and five issues done through I.D.W this year. And there will be also a sixth issue mini-series coming out from I.D.W next year.
KR: Wow, so I know this is a tremendously popular title and..
Thom: Everyone in my family likes it, yes.
KR: Well a few people in mine like it too. (laughs) It’s such a clean fresh start and it’s got a little Disney in it, and a little Saturday morning cartoonish flavor about it. How did you arrive at this style – or were you planning on going this direction when you started out, or did it just evolve on its own?
Thom: It was conscious direction, the project before was standard superhero looking stuff, and I’m ok at that. But once I started doing a lot more cartooning, that was really my wheelhouse and I stopped trying to fight it. Darwin Cook who wound up doing a cover for issue #3 of the I.D.W series was my big inspiration. I had the DC New Frontier book with me the whole time I was doing that, I also had Steve Silver’s Art of Silver book and a couple other really cartoony stuff. I wanted to go into some new graphic dimension, and it became a lot more organic after that. You can really see the growth from the first issue to like issue 6 or 7, where things really start to come together.
KR: Did you take the route of a lot of these other publishers and start with a web-comic, in order to drive the sales of the physical paper?
Thom: No, actually I did the comic book first, I also work as a graphics designer during the day and as such I have a lot of printing contacts, and knew I could do the book cost effectively. I put the first issue online afterwards, after it came out in stores. And waited until I had more content done with issues 2 and 3 before I put those up; now the book is done in a eight-panel grid, so every fourth panel is a (unintelligible) like a comic strip. It’s built to section up in that four-panel grid, which fits on a computer screen much better, pre-iPad days, so I’ve been able to put the older stuff up. Right now issue eleven is showing online, so ideally you can go to the website, read the comic and get hooked. Decide if you want more, and the only way to get more is that you can buy it.
KR: I see, excellent. Well thank you for speaking with me, it’s been great!
Thom: Thanks, you too!
Now personally, I’ve read a fair amount of Love and Capes online – it reads as a four-panel strip, and has ongoing storylines and memorable characters. The superheroics is central to the premise, but not central to the story. As goofy as some of the situations are, the characters aren’t just throwaway cardboard cutouts. You really get a sense of who these people are and why they think they way they do, and the conflict and comedy comes out of this solid foundation. Add some really appealing character design and strong drawing to that and you’ll be able to see why Love and Capes really hits the mark.
Excerpts from Thom’s Official Biography:
The origins of the man who would become Thom Zahler are shrouded in mystery. Historians currently believe that he was part of the top-secret government super soldier breeding project code-named: “The Zahler Family.”
After twelve years of Catholic school, he was sent to the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art by a military court for a crime he didn’t commit. Zahler promptly escaped the maximum security art education facility to the Northeast Ohio Underground. Today, still wanted by the New Jersey government and several desperate women, he survives as a freelance cartoonist and graphic artist. If you have a job, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire…Thom Zahler Art Studios. Blam, blam, blam, blam, blam, blam, blam!
Thom Zahler is many things to many people, including: cartoonist, penciller, inker, letterer, caricaturist, illustrator, web designer, writer, producer, director, game show contestant, prize in a bachelor raffle, and right-handed relief pitcher. One of his favorite roles, however, is Godfather to his lovely Goddaughter Erin, in which he tries to teach the precocious two-year old that Superman really is cooler than Batman, and that, despite what she may hear on the street, Greedo never, repeat never, shot first.
Zahler’s work has been seen nationwide. He designed the bus seen in the Prilosec advertising campaign, worked in many capacities for various comic book companies including Marvel and Claypool Comics, and has done cartooning for both the Cleveland Indians and the Colorado Rockies. He is the designer and webmaster of “Angel” star Andy Hallett’s website, and has designed logos for companies large and small.
He currently lives at his palatial estate, Zahlerdu, in Northeast Ohio. Okay, he really doesn’t call it “Zahlerdu,” but if he did, it would be because of “Citizen Kane” and not that Olivia Newton-John disco movie. It’s not really a palatial estate, either, but it is a pretty nice place.
It’s been a busy week for the folks at Krypton Radio, but we didn’t forget about the Friday edition of Weekly Artist Spotlight! Let’s get the weekend going with some music, and there’s no better way that we know of than some hard rock and ease on into some instrumental.
You’ve kicked off your shoes and are ready to relax right? Good!
TARSHA
From their website:
TARSHA is the LA based hard rock band featuring lead vocalist Seann Nicols (Tarsha), guitarist Jimmy Douglas, bassist Patrick Morgan, and drummer Kyle Cunningham. Tarsha has been described as “one of the best artists ever at exorcising demons in bursts of creative genius.” (Pitriff.com)
Tarsha released the self-titled ASYLUM EP in 2005. The EP featured the songs Asylum, Upside Down, and You Are Everything, all of which received critical acclaim, garnering seven international songwriting awards from Billboard, Independent Music Awards, and Song of the Year.
