SizerBlog

Thomas Dolby: AMERIKANA EP is out!

2010-06-16T14:24:07Z

It's here! Thomas Dolby's first new studio music in 20 years, the "Amerikana" EP is released today, and I can finally divulge the news that I will be working with Thomas Dolby on ALL of the design work leading up to and including his new album, "A Map Of The Floating City" later this year. It's a dream come true for a huge Dolby geek/fan, but I've had a great time collaborating with Thomas so far, and there's some really cool stuff coming up in the near future!

Here's the official press release:
Today I'm releasing my first new studio music in nearly 20 years. It's called Amerikana, and it's available ONLY to members of my online fan community, The Flat Earth Society.

"I've chosen not to make this a full commercial release for various reasons. My plan has always been to put out a series of three digital EPs (taking their names from the 3 sections of my upcoming album A Map Of The Floating City) followed by a physical album with additional tracks. But as I've yet to settle on a particular release method for that album - be it self-publishing, a record label, or some new hybrid - I'd prefer not to undermine the album's commercial appeal by pulling the trigger too early. However, my 'hardcore' audience have been following my adventures on my blog and web site as I go through the process of writing and recording these songs, and it's only natural they would want an early listen to my new music. So I arrived at the idea of releasing the EPs exclusively to FES members. You will only be able to buy it here on my website, and not on iTunes, Amazon etc.

Amerikana is an affectionate look back at the 22 years I lived in the USA before returning to my native Britain three summers ago. While living in the States I became very fond of roots American music. And as it's music that was always spread and shared by travelers sitting around camp fires, I felt I'd add my traveler's voice to its ongoing story. Needless to say, I'm no hillbilly or good ol' country boy, so my own flavour of americana is a bit twisted, a bit mischievous. 'Road To Reno' charts the progress of a pair of hapless lovers as their red convertible blazes a trail across the desert in a kind of indie road movie, serenaded by my longtime cohorts the Jazz Mafia Horns. 'Toad Lickers' is about a group of crazed eco-hippies in the Welsh mountains who get high on Bufo alvarius and creep into the local town after hours in search of munchies. It has cameos from Imogen Heap on jaw harp, longtime FES member Crackers on accordion, and fiddler Natalie MacMaster.

But the EP's 'coup de resistance' is a 7?38? epic entitled '17 Hills'. Very much in the tradition of 'I Love You Goodbye' and 'Budapest By Blimp', this song weaves a bittersweet tale using words, sounds, textures, and surprising left turns in the arrangement. It features beautiful playing by Mark Knopfler, who graciously allowed me into his private studio as he added some of his signature licks, complimenting my vocal to perfection. Pedal steel player Bruce Kaphan, who produced American Music Club and has toured with David Byrne, adds soaring atmospherics. Natalie MacMaster injects a touch of Cape Breton charm with a mesmerising looped fiddle solo. Radical string quartet Ethel beckon us into the realm of the surreal. And Jeffrey Wash's pristine fretless seems to channel one of the greatest bass guitar showcases of all time, Joni's 'Hejira'.

As I mentioned, Amerikana is only one section of my album, and three of its four songs are represented here. The price, including high-res MP3s and a print-ready digital booklet, is a very affordable $3.00 / E3.00 / £2.00. The subsequent two EPs 'Oceanea' and 'Urbania' - available later in 2010 - have quite different styles, and some may prefer one over another. My albums, as you know, often cover a wide range of genres, because like a novelist I really enjoy exploring a new idiom, instrumentation, time and place; and thankfully my core fanbase has been willing to go along for the ride. So you have options: you can choose to wait for the full album and get all the goodies in one package, or you can plunge in now, and see where you end up! The eventual AMOTFC album will definitely contain at least 3 songs not included on the EPs.

That said, there is a theme running through the EPs that you might want to be aware of. The album has a backstory which is something you will have to dig a bit to uncover. Contained on each EP is a 'clue', and you're going to need to unravel its secret at each stage of the proceedings. I won't say more than that for now. My recent visit to JJ Abrams' facility in California might give you a hint about what I'm up to!

Here's the link to buy the EP. If you're not already a community member, you can sign up here!

I hope you enjoy Amerikana, and will look forward to hearing your feedback."

So there you go; sign up for his online community and get free cool new music, designed by me! It's a win-win situation.

