{. 0\$COftO£t\ at: em fpl Fuck Me USA by Kim Day p.9 Nardwuar verses The Kings of Leon p.10 Kutcorners by Jenn Wong p.l 3 The Red Light Sting's CMJ Diary p.14 Sub Pop is Label of the Year!! by Merek p.16 Death From Above by Ian Gormely p.l 9 The Department of Safety by Merek p.20 The Discorder Christmas Questionnaire p.22 Luke Meat's 2003 review p.34 ft' ?#«C f&r$ Editor: Merek Wrangler: Lori Covering Fire p.4 SHiNDiG Report p.5 Textually Active p.6 Riff Raff p.6 Strut, Fret and Flicker p.7 Under Review Special: The Best Albums of 2003 p.30 Kickaround p.35 On the Dial p.36 Charts p.38 Datebook p.38 L &¥6t Lori did the cover. Again!! I tell you, man, that girl is crazy. She looks you right in the eye when she's talking to you. I don't wanna get all soppy, but I'm gonna miss her bad. I think she should move to London and get a kick-ass design job, don't you? Then I could hang out with her all the time. Editorial Assistant: Karen Langhelle Layout and Design: Merek and Lori People Who Helped: Coffee and fags. Seriously that was it. Oh, and maybe Staedtler Mars graphic pens and Graeme Worthy wandered in and numbered all the pages backwards, j People Who Didn't Help: Those bastard double spacers out there! You know who you are. What? One space after a period not good enough for you, you greedy bastards? Main offenders include: Kim (even though we love her and she has a nice new haircut), Colin from The Decemberists, Michelle Mae. All those bands that don't have high res photos easily downloadable from their websites. It's bloody 2003, people! Seriously, WTF? Are we meant to chase you round with a pinhole camera waiting for enough sunlight for a decent exposure? Jesus, step into the present. It's nice here, you'd like it. People who write us back in all caps. Push the button off, ya lazy fucker. Ben "Fucking" Lai; Jesus, man, as if it was bad enough that you didn't let Gangbang win Shindig, you gave us the most mindbendingly difficult ad to open. The computer looked at it and said, "No." and went berserk. Thanks a lot. On the Dial: Bryce Dunn Charts: Luke Meat Datebook: Merek and Lori Distribution: Matt Steffich US Distro: Frankie Rumbletone Publisher: Lydia Masemoia © "DISCORDER" 2003 by the Student Radio Society of the University of British Columbia. All rights reserved. Circulation 17,500. Subscriptions, payable in advance, to Canadian residents are $15 for one year, to residents of the USA are $15 US; $24 CDN elsewhere. Single copies are $2 (to cover postage, of course). Please make cheques or money orders payable to DiSCORDER Magazine. DEADLINES: Copy deadline for the Feburary issue is NEVER!!! Ad space is available until FOREVER!!! and can be booked by calling Jay at 604.822:3017 ext. 3. Our rates are available upon request. DISCORDER Is not responsible for loss, damage, or any other injury to unsolicited manuscripts, unsolicited artwork (including but not limited to drawings, photographs, and transparencies), or any other unsolicited material. Material can be submitted on disc or in type. As always, English is preferred. Send email to DiSCORDER at dlscorder®club.ams.ubc.ca. From UBC to Langley and Squamish to Bellingham, CITR can be heard at 101.9 fM as well as through all major cable systems in the Lower Mainland, except Shaw in White Rock. Call the CITR DJ line at 822.2487, our office at 822.3017 ext. 0, or our news and sports lines at 822.3017 ext. 2. Fax us at 822.9364. e-mail us at: citrmgremail.ams.ubc.ca. visit our web site at www.citr.ca or Just pick up a goddamn pen and write #233-6138 SUB Blvd.. Vancouver. BC. V6T 1Z1. CANADA. I'd like to say a big "fuck you" to allthe people who made my stay in Canada difficult. Y you are. Or maybe you don't, which makes this even better. Ha ha. printed in Canada SON3R 66 WATER STREET WWW.SONAR.BC.CA m Main Room: HousB-Techno-PrograsshK Urban Lounge: HipHop-Breaks VIVOFlRIDAYS Presented by www.tigerstone.tv / www.PH1.ca , decSi BRAD C0PELAND «, CANADA'S NEXT SUPERSTAR 0J - brarjcopelandxa $3 in stares w/ KYLE N0RDMAN, VINYL RfTCHIE DEC^BADBOYBILLchicago WORLDS MOST ELECTRIFYING HOUSE & TURNTABUSM Ri - bad tobixorr $13ins?»res w/ STEVE SMOOTH, CZECH DEC.19 TAYLOR ta &dj lace w/ KYLE N0RDMAN. THE POUND PROJECT h DEcii XMAS CHARITY DRIVE FREE ADMISSION w/ 2 CANNED ITEMS or 1 TOY. 8PM Magazine gwe w/ CZECH 3 hr set, REV, Hipnotik Crew £ypst*ij Jan 2 ATOMIC HOOLIGAN [uk) Hottest Breaks remixer of the year Jan 9 KIMBALL COLLINS [us] American Trance lege •J' & OTHERWISE. DEC 6 Mark Grant - Chicago (OM Records, Deepfunk) DEC 13 Manali Artist Showcase DJ Ali, Sean Dimitrie, Tim Fuller, Nav^ DEC 20 Tony Ezzy & the 100th Monk /*<«ln/HM.«*2 5 a small introduction Goodbye 20031 And a Lot of Other Things Besides. No doubt those of you "in the know" have already heard the sad news that come January 1. 2004. The (Sugar Refinery) will close its doors forever. While this may be sad news I am in no way surprised that yet another great feature of Vancouver will be allowed to slip away. Nothing like this surprises me anymore. It's not that it's Vancouver and it's not that that it's even Canada. The whole world is the same. People In general are lazy, selfish, small- minded and are unwilling to get off their arses and do anything really great. For every "good person" doing great and important things there are thousands of people who are just willing to sit there and let it slide. They don't mind being spoon-fed the absolute crap that is dished out by the mainstream media. They don't care when the radio plays the same song over and over again. They just take it as read that people in high places know what's best for them. And, perhaps most worringry of all, most people are simply unaware that doing something different is even an option. This year in Vancouver has been particularly bad. The year began with the Colbalt having to temporarily close its doors due to a safety regulation that they couldn't live up to. The Royal— an excellent venue for Hve music in my opinion—announced that they wouldn't be holding anymore shows because the noise was too much for the hostel's guests. And, of course. The Blinding Light Cinema threw in the towel after five years as Vancouver's best forum for truly alternative cinema and video art. Vancouver—A No fun city? Well, not really. There's plenty of fun to be had and a lot of good stuff is either being produced, funded or hosted. It just that it doesn't get any support. Great places like The (Sugar Refinery) get closed and no one does anything about it. Regardless of the reasons for its closing, you people should be out on the streets till it's allowed to reopen. And to* those of you who moan about Vancouver and apathetically shrug your shoulders, you need really look no further than this radio station, and this magazine. Not only is DiSCORDER free, it's one of only two independent campus radio station magazines in the entire country. So that's one for Vancouver, right there. The problem is that no one bloody appreciates the opportunity that these two things present: completely free access to both print and radio media. Do you moan about The Fox or XFM? Okay, then come down to CiTR and do something about it. Can't find an interview with your favourite local band in any magazines? Come, down to DiSCORDER and write one. This month sees the departure of both myself and the Art Director Lori. We've done our bit and no matter what you feel about our tenure in charge—love it or hate it—at least we actually did something. Now more than ever DiSCORDER needs people who are willing to give their time for free to highlight something that they feel is important. That's jus} how it is—you have to take the iniiative. Otherwise magazines like DiSCORDER will simply cease to exist. And how's that for no fun? "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." On a lighter fhote, I hope you Fire on ihe[>?CO'!V*nco\AVer*sF'*est'(or whatever you have*? calf than ajher 9-I j) assess/asf month's frz damage. 1 enjoy our Christmas in fact highly ironic that on the month that The (Sugar Refinery) announces it's departure that we choose to highlight the Department of Safety on our cover. An Anacqrtes-based venue that the founding members admit was, at least in part, inspired by the now doomed Vancouver venue. The Department of Safety is a wonderful example of what happens when people actually do get off their arses and do something, and you can read more about its creation on page 20 and 21. Also, in the spirit of Christmas and New Yearhijinks, DiSCORDER sent out its Christmas questionnaire to the great and the good. And despite the fact that nobody seemed to know what "turduck- en" was, I think it turned out pretty well. Answers to this burning culinary question and details of what Bill Callahan and Ben Gibbard . want for Christmas can be found on pages 22 through 29. Maybe you could send them a card? Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All Men?—Apparently Not. Pictured is the aftermath of what happened when somebody introduced a stack of last month's DiSCORDER magazines to fire. Thanks a bunch. I know I said when I took over that I wanted to make DiSCORDER a "smokin"' magzine. But this is not what I meant. Most of the magazine got away unscathed, but unfortunately, all copies destined for US distribution were lost. So, to all our US readers, I can only apologise. Investigations into who perpetrated such a heinous act are ongoing. Needless to say, if you don't like the magazine, I would prefer it if you just wrote a letter. • M*zr*Jj&%. + ing. Elizabeth played third with a dark, immersive and perfect art- rock set. Their guitarist ended the night at the Railway by smashing up and destroying his guitar. Cool. Winner Elizabeth November 18: Semi Finals #2 The four skilled musicians that comprise the band The Parlour Steps were on stage first tonight. Again we were fortunate enough to witness their well-layered yet dynamic instrumentais along with their soft beautiful vocals. New Years Resolution was on next. They didn't have to use a borrowed keyboard this time around VirxnCOW-V^S *nesf€rt$€*VlWe.of MC|*k COO/0«r and all the keyboard parts sounded much better. All that mixed in with some nice guitar riffs and awesome drum work created a memorable set. Last to play was They Shoot Horses, Oon't They? They are about as entertaining a band as you can get. Guitars and drums ba-ked by horns and cowbells anc keyboards. Yet they are more than just a novelty act as their music is catchy and intelligent at the same time. Winner They Shoot Horses, Don't They? irApfrsonalCfS, BhqbetK Ok, there is a lot to cover in this issue and I only have so much space so let's get started. October 21 SHiNDiG is all about diversity this year and this night was a perfect example. Martial Law started off the evening with some catchy modern punk rock. The band's front man was impressive with his high energy performance, jumping on and off the stage and working the crowd. With a bit more work I can envision this band playing in huge arenas someday. The hip hop act The Front followed Martial Law. They had the entire place dancing to their music. The most remarkable part of their set occurred when the bassist was having trouble with his gear and the MCs managed to freestyle rap about the bassist breaking his amp in perfect rhythm and rhyme. The last band of the night was Gangbang. What more can I say about Gangbang that hasn't been said already in DiSCORDER or Terminal City? They were fun to watch and had brilliant lyrics: "I got robot arms. I got robot legs. Oh fuck, I'm a robot". Winner The Front October 26 Coin Gutter, an ambient noise duo, was the first act of the night. Their finely-crafted atmospheric electronic set was refreshingly new for the SHiNDiG audience. The instrumental act The Screaming Eagles appeared on stage next dressed in full Halloween gear.-Jhe clever banter between their memorable pop rock tunes made them a joy to watch. A pop punk outfit from Victoria, We've Been Had, rounded out the night. They won over many in the crowd with their assortment of short charming songs about everything from haircuts to girls in rock bands. Winner: The Screaming Eagles November 4 First up on stage this night was Flippin' Jiggers. These four very talented musicians were tight and played a diverse set that ranges from pop to funk to folk rock. Sarah Wheeler, the second act of the night, got some help from her friends as she was backed up by a full band. She played a wonderful set full of gorgeous songs featuring her amazing voice. Last up was the band Spark That Screams. They had the most interesting mix of gear for the night: their set up included a cello, a keyboard, a sequencer/ sampler, two guitars and no drum set. All the instruments were put to good use and the audience was rewarded with an ethereal and yet beautiful performance. Winner Spark That Screams November 11: Semi Finals #1 The first semi-finals began with Revisionist who brought their abrasive math-rock styling back for another round. The band rocked even harder and louder this time around despite having a member hampered by sickness. Next up was Fiction, four fellows nice enough to fill in for the band The First Day who lost their drummer to tendonitis and had to bow out of the competition. Fiction played wonderfully accessible songs influenced by oldies pop and '80s new wave. Go see these guys once and you'll be humming their tunes the next mom- November 25: Semi Finals #3 It's all about being bigger and better this evening. The Screaming Eagles played first and they were even better than the last time. Their set was tighter and had a nicer flow. The Front, who played second, got an even bigger crowd dancing to their music tonight. And lastly. Spark That Screams performed another great set, but the extra emphasis they placed mixing in the cello and keyboards made them sound better than ever. Winner The Front So this hit. Elizabeth, They Shoot Hones Don't They? and The Front all competed In the finals on December 2nd. Just turn the page to find out who won/ • THE HIGHBALLS 1 THEy SHOO! HORSES, DONT IHESf BEN SLAVECOMj SHAKE APPEAL TNE REVERBERATORS] c£min T7&n\ BlUyiHEKMir the sHinys. CARRIED TO IVIUSIG^ cDQKa troan THE DOERS. SKATOMATICS fc HUMAN HI-LITE REEL cDQrea SOOTHE BAR1VETTES cDQKD QEDaa THE REGIONAL HATS RAIILW/Ay CLUB 579 MM SHEET • MMBIETIIIVE.COM ° (601) 878-6060 m« Pnr&surz do dr$fh€ir>Tooh. Rekkli$Hwl1s Books and Written media by Eat On The Rag With Girly Mags Thank god for the alternative women's magazine. Or, as I like to call it, the girly mag. If Cosmo doesn't satiate your craving for intelligent, female-oriented writing, the girly mag is your new best friend. Look for a queer-friendly magazine with an emphasis on feminism and cutting-edge pop culture, often with huge full- page ads for sex toy companies. This hitherto unnamed genre is gaining momentum: Every time l enter a bookstore there seems to be more of them. Here's the Textually Active guide to what's on the market right now. Bust (Issue 25) I first discovered girly mags back in high school, when I found a torn-up copy of Bust, hidden behind the Gay and Lesbian section, just under the tattoo magazines, in the Kelowna Chapters. It was shocking to find myself identifying with a female- oriented magazine when all I had been offered before was Seventeen or Cosmo. It's the only magazine I buy regularly. A spunky, colourful format perfectly highlights the contents, a mixture of DIY crafts, pop culture, music, travel and feminism. Bust's strength has always been, the way it chops pop culture into tasty, mouth-size bites—check out this month's "Top 25 Dark Ladies of All Time" if you don't believe me. A good issue will leave you intrigued and wanting more. It's not as good as it used to be; financial troubles and the departure of editor Marcelle Karp have brought down the quality of the longer pieces, and the writing doesn't feel as astoundingly new as it used to. But it's still the best girly mag on the market. After all, it taught me how to knit my own legwarmers. Bitch (Issue 22) Less engaging but more meaty than Bust, Bitch makes a perfect companion to my old favourite. Weighing in at a hefty 59 pages, this "feminist response to pop culture" (mainly books, movies and TV) is perfect for those days when you feel like a longer, more substantial article. This fall's "Family" issue is dbsorbing and far from cozy, raising such issues as the mainstreaming of the queer family and the treatment of domestic violence in film. The columns section keeps things lighter with a quiz ("Which Coppola are you?") and Andi Zeisler's oddly hilarious musings on what would happen if the Golden Girls met the,gang from Sex and the City. The only thlna, that ever really turned me off Bitch was its t#xt-heavy layout duiO-xJj^x. 6 and monochromatic colour scheme. Once you get past that, you've got hours of good feminist fun in your hands. Fierce (Issue 2) The success of Bust and Bitch has inspired a second generation of similar publications. When I wander into my local magazine store, I'm now confronted by an entire shelf of alternative women's magazines. (While this is a good thing, I'm a bit worried about market glut.) Fierce is just one of these new feminist glossies. It's good looking—full colour, with lots of pictures and a creative have the unfortunate habit of retreading some fairly established feminist ground (yes, I know that fat is a feminist issue) and its format is very plain, in glossy black and white only. But the writing is generally good, and, perhaps more importantly, it's the only Canadian girly mag I've ever found. The current issues discusses the media's misconstructions of Vancouver's missing women, reviews albums by local artists such as Perpetual Dream Theory and Tegan and Sara, and interviews Canadian fat-activist Allyson Mitchell. A-..errr...ta&te$ul promotional posfcarc/ ior BusSr Magazine. Keah, ct<&sy. layout. Once I looked beyond the cool fonts and giant photos, however, I found myself getting pretty bored. Fierce seems more concerned with telling you how fierce you are than with providing well-conceived articles. Someone should explain to these people that an article should go somewhere. Good Girl (Issue 4) She's a little sparse, and a little too brand new, but I'm sure that Good Girl is going to get better. For one thing, this is only the fourth issue. For another, the first issue contained a sweetly devoted spotlight on Bust magazine and its financial troubles. And if they stick to Bust as a role model, I don't think they can do much wrong. Good Girl does Venus (Issue 17) Venus is primarily focused on music, but it's got just enough space devoted to fashion, hipster crafts and girly pop culture to deserve mention here. Plus, as a music magazine, it totally rocks. It unfailingly covers artists and bands that interest me, some of which rarely get covered, and it exposes me to new ones that I'm sure to like. If I'm feeling broke, I avoid reading Venus, because I know it will make me want to buy at least three new CDs. The website js also cool: It's an expanded version of the zine. If it had more crafts and more random pop culture, it might possibly usurp Bust as my all-time favourite. • Next monfh: reviews of actual books/1 promise! Before we launch into this month's tribute to waxy wonderment, a tip of the hat and a kick in the pants go out to our outgoing (literally) editor, Merek, for withstanding months of my good-natured taunting over his taste in music and the apparent absence of good food in Canada. His dedication to bringing DiSCORDER to your door each month will be missed, but as I'm sure you've already asked yourself before I even began this, "Who the hell is this ' Merek guy anyway, I thought a group of highly trained monkeys ran the magazine?" Well, that's a question better left for our editor-in-waiting. Be afraid, be very, very afraid. Onwards and upwards, as they say, our first entry in the vinyl sweepstakes comes from our own poolside, and a group known as the Banzai Rebels. Guitarist Mark Brodie has been swingin' in the surf scene for a number of years in various combos, so it comes as no surprise that his latest outfit carries the tradition of raunchy reverb, bouncy bottom end and driving drums on the tracks "Surf Panic!" and "Curse Of The Red Baron." Perfect party music brought to you by the purveyors of the West Coast "Pep" Sound. (R.I.P. Records, no address given.) Across that pool we call the Atlantic Ocean we go to jolly ol' England for Sergeant's Mess, a group that our Brit-detector (that's Merek, everyone) may recognize as members of the Buff Medways, and of course along for the ride is Sir Billy Childish (someone should really take care of bestowing this honour to him right fucking now), as new vinyl by bryce dunn he is a card-carrying member of the B.M.F.A., but I digress. "Pussy Galore" starts this four song affair on an instrumental bend, sounding reminiscent of a long lost Milkshakes tune, and "When You Were Mine" is a nice garage pop number. It's the other songs "Lotion" and "Go My Way" that demonstrate a more skewed vision of the garage formula, possibly due to the overseer Mr Childish having some sway in the final mix. Nonetheless, a formidable debut. (SmartGuy Records, 3288 21st PMB #32 San Francisco, CA. USA 94110) Last on our list is The Charming Snakes from Seattle, who find themselves without a drummer on their two-song single "See You In The Alps" b/w "James." Not by choice do the charming ones find themselves in this predicament because they cannot find the suitable backbeat for their stripped- down two-guitar groove. "Mr Rythym," as he's credited, does an admirable job—don't get me wrong—but methinks a little more creativity in the drum department would make these tracks stand out even more. If you're into new wave-influenced rock and roll and don't mind the road trip for practices, contact Pirate Craft Records or www.charmingsnakes.com. On second thought, I'm not totally sure they need someone, but give it the ol' college try if you like... Well, see you in February, when we' II be baking up a whole new batch of vinyl goodies! • peri'ormance/art/l'iim by penelope mulligan The Plughole Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes Provenance runs December 4-21 Vancouver East Cultural Centre When I was little, my grandmother had an antique device called a Viewmaster. You held it up to your eyes like binoculars, pushed a lever and viewed transparencies on a rotating disc. Her disc collection went back quite far and included classic fairytales, tours of Disneyland and even the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. I'd spend hours with the thing plastered to my face, longing to crawl into the almost-3D scenes, legs pumping involuntarily. It wasn't always what I was seeing that drew me; rather a way of seeing—a whole world surrounded by a blackness that engulfed everything but my hungry eyes. I later figured out that the reason house lights went down in the theatre was to similarly capture an audience. But that seldom happened without a particular visual aesthetic, and I swear that my penchant for everythfng from puppet shows to certain European animators and German expressionist film was kick-started by Grannie Mulligan's gizmo. Puppets, of course, have been big news again for quite sometime, but the sheer amount of technique and craft required to pull off even the simplest of puppetry—especially live—acts as a magnificent filter for the bandwagon jumpers who populate other revivals in the arts. And Ronnie Burkett, Canadian master of marionettes, wizard of all things puppet, has heft to spare. His bio matter-of-factly states that he became interested in puppetry at age seven and by fourteen, was touring his own productions. The Village Voice hails him as "one of the geniuses of the world" and after seeing but one of his shows, I can assure you that the man more than lives up to that kind of namecalling. In 200l's Tinka's New Dress. he brought to life an entire cast of marionettes, physically and vocally, in a way that seemed impossible for only four limbs, ten fingers and one set of vocal chords. Often visible, he orchestrated the action like an elegant carney while subtly rifting on the relationship between himself and his creations. I wanted to tumble through the dark to comfort and kibbitz with them. It was the Viewmaster experience again— with political bite, emotional frottage and a parental advisory. Provenance, Burkett's latest show, is bound to be every bit as wondrous. Imagine the story of a young art history student who chases down a mysterious painting to a brothel in Vienna. Naive, a tad frumpy and obsessed with the painting's subject (a beautiful young boy), she eventually learns more about beauty and humanity's pursuit of it than her studies could ever have taught her. Now imagine it told with puppets—all of them exquisitely nuanced in voice and gesture. Through them, Burkett hosts scathingly witty discussions about 20th century art, and revisits history's horrors in the characters' backstories. His creatures will navigate meaty terrain while charming the pants off you. This season, treat yourself to Provenance—and if you can spring for it, take a friend. • Pisaster sfrvcfc' Vaneower's version o5 The. Bachelor when itw<t$reveakdihevth»iit\g con- festa'trwes QCfowW/ iHadeoutofwood. ©UiNdis CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FRONT SHINDIG 2003 WINNERS! THANKS ALSO TO THE RAILWAY CLUB, ALL THE PARTICIPATING BANDS, SPONSORS, JUDGES, ORGANIZERS, GUESTS AND OUR BEAUTIFUL MC, BEN LAI SEEYOUIN2004!!! http://shindig.citr.ca MsRodc Black Dog Video , REC-ACE^ RECORDERS HtWIUN* I BEAT STREET RECORDS Fireball Productions »K»>WHESB I PIE PILOTS p 99 '• • •-•':• © Vasoiine Down Wicked Garden Big Empty p|ush Big Bang Baby Creep Lady Picture Show Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart Interstate Love Song AH In The Suit That You Wear (New Single!) Sex Type Thing Days Of The Week Sour Girl Plush (acoustic) -$f#Nl TEMPLE MfcbTl 