In May 2005, Tarsha became the lead singer of Adler’s Appetite, the band led by original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler. Tarsha toured internationally with Adler’s Appetite through 2006.
In 2007, Tarsha independently released his first full-length album “Prophecies”, which became a worldwide Internet radio hit, reaching No. 2 and remaining on the Live 365 Rock Top 30 chart for 77 weeks.
Tarsha released his sophomore album “Divine Universe” in 2008.
After completing a U.S. tour singing for Adler’s Appetite again in 2009, Tarsha independently released “The Singles EP”, complete with a music video for the song “Second Life”.
Tarsha began performing live with his original band TARSHA in 2009. The band performed at The Viper Room, The Whisky A Go Go, and The Roxy, landing a monthly residency at The House of Blues Sunset Strip in direct support for Steel Panther (Metal Skool).
Tarsha also sang for the Phoenix, Arizona based hard rock band ICON. Tarsha made his first appearance with ICON at the Rocklahoma festival in July 2009 in Pryor, Oklahoma and later performed with the band in their hometown, opening for Queensryche at The Orpheum Theater.
Tarsha also appears on the latest Liberty N’ Justice album “Light It Up”, released on Retroactive Records Jan. 19th 2010, performing lead vocals on the original song Uncle Sam, which also features bassist Jeff Pilson of Dokken/Foreigner.
And now for our second feature of the day, we’ll take a look at some professional art design and music production. One such fellow is Mr Holland, he is one of those Hollywood legends you don’t normally hear about, one of those unsung heroes of the city that has produced some of the best that has graced the silver screen. Aside from his photography and islustrated works, Phil has a musical album out which is free to download from his website, we very highly recommend it!
“Released in February 2008, DIN represents a two year instrumental journey. Each song was inspired by chaotic and peaceful defining moments in that span of time. “
From his website:
Phil Holland was born and raised in Southern California. He took an interest in art, science, and entertainment at a very young age. After graduating high school he decided to redirect his interests away from his scienctific career aspirations and education to focus on his creative desires. Determined to improve upon his abilities, for the next few years he was drawing and studying around two to sixteen hours a day. Striving to understand more about color, composition, anatomy, and art history.
From 1999 through 2010 he was employed at Rhythm and Hues Studios. While there he worked on over 100 features films. For the first 5 years of his career he was primarily utilized as a Digital Colorist. Towards the second half of his career at R&H he served more along the lines of a Technical Cinematographer, Still Photographer, and VFX/Color Consultant. Titled as a “Digital Imaging Specialist” he has produced unique solutions to many of the problems in the rapidly changing world of visual effects and cinematography at the studio.
Phil also has a rewarding and active freelance career. He has provided conceptual illustration, matte painting, still photography, color correction/grading, and commercial photography on motion pictures, video games, the music industry, and print for numerous projects.
Currently he is enjoying creating fine art and focusing his professional photographic efforts towards more of a fashion/celebrity/editorial direction. Phil is also focusing a lot of energy towards his cinematography career and has a unique perspective on film making from his work in pre-production, being in front of the camera, behind the camera, post production, and drawing on extensive on set experience.
In his spare time Phil enjoys spending time with friends, drawing, creating music, exploring nature, learning, teaching, and creating personal works.
Weekly Artist Spotlight, is Krypton Radio’s bi-weekly feature, to help raise awarness of the artists who you may not have heard about through mainstream media. All content used in Weekly Artist Spotlight, is used from publicly available sources, and is used to promote the artists we spotlight.
Welcome to another Monday edition of Weekly Artist Spotlight! Today we’re going to do something a little different and see how all of you like it; besides featuring a musical talent, we’re going to mix it up and make our second featured artist something other than a musician. Art comes in many forms, music being just one of them, and we want to give artists of all kinds a chance to be recognized for their work and talent.
Mark Aaron James
Let’s start off with our featured musician Mark Aaron James, many comics fans may know him for his superhero parody song Aquaman’s Lament, which was made even more popular by the Spiffworld YouTube video made for the Blizzcon 2010 machinima contest. Sadly it didn’t make the cut, but the video turned out to perfect for the song and would get our vote for a contest! Mark Aaron James aka “MAJ”, is a New York based Singer/Song-Writer who brings an impressive resume of musical works to the table. Including many pop-rock singles and other hits which has earned him a world wide reputation for unique indie music.
An update from Mr James, he wanted us to pass along that: “Might let your readers know I’ve released “Batman’s Reply” to “Aquaman’s Lament” on my new CD.”
Can’t wait to hear it James!
