Open Collections

 FEBRUARY 1^7   Tll/U UURKT OUT ZIKF FROM CiTR TOL, FM _*
■^^T
CANADA
plus guests THE INBREDS
FRIDAY, FEB. 7
VOGUE THEATRE
with guests BIG RUDE JAKE
MONDAY, FEB.   IO
A FEW TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!
TUESDAY, FEB.   11
©IM SALE MOW.
_JML-___®§. -      «r_
UfAMBAZO:
to 6^<g-
Tuesday
March 25
Vogue
Theatre
THE BEST IN WORLD BEAT!
hnlWtf-foftfcllfcf
LOCAL H
SATURDAY
FEBRUARY 1
TOWN PUMP
I
Greg
jKeelpr
with guest - John Borra
Sunday, Feb. 2
FOLDS
,[»]:i»LYIMARCHMI
ORPHEUM THEATRE 8PM
rani
Friday Feb. 7
-1TR T"te    *"*a9e
TICKETS   AVAILABLE   AT   ALL   TICKETMASTER   OUTLETS   OR   CHARGE   BY   PHONE   280-4444^
•*B_an-___-_____«______H__^ Saddlesores
Matthew Shipp
Oranj Symphonette
Pee Chees
Hanson Brothers
Dub Narcotic
SubCuit. Part Two :;;
editrix
miko hottman
art director
kenny paul
ad rep
kevin pendergraft
production manager
barb yamazaki
graphic design/layout
atomos, ken paul,
barb y
production
chris eng. erin hodge, alia
hussey, ska-t, tristan winch
photography/illustrations
barb, paul clarke, lori
kiessling, james liston,
brad martin
contributors
andrea, barbara a, ken a,
james b, james b, sara b,
barb, brady c, brock c,
chris c, christian,
michael c, reuben c,
christina, bryce d, jason d,
kevin d, chris e, jovian f, karen
f, gth, alia h, andy h, frank h,
lee h, sophie h, sydney &
heather h, robynn i, iono,
anthony k, john I, sean I, lloyd,
adam m. james m. janis bmc,
siobnan mc, a'\ noah,
nardwuar, jesse p, jason s,
peter s, ska-t, dave t, iim v,
brian w, tristan w, marlene y
program guide
namilco kunimoto
charts
megan Im
datebook
meeks
distribution
matt stettich
us distribution
megsie
discorder on-line
ben lai
publisher
linaa scholten
10
11
12
14
16
COLUMNS
•■"' Cowshead Chronicles
4
Vancouver Special
5
Diary of Jonnie Loaf Boy
5
Interview Hell
6
Printed Matters
17
Basslines
18
Seven Inch
19
Between the Lines
19
Under Review
20
Real Live Action
23
Charts
25
On the Dial
26
February Datebook
27
CO   V   E   R
Yeah, so It's a thin one this
month. And we're too poor to
jazz it up with colour, but at least
we're not ( insert local music rag
of your choice here ) ... AND
we've got a toasty cover, 'specially designed by the one and
ONLY ATOMOSl
e "DiSCORDER" 1997 by the Student Radio Society of I
the Univ«r»i(y of British Columbia. All rights reserved. P
Circulation 17, 500.
Subscriptions, payable in advance, to Canadian resid.
are $ 15 for one year, to residents of the USA are $ 1S US; I
$34 CDN elsewhere. Single copies are $2 (to cover post- I
age, of course). Please make checks or money on*
payable to DiSCORDER Magazine.
DEADLINES: Copy deadline for the March issue is Febrw- I
ary 12th. Ad space is available until February 19th and f
can be booked by calling Kevin at (604) 822-3017 ext. 3. I
Our rates are available upon request. DiSCORDER is not I
responsible for loss, damage, or any other injury to un- I
solicited manuscripts, unsolicited artwork (including but I
not limited to drawings, photographs and transparen- I
cies), or any other unsolicited material. Material can be I
submitted on disc (Mac, preferably) or in type. As always, r
English is preferred.
From UBC to Langley and Squamish to Bellingham, CiTR I
can be heard at 101.9 fM as well at through all major |
cable systems in the Lower Mainland, except Shaw ir
White Rock. Cal the CiTR DJ Sne at 822-2487, our office oi
822-3017 ext. 0, or our news and sports Rne. at 822-3017 |
ext. 2. Fax us at 822-9364, e-mail us at: citrOunixg.ubc.c<
visit our web site at http://www.an_.ubc.ca/media/cilr or I
just pick up a goddamn pen and write #233-6138 SUB Blvd., I
Vancouver, BC, CANADA V6T 1Z1.
BIG YELLOW T
WITH GUESTS TRUCI
FRl,  l^th
THE MUSCLE BITCHES
10OO STAMPS
HARVEY SWITCHED
jA^^mE
WITH SHAZZAM
AND A.K.A.
KNAME DROPPER
NANCY
WEISLER
CD RELEASE
WITH GUESTS
FRI.  28th
THE MAHOIMES
WITH GUESTS
SAT.   1st
BENEFIT FOR SCOTT McLEOD
BUGHOUSE FIVE,
ROGUES GALLERY, G SLACK
SAT.  8th
.DEADCATS,
YAL GRAND PRIX.
FROM NORTH CAROLINA
THE SQUIRREL
IMUTZIPPERS
WITH GUESTS
THE COLORIFICS
TIX: $12 IN ADVANCE
AVAILABLE AT HOTEL 688-8701
*■—
wmm
EVERY SUNDAY <s pm-i_» am)
THE  SOUL. KITCHEN
> THE FUNKY GROOVES OF THE WORKSHOP
Nn
EVERY MONDAY    ^ST^iiTia^PM)
R O UGH CUTS   &   ^MdJ^PSTP P E R S c°
""^HOSTED   BY  ART  BERGMAIMINL
NO COVER!     EVE^Y   TUESDAY    NO COVER!
THE BROWN DERBY
INVITATIONAL JAZZ AND JAM FESTIVAL
PLAYERS AND BAND INFO: 680-1250
ATIONAL FREAKY FUI
JREENR
Printed     In     Canada
M^m<ff£mm
THURSDAYS
CUTTING   EDGE
NEW ROCK
HOSTED BY GRAHAM SCOTT I
Feb 6th: hHead'
CD RELEASE PARTY FOR HIGHWAY FREAK
TICKET BY DIVINE RIGHT & CD RELEASE FOR
SILVERCHAIR & OFFSPRING
Feb 13th: DIESEL CANDY,
VIRGIN WHORES & CD
RELEASE FOR RESSURRECTION MARY
d_l_f«?»1.»^J=fJ
$1.39  ALL WEEK,   4PIVI  -6PIVI dears*
233-6138 SUB Blvd./
airhead
OKAY, EVERYONE, LET'S
ROCK FOR ... UH ... El? ...
Dear DISCORDER,
As co-organizer of ihe Rock For
Choice show, I feel compelled lo
respond lo the letter written by
Andrea Fernandez in the lost issue. Although I agree wilh some
of her points, I found others to be
problematic.