'SMmd^M »w ►►FUTURE SHOP ~^^£mmf^^'^^\te: K SEXUALITY AND INTERACTION The members of Fuck Me USA don't give a shit about political messages, they just want you to dance. II w By Kimberley Day Photo by Hana MacDonald This past year has been a good one for the members of Fuck Me USA. After replacing their old drummer, changing cities and listening to a lot of T-Rex, they've started to make themselves very well known in the Vancouver scene. Using a name taken from the 1991 Gang of Four song entitled "F.M.U.S.A.", the band claims to be making music that people can get into, rather than just creating a musical attack in the form of a wall of noise. In the band's biography, written by guitar and synth-player Jay Watts, Fuck Me USA are described as "casting off the imposed rigidity and listlessness of a scene dominated by sexless math-rock and the impotent swagger of flaccid cock-rock in favour of organic, : well-structured disco punk...." When asked to describe "sexless math rock," the band's vocalist, Kayla Guthrie, immediately gives the answer of "Matlock Records Back Records," to which drummer Brad MacKinnon adds "Fuck you, Nick Frenette." The band then goes on to name several bands, including Weights and Measures, North of America, Holding Pattern and Rockets Red Glare. MacKinnon explains: "Being in Victoria, there was such a small amount of bands playing shows that were halfway interesting. We just grew sick of that after a while." Watts offers a more general description: "The big idea for that is that it's not so much that people who make math rock are evil, it's just that there's a certain inaccessibility that they take pride in. Like prog musicians, where it's overly abstract noodHng, and it gets really boring if you're not a musician. You read interviews with Rockets Red Glare or any of those bands, and it's not that I have anything against them personally, but they say 'We make musicians for musicians' and it's a little alienating. I don't think that you necessarily have to dumb down your music to make it accessible, interesting, somewhat pop- structured." As for the "flaccid cock-rock," the band at first hesitates, but names such Vancouver bands as Flash Bastard and Crystal Pistol. Watts explaines that "You don't want to hold everybody to your standards, but it's just music that doesn't interest us and seems to get a lot of attention. It's something that we don't want to be a part of yet because we're young people making music in an independent scene. It's a parody of what went on 20-30 years ago when bands that were doing it were doing something that was interesting, people were watching stuff like Iggy Pop." Bassist Dan Colussi describes "flaccid cock-rock" as "shitty glam rock," epitomized by the Black Halos. "The aesthetic disgusts us, like tattoos and shoving your cock in someone's face who really doesn't want to see it. Do you want to see Billy Hopeless going 'RAARRAAAAAR' and shoving his cock in your face? NO!" When asked to elaborate on what separates Fuck Me USA from the "sexless math rock" and "flaccid cock-rock," Collusi explains, "We are part of a more traditional pop struc ure. Glam rock is overly simplistic and math rock is overly technical, and we're a healthy medium." MacKinnon jokingly adds, "Lest we forget the political-and social commentary that goes along with the name Fuck Me USA," which immediately sparks the response: "Which is complete fucking bullshit as a lyricist" from Guthrie. She continues to say "Please end this political punk bullshit that people keep copying and pasting as their bios for local newspapers." The band then goes on to claim they're adding what MacKinnon calls a "sexy swagger" to their music. Says Watts, "Sexuality is a hard word, especially when you've got a female front person. You don't want to seem like you're pushing it, but that's why we add the adjective 'flaccid' before cock rock, because it's so much empty posturing and nothing that really has anything to do with true sexuality anyways." Fuck Me USA, on the other hand, is "fully un- flaccid; erect/' according to MacKinnon. In the past nine months, Fuck Me USA has gone from what Guthrie describes as sounding like "old Hot Hot Heat" and what MacKinnon describes as "ripping off the Rapture" to defining an original sound. The band, since moving most of its members from Victoria to Vancouver, has been signed by Global Symphonic, home to such bands as Frog Eyes and Jerk with a Bomb. They are still a bit baffled as to how they were picked up by the label. "We don't know why we're on Global Symphonic, because it's a venerable label, it's got good artists, and for some reason they allowed us onto the roster...but we're growing all the time so we're going to uphold the tradition," thinks Collusi. In 2004, they will be releasing their first album, an EP that will be mixed and mastered by Hot Hot Heat's Steve Bays. They will also soon be releasing a 7" split with Channels 3+4, and touring the West Coast with the Unicorns in February. They've even staked out a rival band, "as yet unnamed," offers Colussi. "Their days are numbered because they've been ripping off Interpol and Radiohead for far too long." In summary, the members of Fuck Me USA are putting out music that they enjoy, and as for being erect, you don't know the true meaning of potency until you've seen them play live. • Best local band of the year (Vancouver / Victoria): Chet, Frog Eyes, Jerk With a Bomb, Radio Berlin, The Organ, Channels Best local album: Radio Berlin Glass, Frog Eyes The Golden River. Best album of 2003: Soul Jazz Compilation, Manitoba Up In Flames, Chromatics Chrome Rats vs. Basement Ruts. Best band of 2003: T-Rex, Shoplifting. Worst band (local or otherwise): The Stills. Best Show on CiTR 101.9 fM: Third Time's the Charm. Best solo artist of 2003: Ryan Adams, but not really. Best record store: Ditch in Victoria, in all of Canada. Fantastic clientele, fantastic owner. What will you remember most about 2003? Making Fuck Me USA good. Walking around East Hastings. Being ridiculous idiots. What did you like best about DiSCORDER in 2003? Lori, her art is fucking amazing; Merek Cooper; The Zeus article. What did you like least about DiSCORDER in 2003? As far as Canadian publications go, it's totally good. • *<ec* / Nardwuar Who are you? Caleb Followill: Kings of Leon, And who's in Kings of Leon? Caleb: Erm, I'm in the Kings of Leon. I'm Caleb. I'm the singer and rhythm guitar player and here's my little brother Jared. [Points to Jared] He's the bass player. And our older brother Nathan is the drum player and our first cousin Matthew is the lead guitar player. And also a very important member is Nachol What about Nacho? Caleb: Nacho yeah...he's there [on the stage]. Where's Nacho? Is Nacho down there [Points to stage]? Caleb: He's the stage manager, yeah. What is Nacho? What's the deal on Nacho? Caleb: He's our cousin who...he plays guitar with us a little bit and - he's like our stage manager. He's just a good friend. People think he's in the band, don't they? Caleb: Yeah. Jared Followill: Yeah Caleb: Yeah, he's been my best friend since we were little kids. And, err, we had the band together and he was living in Oklahoma and so we knew we hod to get him a job. And so we gave him a job and we all... us four in the band and Nacho all live together in a house in Tennessee. So we're pretty close... He does a lot. Nachol Like, he saves the day, doesn't he? Jared: Sure he does. I mean, we consider him to be the fifth King. Caleb: [Laughs] Jared: He's like...he's awesome. So you guys are here in Vancouver, British Columbia... Caleb: Canada? Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. And you guys love The Band, don't you? Caleb: Yeah, totally man. They're like, one of my biggest influences. Because there's a Canadian connection! Because you know The Band started in Canada with Rockin' Ronnie...? Caleb: Pardon? Rockin' Ronnie Hawkins!! Caleb: Oh sorry. I didn't hear what you said. Yeah, we love 'em. I mean. Rick Danko was one of my favourite bass players, but he's also one of my favourite vocalists. Levon (Helm] is amazing and Robbie [Robertson] .is amazing, all of them...everyone. Have you met any of The Band? What are your demands? Now, you're Kings of Leon, I mean Bryan Adams comes to your shows, doesn't he? Caleb: [Laughs] Yeah. We haven't met them actually. We recorded our record at their studio that they built called Shangri-La, in Mafibu, Cafifomia. But that's about it, that's the closest we've gotten to The Band. Is that where they did [singing] "Up on Cripple Creek"? Caleb: [Laughs] I believe so. Maybe I don't know. You'll have to ask them. I didn't never hear that version. I guess what I was wondering, though, was who can you get to meet • you now? Now that you're the Kings of Leon!! Is it gonna be hard to meet The Band to do like a super Jam? Caleb: Yeah, probably. Actually one person we wanted to meet was Johnny Cash. We were on our way to California and the band that's opening for us. Jet, I believe their producer was playing on his record, and so we were on our way to get to meet Johnny Cash. Not any more but...we would have loved to do that. But, yeah, any member from The Band would be great. A lot ot people look at you guys, I mean, what do people compare you to? Jared: A lot of stupid shit. Caleb: Well, they compare us to everything from Lynyrd Skynyrd to gay men who live in the same house together wearing moustaches. [Laughs] So I mean whatever. Now what is fhe problem with moustaches? Caleb: I don't know. I think they're just underrated. I think porno really brought 'em down a little bit. Porno kinda killed the moustache, but actually we're very inspired by porno so.... The 70s porno-look is what your're kinda sporting now? Caleb: Err, we like the '60s a little more than the '70s but I would say the length of our hair maybe people would say is a little '70s. I read somewhere that you guys don't want people with mustaches coming to your shows? Caleb: Erm.... ~,*=.-~iv >J You said you would rather shave your head than let that happen. Jared: I think that was Caleb. Caleb: Yeah, well it was just the thing...you know? I'm mean like, why are you allowed a mustache and not me?!l Caleb: No, that's great. We just...the way that we are, we've kinda always done the opposite of what everyone wants and what everyone thinks. That's why we grew facial hair because people at our record label told us we were handsome and so we all just started growing facial hair to make them mad. So people better watch out—the hair could come off pretty quick then? Jared: Yeah, I just think that what he meant by that is that we try to be different from everyone else. We don't like to look like everybody else, so that's why we look the way we do. So, if everybody started to look like us we would look different. And you guys are The Kings of...? Both: Leeeeoooon. So, Kings of Leon, I was just mentioning to you, that you guys kinda get compared to other bands like...? Caleb: Erm, everything from Lynyrd Skynyrd meets The Strokes to Creedence Clearwater Revival. I mean, some people are cool with it. Some people have cooler comparisons than those. And they'll say like, "The Rolling Stones or like, The Velvet Underground." I wanna say Andy Griffith! That's what you guys should be compared to, right? Caleb: Sure, why not man, Maf/ockl Isn't he from your area? Andy Griffith? Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash? Jared: Yeah. Caleb: Yeah. Andy Griffith is from Tennessee. And actually I loved the Andy Griffith Show so.... [Nardwuar attempts to hum the Andy Griffith Show theme]" De de ^«*«n»^ Andy Griffith theme? Caleb: Der Dum Dum Dert." "Der Dum Det..." Jared: [To Caleb] I love this guy! The Andy GrffBfh theme! Do you guys know ihe Jared: Yeah sure, definitely. How old are you by the way, Jared? Jared: 17 years old. Can you sing fhe Andy Griffith theme for us? Jared: Yeah...oh I can't sing it. I can whistle it. Can you hum it? "Der Dum Dert?" [Jared then proceeds to whistle a very tuneful version of the Andy Griffith theme] xv&** Sotakethatill Jared: Nacho joined in. Alright! I knew Nacho was useful for something. Jared: Hey Nachol Look... There's Nacho. Nach-OI Because the key to The Kings of Leon is understanding Andy Griffith. It all goes back to Andy Griffith. So how did you end up on BMG? How did you end up on BMG? What caused allthat? Caleb: Erm, we had been making some demos with songs and there was kind of a buzz going on. I guess our management, like, sent some things out to people. And we ended up going to New York. Now, how did you get that management? I've always wondered, like, how do you get to that stage, to actually get management? To, you know, bring you to New York? Caleb: Yeah, I don't know. It really started with a lawyer for us. I mean- How did you meet a lawyer?!! How did you meet a lawyer?!! Caleb: Just writing songs. Jared: We met a guy named Trey Bowyer. I mean, it's, like, being in the right place at the right time. We went to some, like err, club one night, some country club and this guy who played the guitar, we talked to him and he was a friend of ours and he played guitar and lived off it. And he introduced us to our lawyer. Our lawyer introduced us to our manager. Our manager introduced us to our A&R guy at RCA, and it's just, like...err, it starts that way. So it all goes back to a country club then? Caleb: Yeah, it does. Blue Bird Cafe. We weren't even playing there. We were just in there checking it out and we met a guy and we ended up going to his house and just playing, you know, a couple of songs for him and he introduced us to a guy. Props to the Bluebird Cafe then? Jared: Yeah, cheers. it's pretty amazing, you guys get to go to New York. You get to record with the Rolling Stones' old instruments and stuff—fhey weren't given to you of course, I realize that. Caleb: Yeah, I know. But before you were living in cars. You were living in cars! Caleb: Yeah, I mean, well, everything that we owned was in the back of our car pretty much. We had this big...well, we called it like a...what did we call it? Jared: A hooptie. Caleb: A hooptie, yeah. [Laughs] It was this.... That was the Sir Mix-A-lot thing. "My Hooptie!" You're down with Andy Griffith and Sir Mix-A-lot! Both: [Laughs] Can you sing any Sir Mix-A-lot at ad? Jared: Err, no...l don't think so. So you were in the hooptie, and I was wondering, what have you learned about sleeping in cars? What are the tips to the kids out there about sleeping in a car? Caleb: Don't sleep on the floorboard because even though you can get comfortable, when you're sleepy you'll wake up and with that lump in your back, it's not good. You'll wake up with boobs so«.. Jared: The thing is, Pke, don't try and get in the most comfortable position first. Like, if you fall asleep like that [illustrates a comfortable position], then you're pretty much screwed from there on out, because that was the pinnacle of comfort. So you need to just start out with, like, you know, the straightforward lay down. And then when you wake up and you have something really comfortable to fall back on. Then you're golden. Now, do you think when you guys get really, realty, really huge you're gonna maybe keep sleeping in the cars? You know, have a car on tour Just to sleep in to keep it real? Caleb: Maybe Jared: Occasionally. Like on the rider? Have a car on the rider so you can sleep in it? Caleb: Yeah, not every night. But when our heads start getting too big we'll kick a member into the car. Kings of Leon, your dad—your dad!!—was a minister?) Jared: Yeah. What kind of things did you witness? Was he speaking in tongues and stuff like that? Caleb: Erm, yeah, yeah. Can you speak in tongues at all? Caleb: Not right now, no. Not for years, it's...yeah, it's been like five or six years since we've been involved, or my dad's been involved in that church, you know? But, yeah, that's the kind of churches we grew up on. Now, what kinda things did you witness? And what were you doing? Did you witness any healing or anything? Like, what is the wildest thing you've seen? ilfetStSh Jared: Yeah, I mean we witnessed a lot of crazy things, but we just don't really talk about it any more. But sure, we saw everything. So were you the band playing on stage when people got healed? Jared: No, they (the press] kinda misconstrued that. We never really played in the church with our dad. Nathan played the drums in church, but that was really it. Did you ever think there would be a band like The Polyphonic Spree? Wearing robes on stage, doing that sorta stuff? Caleb: No, I mean, I had hoped that there would be like a great choir one day, but they're kinda... they're not really ike a choir, are they? I've never really seen them play ive. Kings of Leon, Just winding up here, did you get involved in snake handling or spells at all In the church? Caleb: No. That's craziness. That's...that wasn't the kinda thing ... that's like the retarded people. But it was similar religion. We just weren't that religion where we would do the snake handling. But we would do the healing and all that stuff. You guys are the Kings of Leon. I understood that you took Ben Kweller to your family reunion? Jared: Yeah, definately, man, it's great. We always have family reunions once a year. It's Labour Day in May and...we go up in the mountains of Oklahoma and we pretty much fish and get crawdads. I mean it's just like.... How did Ben Kweller fit in at the Kings of Leon family reunion? Caleb: Oh, we were scared at first, you know? We didn't know if he could hack it. But actually he was right there, ike he was up at seven o'clock every morning trying to get us to fish and he was drinking beer by 12. So we were like, "Man, he's in." So now, we ...I think for his wedding present...err...we gave him our cabin. So we're gonna have to build a new one next year so.... That's totally nice of you guys. Jarad: Yeah, well he's ike our best friend so.... Continues on next page... / So can I come to your family reunion next time, or would I get my ass kicked? Caleb: You'd probably get your ass kicked, but actually there's like a fist, like, this long [demonstrates the length] of people frying to get on the family reunion. So, em we might just go down there like a week before and have like a band reunion, where it's just the band. Speaking of getting your ass kicked: I saw an Interview with you guys where you said that people were, like, giggling at your hair and stuff? Caleb: Yeah, a lot. Now, why would anybody giggle at you hair because looking at you guys it looks like you guys could kick my ass. You have fhe look of "kicking ass." Why would anybody dare giggle at you? Don't people have respect? Caleb: I don't know, maybe, yeah. Some people do but I think the reason, you know, is because we're different. We were looking on the internet and there was some magazine that had the 40 worst hairdos of band history. And the Kings of Leon were one through four [laughs]. And we, ike, beat Flock of Seagulls and everyone so.... I love the Flock of Seagulls and the thing about you guys Is fhe way you dress never went out of style, did R? Uke it never went out of style where you're from INardwuar adopts a gruff voice]...Tipton County? Caleb: No, not there, no. What's Tipton County like? Caleb: Moustaches, lots of moustaches, pretty much. tCta c en <Ajl\ fi ;'JjJi£\i Illustration By: Steve Collins I mean you're looking the same as people have looked for years, right? So how DARE people say you are retro?! You ain't retro you're yourselves. You're The Kings of Leon! Jared: We're fucking normal. Caleb: For Tipton County. [Laughs] And now you guys are mad aren't you? You're ready to name names! Spin Magazine. What's the deal with Spin Magazine? You don't like those guys now do ya? Jared: No way. I mean ike, it's just a bunch of bullshit. They reviewed our record with the Drive By Truckers and we don't...I mean...we don't like having beef with other bands, but we just never, I mean I've seen them ike one time on TV and it was ridiculous. It was like horrendous and they gave us ike, I don't know, like two points and them ike, five or somethig like that.... Caleb: No, it's not...we don't wanna talk about bands or anything-Ik6: that.... I think it's great that you wanna name names though! Caleb: No, no we don't. I mean you're using your website to name names. That's great! Caleb: I can't believe you know the name, actually. It's more about the thing that they to us are very much a Southern Rock band, and they're going for that. We're not going for, you know, to be a Southern Rock band. We're just trying to be a band and have different influences from all kinds of genres of music and the thing is the review was saying...they gave us a bad review because we weren't Southern Rock, you know? We were kinda happy with 1hat, but they just don't get it. - Jared: We're not trying to be Southern Rock. I mean, we play rock and roll and we're from the South but... You're Andy Griffith rock)! Jared: Yeah, exactly. [Nardwuar tries to Sing the Andy Griffith song again] "Duh Duh Doo... ?" Jared: I'm not gonna sing that again. Ahh. "Duh Duh Doo?" Jared: "Doo Doo Doo Dert." Kings of Leon, now lastly here. Kings of Leon. Anything else you wanna add to the people out there at all? Jared: We love Canada and thanks to everybody. We've only played one show here and it's completely sold out. And tonight is our second show in Canada and it's completely sold out. Canada's been really good to us, so hopefully the guys will keep coming out, and the girls too. Where are the girls the best? In Tipton County? Jared: Erm, there's London. Sweden has INCREDIBLE girts. Erm...Athens,, Georgia.... This is incredible that Jared is scrying this, isn't it? Caleb: I don't know. It's pretty true. I mean—from sleeping in a car to Sweden) I mean this is really amazing, isn't ft?ll Caleb: Yeah, that's pretty incredible. AU because of the Bluebird Cafe? Caleb: Err...I guess so...I don't know, maybe. Jared: It's insane! ' What do you guys think of guns, lastly here. Caleb: We don't own a gun actually. Because you talk about Molly's Chambers? Caleb: That's not about a gun. It's about her...err...chambers. Hoi Hoi Molly's Chamber's! Marilyn's Chamber's) Jared: Yeah err...I don't know. We recently watched Bowling for Columbine and there's a lot of interesting points. Caleb: Yeah, but I'm 'not for guns. I'm not against guns. I don't really give a damn. On your next album you'll address that. Because right now you've got your new album to pimp, which I must say Craig Kilbom dissed on The Craig Kilbom Show, didn't he? Caleb: Realty? Jared: I don't know, I didn't watch it. But you guys played on it? Jared: Yeah, I know we played on it but we didn't get to see it. Because he did the Intro to you guys and he showed the record and he was like, "Nice Cover!" Because you know your record comes with that interesting cover and tt almost looks white, right? He kinda dissed your record cover and then introduced you guysli Jared: He was just trying to copy off David Letterman. He's trying to be something. He's nothing. Actually, I think the reason he did that was because we were supposed to play "Molly's Chambers" on the show and we pissed everyone off by playing "Spiral Staircase." So... and we recorded at a different day—we didn't even see him. And they record the music first, so I'm sure they told him that we did that so he tried to be funny, but he's not funny. Ahh, that's awesome. Thank you. SHckin' It to 'em! The Kings of...? Jared: LEE—ON! Weil, thanks very much Kings of Leon. Keep on rockin' in the free world and doot doola doot doo.... Jared: Doot Doo. • Listen to the Nardwuar the Human Serviette Show every Friday Afternoon 3:30pm-S:00pm on CiTR fM 101.9. Plus, check out www. nardwuar.com. your guide the world of Nardwuar. Boys in da corners: talking local hip hop. Interview and photos by Jenn Wong In a city teeming with a strange mix of talented new artists and boring come-and-go suburban underground "rap stars," it's hard to figure out what's real and what's not. Lucky for us, though, that deep as shit pool we call hip hop is spiling over lately with creative juices and one of Vancouver's finest, producer, DJ and all around whiz kid Matt Perry, better known as Kutcomers, is here to make waves, alongside his merry cohorts who "just really want to make music." Perry, a 22-year-old import from Auckland, New Zealand, dropped down from the sky and into Canada a mere three years ago with an MPC2000XL and a shit load of dusty records. After spending time in Halifax and Montreal, he packed his bags and settled down to the west coast, meeting and politicking and quickly gaining a reputation in the city as a much sought-after DJ, picking up club nights and a partner in crime, MC Ilia Brown, while still finding time to make beats in his basement. Eventually, he met up with Kallon John (an MC by the name of Grafhik) at a local show and slipped him a mix of homemade beats serious enough to make Grafhik look twice. Phone calls were made and a grassroots production began to form. This month, the newly launched Ephin Productions (www.ephin.com) is dropping a fresh hot off the press compilation album, appropriately named Re-birth of the Realness/Bu'ild with tracks from some of Vancouver's finest talents, with a crazy line-up featuring the lyrical ikes of Ink Operated, Birdapres, Moves, JayKin and the Usual Suspects along with the production and turntable skills of Kutcorners, Grafhik, Wunderkut and Guha. Recorded at Greenhouse Studios here in Vancouver, the compilation came together in just under a month, and the 12", a hot-and spicy mix produced by Kutcorners and held down by local MC's JayKin and Grafhic, will drop at Atlantis Nightclub on December 10, alongside the Build CD and Ephin clothing line. I had a chance this week to sit down and talk to Jaykin (real name Jaaykan Weekes) and Kutcorners at Beafstreet Records about the state of hip hop in this neck of the woods, hometown support, their upcoming release and