Professor James Kakalios and The Physics of Superheroes
Kakalios, who earned PhD from the University of Chicago in 1985, began his comic book collection as a graduate student as a way to relieve stress. At Minnesota, he taught a freshman seminar that focused on the physics of superheroes as a way to motivate students to think about physics. This course gained great popularity as an enticing alternative to the typical inclined planes and pulleys of physics.
The seminar was a great success, leading to articles in popular magazines including People, lectures on the subject, and publication of The Physics of Superheroes. In his talks, favorite examples are the death of Gwen Stacy (Spider-Man‘s girlfriend), “can Superman jump over tall buildings and what does this tell us about Krypton?”, the high-velocity actions of The Flash, and the shrinking problem of the Atom. His analysis of Gwen Stacy’s death eventually became integral to the plot of a new Spider-Man comic.
Welcome to the Friday edition of Weekly Artist Spotlight! Today we feature a truly splendid Steampunk artist known as Professor Elemental, followed up by the impressive talent of The Gary Mitchell Band.
Also with the small announcement of making Weekly Artist Spotlight a slightly shorter format, after getting an interesting question from a fan. It was asked, “why the changing format and what is your goal with the feature?”. Weekly Artist Spotlight was started after several requests for information on some of the artists that we play on KR. We play mainly artists that specialize in Comic, Steampunk, and alternative music related to Sci-Fi and pop-culture. These are artists that you more than likely are not going to hear on your local mainstream terrestrial radio stations, because they’re not considered big time enough to get picked up by the media giants out there.
While it’s true we also play some of the big-name artists who everyone knows, we like to feature and play music from the independent musical talents out there. And there is some major independent talent out there who we think could hold their own against the big name groups, any day of the week! Krypton Radio is also one of the few stations dedicated to this type of music, and we’re currently only available online or streamed over your portable media device. We experimented with a few formats for Weekly Artist Spotlight, a small amount of information, a lot of information, middle of the road, etc. And it’s been decided to keep it to a moderate amount of information, which is the spirit of the feature, as we want to Spotlight the artist and let their music and talents speak for itself. It’s one of our ways of giving a shout-out for the artists and helping direct traffic their way, to help support them.
Now let’s get started with Paul Alborough, better known by his hip-hop Steampunk persona Professor Elemental!
Mr Alborough a multi-talented muscian from Brighton-England, entertains audiences of all ages with his stage performances as the tea loving Professor Elemental. Paul, a certified teacher who specializes in helping Special-needs children, takes his acts to the next level by mixing rap, hip-hop, steampunk, and his unique style/approach to entertainment. Not limiting his teachings to the kids, Mr Alborough holds workshops for those looking to join the music business, along with many special engagements from his musical troupe. The Professor’s break out hit is Cup of Brown Joy, you can find his albums for sale on his website along with contact information if you’re interested in hiring him for a special event!
The Gary Mitchell Band features of course, Gary Mitchell! A fellow long time fan of The Green Lantern!
Gary Mitchell came to our attention when we discovered his amazing song based on The Green Lantern, Mr Mitchell had written In Brightest Day in the hopes of having it used in the 2011 Green Lantern movie, sadly however it doesn’t appear it was used. Gary you certainly got our vote on that it should have been used! The song self described as “In Brightest Day” is the perfect GL anthem, exalting themes of courage, perseverance and will power in the midst of impossible challenges, perfect to appeal to fans and non comic fans alike. Mr Mitchell’s band from the Chapel Hill-North Carolina area, performs more than just superhero music, featuring a mixture of acoustic and soft rock.
Krypton Radio is adding new music all the time! If you have a suggestion for a song or group you think we should spotlight,or even add to our line up,just reply in comments to let us know what you think of the music on KR and what else you would like to hear!
“Super Powered Love” is the title-track new single from nerd-rock band KIRBY KRACKLE’s new album out 7/19/2011.
Today on our Monday edition of Weekly Artist Spotlight we feature two of our favorite bands here at Krypton Radio, Kirby Krackle & Abney Park! It’s really hard to pick who is a favorite out of all of the truly amazing artists that are played on KR, but I would have to say that these groups really represent two of the major cultures that enjoy Krypton Radio, Superhero and Steampunk.
Let’s start off with Kirby Krackle, they’re not just for fellow fans of Superhero stories. The group entertains with an exciting mix of music covering comics, video games and other extremely geeky subjects. Kirby Krackle features the talents of singer-songwriters Kyle Stevens and Jim Demonakos, hailing from Seattle Washington the duo has racked up an impressive resume of songs and side ventures. Jim Demonakos is the founder of Emerald City Comicon, self hailed as “The Premier Comic Book & Pop Culture Convention in the Pacific Northwest since 2003!”
Jim is also the co-founder of The Comic Stop, a chain of comic stores in Washington State, with five locations ready to serve your hardcore geek needs.