Point #1. The no alcohol
clause. Point Taken. As an avid
non-drinker and big supporter of
the olkiges scene, I was disappointed to discover that a
miscommunicalion between myself and the venue meant a compromise would be in the cards.
An oversight. A drag. Agreed.
Point #2. The women-actinglike-jerks clause. Point taken. But
here's where it gets tricky. The
actions of a few individuals (who
obviously have watched too
much Mucous Music), should not
taint us all. The generalization
that all women who enjoy
moshing are simply emulating
men is a dangerous statement. I
have spent most of my life being
persecuted for "emulating men"
(i.e. shaving my head, wearing
baggy dolhes, playing sports, listening to hardcore music), so I
find this type of analogy question-
able. I've organized lots of
shows, (including 3
Grrrlapaloozas + 3 Rock For
Choices) where there were positive oil-female mosh pits that were
bolh respectful ond non-violent.
None of the women I know who
mosh at shows advocate vio
ler
1 fact, i
violence against women. I'm not
against women having a safe
place to watch bands ihey like,
but I'm also not into those same
women dictating what is appropriate for ihe rest of us. Jody
of Team Dresch's suggestion to
split the room in half and have
moshers on one side and non-
moshers on the other seemed
like an adequate solution. The
next day we both agreed that
it was lame that it didn't get
resolved in this way.
I understand some of the
philosophies of the church of
anti-moshing, but it's my scene
as much as it is Andrea's and I
want to have the right to
choose what I will and won't
do wilh my own body. As long
as I am not harming innocent
bystanders, I ihink this is a positive choice.
Anyways, I just wanted it
to be known that the predominant feedback I got wos that it
was the best show of the year
in Vancouver.
Oh yeah, and we raised a
lot of money for fhe
Everywoman's Health Centre.
Wilh the to mosh or not mosh
saga looming, one might have
missed lhat this was actually
the entire point of the show.
Meegan Maultsaid
Dear DiSCORDER,
I don't usually write "response
to" letters, but I was a little
shocked by the missive from
Andrea Fernandez in the last
issue. It's not lhat I expected her
to write an impartial version of
the events at the Rock For
Choice show, but considering
her participation, maybe I
didn't expect her version at all.
Now, I was front row for the
events, and yeah, during Team
Dresch some people were dancing.
Exuberantly, possibly, but not violently. Anyone near the front wos
going to get bumped, but lhat's an
occupational hazard at a gig. It
was, however, at about this time
that the erstwhile Ms. Fernandez
(identified by myself and many others by the twenty-odd photos of her
in her zine, sold there lhat night)
decided to bring the situation in
"Hey!!" she screams. "Would
someone stop these straight, white
girls (Ms. Fernandez is Latino) from
moshing into me!" The show grinds
to a halt. The band (now silent) is
confused, and since no fists were
flying, no one is really sure what
the problem is.
What had previously been a
personal space issue, which would
have been easily solved had she
taken a few steps back, was now
transformed into a race and sexuality issue. Not everyone in the pit
was white, straight or female, but
that's not the point. The point is lhat
she labelled ihem lhat. I wonder if
Ms. Fernandez would have had ihe
same reaction had it been a Rock
Against Racism show.
And before Ms. Fernandez
jumps all over me for being a
straight male, I'd like to say that I
am also the voice for everyone else
I was wilh lhat night—dykes, fags,
riot grrrls, and feminists. Some like
moshing, some don't, but no one
was offended by the dancing.
Maybe we just like the idea of being in a crowd with a bunch of other
people having fun.
Yours Sincerely,
Chris Eng
• ^c^wshead chronicles) •
part orm of a few instaH«fents
"tonight i got nowhere to go ancfi thought that i would call you, to see if you were home/
i'm sorry but i'm pretty stoned, i hope i didn't scare you/ i hope to god you were alone"
("grudgefuck" by the scud mountain boys)
dec. 24,1996 • 5:24 am
dearlarry...
i'm feeling a little out of sorts lately, like parts of my life are not my own. wandering
around looking in store windows and thinking that one day i'll go in and actually buy
something, but i couldn't today, things are my size but for some reason don't seem to fit
right, in fact, i was in her store today and was going to buy something and then she pushed
my buttons like only she knows how to and i had to leave, more to prove a point than
anything, shit, she knows i still love her. i've started keeping track of things as well, when
i do stuff, who i do it with, in my filofax. not really a journal but sort of. maybe i'm just
losing it. having to keep track of everything, the door on my bedroom, the one i put my
fist through, still hasn't been replaced and every night when i go to bed, because i like to
have the door shut at night, i still go through the motion of shutting it. my casual nature
ended yet another... maybe tomorrow ill tell you more, i need to get ahold of this winston
consumption as well, i think i may have a crush on a woman who just moved to australia
to be with some guy. someone's sister, i never even knew she had a sister, i usually pride
myself on knowing what's up. i gotta go to bed.
gth...
jan. 3rd, 1997 • 4:30 pm
dearlarry...
i know to keep this thing up i should write you everyday, but sometimes i just can't, and
today is really no better for me. i've been sending out mail everyday and i never get anything in return, ever heard the "skud mountain boys?" do yourself a favour, especially
"grudgefuck". that bastard don had my copy of it for months, he finally bought me a new
copy, i think, even though my crush on the gone to aussie woman still exists, i may have a
thing for a waitress who works just down the way from me. she wanted to buy me breakfast the other day; i didn't let her. picked up jen at the airport today backed into a guy
trying to find parking, it's a nightmare out there, i think i need to be alone for awhile, what
do you think? spencer's back from holidays today, why am i home in the middle of the
day? it just seems useless to even go downtown anymore, dropped a couple of letters in
the mail today and if the shit hasn't hit by now it can't be long, if my phone's not ringing
off the hook ina few days, ill know i was right all along, hate is so shallow, see ya tomorrow.
fi**''* house.!  i^
Come on
«awn rnorA
O
- diA©K[ifr__<
- ©©am
- T-scHiopnrs
Corey HAKt.     :
- STOIFlFi
■ '•\l^' * .^rha.ndpicked used     *#•'■'*
JSVp* ■'':■■ ■;.   clothing •[ '    ••''' 'jMj,
yon  get.   10%
>£±  vheu yon
bring ±n thi:
little
Wfaddie
*waddie
ra_m_H]_©_   **^'
(PDD®m©_ (D"ff_3-S@@S
bro&dvay
S3
a
SOUNDS
ON SALE THIS MONTH:
NIMROD   lelMilli. (lib OnkWI^j!) $10.96 CD
MANY MOODS OF MARLON MAGAS ^ IU7HrCiMfi_Mqfiea)...$3.94 7"
MAN OR ASTROMANo Whff leMJRS kflrfe The tffdff*/e. $U.93 CD
RAKE   Intelligence Agent: 13003 (mwdrtwy iMKue!) $1193 CD
BUGSKULL   Crodc Sow_fnc_ (face, tmtt, face, _m_| $14.93 CD
MUMMIES o  Running On Imptj Vol. _ (uhfl, fr«Ji!j....$9.l7 l*
TRANSAM r$mtaixltM,h,!m\mH $9.87 IP $14.92 CD
JOHN DAVIS JJNlMeiifm|fkktterkltrMJipJMMM9.l7 l»i 14.93 8
nTINGSAIKERAIUaftMYMOimOlllir^ AWfee*yefM*<9ejL.$9.l7LP$12.93€D
HI-FIVESo MUfUfoMndrl $10.96 IP $13.11 CD
TAKE A RIDE ON THE TRANSSIBERIAN!