MAKE: UNIQUES League of Seven Pin-Up

2010-06-10T01:40:44Z

A pin-up done for my good friends (and fellow Michiganders) Adam Withers and Comfort Love, who do the amazing and visually stunning comic book THE UNIQUES, a book that is what the Teen Titans SHOULD be, without all the bad writing and screwed up characterization.

They release all their books for free online for people to check out, and sell them like gangbusters at conventions all over the place.
You can check out the latest book they're doing, an off-shoot title called UNIQUES TALES, which focuses on the backstory of the UNIQUES, and the history and lineage of the current super-heroes in the book, at this link.

With this in mind, they've got an amazing assembly of artists working on the art and pin-ups for this series, and they asked me to lend my penchant for doing old school retro posters for my contribution, showing the League of Seven, their book's version of the Justice League. I had a blast with this one!

ACEN 2010

2010-05-18T01:50:52Z

I spent this last weekend exhibiting at Anime Central (ACEN) and once more came back more invigorated about making comics than I've been in months.
Here's why...
FOUR THINGS THAT MAKE AN ANIME CONVENTION WHAT A COMIC CONVENTION SHOULD BE

1. GENUINE FAN ENTHUSIASM
Yes, part of what makes the fans at an anime convention enthusiastic is equal parts sugar and hormones, but damn if it isn't infectious. People who came to my table were excited to be there, but also desiring to be on the other side of the table some day, selling their own work, not just consuming, but wanting to create their own stuff. Of course I got a few "So, what do I need to do to work on NARUTO one day?" questions, but those were greatly overshadowed by the "How do I start doing my own stuff?" questions.

2. WILLINGNESS TO DISCOVER
I made some serious bank at this con, more than at all the other conventions I exhibited at all last year (less last year's ACEN). Why? Because I met fearless fans who either (A) bought one of my books last year and came back for the rest, or (B) just decided to pick up something they liked the look of, even something that was fringe at this kind of convention. I did a ton of commissions the first day from fans making snap decisions that they wanted me to do something for them. And at comic conventions, I still get the "Oh, I don't read black and white books" as an excuse. Really, that's the best you've got?
The fans at these anime conventions are willing to take a chance, and even in these crap economic times, willing to put some money on the table.

3. DIVERSITY OF FANS
Seems weird to have to bring this out as a remarkable point, but man, I love doing a convention that has some ethnic/age/sexual orientation diversity to it!
It just makes things stronger for all, and makes me realize how narrow-cast the mainstream comic market can become. And to see an environment where kids where teens can safely fly their freak flag in any direction they wish while surrounded by people and things that they love is really awesome to witness.
And not just teens, but adults, male/female and all points in between. It's all good.
I saw a marked increase in cross-dressing cosplay this year, and man, they BROUGHT IT WELL AND HARD. Great to see, on many levels.

4. A KICK IN THE ARSE
Again, I walked away from this convention fired up to make stories, complete the stories I have in progress and just do, do, DO! Having to tell all those young artists that they need to work hard reflected nicely back on me, and reminded me to take that same advice. It also made me what to encourage others to demand this level of energy at the mainstream cons they go to. The programming, panels, Hell, one of the staff actually came around to offer me a hand made chocolate that was exquisite! Cheaper tables for artists! They close the vendor area a half hour before the Artist Alley area, to force fans to blow more money on art! This is a con that values the creators, and it's made this convention grow and grow over the years. I am back next year, no question, with new product. Period.

Thanks to the nice locals who stopped by to say hello and buy stuff. You made a kilted man's day!
You can check out my FLICKR set of photos here!

Drop Some "Science"

2010-05-10T22:07:38Z

OK, so here's my "big news" that I've had to keep quiet about until I could talk publicly about it. Thanks for putting up with my "non-disclosure" self, it's been really hard sitting on this one!

I'm doing design work for Thomas Dolby's next music release.

As you may remember, a while back I entered and won a contest to design a t-shirt for the one-off gig at Union Chapel that Dolby did. He was very happy with my shirt design and used it extensively in the show itself. I wrote him a follow-up email, congratulating him on a successful show and thanking him for getting so much use out of the design for the show. His reply: "No, thank you. Fancy taking a crack at doing the design for my next single?"