everything else. Not surprisingly, they had a lot to say, especially regarding the city's hip hop scene and the way things or© taking off. JayKin, who started out writing rhymes in secret and later dropping lyrics as a surprise to his friends and family (his cousin Grafhik also rhymes on the 12") says guys ike Raekwon, Nas and Jay-Z and so on are the ones he looks up to, guys who, on their past records, "had that hunger for hip hop that you just don't see anymore." Later on, he says, "You look at the growth of the local hip-hop scene even in this past year alone—people are really starting to realize that we've got a lot of things going down in this part of Canada. Guests come from out of town and they go to the shows and are amazed at what they see. Guys like The Swollen Members, The Rascalz, Checkmate, that's what people automatically think of when they think of Canadian West Coast hip hop. But these days it's a new school of guys, talented MCs, producers, DJ's that are really serious about what they're doing, pushing the barriers and upping the standards of what's hype, trying to get away from the cliche suburban underground backpacker stuff and back into the o|d-school mentality of flavour and soul." Kutcomers adds, saying, "There's something so great about the way this compilation just came together. It was basically Ryan Weiss and Grafhic who really looked around and realized what kind of people are really doing shit up here. Looking at the track listing and who did what on the album is sort of like seeing a "best of" ist of what's going down in Vancouver. All of these guys on the album have been around for ages, they've really been able to hear and understand the culture and the music. The very fact that we've all concentrated on getting our stuff out there as a group really says a lot about the community—we all have our solo things going on and we're all really busy people but this album is just something we're really pleased with and proud of. Getting our shit'out and going on tour later on to promote the 12", stuff like that, we're all really dedicated about our music, it's all we'll ever really want to do." • You can visit Kutcomers every Tuesday night at Sou/Good, located in the back room at the oh so legendary Shine Nightclub in Gastown. holding down the tables alongside Wilson Hail and Clarence, with III B providing the rhymes. The 12" release party is on Wednesday, December JO™ at Atlantis Nightclub. For more Information, check www.ephin.com. C<j^r*\. OKSH /3 For five gloriously freezing days The Red Light Sting acted all bright- eyed and bushy tailed in New York City. We saw and participated in the 2003 CMJ Music Marathon. An event that showcases hundreds of bands, independent films and hosts seminars on several facets of the music biz as we know it. Our "work" only lasted about 25 minutes and was finished after the first night. So the five of us—myself, Andy - Dixon, Geoff Macdonald, Paul Patko and Zoe Verkuylen—ended up having a pretty good vacation in the Big Apple. Reading about how much someone partied or how hammered someone was at .a party is boring and obvious, so I'm leaving that out. However, if pressured, I just might tell you the story about how three hours before we had to wake up to catch our flight home, four of us had to clean an entire bathroom after the other one of us puked in a backed-up toilet that overflowed with the piss and shit. Good times. Tuesday, October 21. We arrive on schedule at Sea-Tac airport for our American Airlines 11:35 flight to New York. Andy, Zoe and I decide to invest in some headphones for the on-flight movie, Alex and Emma. While the other four Red Light Stingaz are in deep sleep, my inability to sleep while in motion leaves me hanging on every one of Luke Wilson's meaningless words. "Who are you?" he says. At this point in time I really don't know, and I just want some more granola bars to stave off time and boredom. Wednesday, October 22. It's about eight in the morning when we step off our plane. First stop" The Hilton. We take two separate cabs to fit all our crap in. Paul and I arrive first and wait for the others while we see throngs of horn-rimmed hopefuls line up for their badges. We promptly march up flights of stairs to the official CMJ booths, and are informed that we are the first band to receive our, ahem, all-access badges (Note. All-access seems to be code for NO ACCESS). We then curl up with our gear and sleeping bags in the hallway and fall asleep to the sounds of sniggering hipsters who surely have already found a place to stay. Zoe manages to track down our friend Oscar, and we get to crash at his Brooklyn pad for a couple of hours. The club we're playing. The North Six, is a decent club. Hell, there's a band called Feeble Weiner playing there soon, how classy is that? We realize too late as we get there that a load-in time of 3pm has been changed to 5:30. Zoe falls asleep on her keyboard case. The rest of us nap on the bleachers. A bouncer teUs us about Elliot Smith's suicide and we all get very bummed out. The Fata Booking Agency showcase, featuring The Red Light Sting, The Blood Brothers, The Anniversary and The Vexers, kicks off around 8pm with Norway's JR Ewing. On their first Eastern U.S. tour. JR Ewing are very excited to be here and play a tight 25-minute set consisting mostly of tracks from their briliant modern hardcore slab Ride Paranoia. Imagine The Refused without the electronics and poitical agenda. "Who saw us here last night?" asks singer Andreas : Tylden. No one says a word. Unfortunately, this is the response throughout their set. The Red Light Sting play on borrowed equipment, aside from guitars and our keyboard. It shows, but aside from a few goofs, we pull it off pretty convincingly. We don't have any other shows to play while we're here, so we're now in complete vacation mode. After our set, I interview JR Ewing, and then Andy, Geoff and I take off in our rented minivan and head out to the Knitting Factory in Manhattan to catch the French Kiss Records showcase. We arrived just as S Press was wrapping up their set. Poor man's Les Savy Fav...'nuff said. Ex Models stepped up next and delivered a raucous set, with their bodies contorting and spilling all over the stage and crowd. I thought there was only one singer in this band. It turns out three of them have copped the singer from Devo's voice as their own. Funny, I thought that the singer in center stage would have a guitar around his neck for a reason. Entertaining, nonetheless. Les Savy Fav played for the better part of an hour, and while keeping the kids alive, it seemed a little too much of the same old, same old. Fat guy (vocalist Tim Harrington) in a pirate costume? Check. Fat guy takes off said pirate costume? Check. Fat guy jumps in crowd, runs up and down the stairs and allbver the club? Check. Did he grind up to people, both willing and unwilling, and act all sensual in that oh, so ironic way? Yup. Rumours circulate that their show two days from now, at which the singer purportedly jumped into a fish tank and swam with a mermaid, is their last. We meet up with the others back at North Six and get back to Oscar's apartment around 4am. Thursday, October 23. Woke up around 5pm. Tonight has a very uneventful schedule. There is not a single band worth checking out. We manage to get to Downtime to catch a set by Tora Tora Torrance, who, quite frankly, are bora bora boring. The Minneapolis five-piece just seemed too gosh-darn nice and wholesome to have convincing rock star attitudes. Typical At the Drive-In influenced indie rock with a—how exciting —sassy, nasal-toned vocafist. We hop back in the minivan and drive to Pianos for a Spin Magazine party. This is the first of many parties where I notice the music is a mix of early "80s New Wave and the now-mandatory dance jam, Outkast's "Hey Ya." We go back to Downtime for another abysmal afteTparty, manage to get stuck driving our friend Jay back to Brooklyn to an empty club he claimed would be "bumpin." I fall asleep in the club. We get back to Oscar's around 4am. Friday, October 24. Friday is spent entirely at the Knitting Factory. For the better part of the night, the club plays host to fan-favorite label, Troubleman Unlimited, on all three levels of the building. Glass Candy bowed out last minute, rumoured to have found a better show that night. Ouch. Hopefully label owner Mike Simonetti didn't have to sheH out their CMJ fees for them. The show, as well as the Dillinger Escape Plan/or Dirty Bastard show that follows it, are sold out and badge exempting, so we sweet talk the bouncer into putting us on the ist. Highlights include a mind-boggling set on the middle floor by Zs, a band consisting of two guitar players, two saxophone players and two drummers. They ai sat down (yes...even the drummers!) with eyes gazing intently at the sheet music in front of them, tossing out six finely crafted tunes that simulated improv skronk/free jazz. Next up was D.C.'s Measles Mumps Rubella, freaking out in a now all too familiar dance-punk way, yet somehow managing to stay leagues ahead of the competition. A refreshing mix of Q and Not U modernism injected with Nick Cave-esque vocals and a chaos almost reminiscent of that Das Audience record (Pre-Vue). Other notable sets were performed by Touchdown. Lowlights included a set by the new Need project. King Cobra. whose similarity fo their previous band reminded me why I disliked the metal-tinged Need in the first place, and a truly unimpressive set by "legendary hip hop crew" Death Comet Crew, who just seemed uncomfortable to be on stage again after some 20 years apart. After the Troubleman Showcase, the crowd was forced to clear out so the club could prepare for Dillinger Escape Plan/OI' Dirty Bastard show: Dillinger Escape Plan brought out the bro contingent, who moshed insanely for their math-metal heroes. A new muscle- bound singer graced the stage, performing songs old and new. As the band sets down, the crowd gets restless and starts chanting "Dirrrrrrty, Dirrrrrty" and "WU TANG!" Some of the newly christened Dirt McGirt's entourage pumps up the crowd and hypes up some truly whack MCs who are supposed to go on before Dirty. The main MC looks up in the bleachers and gets the crowd to yell with him at the promoter to pay ODB before he plays. Something suspicious is going on. ODB walks on stage before his cue, cutting the rookie MCs short. The man of the hour stands center stage in complete silence as the music plays; he has a glazed, distant look in his eye. For the next hour or so he stumbles on his lines, forgets entire verses, and manages to only complete one song...by singing the same verse three times. His entourage, which grew to about 15-20 on the stage by night's end, kept saying to not mind the ODB because he was probably just drunk. JjL» C *\ aCfcO. M but his immobility suggested he was just plain fucked up. Very sad. Apparently we thought it was a good idea to bring one member of ODB's crew home with us. Look out for Boogie Black, who says he's ahem with Wu Tang. He called our friend Lisa, who he saw during the show, while he was in the minivan with us and managed to sweet talk her into getting out of bed, leaving her hotel and coming out with us. In the morning I could hear him calling up Ns friend and telling him about the night. "Yo, I spent the night with this rock band, man. You wouldn't believe the night I had, man." Neither can we. Boogie. Neither can we. Saturday, October 25. We woke up early to meet with some friends for lunch, but had to drop off Boogie first. We drive around for about 45 minutes, have a group sing-a-long to Temple of the Dog, and end up dropping off Boogie on a street comer to catch a cab. He's sketched out about the whole ordeal, so Zoe ends up giving him $15 for cab fare. An early afternoon show at Piano's had Hella play a tight 45-minute set, all things considering. Zach Hill's drum kit kept faWng apart in between and during songs, but it mattered ittle as he plowed and pummeled the kit with the skill that truly has to be seen to be beieved. Later that night at our new home, the Knitting Factory, Dim Mak records owner Steve Aoki showcased 15 of his finest bands on a completely sold out Saturday night. Another three-level affair, this showcase saw fantastic sets by Pretty Girts Make Graves. Miracle Chosuke. Young People, Dance Disaster Movement, and a slough of others. Portland noise/free jazz wonders Die Monitor Bats, now apparently a three-piece, skronked their way into the basement crowd's heart with a short, hip-gyrating set inducing .such gems as "Open Up Your Legs, and Release the Bats." Hint+lint's brief set on the middle floor had singer Peter Quirk stumbing around and falling over the monitors. Apparently he's not used to his newfound freedom, having dropped the keyboard aspect of his performance in favour of being a front man. Thankfully his. as ■ well as the rest of the Seattle quintet's charm and talent saved what could have been a disastrous set. The Gossip's set on the top floor had the entire crowd hanging off of their every move, despite Southern-crooning singer Beth Ditto noting it was "about eight thousand o'clock in the morning." Sunday, October 26. Our early morning flight still sees everyone but me sleeping. Andy and I eagerly anticipate our on-flight movie, which turns out to be Rowan "Mr. Bean" Atkinson's latest vehicle, Johnny English. Bummer. We get back to Vancouver around 4 pm. I sleep until 7am the next morning. • The DiSCORDER Christmas Questionnaire Zoe Verkuylen (of Ache Records and The Red Light Sting). What do you do? Take Care of Business. Favourite record of 2003 and why? I can't just pick one...so...Pretty Girls Make Graves The New Romance. Secret Mommy Babies That Hunt, 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryh', The Blood Brothers Bum Piano Island turn. L'il Kim La Bella Mafia, Death From Above Heads Up. »moment of 2003? Touring and spanning time in NYC and LA. Wont moment of 2003? When the drive shaft tel off the van on the Hollywood freeway at 3am, with Paul and Greg really wasted, and then Paul cimbed the scaffolding at the side of the highway and passed out. and then the tow truck ran out of gas on the way to Mkey's house. That was pretty bad. What do you want for Christmas? A Rice Cooker, records, books. Tofurkeyorfurducken? Tofurkey. i song and why? Chariie Brown " Christmas Time Is Here." New Year's resolution? Be irresponsible and more lazy. • i Mm The DiSCORDER Christmas Questionnaire Name? Andy Dixon (of Ache Records/The Red Light Sting/Secret Mommy/The Chemistry Designs). What do you do? I co-run Ache Records, make music as Secret Mommy, play guitar in The Red Light Sting, and operate The Chemistry Designs. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Matmos-The CMI War. Because it's a brilliant record with lots of guests orr it doing great stuff. A nice balance of amazing processing and electronics, and melody. Ex Models-Zoo Psychology: I've never heard anything ike the music on this record. I love the incredible rhythms and total frantic quality.-.plus I saw them ive and they shattered my realty.. Most memorable moment of 2003? Probably when me and Paul sow Dick Clark on a street in New York, and then al these jocks started chanting "WE LOVE DICK. WE LOVE DICK." Worst moment of 2003? . . That was when I accidentaly flushed a clogged toilet full of someones poo and Zoe's barf and had to spend the next several hours cleaning it up with my friends from four to six in the morning, then having to get on an airplane. ,":"?:J^-.-i What do you want for Christmas? I want everyone in my life to be as happy as they can be...that. and to put out a Mouse On Mars record. Well actually, the, first thing on my Christmas 1st is a vacuum. Tofurkey or turducken? I have had Tofurkey and it wasn't too hot. I don't know what that other one is, but it's got the word "turd" in it, so I'm not too down...l'l go with the Tofurkey. Favourite Christmas song and why? I Ike "Christmas Bells" because it's kind of dark sounding...plus it doesn't get ruined with a bunch of words about love and baby Jesus. New Year's resolution? To quit smoking, quit my job, sell my SUV, get a gym membership and reaBy-enjoy fife. * sCtctt^, 4*<4«rv%j tS W:M ****&ls *K yMNmL '*^:/k f yr> /' Ak kt The first thought that enters people's minds when you mention Sub Pop is, "Oh that grunge label from Seattle label, right?" Well, yeah and no. If you haven't been paying attention you could be forgiven for thinking that the once great label was now in retrogressive decline, desperately clinging to its former glory days by releasing re-issue after re-issue of Mudhoney demos ond maybe even the odd Tad live recording. In fact, you couldn't be more wrong. Sub Pop is label of the year and 2003 has seen them go from strength to strength. Here at CiTR nary a month has gone by when we haven't be enjoying one Sub Pop release while eagerly awaiting the postman to drop the next in our laps. It's been amazing. True, last year was good: Ugly Casanova's self-titled debut and Iron and Wine's The Creek Drank the Cradle were particular highlights, but this year has been simply stellar. It's reflected in our best albums of the year list. Count 'em. Four, that's four entries! All from the one label! And it's not all grunge-influenced stuff. It almost too easy to say that there's no such thing as a Sub Pop sound any longer, but really there's isn't. What do The Postal Service and The Constantines have in common? Or Iron and Wine and the left-wing stand-up comedy of David Cross? Not bloody much. In fact, looking at all their releases this year, from The Shins to The Thermals through even to the jagged lo-fi country of the Baptist Generals and the mental instrumentation pf Kinski, the only common factor is the quality of the music. This is why they are DiSCORDER's Label of the Year for 2003. And despite the fact that the last few years has seen nothing but success for the Seattle-based label, clmbing out of the hole dug by mid-90s grunge has taken considerable work. I got on the phone and had a good old chin-wag with Sub Pop's most familiar face, label head Jonathan Poneman. One of the two founding members, he told me the tale of a tiny label that exploded big with Nirvana in the early 90s, crashed hard by overreaching itself in the mid 90s and finally blossomed forth in the golden renaissance of the last few years. DiSCORDER: How did you start Sub Pop? Jonathan Poneman: Well, Bruce Pavitt actually started Sub Pop, he was the founder of the label. And Sub Pop was founded as a column in a magazine called OP, which was the forerunner of Option magazine. It was originally called Subterranean Pop, and the column focused on independent music that was being created in cities other than the cities that are commonly regarded as the music capitals of North America, which would be, you know. New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. Then Bruce went from this to creating a column in the Rocket magazine, which you may or may not remember, it was a music magazine in Seattle that was edited by Charles Cross who later went on and did that Nirvana biography [Heavier than Heaven]. Bruce and I hooked up in 1987, he had just put out Dry as a Bone, Green River's second EP, and I had briefly managed Soundgarden. I think my one managerial act actually was canceling a show they had at The Railway Club. The Railway Club? Here in Vancouver? Yeah. That was it. Anyway, we both basically caught on to the same idea at the same time: "Wow, there are all these great bands in Seattle, but Seattle doesn't have a record label that's putting any of this out. So let's do it and let's do it on a fulltime basis." So I broke my piggy bank and we borrowed some money from some friends and then away we went. We started it as a full time venture on April 1, April? Yeah, April Fool's day, a very auspicious day. What happened to Bruce Pavitt? Bruce retired. He ives in secluded luxury up on Orcas Island, which is part of the San Juans. And you've taken over the sole responsibility for running Sub Pop? [Shouting] I AM THE GOD! No, but yeah—Bruce has a family, I don't. Bruce has a life, I don't. But seriously, this has been my crowning passion. Where you ever hungry? Oh yeah, I was totally hungry. But hungriness is really such a relative thing. My hunger is now reaUy the hunger of the people that work here. You know, my responsibility at this point is just to make sure that the doors are open. But Sub Pop's renaissance has little to do with my involvement, except that I've created the platform for it. That's my next question in a way, how involved are you these days? - Well, I'm here right now, that's pretty damn involved. So what's an average day for you at the record label? My average day is: I come in and check my email, kinda walk around the floor to see what people are doing. Err, look at my watch, ask somebody if it's time for lunch. Shuffle back to my office .to take a nap. Listen to CDs, wake up, look at my watch...is it time to go home yet? You get the idea. Yeah. Are you a good boss? I like to think I am, yeah. *mki #4r\ Moving on to fhe Sub Pop renaissance, I guess first we have to talk about what happened with fhe grunge thing—I'm not gonna ask you too much about it because it's been dealt with—but what was It like dealing with the backlash against that type of music that followed in the mid 90s? Well, Bruce and I were good enough students of pop culture to know that even before it exploded, it would cave in. We both had different approaches as to how to deal with it. Bruce's more conscious of what other people think about things, which you've gotta be when you own a record label. You can't be completely self-referential. I, however, was more self-referential because I figure that if I like it, a lot of people are gonna ike it because I don't have that refined a taste. I'm quite populist. There's a certain Fred Flintstone aspect to my approach to things. So we signed a lot of things. At first there was a lot of discipline in terms of what we would sign and then we lost that and we really lost it. After a while, in Sub Pop's dark ages, we went from having this very strict focus to having virtually no focus at all. Then, basically what happened was there was an infusion of new individuals who came in and our A&R pbicy opened up considerably. There was a period of time at Sub Pop where very, very good, very well-intentioned people were commanding our A&R, our talent scouting and basically our artist relations and, though they had a vision, it didn't result in anything that was particularly exciting. Was there ever a point when Sub Pop was In real trouble and it could . have ceased to be? You know, ironically, not really. There have been a tot of rumours about Sub Pop's demise, but we are a pretty dam strong label. We definitely dug a deep hole at one point but we always had resources, and we've always had the ability to pull the belt in tight when we've needed to. Of course, the irony is that a lot of the people who sounded our imminent demise are either no longer in the music industry, or they're working for labels who now have to do what we did several years ago: radically downsize and quit spending ridiculous amounts of money on ridiculous things. What was the lowest point for you and Sub Pop? I think the lowest point was the year 1997. It's hard for me—all the years kinda blend together in terms of what came out when. I just felt that things were at their most incoherent then. We had twice as many employees as we do now. It was just a huge exercise in hubris. We had a Sub Pop London headquarters and we even had a Sub Pop Toronto headquarters. Well, we had a Toronto headquarters simply because in one of our more folly-laden exercises we signed all these Canadian bands. Now, I happen to think, and I've always thought, that there are great bands in Canada but it's ultimately up to Canadians. And that's a hard gig because Canada is such a small r«*\«Cea w$ Con.sr%fy,r)\ ^^^W ,n*L> «$&**". FosmM&t, MC& country, I mean it's small population-wise and so big geographically. There was a point in time when we had like five or six Canadian bands out of a roster of 20 to 25. Do you still have either of those offices? Oh, no, no, no. The only office Sub Pop has is 2514,4th Avenue, Seattle, Washington. So what was the point where things starred changing? I would say that things started to change when one of our original receptionists, this woman named Megan Jasper, who is presently the general manager of Sub Pop, came back. She's a force of nature. She had worked at Sub Pop for a couple of years and went from being a receptionisf to being a salesperson, but Bruce and I had to do one of our periodic radical downsizes and we let her go. Then she proceeded to work for one of the distribution companies that distributed our records in the States. She came back to Sub Pop in 1998 as our head of marketing. And she is someone who is beloved by all our artists. She's an incredible manager, far more competent at managing people than I've ever been. She has directed a great crew of people who are inspired about music, which is the most important thing. They've managed to put the artist first instead of their record label jobs and status. I mean, most people who work at music companies can't fit their heads through the goddamn door, you know? What the fuck?!! All we're ddng is being the advocates for the artists. I mean, it's a nice job, it's a great job, but it's not like you're the artist. You're their advocate. Get of your goddamn high horse. One of the other things I wanted to ask you about was the rumour I heard about Isaak Brock [lead singer of Modest Mouse] being on the Sub Pop payroll. Is this true? Isaak Brock is indeed on the payroll. He is an A&R person. Isaak was critical in bringing Holopaw to the label. And he also had more of an indirect participation in bringing The Shins to the label. And that was a good decision? I think so. bigger or