Introdycin-g Vancouver's coolest new labd, Il
Transsibenan Mouc Co«pany, and their first
two adventurous releases:    _
MANIFOLD • Novosibirsk CD $ ■ °'96
4     february 1997 Vancouver;
a     special
; 0<0i
__ by dale sawyer & janis mckenzie
II   III I   Hill I   II
A delightful Christmas
present for me was
Maximum Rabbit, the
second Faceplant compilation
lope. Faceplant is a recording
sKidio/praclice space/sanitorium
which, in its few years of existence, has built itself its own little
scene whilst making a strong con-
tribution to the Vancouver
musicommunity. The stuff on
Maximum Rabbit may be all over
the rock map, but its varied smorgasbord of culting-edge bands is
what gives itlhatodyssic appeal.
Kicking off with "Kule Like Karla,"
Faceplant introduces the world to
ihe "ambient punk with bloodcurdling screams" of ihe DIRTY
HARRIETS. I know lhat bolh the
Harriets and Faceplant are capable of higher (recording) fidelity,
since this soon-to-be-monster cut
is a Iwo-lrack room-mic take from
a practice session. The fun is only
beginning: the beer-drenched
criminal insanity of the 4 FOOD
GROUPS OF THE APOCALYPSE, the soulful Beck-influenced, folk-funk of JAMES
DEAN IV, Ihe Rocky Horror S&M
show that is REVULVA s aural
assault, ihe "Bagpipe Gumbo* of
»  •  •  •  •...»-• •-:.:•!■ -.ft-.
HOUSE OF BUGS, and the elegant and ironic chatsongs by
THE SPINE will make you rewind repeatedly with giddy glee.
Tracks by ARTHUR ELUS, ASH
WEDNESDAY, KENNY D.,
and BEN MAHONY have a
real icing-on-the-cake feel imparled by their inventive arrangements and studio whimsy. The sad
saliz
some very fine songs were recorded by now-defunct or limbo-
dwelling bands such as UNEVEN STEPS, FISHBURGER,
and MOHAN. Ah well, plenty
more where they come from, if
the rest of Maximum Rabbit is any
indication.
GAZE has blazed back with
a tape lhat will amaze. More
glaze and less of K's lo-fi malaise,
I'd be amazed if it doesn't faze
they's of the laziest ways.
"Shady" will daze, "Strike While
It's Hot" will take days before it
unflays itself from your grays, and
"Preppy Villain" lays ya in yer
chaise in a spaze-exploring haze.
Having Rose from Tiger Trap on
drums (and trays) really pays.
Anyways, if you slays, Gaze will
raise. Craze-y.
e .e. e e e< e .• e e. e e .*,•..«
frX::®:Mr;:bM;$ir:M
The song "Freedom Drunk"
from the LAMPS shows they're
not just another bunch of shady
guys. No dimbulbs here, these
are actually a bright bunch of
fellas. Epic, atmospheric guitar
rock, like Pavement covering
Verve. Plus bits where they rock
out. When the massive crowd
atthe Starfish on 1/16 (with
Superdog and The
Electrosonics) saw how hot the
Lamps were, the same phrase
was on everyone's lips: "The
Lamps are onl"
There's so much more I can't
go into great detail about the
actual music on the next few
tapes (we actually hate lhat music stuff here at CiTR), so here's
some sample lyric quotes from
some recent tapes that I thought
were absolutely excellent: "Oh, I
love ihe Roxy/All those girlies in
iheir bikinis/I really love them/
Yeah, I'm a preppie" (new
wavers THE EH-TEAM with the
five-song Tihe Quest for Sexx);
"When I hold your hand you hold
your nose (power-pop Descend-
ents fans BUSTERENE's 12-
songer); "Cut ihe Shit" (I KILLED
MY CAT's three-song tape.
ihough it could be J. Mascis on
barbs, very late at night); "Just a
hypocrite dipshit sister-dissing
dick-talking zombie-walking
number" (the Disturbed Company-like THIRD EYE TRIBE,
featuring Kinnie Starr sideman
Jacob Cino [K.S. gets on the mic
a couple times on this 11-song
cassette]); and " " (THE
FALCONS' Live in London cassette, recorded at the Pipeline
International Instro Convention in
England and featuring cover art
by Coal's Nicole Steen).
So many demos, so little time.
The latter is in such short supply
lhat I can only passingly mention
the jazz-lounge-funk-bop of CARROT REVOLUTION, the progressive trance of MATTHIAS
(produced by Dave Malecot), the
free freedom of ROOF BRAIN
CHATTER {Live ot he Sugar Refinery), and the vintage '80s
material of THE OCCUPANT
(ahead of its time; still sounds
weird today). Plus the new songs
"Hero" and "Perfect" by BUG
rock out, and "Johnny's Got a
Problem' by PSYCHOMANIA
is a knock-out. Cheers. •
local cd reviews!
This month, I've got three oil-boy
bands for you, ranging from pensive pop to, well, the Dayglo
Abortions. And just to let you
know, I'm always looking for
more local CDs to review here at
Vancouver Special, so send them
in (with bios) if you haven't already!
THE EMPTYS
MeaHockerfannolse
(Bang On)
Even if you've never seen ihem
live (okay, neither have I), you
may have heard their demo tape
in rotation at CiTR, "Opportunist's Holiday," which is probably
the catchiest song of the 15 on
this CD.
Ralher than a slick pop sound,
the emptys have recorded this
live, and gone for a spare,
stripped down arrangement of
reedy vocals, very basic bass and
drums, and a guitarist who only
rarely reaches for the effects pedals. While for the most part this
makes for a fairly uniform toned-
down, introspective sound, there
are standout moments, such as
the rockin' hillbilly psychokiller
ditty, "Oyster Bay Road," that
clocks in at a mere 1:48, and
"Salvation Today," where the effects on the guitar make for a
positively (well, relatively) lush
effect.
Wilh the exception of a few
perhaps-noK-uite-necessary guitar noodles (as in "Last Train Leaving"), this is a pretty darn tasteful
entry from what I can only assume
is a pretty young band.
SPACE KID
Cereal
(Humongous)
After a year or so of their demo
tape, "Molly Ringwald," hovering
around DiSCORDER'* charts,
Space Kid has finally released
the song (and 12 others) on this
thoroughly enjoyable CD.