You must understand;
I have been a hardcore Thomas Dolby fan since I picked up the UK import 12" single of "Europa and the Pirate Twins" from my local music store in 1982, and have continued to love his music solidly since then. This is a complete mind-blower for me; I imagine time-travelling back to 1985 Paul Sizer, still in college, and whispering in my own ear that in 20 or so years I would be doing design work for my musical hero! My head would have exploded, and a horrible time paradox would have occurred also (not to mention my younger self screaming when I saw what I would look like in the future)!

Thomas and I have been in constant communication from the UK (he lives along the North Sea coast with a re-constructed large life boat on his property that is his studio, powered by wind-power, of course), where he is recording his new album, "A Map Of The Floating City", due out late this year.

So yes, it's true. And here's the cool part. Thomas is also the musical director for TED, and he did a live version of a new song called "Love Is A Loaded Pistol" which you can see performed at this year's TED Talks.

And you can also sign up at his site and and download a free version of this live single with my artwork for the cover. I'm working on a lot of other design work with Thomas that is linked to some incredibly cool concepts and ideas he has for releasing a new album on his own, and making use of what the internet and mobile tech can now really offer an artist who is as tech-savvy as Dolby (his company Beatnik created the polyphonic ringtone technology that is in every Nokia phone on Earth, so he's got THAT on his resume along with "She Blinded Me With Science").

Here's the info about Dolby's announcement of the new album "A Map Of The Floating City"

Was that worth all my ominous teases? Hope so, I am seriously geeked about this, let me know what you think.

Art on USA TODAY and C-NET

2010-04-06T12:51:50Z

"ARMCHAIR REVOLUTIONARIES" is a site that has just launched, and they are using my artwork as part of the big media blitz they are rolling out, which means in the last 24 hours my art have been posted on USA TODAY.com and C-NET.

C-NET
USA TODAY

This is a "social crowdsourcing project", meaning that, in the same way that people play the Farmville game on Facebook, people can do the same here but raise awareness of scientific and social causes. They more work they do, the more prominent their mini-site within ARM-REV's site is featured. As they accumulate more "credits", they can "rent" artwork like mine to trick out their site area, and draw more attention to it. I still own all the rights to the artwork, and every place it's used, it's hotlinked back to my site. And I get paid when my art gets used.

This will be interesting to see how this progresses. The site is backed by a ton of Hollywood bigwigs, so it's going to be interesting to see where this leads to as far as people seeing my work. Will it translate to paying gigs? We'll see...

Very weird, but very nice.

New Art from the Ellis Boards (3-25-10)

2010-03-25T13:24:00Z

New stuff from the DRAW EACH OTHER and REMAKE threads, this week re-imagining YOUNG ROMANCE #1.

My poster in a video game mod

2010-03-22T13:41:06Z

This is a strange one, but completely within the jurisdiction of how I made this available via Creative Commons. Dude gave me full credit and provided the work as a free download. It's a mod or "spray" on a game called DAY OF DEFEAT that uses my Black Angel REmake "Kick Their Axis" poster:

Actually kind of cool to see.

Here's the full entry:LINK

REMAKE/REMODEL: Amazing Fantasy #15

2010-03-17T15:04:15Z

This week's REMAKE/REMODEL challenge; the redesign of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider Man.
One illustrative, one typographic.

Thomas Dolby: My Design at Work

2010-03-03T03:22:10Z

As you may remember, I won a contest to design a T-Shirt for one of my musical heroes, Thomas Dolby, for a one off concert he just did March 28 in the UK.

Well, they produced the t-shirts with the design for the concert, but they also used my design on a huge video screen in the church where the concert took place, and hooked up a webcam on Dolby's piano so that when he was playing, his face showed up in the center of my design! How cool is that? Here's some photos of the actual t-shirt that people sent me, along with shots of the video screen.

Had to miss this show, but Mr. Dolby has assured me he'll make it worth my while when he tours the US for his upcoming album.

(Photo courtesy of some nice fan at the show, many thanks!)

Tons more photos here: THOMAS DOLBY'S FORUM

MAKE: Superman Re-Imagined

2010-03-03T03:18:28Z

Wow, THIS is going to be an interesting week...
The pitch from Warren Ellis:
"So here's the deal:

You are an artist/designer. You have to put together the cover for a comic called SUPERMAN. It is issue 1 of this book.

