Mixtape: Viking's Bubblegum
Caption: Spectators is a NSFW webcomic by Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Paper Girls) and Niko Henrichon (Pride of Baghdad). On the surface, it's a pre-post-apocalyptic story about sex, violence and voyeurism that — it should be noted — is quite graphic and unsparing. The opening pages are rough, so if a mass shooting is a barrier to entry, this won't be for you — I almost checked out myself. But what happens in the aftermath is quiet and lonely, as our main character becomes a ghost to witness our thrills, despair and humdrum. Spectators, then, becomes something different, a meditation on human connection in an overwhelming culture of disconnection. The first 150 pages are available to download for free; year two is in production now. —Lars Gotrich
P.S.: If you're new here, hi! I got a bump in subscriptions over the weekend. The Viking's Choice newsletter sends out two different types of emails: every-other-week mixtapes with a short intro about what I'm reading, eating or drinking; short essays on music. Happy to have you here!
Stream the Viking's Choice playlist via BNDCMPR. Follow my Bandcamp collection. Tracklist below:
Cumbias En Moog, "Cumbia de sal"
Illegal Crowns, "Crooked Frame"
billy woods & Kenny Segal (feat. Sam Herring), "FaceTime"
Irreversible Entanglements, "Nuclear War"
SPACED, "Cycle Killer"
Speedy Ortiz, "Scabs"
Dawn Richard, "Bubblegum"
Cortex, "(If you where) Mac Davis)"
Fourth World Magazine III, "Human Gaze + Hermanubis = The Veolcity of Angels"
Jantra, "Gedima"
Pel Mel, "Love on a Funeral Pyre"
Nabalayo, "Jizingatie"
Julie Christmas, "Not Enough"
Mesarthim, "Type IV"
Яма, "Яма"
Big Blood, "1000 Times"
The Lassie Foundation, "Let Your Boy Come Back"
Julius Eastman, "Evil N*****"
Pissed Jeans, "No Convenient Apocalypse"
GHÖSH, "Devil Lady"
Liberty & Justice, "fatigue"
Cynic, "Veil of Maya (Re-Focus Version)"
Special Friend, "BÊTE"
Help, "Fire and Ashes and S***"
Hayden Pedigo, "Elsewhere"
Ryuichi Sakamoto, "20220207"
TOMBOUCTOU, "Watermelon Snow"
Seabuckthorn, "Comes to Light"
Prairiewolf, "Roadside Bandit Type"
Lubomyr Melnyk, "Autumn Window"
Wild Up, "Evil N*****"