Loaded with pop-culture refer
ences from childhood (like The Six
Million Dollar Man, to name just
one), wry humour, leen-angsty
introspection, and irvjokes, this
moves between tricky and
dreamy, sincere and ironic,
buzzy and straight-ahead, hard-
driving pop. Postmodern boypop
lhat isn't (dare I say?) afraid to
rock.
DAYGLO ABORTIONS
Corporate Whore
(A&R)
Last, but certainly not least, is
this latest release by our no-
punches-pulled friends from Victoria. First of all, who would
dare write anything against
them?
As they say in their liner
notes, to someone who did
have the nerve to mess with
them (in this case, to steal their
gear): "Don't quit your day jobs
cause we haven't even started
with you fucks."
Yikes! This humble reviewer
will only confirm what you probably already suspect — that after all these years (10? more?),
the Dayglos still play harder
and faster than just about any
body, are still pissed off, and
still seem to have controversial
opinions about plenty of different things. Go ahead, scare
your parents, and yourself, and
listen to the Dayglos pound their
way tirelessly through 15 songs
about masturbation, urinal
pucks, incest, welfare bums,
hiding drugs in one's rectum,
large breasts, and more masturbation. Whewl*
,e eee.ee e.e.e e ■
iarv
• eeeeee.eeeeeeeeeee
teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Jon 1st
■'••*> boded' I SiS^ Las'night I was
*»*    m°^-*cdndb Tipton i2'"9 wf,a' ° few
^'T^irimen'OS'UCkbe^nycur
;      gap i hi* feifh   r ^ ^"'^ abo"< *e large
<;    idea wha^fe^'non° °'US had °"Y
porty olso wanted to ™h h'P$terS a' ffle
'"', ond now ^eelVr;?0'6 In 'he con"
: : •*• become inlaid tit ^ S'a'ion
^the7Wins^^°trHi9^''
? ^in/W/ fe_r thnl        l       n fav°."-ites to
^^gloca,(ofhJcf^Murray fhis
tad grumpy, and wn„WK '        he Wos a
:' orfwrpeople'» pbdriiiusirnl? 7 ?      ^^ <*
of   j o n n i e    loaf   boy
Jan 6th
ed Points are going down the toi-
ine actually had Leora Komfeld on her show.
They were having some call-in-rhingy about CBC
budget cuts and stuff, arid frankly, itwas nauseating. I
called up and asked DJ Dinette what she was doing
with Leora. "Aren't you worried about your Indie
Cred?" I asked. "Aren't you worried that the hipsters
will snicker behind your back? Aren't you worried
about whisperings in the CiTR lounge?" We all know
the only reason to hobnob with CBC hacks is to get
ahead in the industry. Can DJ Dinette really be considering a career in mainstream radio? I never pegged
her for a shmoozer, but I tell you, the whole thing stank.
"You can't buy, trade or sell Indie Cred Points," I told
them. "Indie Cred Points are not refundable!" Leora
did not take kindly to my concern. She took offense
when I called her the man. I don't care. Budget cuts or
no budget cuts, if you're hosting a show on the CBC,
you are the man. She thinks that just 'cause she hosts
a show for angst-ridden alternateens that she's got Indie
Cred. She's chatted up Kurt Cobain, so she thinks she
knows what indie rock is. No wayl This is real life,
Leora, not MuchMusic I
Leora did not take my comments with her usual
good humour. She called me a campus radio purist. Is
that supposed to be a crime? She said, "I interviewed
Sammy Hogar. Slick that in your indie pipe and smoke it."
I'm like, "Who's Sammy Hagar?"
She said, "What rock do you live under, you campus radio puristl"
Apparently Sammy Hagar became the lead singer
of Van Halen after they ditched David Lee Roth. Van
Holen is the band thot song that "Jump" song. Score me
two Indie Cred Potftlsl I take pride in my ignorance of
mainstream culture.
Jan 10th
DJ Dinette refuses to
talk, to   me,   and
shoots me vicious
glares at every opportunity. The Indie
Cred Judges penalized her ten points
for inviting Leora
onto her show.  I
should never have
called     in.     She
shouldn't feel so bad
though. The Editrix
go* penalized five
points just for talking
to David Wisdom in
a record store. All
this has done little to
improve my relationship with DJ Dinette.
She had almost forgiven me for the
CRTC incident, and
now I have muddled
things up again. She
is due to go before a
CRTC panel in less
than a month, so ?
imagine our relation
ship wiH only^inl*?
hjier^toohliyion.:
[-  h<-ri'■■<■■ ,
Jan 13th
Wrote the following*
message hastily to
Patti Schmidt on one-
of those GAP postcards you get find in*?
cafes:
My Dearest Patti,
In case you
have heard exaggerated reports of
my discussion with
Ms. Komfeld on a
radio phone-in
show, let me just say
that I did not mean
to imply that all
CBC hosts are the
man. I regret any
emotional harm my
comments may
have caused. You,
of course, have
more Indie Cred
than a defunct
record label.
Love, Jonnie
P.S. Did you like
the CMstmc
sent?
Jart 22nd
- Dalff the Demo:Quy has re-
.iected: the. Witchdoctor
BH^hballSympbonyiThat
fedstwd will >pay fee £is
cowardice. I asked tlje
lack of understanding of
contemporary new^usiG-:
IrheyiMedeldyfedtheHe-
ciiidn/ pending o Ml,jrv„
q^iry into my alleged thett
of intellectual prppetty. Apparently ,WM^d«c|or
Highball wav.Mau? V*™*
he found ouMMJ had,:
taped his snores without his
prior consent. 1 wilt haw
to sit down with'Kim:and
explain *$ .pHnqipj^b*
hind fair uWs ■•*:•■*..:
A coupleo|days ago I
al*> got a nofekpm the Poetry Vix and Vixen regarding m submission. It
readme a/n't no P06^
you should know if/sHcj*
yourtape/ ayourmdie
■ -Wand-mok^ft.Oucnl
^:|f.brwthin_i*a:b«3 rejected
5  n^^gimiiaa Another Joe
Who are you (names, ages, instruments
played)?
Jon, vocals, guitar; Alison, bass; John, drums (not
present for the interview).
What's it like being on Positive Records?
What is Positive Records? What else is on
Positive Records?
Jon: Positive is an independent label based out
of Langley lhat Tom from gob started up about Iwo
years ago to release the first gob album. Since
then. Another Joe is the only other band to release
a CD on Positive and I couldn't be happier.
Alison: It's nice being on Positive because it's
independent; it makes the production of things get
done a lot easier 'cause it's not just the label, but
the band also to see it through.
Jon, (a) why don't you cliff jump?
(b)  Why  don't you  ride  skateboard
ramps? (c) Why pee against the wind?
