Things have changed.

Well, its been such a long time since I posted on this blog. I remember a time when I couldnt wait for it to be monday (due to our Artist mention Mondays of course). Time to fill you in on whats been going on with me. Well I have decided to embark in Medical school, during this long period of silence I have been focusing on taking the core classes necessary for admission. I took Biology 1 and 2, chemistry 1 and 2, Physics, organic chemistry…YOU NAME IT! I mean just thinking about this makes me wanna puke! I dont have much time to write on this blog and I dont even know why its still active lol. I will try to write during the holidays but it will truly be a long shot. There were a few people that have messaged me, of which I never replied to seeing as to how the messages were sent in October and it is now December I doubt the person is still inquiring about me! hahaha. I miss the easy times when I could sit on the computer looking for brilliant artwork to share with you guys but unfortunately those days are long gone. Any way, lets stray away from the gloom factor a bit because I gotta tell you guys I SAW NINE INCH NAILS LIVE! YES! I saw trent reznor in the Flesh! (i was like all the way in the back but…) still, I got to see trent reznor! Here are some  pictures

My girlfriend kimmy and I while waiting for the next song to play!

ECSTATIC ME right before the show!!

Eating at a mexican restaurant which was literally a hole in wall but it was incredible!

Near the end, of which he returned to play 4 more songs!! this is not the exact picture but I promise you it looked exactly like this!

Anyway, the concert was bought by my lovely girlfriend kimmy. She is the best part of my life and wouldnt give her up for anything on the planet!

Well I shall leave you all (anyone paying attention anyway) not in a sad note but in a happy note. Perhaps, I can still write on the blog…let me get your consensus on that.

 

 

Artist Mention Mondays Melancholic Dreams

Yes…Yes I am quite aware that today is Tuesday but its better late than never. So no I didnt forget about you guys so just for today lets go back in time pretend its monday. So I was searching and scouring every surface to bring you the next coolest artist.And let me tell you…todays artist screams Tim Burton in water color and calmly sets a melancholic mood that will instantly reach your “for some reason I think this is sweet, in a sad way” sense. But not only does his perpetual sense of Melancholia in all his paintings drive the creative heart of the artwork, no its that special word again… “innovative“, yea its an innovative  sense of melancholia that runs that creative engine.

Lili Toxic

It was love at first sight…honestly, its like seeing Miss Sparrow art (whom was generous enough to provide the background to our site) for the first time again. I cant decide which I love more! I wonder what Miss Sparrow (the artist that drew our LTS background) and this artist could Conjure up if they COLLABORATED? hmm? In my opinion your looking at it right up there ^. Mister Tony Sandoval knows exactly what he wants and where he wants his images to store inside your mind. You know that place in your mind you “mine” that special little place where beauty and dread dont draw a distinct line? perhaps where dreams are made, its like every picture is bears a haunting childs fairy tale. Now thats LTS kind of Art…From what I understand he is a painter of Childs art books, if books with this kind of art existed when I was kid, I would’ve had a slightly better child hood, shit what am I saying, its amazing!!!!

“Melancholic Epidemic”

Since there isn’t much information on Mr. Sandoval, I’ll just tell you why in my opinion, he has won my vote for innovator in the arts. There are few people in this world that can accurately capture and illustrate the marvelous beauty behind the purest and most innocent mind, that being the imagination of a child. Mr.Sandoval does just that, he gets it… show this to a child and they will get it too, its like a strange understanding that almost seems telepathic. To successfully transgress the meaning behind adult emotions and portray them in child fables, fantasies and tales is brilliance in its most innovative state. His use of common themes within all his paintings almost signifies a world he has created from scratch, where all these characters reside and welcome you with meloncholic greeting. Mr Sandoval exaggerates the features of the eyes in most of his paintings, perhaps signifying the short sightedness of the adult mind  or just a cool perk that makes you think. I for one am truly inspired and in love with his paintings. Enter the mind of Sandoval, his “Monstruos” welcome you with joy… http://losmonstruosdetony.blogspot.com/

One of the most innovative child artists I have seen to date. If you are interested in seeing more of his artwork follow his blog mentioned above or check out his http://tonysandoval.deviantart.com/
Now guys as promised, we here at lick the stranger always try to bring you fresh, undiscovered and innovative artists. Wish this post could have been longer but Im running on one hour of sleep, I will post something special this week to make it up to you, in the meantime enjoy some more of Tony Sandoval’s paintings and enjoy my review of Soul Reaver, thinking of making a video blog as well…well its up you guys really…I see a poll is at hand!!