You have been told that Superman is a man who dresses predominantly in a shade of blue, and wears a red S symbol. You know nothing else about the character.

The cover must include a logo and the text THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE DARING EXPLOITS OF THE ONE AND ONLY SUPERMAN.

And that's it.

It's up to you what kind of company you're at. What kind of comics you make. How you translate that description of Superman. What era you're in. Who you are, even. Go nuts with it.

You have one week. Go."

Decided to whip out the type-fu for this one, go all Swiss on it.
Worked really hard to keep it simple, and assume nothing more than exactly what was given.

MAKE: More Whitechapel art...

2010-03-03T03:12:14Z

Here's a bunch of recent stuff that's been posted on Warren Ellis' WHITECHAPEL forums in various places. Gotta be true to my commitment to keep making 2010 a year of MAKE.

MAKE: SkyRocket Steele

2010-02-24T16:51:42Z

After a short hiatus, the REMAKE/REMODEL thread is active at Whitechapel. Here's this week's challenge:

"Skyrocket Steele was a hero in the year X. He was assisted by Sari Marston and Invex the Invisible Man. His nemesis was Vance Roy.
Skyrocket Steele was the first character created by Bill Everett (the guy who created the Sub Mariner."

So here's my take on it:
"Skyrocket" Steele, the most highly decorated pilot of the French Negro Air Corps of 1923. His daughter Sari served as his mechanic, and the corps were funded by the "invisible" Invex Corporation, a secret group of investors.

REVIEW: Massive Attack's "Heligoland"

2010-02-09T16:59:55Z

MASSIVE ATTACK: HELIGOLAND (9 out of 10)
Review by Paul Sizer

Massive Attack won me over from the start by how they combined so many influences into a cohesive mix. Dub, reggae, electronics, dance/club influences, rap, hip hop, all things that, if combined badly, would result in a horrible sludge of fighting and dissonance. But what made Massive Attack really standout was their fearlessness at then, on top of all that, bringing in vocalists that actually had a different angle on all of it. Tricky, Horace Andy, Tracy Thorn, Sinead O'Connor, Liz Fraser. And they let these vocalists do what they do, and in some way, it all seemed like it belonged together. The mix is their strength. Always.

My vote for strongest album is "Protection", followed right on the heels by "Mezzanine". "100th Window" and "Danny The Dog" only suffered because they strayed from the vocalist in the mix quotient, and became more a solo project of Robert Del Naja. And while he is a brilliant producer of sounds, I think he realized that his true strength lies in working with great vocalists. Hence "Heligoland".

I will venture to drop "Heligoland" in at #3 for me, only because of the slightly uneven nature of "Blue Lines", which I'll put at #4. Part of Massive Attack's earlier albums being so ahead of the curve were that NOBODY was doing what they do. Now, there's a whole generation of musicians who have had Massive Attack's albums as part of their learning process, so they don't stand apart as much as they once did. But they must know this, because while many bands sound like them, nobody really sounds as good as they do at it.

My first comment on hearing Gil Scott-Heron's new stuff was "Man, THIS is what Massive Attack needs to sound like." But I'll take that back a bit; Gil's new music fits very nicely in the mold made by Massive Attack years ago. Dubstep owes it's genesis at least in part to what Massive Attack paved. I loved hearing Scott-Heron's new music because it reminded me of hearing Massive Attack's mixture.

I'll give "Heligoland" a 9 out of 10, only because I want to hear more of the remixes that are sure to come from this album, and because they can always still surprise me, so I give them room to do so.

See? I wasn't lying...

2010-02-02T04:17:27Z

I DID get a review of LITTLE WHITE MOUSE in a Russian gamer magazine.
Here I am reading the article, or at least looking at the pictures and pretending it's a glowing review. (My contact assures me that the review is kind).
My promo copy came in the mail today.

MAKE: Alchemy

2010-01-30T16:35:43Z

Been screwing around for a few days with some freeware called ALCHEMY. Very cool, randomized sketching software, more dedicated to the chaotic creation of forms rather than straight up representation. Not sure how it's best used, but it's a nice distraction and brain clearing exercise. Check out the website for download and sample work, along with the designers showing how it can be used. Very cool!

Here's a desktop design I did last night, again just messing around, but some cool directions may come from this.