longer? [Shouting] JUMBO SIZE THAT SHINS RECORD! Like, fuck, man. KyllliS Did Iron and Wine's coming to Sub Pop have anything to do with Isaak Brock? No, actually. Mike McGonigal from Sad Robot Records has a fanzine called Yefi, which is really good. And the first Yeti had an accompanying CD that featured a track by Iron and Wine. I was dying to hear more of this stuff so we called Sam [Beam, i.e.. Iron and Wine] and got him to send two CDs worth of music from which we culled The Creek Crank the Cradle. It was just incredible. That's an amazing album. The way it's recorded is fantastic. Well, I'll tell you, he just finished what's going to be his second album which is coming out in March next year and it is...phew! He worked with Brian Deck [ex-member of Sub Pop greats Red Red Meat]. Yeah, he's been an essential producer and player in your renaissance. Yeah, he did Ugly Casanova. He used to be in Red Red Meat, a seminal Sub Pop band if I may say so myself. And then he did the Holopaw record, he did the Fruit Bats' records and he just finished the new Iron and Wine record and it is unbelievable. Has Iron and Wine's Sam Beam changed direction? Err, no, the record after this one will be the change of direction. I don't say thaf cynically, Ike we're plotting it out.jDutWcnow that Sam's working with completely different textures and sounds now. The upcoming record is gonna be the definitive statement of this kinda music. Unbelevable song writing. It's really, really good. Every month this year it seems there was something good from you guys. But the biggest Sub Pop favourite of the last few years at CiTR has not been a music CD at all. It was David Cross's Shut Up You Fucking Baby. A stand-up comedy albuml Oh, right on. He's gonna have a new album out as well, in April or May next year. Yeah, me too. Their first album blew me away and the second is Just Was that a risk, putting out a comedy record? And there's a lot of great stuff that hasn't even made it to a record yet. And their records are so short! Yeah, weH, that's the thing: it's quality, not quantity. It'd be Ike looking at the Mona Lisa and gdng, "God, that would be so much better if it was 20 by 20 feet." Like, since when does something have to be Wei, it's hard to say. When we're ddng our budgets we always think, "How much is this gonna sell?" But, at the same time, he's so unique and what he is saying is so important. The whole of the United States of America cannot be repubican, there's got to be other people Ike myself who think all of this stuff is bullshit. Turns out that there are a lot of people that think that. Is there a band you wish you never let go of? Not realty. I mean, at the time I may have felt that way, but things move on when they need to move on. I'm not trying to sound all new age-y. But if you enjoy what we're doing now, the reason why, it's because there is a lot of fluidity on the Sub Pop label. There are no bands like, say. Guided By Voices. You know, they're a great band, seminal band, blah blah blah, but enough already! That's going right at you, Bob Pollard. I hope he reqds-this—enough already! Bands can be great but what keeps me excited is hearing new stuff. Is Sub Pop at the point now where you can hold on to bands and not let them get poached by a bigger label? Yeah, we are. But agdn, that's not even the point. If bands aren't happy here they should move on. Our contracts are pretty short arid we're pretty cheap and if people like it around here then they're gonna hang on. We don't have a tet of artists who do spit, but that may in the long run end up being a problem. Every release spot on our label is a very important thing and we don't wanna clutter it up with a bunch of records that aren't going to be meaningful to peode. Maybe three, or even four times a year we indulge and say, "We all think this is cool, even if you think it blows." A tot of people these days seem very fond of the phrase "There are no real independent record labels anymore." What do yew think? Is this true? Well, it's funny, I don't know if you've been reading the music press recently but Edgar Bronfman who was the Seagrams heir, he's in the process of buying Warner Music from Time Warner. So their catchphrase is that Warner Music is gonna be the world's largest independent record label. And, in a manner of speaking, that's true, in the sense that it won't be owned by a major corporation and it won't be owned by stockholders. It's gonna be a privately-held company. They're all owned by major multinational corporations right now. But I think independence is more of a spirit than anything else. I think it's so important for people to be able to seize the power for themselves in every aspect of life, be it becoming your own record label, distributing your own books, or whatever. And the great thing about the digital world is that all of these barriers that once kept people from being able to have their art distributed freely and vastly are coming down, sometimes at the expense of the recording industry. But I don't think that that is a bad thing because in the long run there's going to be a digital meritocracy. We sell tons of Shins CDs and people buy that CD because they wanna buy a dece of art. Yeah, I think after the big spurt of downloading, people are now actually starling to feel guilty and have started buying records again. They wanna support the artist, especially when they realise that a tot Continues on next page... jUacs***&i**'a™f' t* n-^tr^rfLaiM/' *?fy caf+ntv* of the bands they are downloading are roughly o level as themselves. That's absolutely true. Consumers are not stupid. the same poverty 7e/u test 9{ the $<**(> eftafssam it's a cliche question, but how does Sub Pop feel about downloading? Do you feel the effects? Wei, yeah. But it's primarily been a positive thing for us. I'm sure we're losing sales, I'm sure we're losing money but on the other hand we're also gaining exposure. The thing about burning and downloading ond "piracy" is that it gives the responsible consumer and listener the chance to check something out, and maybe they'll wanna go out and buy it. I think creating access among music listeners is a very important thing. The big thing at the moment is that labels are beginning to put their songs up on Ine to be downloaded for a price. Warp, for example, recently put their entire bock catalog on their website. Does Sub Pop have any plans for a similar venture? Wei, we're' doing it through iTunes. We're gdng to do it ourselves but there's a lot of structural upgrading that we're gdng to have to do to make the music available through the Sub Pop-site. Is selling music through iTunes paying off? Wei, it's very early days but ultimately it's going to do just fine. We ' don't-.make any less per track than we make in a bricks and mortar situation so it's fine. What has been the favourite record that you've ever released? [Laughs] That's sorta Ike asking a parent to choose their favourite kid. There's so many records that I'm proud—you'd have to dedicate the whole issue to it. What has been the highest point in your career, then? The moment when you were like, "Wow, This is amazing, I can't believe I'm doing this." Imvit was probably just a couple of weeks ago when the new Shins - record came out because I fee! Ike we had had a great year and then having that record come out and having it get the reception it dd. The whole thing around the grunge phenomenon is that we redly ddn't know what we were ddng. I mean, it was fun, but when you actually kinda know what you are doing.... Thishas really been t a great year for us intemaly and it's very meaningful and I'm very grateful that people ike you acknowledge it. Yeah, we've been loving it. ' I think next year is gonna be another great' year. In fact, I think if s gdng to be an even better year artistically. I don't know if you've heard The Elected or All Night Radio—those are the first two records we're putting out. Keep an eye out for them. All Night Radio is Farmer Dave [Dave Scher], who was the pedal steel player for Beachwood Sparks, and Jimi Hey. Jimi's been in number of bands—he played fri Strictly Ballroom and he played keyboards in The Rapture for a while. Al Night Radio has got this Moby Grape vibe, Ike baroque art psychedela—it's a very trippy record. • The Shins "New Slang" (from 2001 's Oh, Inverted World) The track that seduced both Sub Pop and the McDonald's Corporation. Sub Pop wanted them to sell records. McDonald's wanted them to sell fries. Strange, considering the song contdns the lines "New slang when you notice the stripes / the drt in your fries." Yay Shins! One in the eye of dg business. Ugly Casanova "Things I Don't Remember" (from 2002s Sharpen Your Teeth) Lead single from the astoundingly beguiling Sharpen your Teeth album. At the instigation of Modest Mouse's Isaak Brock a super group was created, including the likes of Caifone's Tim Rutii, Holopaw's John Orth, Paul Jenkins of The Black Heart Procession with Red Red Meat's Brian Deck behind the boards. "There was cum on the dano!" . Isaak appears to yelp at one point—someone probably just got a little bit overexcited because the song was so good. The Baptist Generals "Preservatine" (from 2003s No Silver/No Gold) Though it took me a while to crack this crackly to-fi country nut, I'm so glad I persevered. While nonplussed with a few cursive listens, seeing them ive at The Department of Safety really opened up The Baptist General's sound for me. And I wasn't the only one loving them: I distinctly remember the giggle of a small child during their performance of this song, the best on the album. And always trust the kids—it's al so instinctive with them. The Thermals "No Culture Icons" (from 2003s More Parts Per Million) Taken to Sub Pop by Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service), this Portland based three-piece strip down the rock'n'roll formula and race voice/guitar/bass/drums to clattering lo-fi finish. Catchy and metedc ike Guided By Voices but with added velocity. Blnk and you'* miss it. Iron and Wine "Upward Over the Mountain" (from 2002s The Creek Drank tne Cradle) Normdly, music critics throw around the words ike "heartbreakingly beautiful" Ike they're hot potatoes injected with a particularly voracious strain of the SARS virus. When faced with "Upward Over the Mountain," however, this critic has nowhere to go but the aforementioned phrase. On this song Sam Beam (the sole member of Iron and Wine) comes on ike Oedipus with an acoustic guitar and a job lot of Nick Drake records. The salty water coming out of your eyes? They're teardrops. The Postal Service "Nothing Better" (from 2003's Give Up) Who's laughing now? Those of us who scoffed at the 80s are al eating our words with a Wg spoon. I never Iked the Human League's "Dont You Want Me?" but here I am, it's 2003 and I'm basically listening to the post-millennial inde equivalent and loving every minute. The Postal Service were genius this year and probably the band most praised by misty-eyed teenage doggers the wortd over. Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis day the parting couple while Jimmy Tamboreio plays the fade-out music. There was nothing better this year. Holopaw "Short-Wave-Hum (Stutter)" Oram 2003s Holopaw) Sub Pop started this year with a one-two double whammy. The Postal Service's Give Up provided the first blow, but it was Holopaw that folowed up with a self-titled punch in the gut. I can't praise these Florida boys enough. Their music's simdy beautiful and John Orth's voice is a rare drd indeed, feathery, spry and just light enough to rest deicatehrover Holopaw's modern glitch-infected country. I can't really cho6se a song from this album that's better than the rest, but dumped for this one because of the cheeky almost out of tune whistling during the second verse. And I can't really describe how well it fits the mood of the song, you'll just have to isten for yourself. It'll make you smile, that much is guaranteed. The Constantines "Nighttime/Anytime (It's Alright)" (from 2003's Shine alight) This joint release with Three Gut Records proved that Sub Pop doesn't just showcase America's best, it also keeps an ear out for anything shaking north of the border. And this Guelph, Ontario five- dece certdnly do their fair amount of shaking. We've all heard the Bruce-Springsteen-fronting-Fugazi comparisons but that's only the tip of the iceberg. This modem day slab of soul shot through with urban paranoia helped Shine a Light become fhe Canadian dbum released this year, bar none. They might not be The Boss, but they sure are boss. Hot Hot Heat "Bandages" (from 2002s Make up the Breakdown) Truth be told Hot Hot Heat have a lot of enemies here at QiSCQRDEK. Bad blood, local jealousy and an interview that went very wrong have done them no favours. Even I have been known to scoff at the furry foursome by referring to them as High High Hair (props Jenni Neteonl) qs much as was humanly possible. But there's something to be sdd for a bunch of local boys who can grab Britain by fhe bdtocts, shake their tight pants with the best of them and write songs as catchy as this. And goddamit, If our girlfriends don't just love them. Lucky bastards. David Cross "If Baseballs Had AIDS on Them" (from 2002's Shut Up You Fucking Baby) How can someone standing on a stage pdntlng out the deeding obvious be so fucking funny? I don' t know—we just live in a fucked- up world, I guess. That aside, David Cross is funny. Split-your-pants, piss-in-a-bag, slap-your-grandmother funny. You can't really choose a track from this performance because you need to Isten to it all. And anyway as David told DiSCORDER in an interview last year, the naming of the tracks on the album is completely arbitrary. He realised that he could cal each one whatever he wanted because it was just another chance to make people laugh. My job was easy I simply choose the best title. See what I mean? Ftt's funny. • Of course fen songs could never cover all the brilliant music that Sub Pop has released over the past tow years and honourable mentions must go to Klnski's "Semaphore." Michael Yonkers Band's "Boy In the Sandbox." Fruit Bats' "Magic Hour" and many, many more. It you wanna check out more (and I'm sun you do), wwwjubpop.com has an extensive collection of downloads which will sate your need until you can afford fo buy of fhe albums mentioned here. J*4,C9%Jx*. I* Elephants, Hell's Angels and coked-up sluts: Ian Gormely discovers the inspiration that drives Ontario duo Death From Above. . Upon first listen. Death From Above could be best described as a wall of sound. The duo's heavy bass and drums sound kicks out the jams with skull-crushing abandon. However, beneath the turbulent storm lies an inherent sense of melody. Indeed, Death From Above's sound is far more calculated than a casual listen lets on. "I always wanted to write songs on bass," explains bass player Jesse F. Keeler. "All electronic music, all jungle, all house, all hip hop, all everything is bass and drums. Something that I really love about house music: is that it's so difficult to be creative in the confines of the format. You can't mess around with the time, you can't mess around with all kinds of stuff. We have to be creative in a simple way, so having only two instruments and still being creative is a challenge.". As a result of being faced with this daunting task. Death From Above have created one of the most efficient sounds in music. In a short fury of sound, the band's songs leave little space for the listener to reflect on what they have just heard. Yet each song stays with you long after the record is over. Though at a loss for a description of their sound, Keeler feels that Death From Above's style can be inferred from the diversity of their fans. "We have twelve-year-old kids that want us to autograph everything. I autographed a Billy Talent t-shirt two days ago. We have Hell's Angels that liken us to AC/DC and Motorhead. They listen to Death from Above at the Hell's Angels clubhouse in Toronto. We have nerds that love it, and girls that look like they put on everything in their mom's closet...they love it too. We have serious rap guys from Scarborough and Toronto coming to our shows that want us to do backing music. I guess the reason that it's so hard to describe our sound is because there's so many weird and disconnected groups of people that all seem to get something out of it." \*&j!£ According to Sebastion Grainger, the group's drummer and lead vocalist, songwriting for a band Ike Death From Above is relatively easy. "The good thing about being a two-dece is that when things are in the theoretical stage they're not that far from being practical because it just takes an idea and we go and do it. There's not a lot of discussion involved and it's not too compicated. The dynamic is pretty easy." Adds Keeler, "Some of our songs were written literally in minutes, music-wise anyway, the lyrics take longer. But sometimes the lyrics flow pretty fast too. We're really comfortable playing with each other and it's not hard to write, it's just a question of finding the time. Death From Above's lyrics are as passionate and intense as their music, filled with references to failed relationships and a sense of carrying on in Ife. "Those lyrics were written in a specific period of my We," explains Grainger. "I was seeing a lot of my friends changing. There was sort of a metamorphosis amongst my group of friends. I was observing a lot of politics within friendships and it ended up sounding really emo, I guess. The duo's debut EP Heads Up opens with the particularly scathing "Dead Womb" which includes the line "so tired of sluts coming to us in the clubs with their cocaine." The club it references is one that Keeler used to DJ at. Keeler recalls that "[The club] was awesome if you were one of those people, but it was really shitty if you're one of us." Grainger elaborates, "We would see a lot of people who were constantly making bad decisions. At the time I was getting seriously involved with my girlfriend, and I was just so sick of seeing shitty girls being shitty and acting shitty, and I was just so happy that I didn't have to deal with that because I'd found someone who was the antithesis of it. Though hailing from Ontario, Death From Above are signed to local independent label Ache Records, run by The Red Light Sting's Andy Dixon and Zoe Verkuylen, with whom Death From Above played their first shows. The label is also home to Keeler's other band Femme Fatale. "I just told them that me and Sebastien have something else going which was more in theory than it was in practice," he explains. "We made some three track recordings sent it to them...and they said, 'We'll do a record for you.'" Like most things about Death from Above, the artwork for Heads Up is strikingly different. The cover is simply a sketch of Keeler and Grainger's heads with elephant trunks where their noses should be. The elephant imagery comes from Keeler's original concept of the band's sound. "You know the Sonic Youth song called 'Scooter + Jinx' from Goo? I always thought that it sounded like elephants. The bass sound that we have, when I was first fucking around with it, that's when I was like, "Wow, this kind of sounds like elephants," and I like elephants anyway. When, asked about the possibility of a full-length LP, Grainger explains that "At this point we just want to give people little tastes." Keeler goes on to explain that Heads Up "is a really time specific record for us. I don't like the idea of writing songs over the course of a two year period and then putting them all on one record. Maybe not musically, but emotionally for me I'd like it to be more cohesive." Anxious Death From Above fans will be happy to hear that the band will remdn active touring in the foreseeable future, and has new material on the way. "We're doing a short EP [on Sound virus] with remixes and stuff as well, and we're constantly working on new material, as often as we have a chance," says Grainger. Keeler adds, "The only thing that frustrates us about being on tour right now is that I don't have time to just sit down with my bass and play. • Death From Above's new EP Is out In January on Sound Virus Records. The DiSCORDER Christmas Questionnaire Name? Jesse F. Keeler (Death From Above/Femme Fatale). What do you do? Help kids go deaf. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Mobb Deep mixtape 2xLP. Most memorable moment of 2003? Being thrown out of Quebec. Worst moment of 2003? (Almost) being banned from What do you want for Christmas? Sdnners. Tofurkey or turducken? Both, in a salad...wait. I don't know what either of those are. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC. You know why. ^ bl*s^*siy. Mf The Department of Safety is no ordinary venue. When my friend cdled me up and asked if I wanted to go and see The Mountain Goats in Anacortes, Washington, I didn't have to think very long before I replied with a great big "Yes." But I ddn't expect what I found once we had parked the car and amded up to the venue. Housed in an old firehouse. The Department of Safety dd appear a little weird at first, I mean, no drinks, no alcohol, nothing. Nada. But when, during The Baptist Generals' set, a toddler tottered around between the cross-legged crowd, gleefuly interrupting the music with exdtable laughter, it all became clear: The Department of Safety needs such a safe haven to create its magic. It's all about access and inclusiveness—a safe place to meld every aspect and group of society together without the rigorous rules that society imposes on the more liquored venues. Akin to Vancouver's very own (Sugar Refinery) in many respects, from which founding members Aaron Flint Jamison, Alex Mahan, Melissa Sinclair and Tammy Masalonis freely admit they took no small measure of insdration. The Department of Safety really is something special. Like I sad, first of all it's home is a firehouse in the commercial district among the supermarkets and drive-thru coffee places. And it was created as the brdnchild of four graduates, or at least attendees, of Langley's Trinity Western University. What started as the germ of an idea between the four of them has now become a real life safe haven for the youth of sleepy little Anacortes, Washington. It's the success story of the year and one of best venues around. Just smile at the border guard, tell 'em you're going to a place where they don't even tolerate "anyone appearing to be high" and you'l be fine. Welcome to Anacortes, Washington—the safest dac® on earth. I crouched on the stairs of The (Sugar Refinery) one rainy night at a recent Mount Eerie show and chatted with founding members Aaron Fint Jamison and Alex Mahan. DiSCORDER: So you guys went to Trinity Western University in Langley? AH four of you? Aaron Flint Jamison (Flint): Yeah, the first four of us that started the place, we all went there. Well, one of us only went there for a semester, and we just knew her as a friend from Portland. Alex Mahan: We al met at university. Isn't that a Christian university? Flint: Yes. Totally. Kinda strange. This is a whole other story, but we developed a lot of our insdration from this place [The (Sugar Refinery)]. We spent a lot of our four years while in university here. Alex: The (Sugar Refinery) was sort of a home away from home for us. I noticed that when I went down to the Department. I found myself thinking, "Wow. It's like the Sugar Refinery, but in a firehouse!" Flint: Yeah. I think we initially really romanticised the idea of developing this really sustainable notion of life imitating art, or something cheesy like that. And after that whole thing had been demythologised we just ended up with this space, where we just happened to be living and putting on shows, art shows and music events and stuff like that. How did it all happen? I mean, you all finished university and then one of you found the firehouse? FHnt: Oh, there's this whole crazy story. There's this amazing building- should I talk about the buildng, Alex? Alex: Yeah, just keep it short. Flint: Yeah, so there was this amazing building that we were super in love with, but it was in Canada, and it was kind of abandoned. It was an old bakery. Alex: South Langley, in horse country. FRnt: It was really an awkward location. And we were redly exdted about that but we ended up being kicked out of the country because our student visas were up. So we were just looking for a building that was similar in architectural style. That particular building was flat-roofed and very large, and had a prowess that was very Le . Corbusier or post-communist. Kinda functionalist? Flint: Yeah, very much in the vein of a concrete jungle. And we went down to a show that a lot of people went down to a couple of years ago. It was a Bonnie "Prince" Billy show. Just a random show, and Phil Elvrum [of the Microphones, now Mount Eerie] dayed and Karl [Blau] played. All these people who we kinda met and we found this fire station then. Why Anacortes? Just because of that show? Alex: Well, the show was amazing and our experience was great: We sorta wondered why it was in Anacortes and what was gdng on there. And that day we had seen the firehouse and it had big "For Rent" signs in the windows, and we al had had ambitions of having a big space where we could make art and music and just have a creative community, not only for ourselves, but one that we could share with high schod kids, or anybody in the community who . wanted to come and see art or make art or experience that. After that, we researched a dt more about Anacortes, we made some trips down there and just hung out there and reaised how amazing it actudly was. It's tiny little town, I think there's 15,000 people there or something. That's fhe thing, on the Department of Safety website you put in a lot of information about Anacortes and If s clear that you absolutely love the place. FRnt: Yeah, we love it. And we love the people there. Even though I think there are