From the Kirby Krackle Facebook page:
Kirby Krackle is an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. They call their style of music “geek rock” or “nerd rock”, as their lyrics and appearance often involve traditionally “geeky” themes. They have released two full-length albums; a self-titled debut album in 2009 and their second album E For Everyone in 2010.
Super Powered Love:
A third album has been announced and has been scheduled to make its debut in July at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, and will be officially released on July 19th, 2011. On June 16th, 2011, the band announced through their Twitter account that the album will be titled Super Powered Love.
On July 5th, 2011, the band began to accept pre-orders for Super Powered Love on their website and released the first single from the album, also called Super Powered Love, on Bandcamp and iTunes.
Music Videos:
In June of 2010, the band released the “official” music video for the song “Up, Up, Down, Down” from their first album on YouTube. The animated video was followed by a live-action video released the following month for the song “On and On” (off the band’s second release E For Everyone. Since then, the band has released videos for the tracks “Take It From Me”, “Zombie Apocalypse”, “Secret Identity”, and most recently “Ring Capacity”, with all but “On And On” coming in an animated format.
Special Releases:
Kirby Krackle currently have two songs that can be downloaded and played in the video game Rock Band for the XBox 360. On September 5th, 2010, the band announced that “Ring Capacity” was available for download on the Rock Band Network, and on December 18th of the same year “Vault 101″ was released for download.
For Steampunk music, Abney Park is where it’s at. The group also from the Seattle area, features a pulse pounding beat and thrills audiences with its live performances. With the talents of Robert Brown, Kristina Erickson, Nathaniel Johnstone, Daniel Cederman, and Jody Ellen.
From the Abney Park wikipedia page:
Abney Park was formed by Robert Brown in 1997. They released their first full-length album Abney Park in 1998, and in 1999 they released Return to the Fire. Their third album “Cemetery Number 1” drew from their first two albums as well as introducing several new songs.. In the early years of Abney Park, the band featured a gothic musical and visual style, which culminated with their 2002 release From Dreams Or Angels.
In 2005, the band released Taxidermy[2], which is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, three live tracks and two covers. In 2006, the release of the album The Death of Tragedy marked the beginning of a major change for the band, as their music departed from a goth/pagan sound to a more world music/fusion one. After this release, their line-up changed as well, with the departure of Traci Nemeth, Krysztof Nemeth and Robert Hazelton, replaced by Magdalene Veen, Jean-Paul Mayden and Nathaniel Johnstone. Shortly thereafter, Jean-Paul departed the band to be replaced by Daniel C.
In early 2006, Abney Park transformed themselves from a largely goth industrial band into a steampunk band. As part of that transformation, Abney Park invented fictional identities of themselves.[2] Since steampunk is largely derived from science fiction and fantasy literature, the band also created a fictional backstory to explain the shake-up in membership and who they were now, and to set a stage for their new music. According to that story, the band’s plane collided with a time-travelling dirigible called the Ophelia—said to have been created by a Dr. Leguminous Calgori (presumably a reference to the 1920 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)—in a freak storm. The band commandeered the vessel, deciding to become airship pirates, and formed a new band from the surviving members of the crash. Much of their music since that time has been based around this fictional backstory.
In the spring of 2008, Magdalene Veen left the band and was replaced by Finn Von Claret. That year, they released Lost Horizons, their first steampunk-themed album. Finn retired in the summer of 2009 to form Imaginary Daughter. Jody Ellen joined the band later that year and played her first show at Dragon*Con 2009. Also in 2009, the band released Aether Shanties, their tenth album. Nathaniel Johnstone hinted in March 2010 that they were working on songs for their next album, though no names were forthcoming. A recording of a live performance of one of them (later confirmed to be the title track, “The End Of Days”) can be found here. The End Of Days, their seventh studio album, was released on October 15, 2010.
Now sometimes called the “quintessential” steampunk band, Abney Park has been featured in major news media[3][4] and interviewed by several genre magazines and websites,[5][6][1][7][8] and has been highlighted on MTV[9][10][11] and G4TV[12] as primary examples of the steampunk musical scene.
Abney Park has performed at numerous goth and steampunk festivals, including Dragon*Con, Saturnalia, Utah Dark Arts,[13]Bats Day,[14]Convergence, Ravenwood Festival,[15]Masque and Veil, Queen Mary Pyrate Daze,[16] the Bay AreaMaker Faire,[17], Steamcon[18] and Wild Wild West Con.[19] Their music has also been featured in many compilation CDs, including Gilded Age Records’ An Age Remembered: A Steampunk and Neo-Victorian Mix,[20] Cleopatra Records’ The Unquiet Grave vol. III, BLC Productions’ Annihilation and Seduction,[21] Squish Me Down Records’ Eighteen (Eighteen NW Bands Benefit CD); and in several movie soundtracks, including Insomnis Amour, Goth, and Lord of the Vampires.
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