A Heart That Hurts Is A Heart That Works

North American Hallowe’en Prevention, Inc. “Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en? (Cadence Weapon Remix) – By now, most of you have probably heard the original version of this benefit single featuring a host of indie rock stars and hipsterish celebrities, but here is a fresh new mix of the track by Fluxblog favorite Cadence Weapon. The mix was commissioned by Vice, but has yet to be officially released. As with the original version, David Cross is the highlight of the production as he sings “our babies are sobbing” with maximum melodrama. Actually, I like to think that he’s doing that part in character as Tobias Funke, wearing nothing but cut-offs and blue paint. (Click here for Vice’s NAHPI site or here for the Cadence Weapon site. To contact Cadence Weapon for remixes and parties, please write to razorbladerunner @ gmail.com)

Juliana Hatfield “Universal Heartbeat” – The very tragic thing about this song is that if it came a decade before or after 1995, it’s possible that it could have been a real pop hit, but it’s also very hard to imagine this song being written and produced in a time other than the mid-90s. The other thing is that it seems to be damned to the sidelines of pop if just because of the fact that it is written and performed by Juliana Hatfield, a woman who at the time of its release was already seeming like a curious relic of cutesy early 90s indie culture. In spite of some solid pop chops and an appealing appearance, Hatfield has never seemed able to overcome that strange Sassy stigma, and it’s a shame. Anyone who can write a tune as charming and catchy as “Universal Heartbeat” deserves so much better than to end up as a footnote to Evan Dando’s wikipedia entry. (Thanks to Matty!) (Click here to buy an out-of-print copy of the original album for less than a dollar from Amazon Shops or here for the significantly more expensive Juliana Hatfield greatest hits compilation.)

Also! Bobby Sherman!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written about comic books on this site, but I feel compelled to recommend Michael Allred’s issue of Solo, which is easily one of the most joycore comics that I’ve ever read. In 64 pages, Allred (along with his brother/co-writer Lee and his wife/colorist Laura) runs wild with a heartfelt homage to the DC Comics of his 60s youth. The highlights are “Doom Patrol Vs. Teen Titans,” in which the original Teen Titans have a dance party in Bruce Wayne’s loft, disrupting the Doom Patrol’s rest on the floor below, and the brilliant “Batman A-Go-Go!,” an ambitious story that makes a strong case for the upbeat, flamboyant Batman of the 60s over the dreary, oppressive Batman of the past twenty years. The story is as much about Batman’s cultural evolution as it is about Allred’s pro-joy philosophy of art. He totally nails it on this page, as Alfred Pennyworth challenges the popular notion that the only valid depiction of reality in art is ugly and relentlessly negative. It’s an incredible piece of work, and I can’t possibly recommend it highly enough.