statistics that say there are only 100 people between the ages of 18 and 29 and most of those people are off at university. But we absolutely adore it. There's a different community working there, it's really, really honest. And it really thrives on being inspired from within. Like inspiration from those people that are around you, it's really great. Yeah, I know there's a record label there now. Flint: Yeah Knw-Yr-Own. Alex: Our friend Bret Lunsford [ex-member of Beat Happening] runs that. FRnt: And he also owns that music shop. The Business. And then our friends run an amazing restaurant called Adrift. And then there's just a whole bunch of musicians and creative art people. Alex: Photographers and people making furniture and clothes and things like that. And these were people you met once you'd got down there, you didn't know them before? FRnt: For the most part, yeah. And they opened their arms to us. We could have very easily been shunned by the community, but instead this community was overtly exdted by us coming in and doing what we thought we might wanna do. Abo, it's an all-ages venue. Was that important to you? Alex: Yeah, we don't wanna exclude people, really. I remember in high school there were so many shows that were going on in Portland that I couldn't go to because I wasn't 21. And even a lot of our experiences at the bar shows in the States have been really bad. It seemed like people were focusing on drinking rather than the music, and just being there to party and not really to experience something beautiful. Yeah, that was my favourite moment when I went down to the Department of Safety. There was a IHtle kid giggling during the Baptists Generals set. It was pretty beautiful. It really added an unusual vibe. Alex: Yeah, we have tots of toddlers that come and play drums and stuff. Kids from high school... their bonds day and their friends come, and it's just really cod for them to be able to do that in their own community rather than having to go to Seattle or something. FRnt: Being in a small town, we decided that if there was anybody that we could identify with at all, it was the probably the high school kids. And so keedng our place open to them became pretty important to And you guys also have places to stay for people that are travelling through, right? ^h'iiM Flint: Yeah, we have a couple of hostel rooms and we also live there, and we have some art studios and a gallery. That's about it. During the summer it's pretty full. J**CO\ol6\. *° fU ^ How for afield have people travelled to visit you? Alex: There's people who've come from Australia and The Netherlands who have heard about us through friends or the internet or something. Word of mouth is pretty big. It's really nice to meet people coming through from all different parts of the country and the world. It seems to me that if s been pretty successful for you guys. There was even a story about The Department of Safety on the CNN website. Flint: Success is such a hilarious concept. Financially it's not a success at all. And we're not afraid to display that. But is that the most important thing, though? FRnt: We^think The Department is meaningful, right? Alex: Totally. It's redly meaningful. Like, at our schod, there was this huge push to become active leaders in business or something, this huge push towards total cadtalism and commodifying everything and it just wasn't for us. It felt realy alienating and impersonal and not meanipgful. So after we finished at university we wanted to do something that was meaningful to us and others, whether it made money or not. Being sustainable and keedng it going, but not just for profit. Flint: So that's how paying rent works into it. We all live there and pay rent and that's how we keep the place going. Yeah, I read that, fhe overhead is swallowed up by you guys paying fhe rent on the building? FRnt: Yeah, that's completely true. Any other overhead that we have will normally be taken out of the money we make on the hostel. Or the little bit of money we make on a show. But we really don't make any money. It's crazy but it's great too. I think it helps people understand that what we're ddng is really kinda honest. I think people are automatically so suspicious when they walk into any kind of estabishment, especially in the midst of Western capitalism, so to kinda subvert that in a non-capitalistic way is really important. You have had a tot of great people play there, haven't you? BIB Frissel, for example? Alex: He was gonna play. It got cancelled. He had to go and see his mom who was sick. FRnt: But we had Songs:Ohia and... Alex: The Long Winters. FHnt: Yeah, The Long Winters and Irving and The Mountain Goats, obviously. And it looks Ike we're going to have the Handsome Family soon. Who was the biggest for you? What was the moment when you were Hke. "Wow, this is happening In our placer? Flint: Songs:Ohia was crazy. That was great, and we're still Ike that every time we have a show. We try to have shows in this periodic schedule so as not to burn ourselves out, which still makes music and art really special to some extent. And we're able to put to together shows that make us excited. it's the first time I've been to Anacortes and it struck me as a strange place, especially the location of The Department of Safety. You're situated in the middle of a lot of carparks and supermarkets and drive-thru coffee places. Alex: Yeah, there's one part of Anacrotes that's really commercialised. That's why it's called commercial, I suppose, but the rest of the island is totally beautiful. There's all these mountdns and forests and lakes, trails and parks. It's really windy. It's so inspiring, just to experince that, just being on the ocean. I think since everyone drives in on Commercial they sorta get that impression of Anacortes. Flint: Did you see the murals of everybody on the sides of the buildings? ?-3lr^~:, No, I don't think so. Pint: Oh, that's something that Anacortes is known for. There's a whole bunch of realy awkward paintings by this war vet. FHnt: Some disabled guy paints all these things. He's commissioned by the city. Alex: He drives round in a modfied camel gold cart. FHnt: He smokes hash out of his pipe and he paints all these awkward portraits of people from Anacortes history. And they put these life-size murals on the buildings downtown. Alex: So there's 80 or 90 of them around the town. FHnt: And they're really kinda creepy. I read In the press and on fhe website that you guys plan to move on soon and bequeath the place to someone else. FRnt: That's the idea. We wanna give it to somebody—a group of people or a couple of people. So we're kinda actively looking for people to do that. So V anybody reading this is interested they should contact you? Alex: Yeah, it's not a project that we just want to end, we want HrJsr keep gdng. But at the same we have other things that we want to do. Grad school and stuff. There's no red time ine because we need to find the right people. FHnt: Yeah, and I think it's important for there to be ike a level of freshness to come in and take over and completely change everything and do their own thing. • The Department ot Safety Is located In Anacortes. Washington. You can find out pretty much all you need to know about mh wonderful place on their website, ww9t.department0tsafety.com. Upcoming events of note include, a CD release party for both Mount Eerie and p:ano on January 30th. $5 US gets you m. Brave the border and go. Phil Elvrum is Anacortes born and bred. He's also happens to - be Mount Eerie (nee The Microphones). He's listed as'a resident gifterformer on The Department of Safety website, he e0pp||j8|iner '■"• Pfrwe, and even painted the sprawling mural that adarn$j^fe»wbll - in the main hall (pictured left). I asked him what the Department of Safety means to him. liSililllll DiSCORDER: So you're originally from Anacortes, aren't you? Phil Elvrum: Yeah. I grew up there. And you went to Norway recently? Yeah, last winter. I lived about a two-hour bus ride from the northern city of Bod0. Yeah, living in a cabin in Norway for the winter was intense. So I read an interview that you did with us in DiSCORDER a few months back in which you said you moved back to Anacortes because "lots of good things were happening." Was one of these things The Department of Safety? Yeah, that's it. They're amazing. Could I just talk about how incredible they are? Yeah. Go for tt. Well, they just moved to Anacortes pretty much randomly. Picked it because they liked the town, but they pretty much randomly just went there. Does that seem strange to you, being from Anacortes youself? I've always thought it was an amazing dace. But it was always a struggle to get people into it. I mean, once people stay over or whatever, they go, "Oh, Anacortes is nice." But they never felt like it was nice enough to Ive there or do anything about it. But Alex, Flint, Tammy and Melissa moved there and created a sodd scene. Have they improved Anacortes? Is it belter to live there now? Yeah. I guess for selfish reasons, for my generation it's always been a place where you grow up, you go to high school, you leave town. Yoi know? You grow up hattrvg#ie town, then you move away. Yeah, I come from a small town too, and I can't Imagine going aU around the world and then going back to my small town. Yeah. I dd move away but I never really felt at home anywhere else. Anacortes hasjust always been..." my home. It's a beautiful place. I've only been there once and fhe place blew my mind. - £* &.S'S. Yeah, The Department of Safety, they just dd such an incredible job. Everyday I'm ike, "This isn't really happening. This is much too good to be true. Like, why me? I feel ike it's a personal thing because I've always really identified with Anacortes. It feels very personal to me. ike a gift to me. I noticed on the website, by your name there's a star that indicates that you're a resident performer. Is that right? Yeah, I eat dnrier there, hang out there. Stop by pretty much everyday. • tftccMfv/i^M^ «/ \ fll* \JiStOC<Ut ClwisthCUL, ^^^l'0rrZOau\p^ Name? favorite pants actually took Owen Ashworth. terrible on me. What do you do? What do you want for Christmas? Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. The Richard Pryor box set and a new windshield for Matilda, Favourite record of 2003 and my lovely Dodge Ram touring why? machine. A Promise by Xiu Xiu because it makes me feel like everything Tofurkey or turducken? is going to be terrible/just fine. Turducken. Runner up: anything Timbaland touched. Favourite Christmas song and why? Most memorable moment of "Silent Night," as performed by 2003? the church choir my mom sings Playing in Tokyo and getting in. Tears, tears, tears everytime. flowers from Japanese boys. New Year's resolution? Worst moment ot 2003? Send more postcards to my Realization of my colossal debt. grandpa. and the realization that my ^yv^Vif^^ Old Tfhxc fcefijufr Q9LAA.of-ifr\j^, Name? Kombucha cultures to go on Rives Elliot. tour. What do you do? What do you want for Christmas? Drummer (Old Time Reljun). Custom-built fretless solid body electric ukulele. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Tofurkey or turducken? 1 seem to have quit purchasing Don't really eat anything music made after 2002, so 1 anymore.... cannot answer this question. Favourite Christmas song and Most memorable moment of why? 2003? Dr. Demento and Wild Man Drinking anise brew with three Fischer's "I'm a Christmas Tree." witches in a makeshift coven in 1 like it because it sounds terrible. Italy. 1 mean it's truly awful, 1 hate it. Worst moment of 2003? New Year's resolution? When 1 had to compost my Nothing at al. A+AexaUs^. 22 What do you do? - Fuck about. Play records. Make records. Eat ice cream. Favourite record of 2003 and why? The Rapture Echoes. It's better than other records and I'll like it later, when I'm hiding my other records from this time in the back of my closet. Most memorable moment of 2003? I got engaged. Tofurkey or turducken? Fuck all that shit. I would ike Chilean sea bass. Favourite Christmas song and why? Bing Crosby and David Bowie's "Little Drummer Boy" or Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Oh Tannenbaum,' because they both remind me of being a stupiddsgruntled kid on Christmas when everyone important to me was still aive. New Year's resolution? Finish my fucking record. i I t ift *wti*m Myhfcf». ■- mMktS^..^ m Hbkv mmm » j* ' ■ lit%> H^v KjjjL. -■iH*- '*^s*?M*m^ gill HK w-"^' "3 ■V* <"% •J-f.^i1*- 9||flBb - "j KrS^' jjlgjlf P^pSH v»***u#».- & /A label. Jonathan Galkin. What do you do? I run DFA records. Favourite record of 2003 and why? The Hidden Cameras, because. they are gay and Canadan. and no one has ever heard of them. Worst moment of 2003? Running out of money (before receiving aforementioned huge heap of dough). What do you want for Christmas? Another huge p\\e of dough. Tofurkey or turducken? Tofurkey! *m0^ SmKmyCt* f *tjc ^0%^€^%iAm^%i^^^^^ Most memorable moment of New year's resolution? 2003? Quit weed or smoke more Meeting Morrissey. Or getting weed—I forget which. a huge heap of dough for the Name? Colin Meloy What do you do? Sing in a band caled The Decemberists. Work at a bookstore. Favourite record of 2003 and why? It's kind of difficult to say. Right now, I'm pretty sold on The Shins' Chutes too Narrow, but then again, it's enjoying the benefit of still being pretty fresh. And Why? for indescribable reasons—main evidence being that I cannot seem to get it out of my cd player. Literally. The thing' s jammed in there. Most memorable moment of 2003? Last Sunday, when I was curled up on the couch with my girlfriend, sipping coffee, reading The Times, and Istening to This American Life. And our October four—too many moments too compress—enjoying our first-ever sold out shows. Won* moment of 2003? Moving out my warehouse loft into my new house five days before leaving on a five week tour, while my girlfriend was in Montana, so I had to do most of the moving by myself. In 90 degree weather (I think I could be wrong there). What do you want for Christmas? A new presidential adminisfra- Tofurkey or turducken? Is there really something called turducken? I can't seem to figure out what it would be—imitation duck? Eeech. Neither, thank you very much. But I must say I' ve been won over to fhe many quafities of SoyDeldous Dairy Free Ice Cream. That's amazing. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Sflver Bels." Particularly John Denver's version from Rocky Mountain Christmas. Being the heathen that I am, the non- secular Christmas songs have always creeped me outafttto bit. Whenever I hear theiong (and I insist on playing the record every Christmas at home} there's a buried part of me that becomes uncovered and I begin eyeing the presents under the tree, secretly hodng for them to. be Star Wars toys. New Year's resolution? To work less. And I really don't work that much. To be even more lazy than I already am. <7&C*m, &<**, Video T°l<r° »>*- *W $0f>et Name? Peeing on Matt "Nasty On" Paul Malcatraz. Lyons' hoode and then watching him carry it around What do you do? with a bummed looked on his Rock with Video Tokyo. face. Favourite Record ot 2003 and What do you want for Christmas? why? Night-vision goggles. Neil Michael Hagerty's The Howling Hex cuz Neil defines Tofurkey or turducken? cool and the record is his best Turducken. in years. Favourite Christmas song and Most memorable moment of why? 2003? None—some are tolerable, most Coming to the conclusion that make me cringe. Sasquatches really exist (one day 1 will laugh at you all). New Year's resolution? Stop procrastinating. Name? Benjamin D. Gibbard. . What do you do? I sing and day guitar for Death Cab for Cutie and The Postd Service. Favourite record of 2003 and why? The Long Winters, When I Pretend to Fat. Never has a record been so uplifting and depressing al at the same time... Most memorable moment of 2003? Dancing Ike a lunatic in a bear suit on stage for The Flaming Lips with my lady and al the DCFC and Sub Pop kids at the Sasquatch festivd in May. Worst moment of 2003? On The Postal Service's brief tour of Europe in June, being stuck standng up in a ferry-waiting room with roughly 1000 screaming, drunk, smoking Spanish soccer fans for almost two hours. I soon after got heatstroke and spent the better half of the ferry ' ride throwing up. What do you want tor Christmas? To be left alone. Tofurkey or turducken? As I'm not familarwith the latter, i'tt have to say tofurkey. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" because it was written by John Lennon. New Year's resolution? Find time to write music again.... L% ety**»K friU^' Wont moment of 2003? jjMP Michelle Mae Tofurkey or turducken? If this refers to Thanksgiving, 1 s What do you do? definitely don't celebrate it, as it «* Long standing member of the represents a heinous time period music group: Weird War. in the history of my ancestors and American culture. However, IllSliii Favourite record of 2003 and non-animal versions of the why? turkey are a great substitution. ^^ Micheal Macdonald, Motown— Don't eat the turkeys. They live nice, and smooth. grotesque and stomach-curdling Ives and go through the most Most memorable moment of disgusting slaughters to become ^. f 2003? un-needed food for celebration. TSf Being invited to play on the new Nfc Outkast album. Favourite Christmas song and •*"» why? Worst moment of 2003? "Snoopy Versus The Red %>&- Not being able to play on the Baron." It's a funny look into w% album due to injuring my hand the dillusional mind of the WW1 %»*: while being attacked by a wild obsessed hound. ^^^ fan on a Weird War tour. New year's resolution.? ^^^^» What do you want tor Christmas? Continuing the quest to become A critter. non-judgmental and patient. Avey Tare (from The Animal Collective). What do you do? Hop around New York City on one leg and ask folks if they wanna"DUNK THE CLOWN." Favourite Record of 2003 and why? Jaylib (Champion Sound) because Madlib is the King Of Electronic Production. Most memorable moment of 2003? So many, so many. But for al my BC mates...breaking into the school pool in Montreal with BC/Montreal buds and swimming late night stylet!) Worst moment of 2003? Any airdane ride. I hate them. What do you want for Christmas? A copy of Ganja and Hess on VHS Tofurkey or turducken? Toe Fuckin'. Favourite Christmas song and why? Beach Boys, "He's The Man with All The Toys"—'cause he is. New Year's resolution? Keep gdng, keep going, that's it. i/U<9\Jj^X. & J«** b^ckw^fk M>mMi*} c* Name? 'gipf£|J Jack Duckworth. What do you do? Operate The Wax Museum designs. Play in Rado Berin and a luna red. Favourite record of 2003 and why? kfJwf J>oyght al of 4-5 records in 2003 but there's so much good stuff out there. So yeah—not sure if I can answer that question. Most memorable moment of 2003? Driving miles and miles with Daintyfoot, Inspector Funkus and \ Hardpoach. Worst moment of 2003? Deaing with the "Disco Lemon" (my old shaggin' wagon van). What do you want for Christmas? A sweet apartment to ive in. Tofurkey or turducken? Tofurkey for sure, espedally when the effort Is made fo mold it into a turkey-ike shape. Favourite Christmas song and why? I think King Diamond's "No Presents For Christmas" can't go totally wrong.... New Year's resolution? Chillax? Just a bit? Worst moment of '^^HLjIt^ . Joel Gibb [Lead 2003? singer of The Hidden Slipping in poo. Cameras]. What do you want for What do you do? Christmas? Play Space Invaders My hoop bleached. (except with people). Tofurkey or Favourite Record of turducken? 2003 and why? Turkey sandwiches. Justin Timberlake's Justified, Les Mouches' Favourite Christmas Blood Orgy EP. song and why? "Jingle Balls." 1 don't Most memourable think 1 have to explain. moment of 2003? Dancing while New Year's resolution? wearing really long To give up celibacy. socks. Ikt f/tftfh, ft*ft$ff&H* *t$ 3^***" . L<ff#wi,A,i ««X0#V - €**. M^C^t^\, Krista Muir What do you do? Musical electronic cabaret standup as my alter ego Lederhosen Lucil. Also hose couture-ist. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Small Town Murder Scene by The Fembots. It is dark, bright and gives me shivers. Also it rocks. Most memorable moment of 2003? Rocking North America with my friends Kid Koala, DJP Love and DJ Jester. Worst moment of 2003? Getting food poisoning in Portland and desecrating some beautiful front lawns and driveways and then having to miss out on a day off jn San Francisco. What do you want for Christmas? Socks, underwear and my two front teef. Tofurkey or turducken? Milletkey or Speltkey please. Favourite Christmas song and why? "We Three Kings." Its nice and gothic and makes me want to dress in black and light candles. New Year's resolution? Write more erotic novellas. Name? of "The Motherland" (house and THE WPP. practice space). What do you do? What do you want for Christmas? 1 play drums. 1 work at West Coast What about hannuka? We want Tools. We all work—it's kind of a things that are not invented bummer. yet...soon though. Perhaps fine sapphires and rare stones? Favourite record of 2003 and why? Tofurkey or turducken? For me: Ted Leo/Pharmacists Veal milkshake. Hearts of Oak. The WPP picks the Goidmember soundtrack.. Favourite Christmas song and why? Most memorable moment of Elvis' "Blue Christmas." My little 2003? brother loved "the Elvis" when he Touring...and recording our 16- was seven. song record. It's our baby. New Year's resolution? Worst moment of 2003? Do you party? Not touring more. The closure I Caw* bt«.\a a/U^. Ike Q-Msn*, ff, oS Michael J. Roche. What do you do? I make an ass out of myself in front of a band called The Gung- Hos. Favourite record of 2003 and why? A toss-up between The Riverboat Gamblers' Something To Crow About for it's sheer rockingness and The Electric Six's Fire for it's sheer addictive cheese.... Most memorable moment of 2003? That's kind of an oxymoron when it comes to me. Worst moment of 2003? I've put it behind me and we'll never talk of it agdn. What do you want for Christmas? To be left alone. Tofurkey or turducken? Which has the higher tryptophan dose? Favourite Christmas song and why? GG Alln/AlgeAfterbirth: "Christmas Song"—why not?! New Year's resolution? To quit kidding myself that anything's gonna get better.... / n-e ^b%K%*YVlA**L* Grant Lawrence. What do you do? Voice of The Smugglers, and co- host CBC Radio 3 on Saturday nights, 105.7FM. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Randy's Welfare Problems (Burning Heart). A truly awesome collection of punk rock 'n' roll songs. Runners up: Crooked ringers. Hidden Cameras. Most memorable moment of 2003? The sunny Vancouver summer of 2003. Too bad about the forest fires. Worst Moment of 2003? Having to flee Cuba on a moments notice. What do you want for Christmas? A goaie bag with wheels. Tofurkey or turducken? You stupid vegan fuck. Favourite Christmas song and why? "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by The Devil Dogs. "LET THE BELLS RING OUT FOR CHRISTMAS!!" New Year's resolution? Each year, go someplace in the world that I have never been. i- 1 Name? Jay Millette/Black Halos. What do you do? I "do" all kinds of things. I play guitar, drink, work, go on tour, complain, laugh, sleep a lot. That's about it. Favourite Record of 2003 and why? Bazooka by the Star Spangles—I think that came out in 2003. If not, then I haven't got much of answer here now do I? Why do I Ike it? It's got some catchy songs with some nifty guitar and some nice scratchy vocals not unlike Paul Westerberg. I ike that. Most memorable moment of 2003? Gdng to England with the Spitfires and going to Spain with the Black Halos. Although "memorable" may not be such a good word since there's a couple of moments there where my memory didn't work so good. Wont moment of 2003? When The Sdtfires called it quits. It was very sad. But the sadness ended a week later when the Halos got back together and I went to Spdn. Spdn is a very nice place. What do you want for Christmas? To be invited to everybody's Christmas party where there is some sort of "open bar" gdng on. Does Discorder have such a party? Can I come?? Tofurkey or turducken? Pizza. Favourite Christmas song and why? I generaly don't Ike any Christmas songs really...but if I had to pick one i'd probady say "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" because it reminds me of those shows'with the animated puppet guys—and the one with Rudolph when he runs away and runs into the horrible Yeti!!! Frightening stuff when you're six years old. New Year's resolution? I NEVER make any resolutions because I always break the damn things. So really, what*s fhe point? ••$&J£tf4. R°B0SLXUA is Shawn Bristow. What do you do? I play bass, guitar and sing for the ROBOSEXUALS. For a living I press buttons. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Led Zeppein II because it has "Whole Lotta Love" on it. Oh wgit! What year is ft agdn? Most memorable moment of 2003? I assume you are talking about world events. In that case, hearing about Roy getting attacked by that Tiger. The day that changed the face of Lion taming forever. Wont moment of 2003? It's a tie between the invasion of Iraq and the "circus circus" arrest of Micheal Jackson. That'I be a fair and proper trial. The U.S. is a very strange land indeed. What do you want for Christmas? A bed. I've been steeping on a foamy for far too long. Tofurkey or turducken? Turd Jerky (Salted, dried turds. Yum).. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Father Christmas" by The tanks. A fine proto-punk song about some poor Englsh kids wanting to mug Santa I Hee it because it's not "Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer." New Year's resolution? To eat more red meat and start smoking. 4,v*e*\eU>\ 2b fix* *N*sfy Oh, Name? what I'm ddng with my life...and Jason Grimmer. quick...cuz i'm having a kid. What do you do? What do you want for Christmas? Drink And sing with The Nasty On. 12 Stellas, a fine scotch, a beard comb and some pipe tobacco. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Tofurkey or turducken? The Howling Hex, introducing... Turfey! No...furkey! cuz it's Neil Hagerty and he always makes it onto my year Favourite Christmas song and end list. This year 1 had two to why? pick from. iSil|j||||'- "A Sailor's Christmas lament in Gay Minor" aka "The 'Is That a Most memorable moment of Bearded Merman?' Song" by 2003? Foreigner with Jay-Z featuring Finding out I'm having a kid. Mike Reno and I'il crab. Worst moment of 2003? New Year's resolution? Realizing 1 have to figure out Fuck it, i quit drinking. Catety* W\a*h Name? 2003? Carolyn Mark. "Wha' Happened?" # What do you do? Worst moment of 2003? fvc4 Entertainer. ' Checking the wallet upon returning from our American tour ^^ Favourite record of 2003 and in September. why? Name? I've decided I'm too distracted What do you want for Christmas? CC Rose. Worst moment of 2003? to like entire albums. However, in A phone card. Ms.T's burning down. order, the best PARTS of records What do you do? of 2003 according to me: First Tofurkey or turducken? Drummer of The Cinch: What do you want for Christmas? three songs of The Buttless Chaps' Just stuffing and sprouts for me. A new Ms.T's. Love This Time; the early middle Favourite record of 2003 and part of Oh Susanna's new album; Favourite Christmas song and why? Tofurkey or turducken? the first third of Kate Fenner's why? The Mars Volta, De-toused Just load me up on roasted new record; "1 was Born"—the "Good King Wenceslas" because Af The Comaforium—it's garlic mashed potatoes. 'theme song' on The Unicorns it mentions feasting, has creepy astoundingly beautiful, relentless. record; "Whisky Hellcat"—a minor chords and makes no heavycatastrophic-sounding; Favourite Christmas song and song by the Fine Options; "Your sense. a modern-age Dark Side of fhe why? Element"—a song by Chet; "One Moon. "Jesus Never Gave Me Any in Five"—the first song on Frog New Year's resolution? Presents" by Satan and the Eyes' new record; a good deal 1. To "party" at sundown with Most memorable moment of Santas, the reason is obvious. of Tom Holliston's 'earlier, funnier Joel Plaskett, Corby Lund, Robert 2003? material'; and everytime they go Dayton and some of the Buttless The Nasty On at The Pic when New Year's resolution? 'ba bababum ba" on the new Chaps at the Edmonton Folk Jason had the whole bar Drink and smoke more, it's the Young and Sexy record. Excuse Festival. chanting "Fuck you" to the latest fad. me 1 gotta go make a mixed 2. When 1 get my phone card asshole bartender. tape. to use it instead of being fully reamed by Telus every time 1 Most memorable moment of charge to my home number. jke \f~au^ Name? Coco Culbertson. What do you want for Christmas? Panties, stilettos...and a new What do you do? fence. Please Kurt and Levon...oh yah and The Gay. -y-^jiW „, Tofurkey or turducken? Turducken...of course. Favourite Record of 2003 and why? Favourite Christmas song and Jerk With A Bomb, Pyrokinesis, why? and Outkast. Why? Drives the Anything by The Christ lesbian team wild. Killers... espedally Penis in...why? The titles speak for Most memorable moment of themselves. 2003? Getting Bubbles. New Year's resolution? More dogs, less people. Worst Moment of 2003? There wasn't one. jiUcerfn, & ** */v> * 7 Name? Todd Drootin, Books on Tape. What dO you do? Samdes and sequencing for Books on Tape, production and remixing for others. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Cursive's The Ugty Organ, because it is a concept album within a concept album without being one bit pretentious. Songwriter Tim Kasher is the finest America has to offer right now. Cellos, samplers and organ on a post-hardcore record. Briliant! 2003? Three-day tour with Cursive, No Knife and Appleseed Cast. Kasher, an Omaha native, sees an In'N'Out fast food restaurant (specific to the West Coast) and takes a ten-person van with a trailer full of gear across four lanes of treacherous L.A. highway with no warning. Grasping to my chair, I see eight people rolling their eyes, saying "He must have seen an In 'N'Out" and correct they were. Worst moment of 2003? Dealing with being a citizen of a country that was the aggressor in an unnecessary war/Dealing with being a Jew when Israel is acting even scarier than Bush. What do you want for Christmas? A new US president in time for the next one. Tofurkey or turducken? Tofurkey all the way. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Chrismas In Hollis," Run DMC. Because when you D J, this one gets EVERY set of hands in the air. Best find from my childhood record collection. New Year's resolution? To get out of the States more. I haven't been out of the US since September '02. 4: 1 m <4 Name? Denny Hofway (Dennis H. Driscoll). What do you do? Lay down melodic songs (K recording artist), draw cartoons and go to parties in Omaha, Nebraska, at Chris Fisher's house. Favourite record of 2003 and why? The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Aki Kaurismaki's film The Man Without a Past. It deals with homelessness (the movie) and the songs are very nice. I like the bands Marko Haavisto and Poutahaukat + the Renegades quite much. I believe that they are very splendid indeed and for several different reasons too! Most memorable moment of 2003? Breaking up with my girlfriend around the time that Heck Fest happened in Anacortes and feeing very sad and alone. Worst moment of 2003? When I realized that Elliott Smith was gone. He was an amazing songwriter because his songs were akin to The Beatles and The Kinks but he was our peer. Back in '971 picked up the 45 with "Angeles" on it in Olympia, WA, at this record store on 4th avenue, took it home to Astoria, OR, listened to it and was astounded by how cool it sounded. It changed my life and helped me so much. What do you want for Christmas? A warm blanket and a bowl of spaghetti. Tofurkey or turducken? Tofurkey and Soynog to boot! Favourite Christmas song and why? "Run Run Rudolph" by Chuck Berry. Cuz he rawks! New Year's resolution? To really appreciate someone when I'm dating them and be as happy as I can in a relationship. Name? Tomas Jirku. What do you do? I make music. Favourite Record of 2003 and why? Richardo Villalobos' Alcachofa album restored the faith I had long lost in minimal techno. Most memorable moment of 2003? Too much of this past year has been incredibly memorable, but the best moment would have to be when I realized I can now call Vancouver my home. Worst moment of 2003? Easily the worst was leaving my friends and family behind in Toronto. What do you want for Christmas? ] Final Scratch...and world peace, j of course! Tofurkey or turducken? They both sound questionable. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Cobra Christmas Party" by G.I.Joe Kiliaz captures the joyful j atmosphere of Christmas time better than any other song! New Year's resolution? I'll just keep iving like I've always been living...It hasn't failed me yet! JU«.c&\dje^. 28 X UUw»<. Nome? night through my open bedroom PhH Elvrum. window." This probably isn't the MOST memorade moment. What do you do? though. It has been a huge year. Come and go. 1 can't pck. ■■■iB I Favourite Record of 2003 and why? I Magnolia Electric Co. (Songs: | Ohia thing). Is that from this I year? I can listen to it over and over and keep hearing new things. I like it. Most memorable moment of 2003? Last night at 4:45pm in the dying I light my brother and I stood in I the woods listening to four owls i in the trees hooting to each I other, all echoey. There were I other sounds: an airplane, a | slumber party of teenage girls, | the hum of machinery from the s refinery, etc...but they were 1 all overwhelmed by the rich I echoing owl hoots close above I us on all sides. I turned around I and my dother was gone. Twin I Peaks style. A tiny drd fell from * above and landed at my feet and tweeted and fluttered around in the rotting leaves. The owls continued. Later I came . inside and my dad said, "Yeah I was listening to them all night last Worst moment of 2003? I can't pck. I was in traffic on 1-5 at Everett the other day and - asking "Why should we even keep on being dive? Why don't we just stop breathing? This is the worst worst feeing any human could ever fee^ in fhe history of - feeing. Why don't we all just pull over and end our lives?" What do you want for Christmas? Seriously? A good tent and two good sleeping bags that can zip into each other for camping cuddlers. Favourite Christmas song and why? Hymn for Christmas Day by G.I. Gurdjieff/Thomas DeHartmann because I don't already know how it goes without listening to it. New Year's resolution? "Shut up Name? Jamie (Hjamiegh from Xiu Xiu). What do you do? I like to pdnt, pointing and looking and fittte glancing and getting glancing dows. Favourite record of 2003 and why? The entire catalogue of Free Porcupine Society records because all of them took and feel like free and red hearts. Most memorable moment of 2003? Telling an exotic dancer that I am gay and having her tell me she was gonna "suck me sfrdght." Worst moment of 2003? Oeding with my dad dying. What do you want for Christmas? A trip to Iran or Iraq or North Korea while they still exist. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Silent Night"—it is actually beautiful qnd makes me think of Jesus and my family. {J'/a4 |,AnVl»i^|^ Bill Callahan. What do you do? Smog. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Microphones' The Glow Part 2.. I probably came out in 2002. Name? Adam Forkner aka White Rainbow aka [[[[VVRSSNN]]]]/ Soft Dolphin/Yarn Lazer/Surface of Eceon/Yume Bitsu. What do you do? Make music under fhe various names given above, make vibe spaces, produce bands, support fellow artists. Favourite record of 2003 and why? Best electronic record: Lucky Dragons, Dark Falcon (555 records)—deep electronic glitching of frail beautiful bedroom whispers. Best rap album: OutKast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The Love Below is the awesomest heartfelt love record I've heard in a long while. Most memorable moment of 2003? Doing cover of "Higher" by Sly and the Family Stone with all my buddies (Franz Pilchard, Phil Elvrum, Jona Bechtdt, Adrien Orange, Steve Schroeder, Dimitri, Ryan, Rob Keiswetter) as the closing act at What the Heck Festival, Anacortes, this r. Or organizing and.. playing The Dolphin Festival at the new amazing Holocene club in Portland later this summer with Bobby Birdman, YACHT, Yume Bitsu, Rob Walmart, Cherry Blossoms, Atlantian Waves, Soft Dolphin [[[[VVRSSNN]]]]. Worst moment of 2003? Playing to three very stoned people in a house in Baltimore, MD, on tour with Dave Longstreth aka The Dirty Projectors. What do you want for Christmas? - Powerbook or ibook - A place to live - A new car - Peace on earth Tofurkey or turducken? What? How about TURKEY? Favourite Christmas song and why? The entire Ray Conniff Christmas album. The reverbed choir is so joly and warm and awesome it makes me think of Christmas. New Year's resolution? Follow in the footsteps of Jay-Z and Timbaland and retire from the music business. Most memorable moment of 2003? Sipped my nephew a few dlls, he said, "We'll remember this!" Worst moment of 2003? Tofurkey or turducken? father one could get you to go to the other side. Favourite Christmas song and why? "Joy to the World." It sounds made up. New Year's resolution? 4 usually don't make any till mid- February. Closing note: Just m case you were wondering turducken b a deboned chicken stuffed Inside a deboned duck, which h in turn stuffed Inside a deboned turkey. It's fhe latest culinary craze forthe holidays. Merry Christmas from DiSCORDER. fhe Martha Stewart of Music Magazines. fh*, o&vt Ath«fn*L *f 200% It's awesome to hear a band do 60s R&B so well that it could easily have been outtakes from the Nuggets sessions and no one would notice. Well, I did, and so should you. Bryce Dunn wildly mad. Merek Cooper Aesop Rock Bazooka Tooth (Def Jux) When you release an album as holy-good-goddamn amazing as Labour Days, you've got a lot to live up to. The pressure seems to have gotten to Aesop Rock. Where he once turned out endless successions of quotable rhymes over Blockhead's funky, fist-raising beats, he now twists himself into knots over beats of his own so jaw-droppingly convoluted you'll need a corkscrew to pull your head out of the speakers. Ace is a little more antagonistic these days, so If you plan on telling him what an incredible genius he still is, get ready to duck. saelan The Animal Collective Here Comes the Indian (Paw Tracks) It's not very often that an album of such sparkling brilliance comes along. Add to that the fact that it was recorded by characters from The Lord of the Flies the night after they found crates washed up from the wreck of a ship ferrying The Grateful Dead's rider and equipment to a gig in the South Seas. A tape player rolled while the feral children cracked open and ingested the salty barrels of industrid strength LSD, and set about banging the drums and screaming into the sandy mics. One young rascal even managed to boot up a computer, plug it into a soundboard and start manipulating the cacophony of sounds in Cool Edit Pro. The tapes were eventually discovered when Horacio P. Hornblower rescued four malnourished teenagers from the island two years ago. Hats off to Carpark Records who had the audacity to front the money to release this document of innocent freedom gone so Belle and/ Sebastian Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade) Alright,! know you love Belle and Sebastian. You love them ; so much that you can't stand to see them change. I love them, too, but I know that nothing lasts forever, and you've got to admit that their last couple outings were a bit weak. With Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Stuart Murdoch and his gang have faced up to their lives and gotten a ittle happier (and a little sadder), and while the results are certainly less than sinister, there's some truly fantastic songs here. Maybe I'm just too much of a fan, but I'll forgive any amount of 70s soft-rock bugglegum for one "Piazza, New York Catcher." I'm back in bed with this band and just happy to be waking up to us agdn. boy, or whatever he's taken to calling himself these days, has successfully wrestled the beard from the evil clutches of geography teachers and old world explorers and it is now free to be worn by those of us under the ago of thirty-five. There he is, proud as punch, sporting the thing on the cover of this album. These days, you can't swing a vegan enchilada at the (Sugar Refinery) without hitting a young pretender sporting a mighty soup-straining face-hugger or hair scarf. And hurrah for that! I'm so jealous: Unlike this album, which delivers. op every thrack, mine's really patchy. Merek Cooper The Blood Brothers Sunt Piano Island, Bum (BMG) Seeing this Seattle hardcore outfit live earlier this year affirmed my belief in the future of the genre: these guys are poised to turn it on its collective head and twist, contort and mangle it until it doesn't sound like hardcore anymore. This album is the first step to their master ptan. Bryce Dunn Bonnie Prince Billy Master and Everyone (Drag City) I'm all for giving credit where credit's due and if there's one thing that Will Oldham has done apart from make a long succession of wonderful albums, it's make the beard cool again. Though it was hard adna at first, vouna Will, bonnie (Thrush Hermit fans, form a line on the left, Sloan fans on the right, please.) But they did and they have and we love 'em to bits. It was a little bit Dinosaur Jr., a little bit Sonic Youth, and a little bit Jeff Buckley, and by buggary did people buy it. Their success was thanks in no small part to a wonderful video for the gently chuggin' "Stars and Sons" and the fact that no one could believe that anyone who used to be involved in Treblecharger could participate in the making of a decent album. On a sadder note, the R.C.M.P. are now investigating how a good song was allowed to be played on MuchMusic. "It was disgusting, and in broad daylight too," a spokesperson for the station was heard to say. Merek Cooper Constantines Shine a light (Three Gut Records) A new organ player and former lyrical angst multiplied exponentially makes this album fantastic. The favorite band of London and Guelph, Ontario, The Constantines have brilliantly captured the intensity of their live show for Shine a Light, and they've given Sub Pop a reason forwanling to share them with the US. Kimberley Day The Books The Lemon of Pink (Tomlab) With their sophomore album. The Books have expanded on everything that made their debut so charming and so utterly uncategorizable. Their own vocals (a welcome new addition) get chopped up along with acoustic guitar, cello and a million found sounds to create songs that are fuller and more developed than those on Thought for Food. The Books manage to be glitchy, bluesy and experimental at the same time, while maintaining a sense of humour, warmth and humanity that makes them more interesting than just about anyone else I can think of. This is the feel-good album of the year. saelan Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People (Paper Bag/Arts and Crafts) The Scene! The BSSI! The what?!! Who'd have thunk if this time last year that a loosely affiliated . group of plumbers from Toronto could come out with the world's best Canadian album ever? Cat Power You Are Free (Matador) Despite the fact that she released one of the best albums in 2003, apparently Chan Marshall still lives alone in a house full of cats with an alarm clock that rings five times a day to tell her when to cry. She is notoriously reclusive and has been known to call the police when the postman "invades" her property to give her a letter from her only friend Bill CWIahan, who she no longer fucks. Songs like "He War" and "I Don't Blame You" express her specific pain but you don't have to live in a house of cats • or have had sexual relations with "the nastiest-man in music" to enjoy this album. You could just be a little down in the mouth. Merek Cooper The Chains On Top of Thlngsl (Get Hip) Why are so many good bands coming from la belle province!? The Deadly Snakes Ode to Joy (In the Red) Another hit from the Toronto wrecking crew. Paying allegiance to none, but still loved by many, this is the rock . androl gospel that any church service would be glad'to play to wash the Sunday blues away. Bryce Dunn Deerhoof Apple O (5 Rue Christine) Kinda like Blonde Redhead with training wheels, Deerhoof ride their rickety bike down almost every avenue of sound • they can find. Sure, they hit the curb a few times and even . manage the odd ungraceful dismount, but they never run crying to their mommies. Satomi MatsuzOki's voice candy-coats even the most incongruous backing into a wonderful journey. The fact that this record is more commercial than its predecessors has led some people to write it off. Don't you believe them—this is a wonderful album and catchy as all hell. Merek Cooper The Dirtbombs Dangerous Magical Noise (In the Red) The highly anticipated third installment from the Detroit party machine sees a nice mix between the sassy garage feel of Horndog Fest and the soul tribute of Ultraglide In Black. This is a band that's able to jump through genres with ease and understand that in fhe end it's all about the beat that moves the feet. Bryce Dunn The Decemberists Her Majesty... (Kill Rock Stan) During the production period of the October DiSCORDER we Istened to this album on repeat for two days. Consequently, the whole team here has shards of this album's brilliant beauty lodged in our brains for ever more. A baroque masterpiece from Coin Meloy and his band of Dickensian dreamers. Your majesty, may I present...one of the best albums of the year. Merek Cooper Electric Six Fire (XL Recordings) I laughed my ass off when I saw the video for "Gay Bar," and "Danger! High Voltage" would prove to be the surprise dancefloor hit Andrew WK wishes he'd written. If you're not convinced, I dare you not to shake it to "Dance Commander" or "Improper Dancing"—it's aaraae-disco anyone can make up "The River," including The Metic's Darcy Hancock on guitar. Kimberley Day Erase Errata Af Crystal Palace (Troubleman Unlimited) The San Francisco band Erase Errata has successfully created an album that can be equated to heroin abuse. You know it's not good for you, the total experience blazes by in no time at all, you know that nothing positive can come out of you listening to it, but you just... can't...stop. Kimberley Day r** «—* Four Tet Rounds (Domino) Proof that Kieran Hebden has ■ cornered the market in pastoral folktronica and actually won over the masses could be found this year, when at his Sonar show I think I may have seen someone in the middle of the crowd nod their head. It was very quick and I can't be sure but I think there was movement. And at a Vancouver show! Can you believe it? Mr Hebden must be really good. Actually, now that I replay the scenario over in my mind I think the guy may have just been bending his head to remove a dastardly THC-infused bugger. Yeah, that was probably it. Merek Cooper it made four generations of DiSCORDER editors get down and shimmy. Whoa, wild times. Anyway, this album is awesome and you should already own it. They're from the South and they sound like it. Beth Ditto wails like a southern gothic banshee while Brace summons down great big sheets of fuzzed- up riffery from the sky. And Kathy? She does what all great drummers do, she hits those bloody drums. Stunning stuff. Make them famous, right now. Merek Cooper in comparison to Jeffrey's deadpan genius, I'd look shit. Instead I'll just tell you about the best song on this album and how it tells the story of how Jeffrey, when touring his previous record, was accosted by thousands of acidheads trying to give him free blotters, microdots or what have you. It's called "No LSD Tonite" and it's the funniest song of the year. You should buy it. Oh yeah, he draws comics too. Merek Cooper Jeffrey Lewis *in Exploding Hearts Guitar Romantic (Dirtnap Records) I'm cheating a bit with this one. A ppwer pop masterpiece of the first order, the LP version was released a good six months before the CD dropped in March of this year. The second I heard the first notes of "Modern „ Kicks," I smiled and thought, "This band gets it." I'm still smiling even though a senseless tragedy took the band away from us, and the mark left behind by this amazing group will be talked about in punk rock circles for years to come. Bryce Dunn Holopaw s/t (Sub Pop) Coming hotfoot on the heels of Ugly Casanova's Sharpen Your Teeth, expectation for this album was great. I knew that Holopaw lead singer John Orth had worked with Isaak Brock on that album and I was expecting great things. To their credit they didn't disappoint. Country played the way it should be, one eye on the past with an ear towards-the future. Merek Cooper Jon-Rae Fletcher and the River The Road (Hive-Fi Recordings) With this album, Jon-Rae Fletcher musically explains why he had to move across the country and leave all of us behind. Jon-Rae delivers an album that is a spectacular blend of alternative country, indie rock, fdk music and gospel, with the help of a few... okay, eight other musicians who Frog Eyes The Golden River (Global Symphonic) The best "Ike it or don't" release since Pere Ubu's "The Modern Dance." Check out the wife- beater shirt on the lead singer when you go see them live. Half the room usually leaves; the other half are enraptured. Which side are you on? Luke Meat 3i The Gossip Movement (Kill Rock Stan) We at DiSCORDER love The Gossip. Lave 'em and can't get enough. I even friendstered Brace Paine, but he's too scared to friend me back. I remember their gig at the Royal in the summer, it was so good John Ford Bullets For Dreamers (Bumstead Recordings) Gotta include at least one local combo here and these guys put together a pretty nice package of Flaming Groovies- meets-Replacements rock and roll and their live show gets stronger each time I see 'em. With only a handful of good bands in Vancouver right now, IMHO, more reason to support homegrown talent. Bryce Dunn Jeffrey Lewis It's the Ones Who've Cracked that the Light Shines Through (Rough Trade) Jeffrey Lewis made one of my favourite records of 2002. It was called The Last Time I Did Acid I went Insane. It contained a song called "Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song." Despite the fact that it got a bit lost in the anti-folk backlash, it was the shit. I normally try to be funny when writing these things but Lightning Bolt Wonderful Rainbow (Load Records) Let's face it, someone needed to tear music a new asshole, we just didn't expect it to be two dokes from Providence, Rhode Island, named Brian. Like the Horseman of Apocalypse riding two men ight, Messrs Chippendale and Gibson Charged out at the forefront of Load Records formidable output this year, taking names and kicking ass. Wonderful Rainbow chops off your head and shits down your neck, takes a break and then does it all over again. Album of the year, no question. I once asked DiSCORDER's secret weapon Saelan Twerdy what it was like to see them Ive—they always set up in the midde of the crowd—al he could sdd was: "Cathartic." Yeah, I'll bet. Merek Cooper Up In Flames (Leaf/Domino) This album no longer seems quite as mind-expanding as it did when I first heard it, but the massive leap Dan Snaith made from the Boards-of- Canada-isms of his first album to the whooshing psychedelic space-pop of Up In Flames is still amazing. With blissful, wide-eyed enthusiasm, this album stacks layer upon layer of pure ear candy in classic shoegazing splendor. A seemingly unlimited number of instruments pile atop cascading breakbeats in expansions and contractions that sound more like ecstatic exhalations than verses and choruses—and the most exciting part is that Snaith claims