The Monitor: Homeland, Flying Lotus, and Building Stories
Summary
In this article, we cover a range of topics in pop culture from Homeland season 2 to music albums from Flying Lotus and Analog Player Society, and novel comic books like Happ and Building Stories by Chris Ware. The article discusses the return of Homeland, its lead actors’ performances, and a few other new instrumental albums. It also details Grant Morrison’s Happ, a comic book about an alcoholic ex-detective and his hallucinations, and Building Stories, a novel by Chris Ware featuring a collection of comics, strips, and books about the inhabitants of a building.
Table of Contents
- Homeland season 2
- New albums from Flying Lotus and Analog Player Society
- Happ by Grant Morrison
- Building Stories by Chris Ware
Homeland season 2
Homeland season 2 has finally premiered, and the article discusses the show’s lead actors and their performances. Damian Lewis portrays a US Marine who becomes a sleeper agent after being converted to Islam while being held captive in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Claire Danes portrays a mentally unstable CIA agent who was expelled from her agency at the end of season 1. The second season is just as intense as its predecessor, and the show’s ratings seem to increase with each new episode.
New albums from Flying Lotus and Analog Player Society
The article talks about two new instrumental albums, one from Flying Lotus and the other from Analog Player Society. Until the Quiet Comes is Flying Lotus’s fourth album, featuring Erykah Badu, Thundercat, and other artists from his previous albums. The album features some percussively jarring moments but also has some polished tracks with smoothed-out, updated sounds. Analog Player Society’s album Hurricane Season in Brooklyn features a group of session musicians who have come together to create a unique pop-music album. The songs have a kind of reggae lilt with a bit of shuffle beat, and the cover of the 80s freestyle song “I Can’t Wait” is particularly interesting.
Happ by Grant Morrison
Happ is a four-issue miniseries by Grant Morrison that follows the story of an alcoholic ex-detective who is on the run from the mob. The detective hallucinates a crazy cartoon blue horse, which purports to be someone else’s imaginary friend and is trying to lead him to safety. Happ is a ridiculous comic book, with one of the most hilariously disturbing panels of the year. It’s hard to describe, and the author refrains from doing so for fear of spoiling the book’s content.
Building Stories by Chris Ware
Lastly, Building Stories is Chris Ware’s new project that’s been released this week. It’s a collection of strips, books, and comics about the inhabitants of a building. The author had apiece of Building Stories serialized in the Sunday magazine of the New York Times almost a decade ago, and now it’s been put together in a much larger form. The collection is an endless experience that the reader can pick up and read in any order they please. It has a voyeuristic and temporally confusing experience, as there is no beginning and no end. Chris Ware captures the essence of quiet despair and sadness in the book, leaving the reader on the verge of tears quite often.
Conclusion
The Monitor covers pop-culture topics from Homeland season 2 to new albums from Flying Lotus and Analog Player Society. It also details novel comic books like Happ by Grant Morrison and Building Stories by Chris Ware. This analysis gives an excellent overview of each of these pop-culture phenomena, serving as a great guide for those looking to explore new genres.