Soul Reaver is REVAMPED

Yeah Kick Ass, well since its not monday I wanna share with you one of my fondest childhood memories along with the fact that its going to be brought back to life!..Remember when your dad bought you that first giant Turkey leg at Disney world, or when Santa Clause brought you that really cool Alien vs. Predator set you were dying for. It was always about the hype and its appreciative value that gave us that I will never forget you memory. Its been a long time since something like this has crossed paths with me but it looks like those feelings have just been REVAMPED. This review is a unique situation because its not the typical thing you see here on Lick the Stranger. Well I say we take a little detour and do a game Review in anticipation for its REBOOT this year. If your a gamer, Im sure your just as fond as I am about Soul Reaver so Im sure you’ll appreciate this. Remember a little company called “Crystal Dynamics” in the early 90’s?

Sure you do, along with Eidos (later bought by Square Enix) were responsible for one of the most important series of games in the dialog drama/action genre of gaming, a series clearly ahead of its time and widely praised…what series is this none other than The Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver.

Original Cover for Soul Reaver in 1997

Ah Yea papa, this is one my favorite games growing up.. this game was all I talked about..all I played with my friends. While other kids played cops and robbers, yea we made elaborate role playing games on soul reaver. Well…I always pretended to be this guy ^ yea you see his hands, we would play vampire games while taping our fingers together to look like we had a three digit claw hand, yeah.. we were interesting. Yes, you did read correctly I said VAMPIRE… now all the twilight people when vampires get burned and rematerialized yea that’s what they look like, would you still like Edward if he looked like that. Just kidding…just kidding but seriously though that would make twilight cooler.

For those who haven’t played the game I’m gonna enlighten you like Buddha. Well there are vampires led by a ruthless leader Named Kain, how is of course immortal. His clan is located in a world known as Nosgoth Controlled by the nine guardians called “the pillars of Nosgoth” since kain is immortal his existance disturbs the cycle of life and death and is offered a chance to save the land by sacrificing himself. He refuses and decides to make his small army of immortals (mainly 6 guys) and dooms the land to decay. After living for hundreds of years the vampires gain new gifts that allow them to grow stronger, well one of his immortals (vampire sons) Raziel (main Protagonist) kneels before Kain to show his gift. Raziels gift was the gift of Flight (yea he grew wings, pretty Fnnn Badass)

Raziel in vampire form

Afraid that his gift has surpassed that of Kain’s…(which by the way Kains abilities are levitation and turning into myst, among the few..not bad right?) Well… he rips off his wings..

Kains got the WTF look on his face..I mean look at him, its like that guy at a party that says oh shit why cant I have those gifts, charlie always gets the best shit.

So what else does Kain do?…Well he kills him..As if turning into myst, levitating and sucking peoples blood from a distance (yea I forgot to mention he can literally rip the blood from your chest without touching you) wasnt enough…I mean the poor guy finally gets a gift and what happens..he gets killed…what a greedy bitch. You would think at least he rips of his head or something quick or (*other forms of killing a vampire.. driving a stick through the heart, flame, sunlight, fire…woops already said that) but no, he gets a fate much worse than that…he gets to be thrown into the Abyss…whats that? I’ll show you…

That green think in the middle is Water surrounded by souls of the dead

See in every Vampire related game/movie they always have to add new weaknesses to vampires,in this particular game its WATER*(dont ask me why it just is) you know whats up with that? like in the movie “BLADE” which really screwed up the vampire weaknesses really really bad I mean silver?!? really ?? were they confused or something? as to whether to make a movie about Vampires or Werewolves? or did they get a budget cut half way through making a Werewolf film and decided WELL..Lets just keep it the way it is no one will know the difference?? I mean who the HELL thought of that SHIT?!! its like “Oh lets ruin an entire mythology by grabbing a weakness from a totally different mythycal creature and lets add it in there for the hell of it, Fans would love that!!”

ERR! RIGHT IN THE NUTS! with that one!