Jon: [laughs] I do diff dive and ride skate ramps;
apporenlry, Toni has been spreading rumours. I went
wilh gob and ihe Ripcords to Nelson for a show lhat
was at a skate ranch, and I wouldn't drop into ihe
ramps because my roommate broke his ankle the
weekend before lhat al a bowl, and I had visions of
lhat happening to me also. But hat's history, so 'Hey,
Tom! I'll go ramp riding with you any day, pall'
Alison: I haven't tried peeing against the wind
yet, but Jon tells me it's a lot of fun.
Which gob girlfriend is in Another Joe?
Jon: I think Theo from gob and drummer John are
seeing each oiier, but I don't know how serious it is.
Alison: Ahh ... young love.
What do you think about gob not being
on Mint, anymore?
Alison: I think it's good. This way, gob
can move in a direction that's better
for them.
Jon: Yeah, Mint did a lot of good
things for gob and I'm sure they
appreciate lhat, but I don't think
Mint is really suited for them.
Tell us about life in your
hometown. What's it like
to be punks [there]?
Alison: Langley has had a great
punk scene wilh a lot of support from
ihe kids. There's a lot of bands playing
and a lot of those bands also put their own
shows on independently.
Jon: Richmond doesn't have lhat huge of a scene,
but its growing, which is kinda cool to see.
Is it true that for Another Joe funny things
usually happen only out of town? Any
interesting 'tour' anecdotes from your
California and Alberta jaunts?
Jon: I don't have any anecdotes for tour — I'm actually kinda hoping someone is going to give us some.
Alison: The only thing I can say is you can't lake
your band too seriously or you hove to ignore
them, 'cause I'm usually the one lhat gels ihe most
abuse from the Jons.
Compare the differences between Club
Paradise and the New York Theatre.
Jon: Club Paradise is heavy metal central with a
bunch of drunk, long-haired, muscle shirt guys
running around, and the New York Theatre was
the best all-ages venue in Vancouver, but now
it's closed.
What type of car do you imagine Moist
drives?
Jon: They don't drive, ihey're chauffeured.
Alison: I think ihey share a car with Bif Naked,
'cause she's ihe token video girl for Moist.
Ask yourself TWO questions and answer
them.
Alison: Jon, what do you think about
having a girl in ihe band?
: PMS.
: Alison, what do you think
about being in a band with
guys?
-V-_y Alison: Hair loss.
Xjr    Anything else to add?
Jon: Keep your eye out for our
split CD with  gob,  that's
gonna   be released   in  February
1997.
Alison: It's called Ass Seen on TV.
Discography:
Pee Against Ihe Wind CD (Positive)
forthcoming: Ass Seen on TV CD (Landspeed)
Contact name and address:
Another Joe, c/o PO 63061, 6020 Steveston
Hwy, Richmond, BC, V7E 2K0. (or for bookings
call: 604.889.6470)
Who are you (names, ages, instrument
played)?
Marc Godfrey: Psychomania is Jason Solyom,
22, on the drums. Ben Wildeman, 22, on bass.
John "Woodsie" Wood on various moog synths
and you know who I am and what I do. I'm God's
gift to Vancouver rock 'n' roll. If it wasn't for me,
everyone in this city would sound like those
wankers, Moist — all the cool bands in ihis cily
have already ripped me off.
How does Psychomania differ from other
Marc Manhattan projects such as Big Can
of Dogfood, The Valentinos or, say, The
Sissy Boys?
Those previous projects were fuck bands.
Psychomania is a fucking band. And our 10" is
available in Sweden ond Denmark and none of
Psychomania's fanmail is in English.
Speaking of record labels, is
Psychomania's label, Tonic Records, associated with Vancouver band The Tonics?
No, it's associated wilh the drink, gin ond Ionic,
which label president Kate Wattie is always soused
up on. She's a young lady who prides herself on
being able to drink her own weight in booze.
How does it make you feel that former
Psychomania member Joel is now
answering phones at the Viper Room?
6     february  1997
I'm glad Joel of the Rattled Roosters has finally
found a job he's good at — smoking cigarettes,
talking on ihe phone and silting on his ass all day.
And when in Hollywood, I can go straight in the
club without standing in line wilh Drew Barrymore.
What was it like to tour with the
Forgotten Rebels, to of all places,
Whistler, BC? Did your 'high heels' make
out very well on the ice?
I haven't worn high heels in a while. • *
The Forgotten Rebels are a sw<
bunch of guys. Mickey De Sadist's
favourite Psychomania song is
"Robot Bride 2-B" and they let
us carry their equipment. The
Whistler show was pandemonium   -   a   lot   of   drunk
Australians. Itwas impossible to
score drugs and in Victoria,
drugs are twice the price. The
whole experience made me realize
how I take Vancouver for granted;
dope is cheap and con be delivered to one's
home quicker lhan ordering pizza.
You guys have played the Penthouse
Cabaret   quite   a   few   times.   Please
describe "An Evening with Psychomania
at the Penthouse." Please?
Of   I-AT IMA SHOWtS
HEIA   TOTMt
THMI   CH--0MN'
The club was originally designed to a<
music (Sammy Davis Jr. ployed there) and I felt it
was kind of wasted as just a strip joint. I started
throwing special events there becouse of ihe Irashy
atmosphere and neon. We brought in Flash
Bastard, El Ballistico, The Fiends, played Music
West, etc. They put in a catwalk, which kind of
ruins the feel.
In your humble opinion, who represents
the Vancouver Old Skool? Who represents the Vancouver New Skool scene?
Where does Psychomania fit in?
Psychomania are G-rockers. Our album is part of
the natural progression follow-up to ihe work pioneered by bands like the Modernettes and ihe
Pointed Slicks. The album actually has a sound rooted in Vancouver, not some generic dlema-grunge-
city crap. I don't care about 'skool.' We're not
concerned wilh following trends, we're concerned
wilh starting ihem. Over all, Vancouver is a dead
cily full of tosspots. My album is the best album
» *ou -° come °°t of this city in years — I feel
w*»Y sony for anyone who hasn't heard it.
in jail, where he died. Reich's confiscated
research has leaked out onto the Internet — the
government banned his work in the '50s. The Irirt-
ity test and all the early work on the atomic bomb
happened in New Mexico. The Kern gate is
down there. Whatever happened in Roswell
could very well have been the military screwing
around, and the US military has never been concerned wilh keeping the public informed about
their endeavours.
What's the punchline to your favourite
joke?
'Where else am I supposed to park my bike?'
Discography:
The Rebel Set CD (Tonic)
Back in Ihe Jungle 10" EP (Tonic)«
JOHN (TO MIMSttf)    I'W
5om-tf   roh my _*»».
I   OOP*'7    WANT  TO
SO TMIM."
Would Psychomania ever
vear baggy pants?
|f I'm wearing baggy pants now.
Ask yourself two questions and answer them.
Q: Psychomania played the
Christmas party for the cast
and crew of the X-Files. Did
aliens really crash in Roswell,
in 1947?