his next album will be even better. saelan The Mars Volta De-loused in the Comatorium (Sfrummer/Universal) The high hopes set by this band's Tremulant EP dissolved into a lot of head-and-chin- scratching when I finally got my greedy hands on this shamelessly pretentious disc of prog-punk wankery, and to tell you the truth, I still haven't figured it out. Rick Rubin's heavy-handed production makes these already- complicated songs a little headache-inducing, but there's just no denying the greatness of an album that can make Rush and Santana sound appealing to die-hard Fugazi fans. saelan 13 The Microphones Mf. Eerie (k) This cryptic epic was so overwhelmingly ambitious that Phil Elvrum had to stop performing as The Microphones | and start performing as Mount Eerie after he finished it. As the culmination of everything the Northwest's most profound and poetic voice has worked with in his underappreciated career, Mt. Eerie stretches lo-fi magnificence to its absolute imits: toms, snares and nylon-stringed guitar , conjure apparitions of such breathtaking elemental power that Istening to it more than once a month could frighten you into catatonia. saelan Continues next page... : Khe. * {(sugar ffifoeryj SUdrag ' ftratela ' hpwseJ Wm 0^rieraUN»\ ^%ori]fttykr) i*k ix^sVtYia J0ConV |5 Parallela f%CrvWer d®Dav.a.P-S«.iK» 2| booKS Wfdtdkk m) cus£d mil ft S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D. (Kranky) While everybody was too busy shitting themselves over the Rapture, Out Hud slipped in unnoticed and made a slithery dance-punk album so funky it matjsg^me nauseous. As good as this album is, though, it can't express what'lifrtejeredible live show this band|Krts-on. When their next album hits in Spring 2004, you damn well better get your funkless white ass over to the record store if you ever want to learn how to shake it. saelan Joel Plaskett Emergency Truthfully. Truthfully (MapleMusic) It's as simple as this: If you love Thrush Hermit, you'll really like Truthfully. Truthfully. If you like Thrush Hermit, you wil most likely enjoy Truthfully. Truthfully. If you sort of like Thrush Hermit, there is a chance that you will be able to appreciate Truthfully, Truthfully. If you hate Thrush Hermit, then you shouldn't be reading this. Kimberley Day Polysics Neu (Asian Man Records) The Polysics' previous release "Hey! Bob! My Friend!" received my vote for best dbum title of all time until "Neu." I mean, that's some pretty hip stuff to live up to. Have no fear, Krautrock fans: These Japanese technoids pull it of with wonderful panache and style. It's like listening to RADIO BERLIN » SISTER SOUNDS » LP/CD After two yean In the making and many setbacks in its release, this recent offering from Vancouver's enigmatic RADIO BERLIN is a re-interpretation of material previously released on their first two albums, THE SELECTION DRONE and .SIBLING. Three of the tracks are reworkings of material by the band with the help of members of THE RED UGHT STING and 3ERK with A bomb while the other four tracks contain remixes by friends from HOT HOT HEAT, BEAUTIFUL SKIN, THE EPIDEMIC, and P:ANO. cwoi6 FUCK ME USA » TBA » CD-EP [COMING 20041] cwois HAPPY KRETER » PARADIGM LOST » CD cwois FROG EYES » THE GOLDEN RIVER » CD CW012 S.T.R.E.E.T.S » BO BO GNAR GNAR » LP/CD cwoii THE ORGAN » SINKING HEARTS » CD-EP cwoio A LUNA RED / GHOST ORCHIDS »12" These releases and more available at www.globalsymphonic.com t ob^ca) aUs^ 2 2. Devo before the swiffering. Luke Meat. wiiisKE The Postal Service Give Up (Sub Pop) Simply put: the best record fhe Pet Shop Boys never made. Play it when you want to do something you've put off for a while, like laundry or clipping your toenails or masturbating. Luke Meat Prefuse 73 One Word Extinguisher (Warp) Yet another stunning sophomore album in a year of great ones, Scott Herren's glitch-hop perfection achieves a level of emotional depth not even hinted at on his debut. One Word Extinguisher is possibly the most technically impressive album of 2003, even more so in light of the album of outtakes released just a few months later, making Prefuse not only the most impressive producer to put out wax this year, but also the most prolific. This shit is so next level that nobody is going to catch up for years, and after literally hundreds of listens, this album shows no signs of getting old. saelan Rachel's Systems /Layers (Touch and Go) While bands like God Speed You! Black-Ribbed Knobbler and Do Make Say Wank have released albums that tasted like poo in recent times, Rachel's for some reason still manage to cut the mustard. Well, they obviously haven't read the scriot: cost rock is dead and will not be resurrected for another ten years when spotty teenagers will dress like out-of- work carpenters and claim to have been into Slint all along. Fitting enough, then, that this album seems completely out of time because it must have been recorded in a salon in Paris at the turn of the century. Merek Cooper blurred and I woke up in a gutter in the West End. When I scraped the crud from my eyes and returned home, this record didn't actually seem so bad. I could overlook the blatant Robert Smith rippery and I even started to enjoy the tinny beats of their drummachines. I'm never going out again. Merek Cooper coming back for more. And like alt naughty boys and girls the music doesn't stay still for a minute, exploding a hardcore cherrybomb in the toilet of every song. Straight to the top of the class by way of the principal's office. Merek Cooper Radiohead Hall to the Thief (Capitol) When Thorn Yorke bounded on stage toward the end of REM's late August Vancouver show, he woke up 2000 slumbering punters. Aside from many thirty-somethings who quickly returned to their nap when they realised it wasn't Phil Collins, the rest of the crowd could only stand there in rapt amazement. Thorn said '"ello." The crowd screamed. Thorn sang backup on "E-bow the Letter." The crowd swooned. Thorn murdered a guitar during "It's the End of the World (as We Know It)." The crowd still loved it. Proof, then, that the unmerry gentleman and his band of dour university lecturers can do no wrong these days. Certainly Hail to the Thief was a welcome return to form after the self-pastiche of Amnesiac and for that we're all thankful. Long may they reign on the world's parade. Merek Cooper Riverboat Gamblers Something to Crow About (Gearhead Records) Drop the needle and run for your fucking life-Mhis album is not for the weak-minded or the young. From start to finish, rock and roll never sounded this lethal. When they yell "You got the rhythm but you got no soul," these are bragging rights that all bands like them only hope to swear by. Bryce Dunn The Rapture Echoes (DFA) Whoa. I was so ready to pan this record all the way back to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but then I spent every night this week grinding my pelvis in every type of shitty indie disco I could find. And do you know what I found sandwiched between Le Tigre and tongue-in-cheek 50 Cent remixes? "The House of Jealous Bloody Lovers." Christ, that song gets more spins than an empty bottle at a preteen sleepover. After that it's all frKl The Shins Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop) There are a few bitter folks out there who would felt you that this album isn't perfect. Let me be the first to tell you that they're absolutely wrong. Pop music in 2003 simply does not get any better than this. Even better than their much-hyped debut. Chutes Too Narrow sees James Mercer's songwriting reach a level of melodic sophistication, inventiveness and originality that was hinted at before, but now emerges in all its anthemic glory. This album's only flaw is that it only lasts half an hour. • saelan The Sick Lipstick Sting Sting Sting (Tigerstyle) Like a naughty child about to "wedgie" his 86-year-old grandmother. The Sick Lipstick know a thing or too about shock value. Lead Singer, Lisa Gillard has the cutest voice but it says the dirtiest things. "Pretend I'm Sleeping" will make you blush. But you'll keep (Thrill Jockey) While I feel sure that Markus Popp's days pioneering a completely new sound are over—let's face it, every geek with a crippling social dysfunction and a stain on his pants is glitching the shit out of their laptop as you read this—if he continues to make albums as subtly beautiful as this, no one's gonna complain. This record is actually a collaboration; Eriko Toyoda writes the songs with her acoustic guitar while Markus does what Markus does best, washing them in a warm fuzz till they feel as comfortable as your favourite pair of jeans. Slip 'em on. Merek Cooper The Strokes Room on Fire (RCA) Strip away the hype and the overblown expectancy and what do you have? A pretty decent album, really. "I wanna be forgotton," screams Julian at the top of the album. Not a chance, mate. Keep on making albums like this and they'll keep you here forever. Though for the next album, may DiSCORDER suggest tons of psychedelics, a shadowy new age guru figure, a Himalayan mountain retreat and a fondness for cheesecloth underpants? Well, if they are going to be the new Beatles, the clock is ticking. Merek Cooper The Super Furry Animals Phantom Power (XL Recordings) Can somebody please tell the Super Furry Animals that if they wanna be taken seriously as a real band they're going to have to start acting like one? Make a bad album, why don't you? I mean, it's been ten bloody years. Can we tone it down a bit? It's getting embarrassing for the rest of them. And what's all this about golden retrievers? You can't ■ write one ofthe best songs of the year about one of the most popular family pets in North America. Hasn't anyone given them the rock rulebook? Jesus Christ, people, look alive, they're gonna start recordng another one soon. Merek Cooper Themselves TheNoMus/cofA/FFS (Anticon) ■ Dose One is quite possibly the most original vocalist in any genre, but he takes a lot of shit from the hip hop community. There are a lot of people out there that are just not ready for this guy. For everybody else, here's a ptatter full of stellar remixes by the likes of Fog, Why?, the Notwist and Electric Birds. These tracks run the gamut from lo-fi guitar sampling to burbling tech- house to vintage Massive Attack paranoia, and Dose is on every song. Enjoy. saelan Turbonegro Scandanavlan Leather (Epitaph Records) The cover art of this album symbolizes a darker vision of the "death punk" sound the Apocalypse Dudes would bring to the masses. "Fuck the World" is this year's "Smells like Teen Spirit." Denim jackets will forever remain a fashion requirement for kids everywhere. Bryce Dunn we'd fall in love over the phone" stuck in your head for days. Plus, his dad was on Undeclared. Kimberley Day The Unicorns Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? (Aliens) Adorable Montreal boys who play for free in car wash bays. What's even better, they aren't on the Constellation records label nor would they want to be. Luke Meat US Maple Purple on Time (Drag City) How strange can the weirdest men in music get? Not much, apparently, so they've stayed where they were and even Uretrtqted a little from the precipice. Purple on Time sees US Maple recruit a new drummer and coyer Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay." The t guitars still trickle down through the mix like fingers on a blackboard and the vocals are still whispered and sneered like q creepy man talking to young girls through a schoolyard fence. What did you expect? It's a US Maple album and it's still great. Merek Cooper Rufus Wainwright Want One (DreamWorks) It's hard to believe that Rufus Wainwright used to get heckled at most of his shows. A combination of beautiful cabaret-style vocals and impressively creative and intricate music, this, his third album, is not unlike the last two. Just TRY to avoid getting the line "Thought that maybe White Stripes Elephant (V2) Does this really need explaining? No. But if someone would like to explain Jack's limited colour scheme when it comes to the clothes he wears, I'm all ears. Bryce Dunn Xui Xui A Promise (5RC) It's not often that an album features both a photo of a naked Vietnamese man and ' of a chart-topping hit song. But with A Promise, Xui Xui can lay claim to just such a dubious honour. Morbidly and *1TrjrfBdrBjmatically fantastic, this album is perfect for just about any teenage bedroom crisis you can throw at it. Plus it contains a song called "Ian Curtis Wish List," so it's damn near perfect. When the chart- 'toppfng hit song does make an appearance, it fits so well and is so beautifully interpreted that you won't even realise you're listening to a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." Merek Cooper • DISCLAIMER: Yeah, okay, I know we missed some. All we can do Is our best. Space was limited. We have loads more albums that we think are amazing. 2003 was a bumper year. If you can handle any more, go to: www.cltr.ca/discorder CD/LP CD ON ORTHLORNG MUSORKiorthi*) ORTH18: AGF "WESTERNIZATION COMPLETED" CD/ BOOK ORTH17: EIGHT FROZEN MODULES: THE ABDUCION OF BARRY CD WWW.MUSORK.COM LP ON ACHE RECORDS (acheoi2) ACHE011: KID COMMANDO "HOLY KID COMMANDO" CD/LP ACHE013: FOURTET / HELLA SPLIT 7* WWW.ACHEREC0RDS.COM DISTRIBUTED BY: REVOLVER (USA), FORCED EXPOSURE, CROSSTALK SCRATCH, CARGO UK, LOWLANDS, CARGO GERMANY, HARDWAX, TARGET INTERNATIONAL, PLOP, LA BALEINE Luke Meat is the Music Director here at CiTR. He gets sent bads of records every week. He's listened to virtually every release that came through the station this year and this is his verdict on 2003. You should listen to him. He knows what he's talking about. The job or Music Diredor for CiTR is not as glamourous as it's cracked up to be. I estimate I've Istened to over 7000 CDs this year, of which only about 1500 made it to the CiTR playlist. The remaining 5500 are *^&['{' undpr the short leg of my couch. This relentless exposure to al things ittusical makes it especidly difficult to decide what merits mention in a "best of" 1st, but nevertheless, here, in no particular order, are some of the things that stuck out this year. Best example indie rock is dead: At Music West '96, Guided by Voices played to a packed house at The Commodore Ballroom with many stragglers left out in the cold. This year, due to a lack of ticket sales, GBV sadly had to move their show from the dorementioned venue to the much smaller and danker The Drink nightclub, which had never hosted a live band before. Shame. Best example grunge is dead: With this year's roster of bands. Sub Pop. From the sugary electro-pop of Give Up by The Postal Service and the soaring amdence of The Kinski/Acid Mothers Temple split EP to the homemade junk rock of M'icrominature Love by The Michael Yonkers Band and the somber beauty of Iron And Wine's The Sea and the Rhythm, Sub Pop have grown out of their proverbial flannel shirts and toques to become the comeback label of the year. Best overheard sound bite at a gig: "Is he really retarded?"—anonymous gig goer during Modest Mouse's opening slot for The Flaming Lips at The Plaza of Nations. Best reminder to quit your office job: [The User] Musk for Dot Matrix Printers (Asphodel) One of the most fascinating releases of the year, [The Userj's Music for Dot Matrix Printers is a symphony of 14 dot matrix printers with specially designed programs that utilize every pop, cick and buzz the machines emanated to create a sparse, occasionally annoying, and often rhythmically beautiful istening experience. Best proof Sonic Youth aren't as cool as you think: Glenn Branca Tne Ascension (Acute) Originaly released in 1981, The Ascension estabished the name of Glenn Branca among rock and avant-garde music fans. Rdssued this year by Acute Records, this tost masterpiece is what any clamor- loving guitar enthusiast needs. Best proof you are not as cool as you think: This "indier-than-thou" rag out of Athens, Georgia, is the most sarcastic, mean-spirited and gut-wrenchingly hilarious music zine out there. The most recent-ish featured the Chunklet staff offering hundreds of bands $2500 to break up. Best song to shake your tail feathers to: Nina Simone remixed by Felix Da Housecat "Sinnerman" (Verve) This year's Verve Remixed 2 compilation was a far cry better than the 2002 first installment of modem DJs remixing old jazz tracks, and a whole lot more danceable too. The redone version of "Sinnerman" keeps the intensity of Nina's original vocals and adds an incredibly infectious bass beat that's impossible not to groove to. Best album to curl up with a good book to: Steffan Basho Junghans Rivers and Bridges . (Strange Attracton) ' ',3'lVt Junghans has always been a remarkable musician: a solo artist who uses no overdubs yet creates the most full and earthly beautiful sounds out of the acoustic guitar. Rivers and Bridges contains two lengthy pieces and four shorter deces that utilize both 12 and 6 string guitars, great for sipping some tea and catching up on some It. Best album to mix 'shrooms and Jager before gdng out for a night of flghtin': Lightning Bolt Wonderful Rainbow (Load) Relentlessly pounding, unabashedy intense, Brian Gibson's searing bass paired with Brian Chippendale'sintense drumming proves that there's more going on in Providence, Rl, than tragic Great White gigs. Guiltiest pleasure of the year Mew Frengers S£§p*^& (Epic) Not only do these Danish wimps have the worst album cover I've seen all year, but the disc contains some of the most over-produced syrupy twee vocals behind crisp choppy guitars and synths. It's also tremendously catchy. Recommended for those who find Sigur Ros "too hardcore." Best reason to beg Daniel Richter to ditch books and get back into music: "The Wedge" on MuchMusic. Slappng in a 45-minute Strokes performance in lieu of actualy devoting a measly hour a week to indie music is not my idea of "the best in 'alternative' videos." Best local band: Black Rice No description needed. No excuses. Just go see these maniacs. Best dupe on an already naive record-buying public: Ladytron Softcore Jukebox (Emperor Norton) Not a new release, not even a new Ladytron song on the damn thing, this comp features cool artists such as My Bloody Valentine and The Fall, yet in the CMJ charts Ladytron get credt for a top 20 album. Huh?! Best way to humble an already big-headed college radio music director At Music West this year, I was invited to join ten other "industry-types" to sit and speak on a panel titled "The 11 People Every Inde Artist Should Know." Among us were The Georgia Straight's Mike Usinger, The Province's Stuart Derdeyn, people from SOCAN, Breakfast TV, and various other media luminaries. After being introduced to the crowd one by one and engaging in a spirited hour-long discussion of the various ways in which we could help out burgeoning artists, the floor was opened to questions. The first question? "Uh, yeah. This panel was supposed to tell us the eleven most important people for us to know. So who are they?" Ouch. J^O'.c«y»«tevu $4 Red Cat Records 4307 \loin St. New & Used CDs & Vinyl ph. 708-9422 * email buddy#redeat.ea your flame r "Absolutely gorgeous and seductive." - Exclaim! "...intense, subtle, heart-wrenching and haunting." - Chart THE RELEASES OF 2003 VISIT WWW.SONICUNYON.COM FOR FREE MP3s SUNCD080 • TOSHACK HIGHWAY vs SIANSPHERIC • Magnetic Morning / Aspirin Age 6 • TANGIERS • Hot New Spirits SUNCD087 • A NORTHERN CHORUS • Spirit Hags SUNCD089 • FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS • Show Me Your Tc SUNCD090 • MANISHEVITZ • City Life SUNCDQ91 • RAISING THE FAWN • By The Warmth Of Your FI; 4^ SONIC UNYON ciz^- ?,t4»C44»W i£ ARE YOU SERIOUS? MUSIC 9.00AM-12:00PM All of time is measured by its art. This show presents the most recent new music from around the world. Ears open. THE ROCKERS SHOW 12:00PM-3:00PM Reggae inna al styles and fashion. BLOOD ON THE SADDLE 3:00PM-5:00PM Real cowshit-caught-in-yer- boots country. CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING alt. 5:00PM-6:00PM British pop music from al decades. SAINT TROPEZ alt. 5:0OPM-6:0OPM International pop (Japanese, French, Swedish, British, US, etc.), 60s soundtracks and lounge. Book your jet set holiday now! QUEER FM 6:00PM-8:00PM Dedicated to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual communities of Vancouver. Lots of human interest features, background on current issues, and great music. RHYTHMSINDIA &00PM-10:00PM Rhythmslndia features a wide range of music from India, including popular music from Indian movies from the 1930s to the present, classical music, semi-classical music such as Ghazals and Bhajans, and also Qawwalis, pop, and regional language numbers. TRANCENDANCE 1O:0OPM-12:O0AM Join us in practicing the ancient art of.rising above common thought and ideas as your host DJ Smiley Mike fays down the latest trance cuts to propel us into the domain of the mystic-al. <trancendance @hotmail.com> THE SHOW 12:00AM-2:00AM FILL-IN 2:0OAM-6:0OAM MONDAY FILL-IN 6:00AM- 8:00AM BREAKFAST WITH THE BROWNS 8:00AM-11:00AM Your favourite brown-sters, James and Peter, offer a savoury blend of the familiar and exotic in a blend of aural delights! THE DIM SUM SHOW 11:00AM-1:00PM PARTS UNKNOWN 1:00PM-3:00PM Underground pop for the minuses with the occasional interview with your host, Chris. SANDBOX THEATRE 3:00PM-4:00PM A show of radio drama orchestrated and hosted by UBC students, featuring independent works from local, national, and international theatre groups. We welcome your involvement. <sandboxtheatre@hot mail.com> ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS 4:00PM-5:00PM A chance for new CiTR DJs to flex ther musical muscle. Surprises galore. STRAIGHT TALK 5:0OPM-6:O0PM FATHER AND SON alt. 6:00PM-7:30PM SOLARIZATION alt. 6:00PM-6:30PM 3g»k MY ASS alt. 6:30PM-7:30PM Phelps, Albini, 'n' me. WIGFLUX RADIO 7:30PM-9:00PM Listen to Setecta KrystabeHe for your reggae education. THE JAZZ SHOW 9:00PM-12:00AM Dec. 1: The ill-fated trombonist Frank Rosolino was, in the opinion of many, the best. This session, featuring a powerful rhythm section and tenor saxophone great Harold Land, is one of Rosolino's best. "Free •toralllF" ; Dec. 8: Tonight we honour the birthday of James Oscar Smith...the undisputed king and champion of the ham- C1T* wi,* m mond organ. "The boss" is a live club date with Jimmy and guitar giant George Benson. It smokes! Dec. 15: "Yeah!" is a date with Monk's tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse. A real unsung hero. Rouse, under his own steam, plays quite differently than he does with Monk. Check out Rouse's most personal recording tonight. Dec. 22: As is tradition on "The Jazz Show," the historic Miles Davis-led summit meetings with vibist Milt Jackson and pianist Thelonious Monk and others held on Christmas eve 1954. Real jazz and real Christmas music! Dec. 2?: We end the year with the complete album from which our theme song is taken. Trombone giant Bennie Green and company with "Soul Stirrin." The Jazz Show and Gavin Walker wish everyone out there a very Happy New Year. Jan. 5: We kick the new year off with bassist/pianist/ composer and innovator Charles Mingus and one of his most adventurous ensembles with £ric Dolphy (bass clarinet and alto saxophone}, Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone) Ted Curson (trumpet) and Dannie Richmond (drums). Documenting Mingus' first trip to Europe. Hear how Mingus scared the fteiftjjfjpK;>'> Jan. 12: Focus is tenor saxophonist Stan Getz's favprite album. This masterwork combines Getz's improvisations over great stirring writing By Eddie Sauter. A true classic! Jan. 19: "Five by *fl§Kk ,fcy-' Five" Spots pianist/composer Thelonious Monk with his working quartet plus one: trumpeter, or more correctly coronettist, Thad Jones is added to the mix. Jones became a Monk favorite after this session and you'll hear why. The title says it all. Jan. 26: "New York, N.Y." Composer George Russel's SaW Tropin (aU. Sundays 5pm-6pm) Top 10 for 2003 * by Christine G h"M0»~fntngets'M ' "* 2, M83r0ec«tfC8fe&fted$ecB&iO3fGi»©$f & TheCientete-VibielHwir \^ 4. V/A~&estofPQpaParis:ftyche~RockeiMin4upe$ 5. Bfl&odcaast-Hefco Sound &i Jwilor Sartor «CK*<ta*>'tStop *f» Seat - ?, The fmetiosisn* Heaven/Earth fre^sstiei 6. 