Back to what I was saying, in this game, water burns like acid…figures great game nonetheless. So upon falling into the abyss Raziel burns and burns and burns.. till he dies but OH wait… he’s revived by the keeper of Death himself and is told that he must end Kains Vampire Plague to restore balance to the Wheel of Fate, so your job is to destroy kain and your Vampire Brothers (which by consuming them you attain new abilities) Cool thing is you don’t drink blood any more nooo now you DEVOUR SOULS! as a source of life; as if the story wasn’t badass enough RIGHT?! So now he is the undead wraith of DEATH himself! kind like the scythe of a grim reaper.

So from cool looking to holy shit status.

So on you go trying to find your brothers, who haven’t exactly aged like wine, in fact they’ve aged like puke, but of course being thousands of years old comes with its perks. Every vampire has overcome one of its weakness, one is impervious to water (Rahab) another has the power to climb any surface (Zephon), (malchaia) has the power to dematerialize through barriers (so essentially passing though walls). There are others like Dumah and turrel but since most art is pixileted I got the best concept art of Turel from SR defiance.

you fight through creative creature AI and elaborative puzzles with impressive cinematic landscapes and unique dialog (in fact won greatest voice acting in 1999). (EPIC MUSIC BEGINS PLAYING) All in all the game was amazing and worth every moment of its cubic like graphics on the Playstation one, aside from some mythological aspects the game flows with ease and makes for a great dramatic epic that will forever change you. Recently, the game is rumored to being Revamped and released, or so goes the rumor from Crystal Dynamics (currently working on the new Tomb Raider title). The story of Raziel is a long and epic journey, which I would love to talk about in further detail some other time. From what IGN is saying “full reworking of the vampire action classic” and will have “a new art direction”. Honestly, the relationship between me and this game are like covalent bonds and its really brings back the best memories of my child hood. I hope you enjoyed my review of a Playstation/PC classic and I hope to do this more if you enjoyed it.Remember if you see a vampire NO SILVER WILL NOT DISINTEGRATE THEM! Well heres to you Soul Reaver, may your hype be worth it, just as it was when I was a kid….may you live forever! ( EPIC MUSIC CLOSES***)

Ballad of Ghost girl with some Recuenco

YES! ITS ARTIST MENTION……..THURSDAY? wait..that doesn’t sound right? Well its Thursday, I’ve got some time before Monday so lets do something different. I’m gonna mention an innovative artist that has been around the block (just not much in the US) his credibility in the modeling/commercial biz is profound. Unfortunately for those who arent too familiar with the world of Vogue Magazine or Nina Ricci’s perfume line, then you’ve probably never heard of our artist mentioned today. So lets have a special day for a special artist. By now I’m sure that your all familiar with the overall theme of the LTS website…Right? Right, then you must know that we talk about art that is dark, surreal, almost Tim Burton-esk and most importantly “innovative. Well Innovation is just a word, a word that breaks the barriers of imagination, its the very essence of creationism. But just when I think I’ve been successfully been blown away…no, this guy just said F-THAT step aside innovation because your premature presence is nothing compared to me. Don’t believe me? okay then I ask you this “painting or a photograph”? simple as that. Well lets look into the peep hole…you tell me.

For those who guess it…yup its a Photograph, a damn good photograph.

Eugenio Recuenco is a photographer from Madrid, Spain, his works are considered “cinematographic” and “pictoral” what ever that means, in my opinion its surrealistic, obscurely sexy and provocative geniusness. If I had to label it, I’d call it Surrealsexocative art. Thats right I just made that up, but I think it works given the circumstances and the fact that its thursday and thursdays are Odd. His art has been featured in Vogue magazine and for those of you from Spain visiting my blog (Hola! de Lamiendo los estranos) Im sure you’ve been lucky enough to see some of his brilliant commercials, as for us we get dogs bribing americans with Doritos. For those who haven’t  seen his commercials here’s the link.