At To the best of my knowledge, it
was a weather balloon ... but then
again, a lot of odd stuff was occurring in New
Mexico and Arizona in the late '40s and early
'50s. Wilhelm Reich was out there in the desert
cloud busting, experimenting wilh orgone and,
apparently, studying U.F.O. activity. It was the
book of research he compiled which landed him
j_S
It's tougher
than SATAN
It's smoother |
than SATIN
It's Thunderbird Radio\1
heard every Thursday from
9-11 p.m. on CiTR 101.9 f M. Playing their own brand of cow-punk music, Vancouver's Saddlesores are starting to make some hay in this city. Mere days
after they won Shindig 1996, I interviewed the band on-air and found these cowboys to hold their cow-tongues firmly in cheek.
DISCORDERt   Is   there   a   word   that
describes how winning Shindig feels?
Tony: There's really no word in English that
describes how this Feels.
Is there a word, in some other language,
that does describe it?
Tony: It's kind of an Inuit throat-clicking thing.
Listen closely on our song, there's a hidden
track of it.
Have you ever considered entering other
Battle of the Bands contests?
Tony: Well, if we'd considered Demolisten,
we'd meet The Fox. He's kind of mangy, but he's
And what would you have gotten from
Shindig?
Billy: We got hookers that night, supplied to us
from CiTR. Myself, I didn't partake in it, but
Pinto ...
Tony: That takes care of all the women who
were listening.
Billy: So we've completely destroyed one half
of our market — no, I'm completely kidding. It
was something our manager suggested. We had
a really good time: the crowd was really receptive and the other bands were really great.
When it came down to the finals, we played first
and I thought for sure we were sunk. We
thought, 'Who ore the judges, we're gonna go
buy them drinks!' because we thought we were
gonna lose ...
Tony: ... And it turned out we didn't even need
that big plate of Rice Krispie squares that we
were gonna give ta them. There was a big accident: we ale them all ...
What were you doing before the
Saddlesores?
Tony: [wilh a hint of sarcasm] Waiting for this
moment [laughs]. We played in some bands. I
was actually in a band lhat lost in ihe first round
of Shindig in 1985 called the Soreheads. A
shout out to my homies in the Soreheads, who
are now called Lozenge) We lost to a country
band — so lhat's so karmic, doncha think?
Billy: I've been trying ta pursue a music career
n the top,
since I moved up here from down south. Believe
it or not, I was actually born in Texas. When my
mother and father divorced, I spent some time in
California and now I do reside in Vancouver. I've
been playing music in the cily for a while, heavy
metal kind of stuff, and I think lhat's where my
influence comes in.
Rhinestone: I've been working on the farm
chopping those chickens' heads off...
Billy: ... There goes our chicken market — great!
Rhinestone: ... Played a bit of punk rock in the
past wilh Billy here. We were in a band called
Sludgepump — a few people might have heard
of lhat.
Tony: Not to be confused with Sludgepump UK.
Rhinestone: Or Sludgepump X.
Pinto: I had a brilliant career playing mouth
harp in front of liquor stores making 1500 bucks
a week.
You make more than that now, right?
Pinto: Well, there's not much money in this, but
I get to wear a hat now.
There is a Saddlesore motifl
Pinto: Ifs a dress code: Western glam.
Tony: You can't tell on the radio, but\
ing the most incredible outfits — e*
Man, oh man I
Billy: It's glitter, it's flash, it's leather
surface and underneath — and cowboy hats.
Who came up with  the idea of the
Saddlesores?
Tony: In one word, Pinto. In eight words, Pinto
Pinto Pinto Pinto Pinto Pinto Pinto Pinto.
Is there a grand scheme, a plan if you
will? Have you already got the first
videos designed, the image, the look,
the name of the record and everything
that fits in?
Pinto: Absolutely. Everything's written out, everything's ready to go. We're feeding the horses,
running ihem every day, ond getting them ready
for the videos.
Tony: We've been in some marketing meetings.
When someone comes up wilh a good ideo, one
of the executives says, 'Whose baby is lhat? I
like lhat a lot! Whose baby is that? Yeeohl'
Have you guys ever considered touring?
Billy: As long as we could get a vehicle wilh a
Pinto: Or a lot of toilet paper.
Rhinestone: We'd actually like to head out to
the Calgary Stampede next summer.
Tony: If Ace of Base needs an opening act,
we're there!
Describe your dream bill, if you could
have your own personal Lollapalooza.
Tony: Johnny Cash, Stompin' Tom ...
Billy: For personal reasons, I'd have to say David
Bowie, but we'll leave the olher boys out of thot...
Tony:    ...   And   I   didn't   see   [the   movie]
Rhinestone, but Sylvester Stallone ond Dolly
Porton doing a duet ...
Did you hear that Sylvester Stallone isn't      a hat and he rules the world. He's the perfect mix of
going to do action movies any more?
Tony: That's why we're all wearing black. We
saddened and upset by lhat, but good luck to hi
Shouts out to Sly Stallone!
Tell u% about Garth Brooks.
Tony: He's six feet tall, he's got a head:
James Taylor and Kiss.
If you could wear wireless headset-microphones on-stage, would you?
Tony: We would, except people would keep ordering french fries during the show, and it would sort of
disrupt the whole thing.*
Mint Records, Inc. • PO Box 3613, MPO, Vancouver, BC Canada V6B 3Y6
b (604) 669-MINT •
UiiM«is_-_-_-_i-_-_-_-_i--*s_ By Michael Chouinard
Photography by Barb Yamazaki
At 36, Matthew Shipp is quickly becoming one of
the more exciting, young jazz pianists
around. In last August's Downbeat critics'
poll, he placed seventh in the "talent
deserving wider recognition" category,
alongside players like Geri Allen, Marilyn
Crispell, and Jacky Terrason. Cadence
reviewer Michael Rosenstein described his
playing as dazzling — densely abstract but
with bluesy and lyrical touches. The
reviewer also said pointblank that Shipp
is "one ofthe masters of his generation."
Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Shipp
started playing when he was five. Mainly
self-taught, he did take some lessons
with private teachers and spent much of
his youth playing with people in his
hometown, before moving to New York in
1984. There he began working with such
artists as saxophonists David S. Ware and
the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Roscoe
Mitchell. As well, he has recorded seven
albums on his own, including his first
solo recital, Symbol Systems. Future projects include more recordings with Ware
anjj Mitchell, as well as more projects as
a leader, including a string trio album
coming out on Hat Art in March.
Shipp brought his trio, consisting of drummer
Susie Ibarra and free jazz bass legend
William Parker, to the Glass Slipper on
Friday, December 13. (Sadly, it was the
last show I'd see there because arsonists
torched the performance space just over
a week later.)
DiSCORDER-. What influenced you to start playing?
Shipp: A church organist in my parents' church
— Episcopalian Church. There was one anthem
she used to play that I really, really liked.
What was it?
I don't know the name of it. It was a Gregorian
chant type of thing. But anyway, I wanted to
play that piece, so I asked her for organ
lessons. She said [to] start piano lessons first,
so I started studying with her.
