What music is best for reading comics too?

[true_believer]

Well questions in the title...
I personally like indie music with a "stoner" vibe to it.
I've always wanted to ask Kevin Smith this question cause his choice on his movies are perfect. (ie.Silverchair - Stoned)
What do you listen/recommend?
:rolleyes:

[Jack Zodiac]

Nothing. I don't think comic books need a soundtrack. Besides, I don't wanna' run the risk of listening to something that's completely inappropriate for the book I'm reading. The last thing I want is to ruin my reading, say, tomorrow's finalé to Monster Society of Evil with some Nine Inch Nails.

[dancj]

I listen to music for programming, but I always turn it off to read comics. I think they both hit the same parts of my brain too much

[Sir Tim Drake]

It would be kind of cool if comics had instrumental musical scores, like silent films did.

On the other hand, the trouble is that music and comics have different temporalities. By which I mean, music has a predetermined pace and speed; unless you speed it up or something, it always takes the same amount of time to listen to a given piece of music. Whereas, with comics, the reader chooses how much time to spend on reading each individual panel. So if you created a musical score to accompany a comic, you would essentially be forcing the reader to read the comic at a predetermined pace.

That might have its own interesting effects, though.

[dan bailey]

The older I get -- I turned 103 a couple of months ago (no, wait: that was my gf's grandmother ... but I'm only a very few years short of being halfway there myself) -- the more likely I am to read in silence.

It might be different (though probably not, for the sorts of reasons Sir Tim goes into) if I listened to many instrumentals, but I prefer words with my music, & my favorite bands -- The Fall, Alien Sex Fiend, the Mekons, Wire, Pulp, KFMDM, ad almost infinitum -- rarely go the instrumental route anyway.

It might also be different (though, again, I doubt it) if I had any interest in iPods or whatever it is you young people listen to these days (for that matter, the speakers on my computer aren't even hooked up -- as one of Fred Allen's characters back during the Depression said about radio, I don't hold with furniture that talks), but for me music is what comes out of my stereo or my ghetto blaster a few feet away from where I'm reading. Which I guess means it's even less likely to be integrated into my perceptual experience, or something like that.

[BillR]

Pulp! Dan Bailey, you're awesomesauce. I am listening to them as I type this.

However, I don't like listening to stuff whilst reading comics.

I would like to write a comic that comes with its own soundtrack, though. It'd be cool.

[Dan Apodaca]

Wow. You guys are boring. I always listen to music while reading comics, if I can. It just helps me get lost in the world between the pages.

I don't really have a favorite band for it, per se. I usually just switch on the shuffle.

[DubipR]

Wow. You guys are boring. I always listen to music while reading comics, if I can. It just helps me get lost in the world between the pages.

I don't really have a favorite band for it, per se. I usually just switch on the shuffle.

Thank you Dan!
I put on the Ipod and press Random and let it fly. Interesting reading as I get some Celtic music play into some Walker Kong into some Humble Pie. Bless the random play!

[stealthwise]

I listen to stuff that will:

A) Help set the tone. I.e. some good hard rock for action-focused books, or some creepy metal for horror type stuff.

B) Not get in the way. I find the Mars Volta great for a lot of listening, because the lyrics rarely distract me from what I'm reading. Try it while reading Desolation Jones!

[Mutate]

When I first started going to my local comic shop, they played Britpop like Blur and Pulp. Now, they play punk and metal.

I like to listen to the soundtrack of the character, like Elfmans Batman and Williams Superman. Or, the animated X Men theme. For Sandman, Cure/Smiths type music. For Dredd, Goldfrapp's Utopia. For indie comics, lo fi indie/alternative music.

[zuludelta]

Whilce Portacio's creator-owned Stone (http://milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=fullsize&issue=82588117840%201) from the late 1990s actually had an "official soundtrack" on CD and cassette, although as far as I know, it was only released in limited quantities in his native Philippines. It was a pretty unremarkable comic book (although one thing that set it apart was that it incorporated elements of native Philippine folklore and mythology) with an equally forgettable soundtrack... I can't remember any of the big-name US or UK artists on it (there might've been a Tool song in there somewhere) but a couple of songs that were written and performed by local artists were pretty good. My then-girlfriend and I used to make out to Razorback (feat. Chill)'s hip hop-meets-Kyuss inflected "Stone".

[Citizen V]

I dont listen to anything,i think it distracts you.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

It would be kind of cool if comics had instrumental musical scores, like silent films did.


There was an Australian comic, Zero Assassin, who's last one-shot had a Progidy song listed as it's soundtrack, and by gum, if you timed it right, they really did go together well.

[dan bailey]

One could always burn one's own, of course, but one recent comic I can think of that would be perfect for a soundtrack is Image's intensely music-centric Phonogram. I'm at least somewhat familiar with most of the bands & songs referenced in the dialogue & plot & the writer's notes in back -- Pulp, Blur, the Eyebrow Brothers (uh ... I mean, Oasis), Elastica & such Britpop also-rans as Menswear, Sleeper, etc -- but I'm sure quite a few (potential) readers aren't.

Of course, the characters'/creator's insistence on mythologizing the majesty that was allegedly the Manic Street Preachers is equal parts laughable & pathetic, but then it's all a matter of taste anyway ... & all in all, it's a heck of a comic.

Didn't Mike Allred's band, The Gear, do a soundtrack or at least an accompanying single for Red Rocket 7, or whatever it was called?

[Dan Apodaca]

Didn't Mike Allred's band, The Gear, do a soundtrack or at least an accompanying single for Red Rocket 7, or whatever it was called?

Yeah, it came with a CD.

I remember there was that Brian Wood series, "Demo", which had soundtracks for each issue on the inside of the back cover. A pretty cool idea, but a little too reliant on people owning or finding the music you pick.

[DubipR]

Yeah, it came with a CD.

I remember there was that Brian Wood series, "Demo", which had soundtracks for each issue on the inside of the back cover. A pretty cool idea, but a little too reliant on people owning or finding the music you pick.

I had to buy my copy of the Gear separately when the issues of RR7 came out.
You can also put James Kochalka as another that puts CDs of his music with his books.

I know that Chynna Clungston in her Blue Monday books, she would place playlists throughout. I actually made a few of them and they were really good listening, but only for those books.

[dancj]

Yeah, it came with a CD.
Damn - I didn't get that when I bought my copy on eBay.

[markblack]

I often find music distracting when I'm reading comics, but I find instrumental music a little less distracting. Caribou/Manitoba and Prefuse 73 are good choices to listen to when I'm reading. I'm sure Madvillian would be an inspired choice for the obvious reasons, but it might require too much of my attention.

[DC/Marvelfan]

I only listen to soundtracks, the Score.

It makes it so much better. I can't read with regular music playing. I like something without words as I'm reading.

And if there isn't a movie yet for a certain book, I'll improvise, if it's a Marvel book I'll just lsten to a Marvel movie score.

Like since I don't have the score for the Hulk and didn't like it anyway, score and movie alike, I'll just listen to the Spidey score with it, or the 1st X-men score.

I usually just read Batman and Superman for DC, but if I read something like Green Lantern, I'll listen to the Superman Returns score. :cool:

[howyadoin]

I remember there was that Brian Wood series, "Demo", which had soundtracks for each issue on the inside of the back cover.Mahfood does that sorta thing pretty often, too. Usually on the first page.