HOLY SHIZA RAMMSTEIN did a photoshoot with Eugenio, then I realized Speil mit Meir was directed by Eugenio. Heres the brilliance…

Eugenio is a gem, worthy of discovery in the United States as are all the artists mentioned on this site. Surrealsexocative art (Thats right I know its still sinking in) is uncharted territory, explored by few and room for plenty more. Y’all keep making and I’ll keep featuring. If you want to check out more of Eugenio Recuenco’s art here is his site http://www.eugeniorecuenco.com/fichas/1092.html
Now I know your probably wondering what the Ballad of Ghost Girl is? lets put it this way, if you enjoyed the first video then you’ll probably think the next song will be pretty freaking….relatively acceptable as well. Hint hint!! (SPOILER AHEAD)……….. its a brand new song. See this time I was nice and told you the name of the song at least, but lets do something different, if this post reaches past 15 likes I’ll post a teaser of the song on Artist Mention Mondays post. Well I’ll leave it up to you to decide or “like”.

Tool New RECORD! and Music video Update.

Well…its come down to this…im just gonna say it…the music of today is SHIT; no body has the COJONS (translation:testicles,balls, bollitas, huevos) to say it. Well someone has to engage in the glorious honor to say it, and in order to be taken seriously it must be someone with merit and respect as “musicians”. That some one is none other than TOOL.

Tool’s Lateralus and 10,000 days

One of the most unique and innovative artists of the early 1990’s that has managed to collect a huge cult following and withstood the test of time as well as, the atrocious  uprising of the popular music genre of today. Who is this legendary artist? well its none other than Tool. If for what ever reason you were deprived or suffer from acute
“popularunmusicalitus” then you havent heard music till you’ve heard Tool. After 6 years of silence Tool bounced back with a relaunch of their 2006 10,000Days tour, of which I had the honor of being graced by their presence in Ft.Lauderdales Bank Atlantic Center this year. Now my dad always taught me that me men don’t cry, even if you get kicked in the balls, you do not cry. Well I was brought to tears when I heard that Tool is releasing a new Record THIS YEAR and they are going into the Studio in June.

Lateralus Era.

Tool is always sketchy with their newsletters, teasing their fans by not releasing accurate info so I like to mention bloggers and commentary from individuals interested on the subject on various sites. Im sure that most agree that music isn’t exactly the greatest these days. People Biff from Ultimate-guitar.com agree with the previous statement, he said the following: “this is great news for music. Remind everyone that not everything is trash music and that there’s still people out there who care about their art”. Shadow remains from sputnikmusic.com “I apologize to progheads (progressive rock) but bands like opeth, POS are limited to heavy metal sounds while tool thinks out of the box to create something beautiful and honest, thats what prog is all about, seems bands have forgotten that nowadays”. Tool new record is going to incite an invigorating fire of inspiration in musicians, maybe they will initiate something new in rock this year. Listen to some of their music, see the difference for yourself..Here’s one of my favorite songs called Jambi from 10,000Days.

Ah yeah PAPA thats the good stuff right there! …sorry got carried away there, even mentioned the “ah yeah papa” inside joke between my Girlfriends brother and I. Well if you stick around mayyyyyybe I’ll let you in on it;)
Well as for the update on our music video.. this monday we will release “LICK THE STRANGERS” first music video on the song lifting you up. Not a big deal, just excited to show you guys who are always here with us, liking and sharing our page as well as, the artists that have been mentioned here.

Yup its Claymation 🙂

Know what that play button that screen means? it means that the videos done, were just waiting to release it for sh*ts and giggles :). Noo just playing around it still needs color correcting and thats pretty much it its done. Do the poll below if you liked JAMBI and Ive coaxed you into waiting vigorously for their new record.

Artist mention monday “Does this speak to you?”. New song Teaser

Emotive an adjective that describes “a tendency for causing emotion or designed to arouse emotion”. Phenomenal an adjective meaning “remarkable, perceptible by the senses or through immediate experience”. What do you get when you mix the two? an in depth view of an artist’s poetic and visually lyrical soul that has the capability of expanding and enticing ones own true hidden emotions. In lamence terms…one badass artist that has won over yet another one of our Artist Mention Monday’s, before I continue lose yourself for a moment and dive into Art…

connection to ivy. It’s so delicate, so beautiful, so slowly growing–and most of all, it is quite destructive.
Just like my thought process.