Did you ever take up the organ?
Yeah. A little at a much later date.
Miles Davis, I think, had boxing and painting aspirations. Were there any others you had?
Boxing [laughs]. Funny you should say that. I
wanted to be a boxer. I'm a big boxing fan.
What did you think about the Holyfield-Tyson
fight?
Oh, Holyfield's my boy. I love Holyfield. I've
been saying for ten years — I've been telling
people that I thought he actually could have
beaten [Tyson] as a cruiserweight. I really
believe that. I've been waiting for this for ten
years. Twelve years actually. People don't give
him credit. He knows what he's doing.
Did you ever take any boxing?
Oh, yeah, yeah. I boxed a little.
How does leading your own group compare to
playing with David S. Ware or Roscoe Mitchell?
I play with the same people. There's an ongoing
vocabulary   that's   organically   developing
between all of our music because there are
people that play in William [Parker's] group
that I play with in other contexts. So it's like a
big family. There are differences. I get to structure the performance on my own whim even
though I make this kind of a collective. I do set
outlines for things. The big difference is that
David has a very specific gestural way of leading the band. He does his thing — I don't want
to say we have to follow him but there's a very
set type of way performances evolve in [Ware's]
quartet. I think the ebb-and-flow is a little different with the trio or duo where he's not in
front. And also there tends to be a lot more of
exploring different types of dynamics because
we don't have the big sound in front of us. I do
have a distinct compositional vision from
David's. I definitely aim for different things,
even though it's related.
What about Roscoe Mitchell?
That's a whole different ball game altogether.
The big difference is David hired us specifically
for what we do. William's been playing with
David for years. And he heard my trio. He heard
Circular Temple. Whereas Roscoe has basically
been evolving the same concepts he's been
evolving with his group and we had to adjust
to that ... he has a different compositional
vision too. You look at bebop. Monk had a compositional vision. Charlie Parker had a certain
thing. They all were very different people with
different music despite the fact that they would
play together. And it's the same with us. We're
very different people with different music and
different aims.
One of your albums came out on Henry Rollins'
label.
Well, he has two labels and I'm on both labels.
On Infinite Zero, which is a reissue label, he
reissued Circular Temple, which is a trio album.
On 2.13.61 Records I now have two records
out on that label: Critical Mass, a quartet, and
21, a duet album with Roscoe Mitchell.
How did that come about?
I read an article in a magazine about Henry
where he was talking about some jazz musicians. And I knew the guy that wrote the article, so I was talking to him and said I didn't
know that guy was into jazz. He goes, 'Yeah,
you should send him your stuff. He'd probably
like it. He likes Charles Gayle.' So I sent him a
package and he wrote me back. We just got a
dialogue going from there, and he signed me.
That's really basically it.
You were surprised?
Yeah. I didn't know much about him. I mean, I
knew Black Flag, and I saw articles about it. I
just happened to read this one and he was talking about jazz. I thought, 'Wow, I didn't know
the guy from Black Flag liked jazz.'
I was reading a review in Cadence which
described your playing as a synthesis between
Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor.
I would put Paul Bley in there, too, and Andrew
and Cecil and Monk and Bud Powell. Those are
the people I feel closest to.
Are there other musicians specifically on other
instruments who would influence you?
Coltrane. Who else? The painters Jackson Pollack
and Mark Rothko. So many people ... The list
goes on and on. Jimi Hendrix, African drum
music, African drum choir music of all types.
Who are some of the up-and-coming musicians
that excite you?
I don't really listen to what anybody's doing,
now that I'm too busy trying to make a living. I
like Rodney Kendricks. I don't know if you
know him —the pianist. But I really haven't
kept up. There's a band in Europe called All
the Dimensions of Music that really excites me.
William's in it and there's an alto player, Danny
Carter, Roy Campbell on trumpet and Rashid
Bakar on drums. That's a band that really
excites me.
I already asked what other influences there are
on your music.
Abstract Expressionist painters and boxing. I
really have a whole correlation between boxing
and jazz that I pursue.
Can you elaborate on that?
I have a piece I wrote for a magazine called
Cake, this fanzine out of Minneapolis. I wrote
a piece on boxing and jazz. It'd be hard for
me to go into it right now. There's the same
very fast transference of signals. There's the
very complex type of pattern action that's generally, you know, its own space-time. The boxing match evolves second by second. There's
the same mixture of improvisation and discipline ... but the unknown is being unfolded
at really fast rates.
What do you think the challenges of a jazz musician are now?
To survive.
First and foremost?
[laughs] You should get this job. You'll see. It's
almost impossible to make it. Then, if you do,
it's a very hard life. [Surviving] is the major
thing. It's very difficult.•
Matthew Shipp Discography:
Points (Silkheart)
Circular Temple (Infinite Zero)
Dao with David S. Ware (Homestead)
This Dance is for Steve McCall with Roscoe
Mitchell (Black Saint)
THE MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO
Friday, December 13, 1996
Glass Slipper
This is certainly a review of personal firsts. My first review, my first time at the Glass Slipper, and
my first time seeing the Matthew Shipp Trio.
The Glass Slipper was obviously designed for listening. The elegantly simple, subtly lit stage
made it clear this was not going to be a visual show, but a musical one. The trio took to the stage
unceremoniously and simply began to play. Two sets, each about 60 minutes, of musical fluidity.
The amazing range of sounds and rhythms generated by the band heaved and crashed up to
frantic crescendos which left one gasping. Then they mercifully allowed the audience to briefly
catch its breath during ephemeral, melodic lulls. Shipp adroitly ripped his fingers, hand over
hand, up and down the helpless keyboard 'til it seemed exhausted. Bassist William Parker's
mixed attacks and caresses of his double bass were remarkable, occasionally producing eastern
sounding riffs mixed seamlessly with bowed and plucked sequences. Anchoring all of this was
percussionist Suzie Ibarra, masterfully utilizing the simple drum kit augmented by numerous
stick types, maracas, bells, and other assorted percussional toys.
Both sets held the captive audience spellbound and we left smiling, as though awakening
from a pleasant dream. Although this was an evening of firsts for me, judging from the comments I overheard upon leaving, I wouldn't be the only one going back for seconds.
8     february 1997 THE PIT PUB • IN THE BASEMENT OF THE STUDENTUN10N BUILDING, 6138 SUB BLVD. • 604-822-651 I   The Oranj Symphonette is a San Francisco Bay
area group that is making a name for itself,
I    playing radically rearranged tunes by film/TV
^Mcomposer Henry Mancini. Members Matt Brubeck,
I Ralph Carney, Joe Gore, Scott Amendola and Rob
I  Burger have played with a variety of artists over
^P the years, including Tom Waits, Bill Frisell and PJ
^^r     Harvey. You can hear th/s diverse background in their
y^ sound, which can switch at any moment from swing to punk to
f     surf to free jazz. They've been gaining much attention since the
release of their debut album on Gramavision. The group will be doing a
_ six-date West Coast tour in mid-February, including a stop here at the
Starfish Room on February 20th. DiSCORDER spoke to bassist-
cellist Brubeck — son of jazz legend Dave — on the
phone from Berkeley, California.
oranj
symDhonette
Michael Chouinard
DiSCORDER: Why'Oranj?'