'Bete & Sebastian »&earCofa&ophe Waitress 9. Goldfrapp -flfacfc Cherry 10 The Postal Service - Give Up portrait of North America's most fabled city. Russel assembled a huge orchestra with people like John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Phil • Woods) Max Roach and a great narration by wordsmith Jon Hendrix make this feature a must! New York, New York, a town so nice they named it twice! VENGEANCE IS MINE 12:00AM-3:00AM Hosted by Trevor. It's punk rock, baby! Gone from the charts but not from our hearts—thank fucking Christ. PSYCHEDEUC AIRWAVES 3:00AM-6:30AM DJ Christopher Schmidt also hosts Organix at Club 23 (23 West Cordova) every Friday. TUESDAY PACIFIC PICKIN' 6:30AM-8:00AM Bluegrass, old-time music and its derivatives with Arthur and "The Lovely Andrea" Berman. HIGHBRED VOICES 8:00AM-9:30AM THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM 9:30AM-11:30AM Open your ears and prepare for a shock! A harmless note may make you a fan! Hear the menacing scourge that is Rock and Roll! Deadlier than the most dangerous criminal! <bc»minsMynhe€tx3trnotcom> FILL-IN ad. 11:30AM-12:00PM MORNING AFTER SHOW alt. 11:30AM-12:30PM REEL TO REAL off. 12:30PM-1:00PM Movie reviews and criticism. BEATUP RONIN all. 12:00PM-2:00PM Where dead samurai can program music. FILL-IN OJJ. 1:00PM-2:00PM CIRCUIT TRACING 2:00PM-3:30PM EN AVANT LA MUSIQUE alt. 3:30PM-4:30PM «En Avant la musique!» se concentre sur le metissage des genres musicaux au sein d'une francophonie ouverte a tous les courants. This program focuses on cross-cultural music and its influence on mostly Francophone musicians. FILL-IN alt. 3:30PM-4:30PM THE MEAT-EATING VEGAN 4:30PM-5:00PM WENER'S BARBEQUE 5:0OPM-6:00PM Join the sports dept. for their coverage of the T-Birds. FLEXYOURHEAD 6:00PM-8:00PM Up the punx, down the emo! Keepin' it real since 1989, yo. flexyourhead.vancouverhard core.com SALARIO MINIMO 8:00PM- 10:00PM THE LOVE DEN alt. 10:00PM-1Z00AM <loveden@hotma9.com> ESCAPISM alt. 10:00PM-12.00AM es«cap*ism n: escape from the reality or routine of life by absorbing the mind in entertainment or fantasy. Host: DJ Satyricon. <DJSatyifcon@hotrrrail.com> AURAL TENTACLES 12:00AM-6:00AM It could be punk, ethno, global, trance, spoken word, rock, the unusual and the weird, or it could be something different.. Hosted by DJ Pierre. WEDNESDAY FILL-IN 6:00AM- 7:00AM THE SUBURBAN JUNGLE 7:00AM-9:00AM Bringing you an entertaining and eclectic mix of new and old music live from the Jungle Room with your irreverent hosts Jack Velvet and Nick the Greek. R&B, disco, techno, soundtracks, Americana, Latin jazz, news, and gossip. A real gem! <sutxrtxriungis@chomeB8xx)nnP> FOOL'S PARADISE 9:00AM-10:00AM Japanese music and talk. EXQUISITE CORPSE IOrOOAM-11:30AM Experiments, Collage, Plunder All your favorite hits... are not an option. <http://members.shaw.ca/ ecorpse> ANOIZE 11:30AM-1:00PM Luke Meat irritates and educates through musical deconstruction. Recommended for the strong. THE SHAKE at. l:0OPM-2rt)0PM FOR THE RECORD ait. 1:00PM-2:00PM DEMOCRACY NOW 2:00PM-3:00PM Independent news hosted by awarpl-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. MOTORDADDY ad. 3:00PM-5:00PM Cyde-riffic rawk and roll! RUMBLETONE RADIO alt. 3:0OPM-5:0OPM Primitive, fuzzed-out garage mayhem! RACHEL'S SONG 5:00PM-6:30PM Socio-political, environmental activist news and spoken word with some music, too. www.necessaryvoices.org <necessaryvoices@telus.net> AND SOMETIMES WHY alt. 6:30PM-8:OOPM (First Wednesday of every month.) BLUE MONDAY off. 6:30PM-8:00PM Vancouver's only industrial- ' electronic-retro-goth program. Music to schtomp to, hosted by Coreen. JUICEBOX 8:00PM-9:00PM Your ears have never felt so naughty! FOLK OASIS 9:00PM-11:00PM Roots music for folkies and non- folkies... bluegrass, singer-songwriters, worldbeat, alt country, and more. Not a mirage! <folkoasis@canada.com> HANS KLOSS' MISERY HOUR 11:00PM-2:00AM FIRST FLOOR SOUND SYSTEM 2:00AM-6:00AM THURSDAY FILL-IN 6:00AM-8:00AM END OF THE WORLD NEWS 8:00AM-10:00AM PLANET LOVETRON 10:00AM-11:30AM Music inspired by Chocolate Thunder, Robert Robot drops electro past and present, hip hop and inter- galactic funkmanship. <rbottove@yahoo.com> FILL-IN 11:3OAM-12:00PM UNPACK YOUR ADJECTIVES 12:00PM-1:00PM STEVE AND MIKE 1:00PM-2:00PM Crashing the boy's club in the pit. Hard and fast, heavy and slow (punk and hardcore). THE ONOMATOPOEIA SHOW 2:00PM-3:00PM Comix comix comix. Oh yeah, and some music with Robin. RHYMES AND REASONS 3:00PM-5:00PM DJ Knowone slaves over hot- multi-track to bring a fresh continuous mix of fresh every week. Made from scratch, samples and just a few drops Of fame. Our tables also have plethora of guest DJs, performers, interviews, giveaways. Strong Bad and the occasional public service announcements. <eno_wonk@yahoo.ca> LOCAL KIDS MAKE GOOD 5:00PM-6:00PM alt. Local Dave brings you local music of aB sorts. The program most likely to play your band! PEDAL REVOLUTIONARY alt. 5:00PM-6:00PM Viva la Veforotton! DJ Helmet Hair and Chainbreaker Jane give you all the bike news and views you need and even cruise around while doing it! www.bikesexual.org OUT FOR KICKS 6:00PM-7:30PM No Birkenstocks, nothing politically correct. We don't get paid so you're damn right we have fun with it. Hosted by Chris B. ON AIR WITH GREASED HAIR 7:30PM-9:00PM The best in roots, rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues from 1942-1962 with your snappily- attired host, Gary Olsen. <ripftup55@telus.net> UVEFROMTHUNDBffllRD RADIO HBL 9:00PM-11:00PM 4LA4/C *\ A*\. m " Local muzak from 9 ti 10. Live bandzfromlOtilll. www.stepandahalf.com/ tbirdhell WORLD HEAT 11:00PM-1:00AM An old punk rock heart considers the oneness of all things and presents music of worlds near and far. Your host, the great Dqryl- ani, seeks reassurance via <woridheat@hotmail.com>. FILL-IN 1:00AM-6:00AM FRIDAYS FILL-IN 6:00AM- 8:00AM -|l|p£ CAUGHT IN THE RED 8:00AM-10:00AM Trawling the trash heap of over 50 years' worth of real rock'n'roll debris. SKA-rS SCENE-IK DRIVE! 10:OOAM-12:OOPM Email requests to: <djska_ t@hotmail.com> THESE ARE THE BREAKS 12:0OPM-2:OOPM Top notch crate diggers DJ Avi ^hack and Promo mix the underground hip hop, old school classics and original breaks. THE LEO RAMIREZ SHOW 2:00PM-3:30PM The best mix of music, news, sports and commentary from around the local and international Latin American communities. - NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE PRESENTS.- 3:30PM-5:00PM CITR NEWS AND ARTS 5:0OPM-6:OOPM A volunteer-produced, student and community newscast featuring news, sports and arts. Reports by people like you. "Become the Media." To get involved, visit www.citr.ca and click "News Dept." THE NORTHERN WISH 6:00PM-7:30PM AFRICAN RHYTHMS 7:3OPM-9:0OPM David "Love" Jones brings you the best new and old jazz, soul, Latin, samba, bossa and African music from around the world. www.africanrhythmsradio. com HOMEBASS 9:00PM-12:00AM Hosted by DJ Noah: techno but also some trance, acid, tribal, etc. Guest DJs, inter views, retrospectives, giveaways, and more. I UKE THE SCRIBBLES alt. 12:00AM-2:00AM THE ANTIDOTE all. 12:00AM-2:00AM THE VAMPIRE'S BALL 2:0OAM-6:0OAM Dark, sinister, music of all genres to soothe the Dragon's soul. Hosted by Drake. SATURDAY FILL-IN 6:0OAM-8:0OPM THE SATURDAY EDGE 8:00AM- 12:00PM Studio guests, new releases, British comedy sketches, folk music calendar and ticket giveaways. 8AM-9AM: African/World roots. 9AM-12PM: Celtic music and performances. GENERATION ANNIHILATION 12:00PM-1:00PM A fine Unix of streetpunk and old school hardcore backed by band interviews, guest speakers, and social commentary. www.streetpunkrcraio.com <crashnburnrad'io@yahoo.ca> POWERCHORD 1:00PM-3:00PM Vancouver's only true metal show; local demo tapes, imports, and other rarities. Gerald Rattlehead, Dwain, and Metal Ron do the damage. CODE BLUE 3:00PM-5:00PM From backwoods delta low- down slide to urban harp honks, blues, and blues roots with your hosts Jim, Andy and Paul. ELECTROLUX HOUR 5:00PM-6:00PM SOUL TREE 6:00PM-9:00PM From doo-wop to hip hop, from the electric to the eclectic, host Michael Ingram goes beyond the call of gospel and takes soul muse to the nth degree. SYNAPTIC SANDWICH 9:00PM-1 1:00PM PLUTONIAN NIGHTS 11:00PM-1:00AM Cutting-edge, progressive organ music with resident Haitchc and various guest performers/DJs. Bye-bye civilisation, keep smiling blue,- where's me bloody anesthetic then? http://plutonia.org EARWAX DJ profile Bleek Swinney Exquisite Corpse Wednesdays 10:00 -11:30AM Describe your show: Experimental, audio-art, collage, cut-ups, fun. Record played most often on your show? Besides the opening theme, "Oh Little Seeds" by Steve Fisk, I probably play a tie between—People Like Us/Wobbly/Jet Black Hair People's "Pet Goldfish" or any thing from Chris Burke's Idioglossia. Last record you bought? V/A Branches and Routes (Fatcat) Musician you would like to marry? I'm married: but Vicky (People Like Us) Bennet and I are marrying soon anyway. Favourite Show on CiTR? I love so many but it'll have to come down to a tie between Anoiz and St. Tropez. Strangest phone call received while on air? One day I was reading about circuit boards or something, don't remember what. A caller thought it was so weird that I was discussing something he happened to be working on right then. I confirmed that we indeed have hidden cameras. 1:O0AM-4:3OAM "noiz terror mhdfuck hardcore like punk/beatz drop dem headz rock inna junglist mashup/distort da source full force with needtz on wax/my chaos runs rampant when I free da jazz..." Out. REGGAE LINKUP 4:30AM-9:00AM Hardcore dancehall reggae. Hosted by Sister B. Sunday Monday Tuesday 6AM 7 8 9 REGGAE LINKUP (RG) PACIFIC PICKIN' FILL-IN FILL-IN FILL-IN 6AM (RT) SUBURBA (E MJUNGLE MLL-IIN 8 9 BREAKFAST WITH THE BROWNS (EC) HIGHBRED VOICES (WO) C) END OF THE WORLD NEWS (EC) CAUGHT IN THE RED (RR) THE SATURDAY EDGE (RT) ARE YOU SERIOUS? MUSIC (EC) FOOL'S PARADISE (WO) 10 11 THIRD TIMES THE CHARM (RR) 10 EXQUISrrECORPSE(EX) PLANET LOVETRON (DC) SCENIC DRIVE (SK) THE DIM SUM SHOW (EC) FILL-IN MORNING AFTER ANOIZE (NO) FILL-IN 1?PM ROCKERS SHOW (RG) BEATUP RONIN (EC) REEL TO REAL (TK) UNPACKYOURADJECTIVES THESE ARE THE BREAKS (HH) GENERATION ANNIHILATION (PU) 2 3 PARTS UNKNOWN (PO) FILL-IN SHAKE (RR) RECORD (TK) STEVE & MIKE (HC) POWERCHORD (MT) 2 3 CIRCUIT TRACING (DC/EC) DEMOCRACY NOW (TK) THE ONOMATOPOEIA SHOWfTK) LEO RAMIREZ SHOW (WO) BLOOD ON THE SADDLE (RT) SANDBOX THEATRE (TK) RHYMES & REASONS (HH) CODE BLUE (RT) 4 ELECTRIC LAMU^O^O^) MOTORDADDY/ RUMBLETONE RADIO (RR) NARDWUAR PRESENTS (NW) 4 ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS (EC) 5 6 MEAT EATING VEGAN (EC) cmpswith SAINT EVERyTHNG(PO) | TROPEZ (PO) STRAIGHT TALK (TK) WENER'S BBQ (SP) RACHEL'S SONG (TK) MAKE GOOD REVOLUTION(TK) CfTR NEWS AND ARTS (TK) ELECTROLUX HOUR (EC) 6 QUEER FM (TK) FATHER & SON (EC) SOLARIZATION (TK) FLEX YOUR HEAD (HC) OUT FOR KICKS (PO) THE NORTHERN WISH (EC) SOULTREE (SO) A.S.W. (PO/EC) BLUE MONDAY (Gl) 7 MY ASS (EC) 7 8 WIGFLUX RADIO (RG) ON AIR WITH GREASED HAIR (RR) AFRICAN RHYTHMS (WO) 8 9 10 11 12 AM RHYTHMSINDIA PlPI (WO) SALARIO MINIMO (WO) JUICEBOX (TK) THE JAZZ SHOW (JZ) FOLK OASIS (RT) LIVE FROM... THUNDERBIRD HELL (LM) HOMEBASS (DC) SYNAPTIC SANDWICH (DC/EC) 11 12AM TRANCENDANCE (DC) VENUS FLYTRAP (EC) ESCAPISM (EC) HANS KLOSS' MISERY HOUR (HK) WORLD HEAT (WO) PLUTONIAN NIGHTS (DC) THE SHOW (HH) VENGEANCE IS MINE! (PU) AURAL TENTACLES (EC) 1 LIKE THE SCRIBBLES(EC) THE ANTIDOTE (EC) FILL IN EARWAX (HH/DC) 2 3 4 FILL-IN FIRST FLOOR SOUND SYSTEM THE VAMPIRE'S BALL PSYCHEDELIC 4 5 6 (DC 'EC) (t= ^) (E C) REGGAE LINKUP (RG) 5 fi CH=children's • DC=dance/electronic • EC=eclectic • EX=experimental • FR=French language • GI=goth/industrial • HC=hardcore • HH=hiphop • HK=Hans Kloss • Kl=kids • JZ=jazz LM=live music • LO=lounge • MT=metal • NO=noise • NW=Nardwuar • PO=pop • PU=punk • RG=reggae • RR=rock • RT=roots • SK=ska • SO=soul • SP=sports • TK=talk • WO=world elt-te,.n &*• »-\*.t it ssvsvsr To submit an event to datebook send info to: discorder@club.ams.ubc.ca December Albums iiiiiiiiiiiiiiW * Jf so Sffte icnown%c< #raf .TheOirtoombjtfifiboc© fherscorcflhg of '^fr>e#aJ&WTOfey*uwii^ 1 Dirtbombs Dangerous Magical Noise In the Red 2 The Gay You Know the Rules Mint 3 Kid Koala Some of my Best Friend Ninja Tune 4 Young and Sexy Life Through One Speaker Mint 5 DOA War and Peace Sudden Death 6 Plastikman Closer Paperbag 7 Ron Sexsmith Rarities Linus 8 Stereolab Instant 0 In the Universe Elektra 9 V/A Peg City Skank Bacteria 10 Radio Berlin Sister Sounds Action Driver 11 Ashley Park The Secretariat Motor Hotel Darling 12 Rachel's Systems/Layers Quarterstick 13 The Shins Chutes Too Narrow Sub Pop 14 Human Hi-Lite s/t Otto 15YokoCasionos s/t Independent 14 Mummies Death by Unga Bunga! Estrus 17 Peaches Fatherfucker Beggars/XL 18 Dudes Beepuncher EP Moustache Wax 19 Sparrow s/t Overcoat 20 Buck 65 Talkin' Honky Blues WEA 21 Plaid Spokes Warp 22 Stars Heart Arts and Crafts 23 Ken Nordine Wink Asphodel 24 New Deal Gone Gone Gone Arsehole 25 Kinski/Acid Mothers.. s/t Sub Pop 24 Sk Organs of Admittance Compathia Holy Mountain 27 US Maple Purple on Time Touch and Go 28 Mr Plow It's Plow or Never Crusty 29 Al Green 1 Can't Stop Blue Note 30 Elvis Costello North Universal 31 The User Abandon Asphodel 32 Rambling Ambassadors Avanti Mint 33 Thor Triumphant Scratch 34 Guided by Voices Best of... Matador 35 V/A 25th Anniversary Rough Trade Thursday December 4 The Supersuckers ® Richard's Friday December 5 Buttless Chaps Summerlad Dead Model Shoot @ Pic Pub Monday December 8 Beatstreet Party @ Pic Pub Tuesday December 9 Aesop Rock Mr Lif Akrobatik SA Smash DJ Fakts One ©Richards Thursday December 11 Mark Lanegan Band ©Richard's Friday December 12 Formal Farewell Ceremony For Merek Cooper dress code strictly enforced ©YVR Saturday December 13 Luke Meat's Brithday Bash (which Merek will just miss) © The Gathering Black Rice Sidesixtyseven © Video In The Countless Jibes GangBang The Ewoks © Pic Pub Cat Power (see picture. • mmm.) Sleater-Kinney ©Showbox (Seattle) Sunday December 14 Cali Agents Jean Grae (Mexican Descent) Buke One Headspin © Pic Pub Monday December 15 Scratch Bastid ©No Luck Club Tuesday December 16 The Distillers ©Croation Cultural Centre Wednesday December 17 Kids These Days Bel Riose Shades of Scoprius Thursday December 1 Wasabi Collective © Pic Pub Friday December 19 Young and Sexy Sparrow © WISE Hall p:ano Mimi's Ami © Pat's Pub Salteens Dirtmitts Yoko Casionos Team Strike Force © Railway Radio Berlin Dead Sure Secret Mommy © Pic Pub Saturday December 20 Salteens Hoodwinks Girl Nobody Billy & The Lost Boys © -Railway S.T.R.E.E.T.S © Brickyard Joel R.L. Phelps Secret Three © Sugar Refinery Goatsblood © Marine Club Wednesday December 24 Norwegian people get theirpresents. Friday December 31 New Years Dance! The Mod Club and Scene-ik Drive present Los Furios and Duotang DJ Ska-T and Lee Modern Sunday January 16 Organ My Project Blue © Brickyard Thursday January 20 Joel R. L. Phelps Secret Three places t o be concert venues: misc venues: brickyard 315carrall 604.685.3922 cinematheque 1131 howe 604.688.8202 cafe deux soleils 2096 commercial 604.254.1195 ridge cinema 3131 arbutus 604.738.6311 cellar ■.C'.^ 3611 w. broadway 604.738.1959 video in studios 1965 main 604.872.8337 cobalt 917 main 604.764.punk commodore green room 868 granville 695 cambie 604.739.7469 604.608.2871 record shops: lotus 455 abbott 604.685.7777 active pass records 324 w. hasting 604.646.2411 the main 4210 main 604.709.8555 bassix records 217 w, hastings 604.689.7734 marine club 573 homer 604.683.1720 beatstreet records 3-712 robson 604.683.3344 pat's pub 403 e. hastings 604.255.4301 block swan records 3209 w. broadway 604.734.2828 pic pub 620 w. pender 604.682.3221 crosstown music 518 w. pender 604.683.8774 railway club 579 dunsmuir 604.681.1625 futuristic flavour 1020 granville 604.681.1766 richard's 1036 richards 604.687.6794 highlfe records 1317 commercial 604.251.6964 the royal 1029 granville - 604.685.7527 red cat records 4305 main 604.708.9422 sonar 66 water 604.683.6695 scrape records 17 w. broadway 604.877.1676 sugar refinery 1115 granville 604.331.1184 scratch records 726 richards 604.687.6355 WISE club: V" 1882 adanac 604.254.5858 zulu records 1972 w. 4th 604.738.3232 4**«o>VoUri. J& KftMRlPlittS Seamrippers Craft Collective is a group of artists.ja^v-/* crafters working in a. range of craft media/ We are currently organising, a variety of fundraising events and participating in a series of craft fairs. We are working toward opening :jk'^a**a$u.v«r- based center f$fc'^.onteniporary craft in the new year. The project is rooted in a common desire to meet the >«^g changing needs of local wM artists and 'cz%f$ers by »'. creating a community space H| that includes working facility, « hosting space and gallery.. r^ Integrating elements of art, Ik./cieaft, fashion, pop culture and contemporary desigft^.;^ , we are a new breed of craft. | With this broadened definition of craft in mind, we are focused on addressina I the current lack of exhibition | space and studio resource available in Vancouver. Our main priority is breaking down ; the barriers between : i traditionally exclusive practices to create an | inclusive community environment I . for working snd learning. THE SPACE ITSELF: As mentioned, there are three main aims for the space... 1. STUDIO FACILITY open to the public and co-op members, the facility/resource will include a range of craft-related media, both traditional (eg:quilting, felting, bookbinding) and non-traditional (silk- screening, clothing alteration) 2. HOSTING SPACE •.the center wil^~:4>£ ,a space for hosting a- -i^'i-ety of craft events, such as workshops, knitting circles and crafc fairs. |i GALLERY an exhibition space for contemporary craft and craft-related projects. CONTACTS for ;?iore information, we can be contacted at seara_rippers&excite.cora '&£>; ^MUS*^ Vie will have tables at art events and craft fairs around the city.... FRI+SAT NOV 21+22 CULTURE CRAWL (?95 E.Pender) SUN NOV 2J RILEY PARK CRAFT FAIR SAT+SUN NOV 29+30* SOUND AND FURIES (^Heritage Hall) SAT NOV 29 * '*M^| TROUT LAKE CRAFT FAIR FRI,SAT+SUN DEC5,6+7 BRITANNIA CRAFT FAIR FRI+SAT DEC 5+6 \ ARTFUL CiiAFT j-aiic (SVideoIn) SAT DEC 20 RED SQUARE (fc!f3S c«MHe*«J*»-D*-) "SAT+SUN DEC 20+21 SOUND AND FURIES* (fcHeritaee Hall) ("unconfirmed dates) , If you ittfTSuboitting work, please include a complete inventory list with prices, j Seamrippers takes a 25% /*Cthv b**»-+flU.}, by the stereo's warm glow MW£09Rd$M LfEHVTZULAK The Princess Builder CD DAVID CROSS Let America Laugh DVD r\Lee's sonic obscura gave us a pinhole glance into a miniature landscape of darkly evocative voices and melodies. Now joined by a cast of superlatively talented players, including Masa Anzai, Stephen Lyons, Julian Gosper, Thomas Shields and others, this latest recordtngfiarws-aflawless arc between reflective acoustic repose and crackling chaotic noise. Hmmm... warm your hands on these flames of beauty. : CD 12.98 B.FLBSCHMANN Welcome Tourist. 2CD Back in the day, when the Morr Music "melodirtronlssS*ti|uBi^ was first filtering ave>ffd® If Germany, the estimable Bemhard Fleischmann captured the hearts of manV^RBJisuspecting Zulu customer. Such is Fleischmann's ear for layerftt|p^||o sistJble tunes atop luxurious beds of processed sound^^tt^ work proved irresistibte'tomswst*arp-eareovsh0p{ieRJ^86f" these pioneering works were composed entirely on a fifty". "groovebox," Welcome Tourist expands the B-man%|p§p5'fi palette considerably, making it his most ambitious aijf^rjtjji^- 2Cti^2.90^ rWYTWWlAMD SOUND With The Artists CD/LP Toiling away behind a smoty veil of virtual anonymity, Se^^^S Moritz von Oswald and Mark Emestus have gradually built a formidable reputation among, denizens of the mainland European electronica underground Missives from their dusty, dusky netherworld have been appearing as minimally-labeled slabs of vinyl i egularly for the past decade. First, as Basic Channel, they pioneered a much-copied style of static-swathed dub-techno. Mom recently, as Rhythm and Sound, the duo has extrapolated upon its early riddim theories, inventing a whole new digital reggae dialect in the process. The Artists features a shocking array of superb roots vocalists playing fast and loose over some of the warmest amUnolJ!- expansive low-end maneuvers we've bom witness to in years. Righteous stuff. S8^|l£|l CDVLP 16.98 CHRIS MASTHEIM I Come On All Ye CD A.K A Burquitlam Plaza!! When wintering In thajuibitrbt you must do mom Am volunteer at an old folks home. If you ani talented you must not die In oteeunlyt you musLsbam your vision, your love and your cftSnce to make holiday ejwer Thus we give you the highly limited edition;of winteregngs from Nick of ftano! Make (ne$& A uanta's original stand-up bad boy Mflavid Cross is a big time Vancouver favorite. Now thanks to the brain trust at t^l^^irou can be with Mr. Cross all the I - Smaa^pl follow him on his hilarious ■4jtbst£€$jfttry tour! That's right Let America Laugh is the video four diary of David's 2002 Shut Up You Fucking Baby comedy junket! Laugh it up as you meet the grotesque underbelly of today's comedy circuit—a skuzzy romp •fhfed^oojslder demographic of friends, family, interviewers, promoters, fluffers, hanger-ons, and of course a few girls going wild for the "David Cross" sex appeal! DVD 19.98 MWOR THREAT liSlMJVD | Still the compass for many punks today, Minor Threat changed the 3t8h$#$Hnk in the '80s. Strident yet not " dogmatic, unlike some they inspired, Minor Threat took the punk tradition head-on, in the process revealing its essential values: a do-it-yourself ethic and a sense of total commitment that transcended mere fashM Punk for them was a way of life, not a lifestyle Now on DVD, this 92 minute collection of live footage from the early '80s captures the spirit and energy of il Threat in their jHitneJatSo including an informative biographical booklet and onscreen introductory essays by Ian MacKaye. DVD 22.98; CIRCLESQUARE Pre-Earthquake/uithemsCDAP This release on UICS prestigious Output label waasliojiey- delayed due to its injmacutate,packaging No pnnt Shop in. Europe could get it right Local impresario March 21 has standards. For that we St)0^iJO|frjise%ratulate him, because this anticipated release lives up to all expectations. These standards are also why James Lavelle has asked March 21, and not- Shadow, to remix the' new Unkle Indeed, just as electro and new no wave reach for life support, these Pre Earthquake Anthems offer some hope, however isolated. Note: Ask about a special run of blueprint promo gear. CD/LP19.9B DEADSURE From Your Head to Your Sacmm CDEP Vancouver lost a great and f orw ard-thinteng harden* band- ■' with the passing of Sparkmarker. Thev *ere prescient earSt exploring the posf hardcore pur*-that has since relfisd into a mostly-vacuous growth Industry In those more innocent times the frenetic Ryan Setttt fronted the group before *Jn» Kinekin toek-ffiwas Sparkmarker matured MatldftgSsofts (Xibfte return to music-making Deadsure are a drying and rtJf-heftvy quartet m the tradition tie-once helped define Welcome bask, wetee?Bfcho)i»afid-tom fcup,.- ■ CD 8.98 CDEP 11.98 H MADOKA HARA p MSG ESP Art Show and 2004 Calendar opening Dec ? Midnight snacks make for rumpled sleep and IVIadoka Hara's FvlSG ESP tells a N^ Grimm and Gorey tale through devilish little illustrations. Reproduced as j a calendar in a CD jewel case, w/artwork on the wail from Dec. 7th-Jan. 3rd. Zulu's 2003 sonic time capsule staff picks of 2003 a selection of our yeap-end faves in no paHiciilap opdep BONUS! ML REGULABLY PRICED SLY t Pill ME 10% OFF UNTIL JANUARY 31, S BRADY Back 65- TaMn' HonkyBasse The Boo-Pressure Solomon Buriw-Doal Give Up on GRANT Radiohead "Hail to the thief" The Road Four Tet-Rounds Tim Hecker Radio Amor P. W. Long* Rtwicrnberetl Prefuse 73- One Word Extinguisher/ Extinguished: Outtakes rmdersticks-Waiting tor the M CRYS Keith Rom, Oren Ambarehi, Sachiko M, Otomo Yoshlhide, The Hafler Trio-A Small Child Dreams of Voiding the Plague „■ duuLdrv -Fade with Consequence Outkast - Speaker Boxxx/ The Love 4^WWiit*ftB aw free" Kings of Leon 'Youth and young manhood" lost in translation" soundtrack Manitoba "Up in flames" My Morning Jacket "It stiH moves" Holly Golightly Truly she is none other" JASON The Howling Hex-Introducing The Witches- On Parade _ - Mr. Airplane Man- Moanln' Neil Michael Hagerty and The Howling Hex- s/t ' miation e- And This is Our Califone- Quicksand/Cradlesnakes * Six Organs of Aran Slumber Party-3 Benjamin Biolay-MegatH CampfireSongs-s/t Goiky's Zygotic Menci- hi & Martin Ng-Vigil JOSH Tim Hecker Radio Amor The Bag feat. Cutty Ranks- Gun Disease The Microphones- Singing from Mount Erie V/A- Sunny (book + CD) So-s/t -\^"'., The Majesticons-Beauty Party Set Fhe to Flames- Telegraphs in Negative / Mouths tapped hi static ISS^" Loose Furs/t SAM The Microphones- Mount Eerie The Fall- The Real New Fall LP (Formerly 'Country on the - "" Click') Why?- Noriko Tujiko- Make Me Hard Matt Elliott-Tin Mess We Made The Iditarod- The Ghost, the EH, the Cat and the Angel Chris T-T- London is Sinking Richard youngs- Airs of the Ear Missy Elliott- This is net a Test ERIN Angels of Light-Everything is Good Erase Errata-At Crystal Palace VICKI DOLLY PARTON- Just Because I'm A Woman (reissue) Detroit Cobras-Seven Easy Pieces ' Jerk With A Bomb- Pyrokinesis MARK Amoiicsn Anolog Set* Promise of Low Bardo Pond-On the Ellipse Circle-Sunrise ■ '»••.,; . Kings Of Leon-Youth and Young Manhood Jayhawks- Rainyday Music Circle-Sunrise Robert Wyatt-C Lightning Bolt- Wonderful Rainbow The Fall- The Real New Fall LP (Formerly -Country I on the Click') Simply Saucer Cyborgs RevisHed (reissue) Radiohead- Hail to the Thief Kinski/Acid Mothers Temple- split Yo La Tengo- Today Is The Day Ep the food ATTENTION AU ZULU REGULAR CUSTOMERS: Hunger knows no boundaries. tions to the Food Bank on TrthsholWay season we am JMJtth 2064. encouraging everyone to sup- tfe|ft: the Food Bank's most port the Vancouver Food Bank In needed items are: Canned their dedication to providing Meats, Soups & Stews, Canned food and related assistance to Ffjm & Meat, Pasta, Pasta these In wed). Yesttan hejpV': .- Saw* A mce,^Canned Beans, JjfrtA^ott.aiijiwfl-B^s^^ fnrttf 4 Vegetables, and Baby tysmft]r^«sn spam here titZiihj FomwhtilMapers. and th) wlH trewNM.rtj)H dona- mSOltATBMmiBEGIVENA COUPON VALID FOB 10% Off vmfflBTHOFJAmiMY, " Zulu Records 1972-1976 W 4th Ave Vancouver. BC tel 604.738.3232 vvww.zulurecords.com STORE HOURS
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Discorder CITR-FM (Radio station : Vancouver, B.C.) 2003-12-01
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Title | Discorder |
Creator |
CITR-FM (Radio station : Vancouver, B.C.) |
Publisher | Vancouver : Student Radio Society of the University of British Columbia |
Date Issued | 2003-12-01 |
Extent | 40 pages |
Subject |
Rock music--Periodicals |
Genre |
Periodicals |
Type |
Text |
FileFormat | application/pdf |
Language | English |
Identifier | ML3533.8 D472 ML3533_8_D472_2003_12 |
Collection |
Discorder |
Source | Original Format: Student Radio Society of University of British Columbia |
Date Available | 2015-03-11 |
Provider | Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library |
Rights | Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these recordings must be obtained from CiTR-FM: http://www.citr.ca |
CatalogueRecord | http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1190017 |
AIPUUID | 343e74cc-f1e4-4d53-a0ab-d41233940b51 |
DOI | 10.14288/1.0049999 |
AggregatedSourceRepository | CONTENTdm |
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https://iiif.library.ubc.ca/presentation/cdm.discorder.1-0049999/manifest