Shannon is an  Artist | Student | Traditional Artist, from the United States. Plagued by her own senses of overwhelming emotions, this artist has found an innovative an proactive form of releasing her frustrating and mentally draining condition known as anxiety.. Shannon find comfort in Art. The painting above is called “Wrought in worry” in it she describes that her initial concept was “comparing it to my thoughts–my twisted anxiety about nearly everything. Emotional by nature, I tend to care too much–worry too much. About what people think about certain things. About love or passion. About sex. About money issues.”  There is few artist that truly give a piece of themselves through art work, most tend to be observers of the world around them. The most innovative and insightful artist are those that spread a piece of their soul in their works, essentially to be criticized. As Trent Reznor (if you dont know who this is SHAME ON YOU) said “well there it is a new record or should I say another piece of my soul, here you go …criticize it.”

Her Lunacy Fringe

One of the most remarkable things that Shannon is able to do is to speak to our inner senses, creating a unique atmosphere and accurately conveying her state of mind in all her works; pure brilliance. It’s evident that Shannon places a part of her soul in each and every one of her paintings and thats what makes her one beautiful person and an innovator in the community of Artistry. For more of her wondrous artwork check out her deviantart page http://sha-nan-i-gans.deviantart.com/

Emotional Drought.

NOW… Lets give a round of applause to Jen from  happinessisnotadisease.wordpress.com for getting us to finally give you a little taste of original music by Lick the Stranger. Jen drove a hard argument and managed to convince us to preview the song “lifting you up” prior to releasing the music video. We hope that you enjoy our little teaser, we are excited to release the music video to y’all. So without further a do….WAIT before I play it…don’t wanna burst your bubble but I gotta tell you that its alright…………(sorry i meant my dads cooking, its just alright not great you know..now on to the song), but seriously though let us know what you think and tune in for next weeks AMM’s
got a nice surprise awaiting new MONDAY so dont miss it.

Artist Mention Monday and PROMETHEUS TEASER

So after last weeks rant on the so called “Artists of Today” like Lady Gaga, Justin Gopher and Katy Perry “Ellis”, Ive decided to spare you further torment and show you some real ART by REAL artists, yes it seems that the demon gods of pop do not have a firm grasp on my brain therefore making me immune to their trance (music) and garbage (i mean popular) art. The planets must have perfectly aligned once more because It’s time for Artist Mention MONDAY! That’s right, its that day of the week where something I find innovative will find its way onto a post. After all the suggestions from other bloggers and friends as well as some research of my own I have have found this…

"What she had seen" Courtesy of "Regan the imp".

When her brother asked her why she had drawn the tentacles coming out of the eyes she responded “where do you suggest would be a better place to put them?” her brother responded “her eyes are just fine”. Due to the lack of information on her site and respecting her privacy, I can tell you the key interesting points which make this artist “innovative and unique”. Regan is not all over the place with her art, all of her works follow a common theme in which she rarely strays away from. Incorporating “invader Zim”(Yes I know I was pissed when it got cancelled too) like dark humor with dreamy conceptual themes; Regan stays focused she knows what shes good at and does it well. Currently, I’m getting further information on her social networks just in case you want to contact her for her work, for the mean time here is her Deviant art page http://regantheimp.deviantart.com

As always..You know It, I know it, we don’t have to say it, shes great!
I just want to say thank you to all the recommendations and suggestions for A.M.M if you didnt get featured don’t get mad or sad! soon you’ll be able to post your art here (relax..relaaax papa were working on it) for now just keep sending me requests and send me comments. I’ll be sure to get to you. As always remember the themes (anything dark,surreal, tim burton like and tell me why you think your innovative) comment/rate and message me I’ll reply to all and review all.

Now if there was ever anything that brought a chill down my spine its this…. what is it you ask? well its something horror/Sci-fi fans are waiting for with high expectations and anticipation, the prequel to one the most innovative and revolutionizing horror films in Sci-fi history. From the twisted, visionary and brilliant mind of director/writer RIDLEY SCOTT comes the next chapter or should I say the (previous chapter, since its a prequel) in the bone chilling experience that is the alien saga.. he brings you

say it in unison with feeling....FUCK YES!

Check back on Wednesday for my insightful review (i promise I wont rant, I like Alien) on the Alien films and Prometheus. YES its a Prequel so dont get cute with us in denying the fact that it is. But I still want to hear your opinions prior to expressing mine SOO here’s a cool little Poll, so do it