Brubeck: The main reason is that it's the
colour one associates with the pop iconography of that era. There's actually a couple of
Mancini greatest hits albums [with] orange
backdrops. So it just kind of fit. And originally
we were called The Oranj Mancinis, and we
just retained the orange part.
I didn't know if it was a secret or something.
No, there's no particular secret. It is a particularly lurid colour, though. It's actually coming
back.We started a trend.
The band obviously has a lot of influences.
There's of course theTom Waits' connection. And I saw Rob Burger with Bill Frisell
a couple of years ago.What else would be
on the Oranj Symphonette resume?
Let's start out with Joe [Gore]. Of course, he
spent most of 1995 touring with PJ Harvey.
He's done a lot of different things — most
tably the last few Waits' albums and Waits'
recent live shows. And Joe has his own band
called Action Plus which is playing quite a bit
— pretty much weekly in San Francisco.
there [laughs]. I really don't know. I'm not
really an expert.This is the only, quote, loungy
band I play in, and I don't think it's a loungy
band. I think it has a repertoire that people
associate [with lounge].
I guess of Mancini. There's something
cocktail-ish about Mancini.
One phrase we kind of coined is the improv
secessionists from the 'cocktail nation.' 'Cause
basically we are more sort of an improv band
really more than anything else. If someone
wants to associate [us] with lounge then they
can do that.That's fine. I don't want to stop
them. It's just as mysterious [to ask] as to just
what bin do you put this in in a record store.
What attracted you to Henry Mancini's
music?
I realty was not a huge fan or any sort of expert.
The inspiration of the band came from my wife.
She had a lot of Mancini records in her collection. And she would play them for me, and she
would say,'You know this stuff is really good.
Someone should do something with it.' And a
few months later, this Radio Valencia [club] gig
came up. We just decided to make Mancini the
organizing principle of that improv gig.We could
have gone in there and done anything. But that's
what we decided to do. And it was actually so
successful that we decided to stick with it.
The Downbeat article I was reading
said some critics thought Mancini was
too schmaltzy. Was there really much
criticism?
I think the criticism was more [that] people
thought we were jumping on some sort of
lounge bandwagon or being opportunistic.You
know there are songs out there that are just
raw material. And you work with them or you
don't. We do Mancini not because it's trendy.
We do [it] because it's really good music to
work with.
Yeah, I know Naked City used it. Sun Ra
used it.
Yeah, it's funny. I wasn't aware until we played
Radio Valencia that 'A Shot in the Dark' had
been done by Zorn. It's a really funny story. My
wife heard someone at the table at Radio
Valencia say to someone else when we were
'You know there are songs out there that are just
raw material. And you work with them or you don't.
L We do Mancini not because it's trendy. We do [it]
^. because it's really good music to work with."
You guys seem to shift from one style to
another really easily. [Do] these arrangements happen organically or does someone come into the rehearsal with a set
idea like,'We want to do a cha-cha version of "Moon River?'"
[laughs] Usually in rehearsals what has happened is if anyone comes in with an idea it got
warped pretty fast.Traditionally, I have done
the arranging in terms of bringing in the piece
of paper that everyone, quote, learns the tune
with. But it's really a group process. So in that
sense, yeah, it is very organic. And, actually,
we often perform things quite differently than
as on the record.
Some of our local lounge community
were out for your last show. But I wouldn't exactly limit you guys by calling you a
neo-lounge act.What is your take on the
whole lounge scene?
Well, there is no one lounge scene. I think
lounge means something pretty different up
playing it/Isn't that a John Zorn song?' I thought.
Wow, we've really come full circle.'
I guess people dont have any memory ...
Downbeat said the next project will probably move beyond Mancini. Do you have
any clues as to where?
All of us are especially intrigued by film
music. And I think there are a lot of good film
music themes out there that would be a lot
of fun to resurrect back into the public consciousness. And we could keep doing some
Mancini stuff. We can put Henry in there in
good company with some other people. To
tell you the truth, we really haven't decided
what we're going to do. We've never really
discussed being an original music band. Let's
put it this way: if someone asked us to score
a movie, we would do original music.And I'm
sure we would do it just brilliantly [laughs].
But I think we'd like to take other material
and work with it. By other composers. It's
not in our charter or anything [laughs].*
10   february  1997 We met Oakland,
CA's Pee Chees in a room in
f the St. James Community Square
which was decorated for pre-school
kids. There were multicoloured rainbows, teddy bears and stars made
of paper everywhere. We were all
incredibly wet and exhausted as we
sat on the floor talking and listening
to the hip-hop bass drones coming
from the next room.
BY JIM VAN DER MEER. LDRIKIESSLING AND
OUR FRIEND FROM THE STREET NAMED ERIN.
PHOTOS BY LORI.
Molly: So what do you have to do to get on the
cover of DiSCORDER! We saw Sleater-Kinney on
the cover.
Jim: Urn, I don't know. I think the choice
is random.
Molly: Damn it.
Jim: How did you guys get the band
together considering that you are or were
in bands from other places?
Molly: We were friend* so we just decided to
do a project together. Carlos and Rob
lived in San Diego and I lived in
Oakland, so Chris and I went
down for a weekend to practice
wilh them for somelhing fun to
do. We ended up writing four
or five songs and it was really
good. We just came up wilh
songs on the weekends for a
while, recording ihem and doing
whatever, and finally we ended up
living in ihe same place and started
putting out records.
Jim: You said that the first few songs
came together well. Did you have a concept in mind or did you just jam until you
came up 'with something?
Carlos: When we first played together, we tried
out different combinations of playing instruments
and one of the songs was done in the configuration lhat we are in now and that seemed lo be
the best. We didn't have any preconceived
ideas, it was just based on character, because
we liked each other as friends and thought lhat
it would be cool because of what we knew of
one another.
Erin: What is going on in Oakland these
days?
Chris: There are a lot of young bands, but it's
kind of hard to talk about because it is really competitive. All of the bands that we are friends with
are singular unto themselves. There's not really a
scene where people get enthusiastic about ihe
other bands.
Jim: I've never heard of a competitive
Molly: You haven't?
Carlos: Believe me, it will get to Canada soon.
Jim: What do you think about it?
Carlos: It's ihe death of punk.
Jim: So is it difficult to get a gig together?
Is there animosity?
Molly: I don't think it's like lhat. I've been in
communities where you just couldn't wait lo see
each other's bands and in Oakland it seems that
there's just ambivalence towards other bands. I
don't think it's ihe point to dwell on. It's not the
over-riding sense of whal our community is like. I
ihink every musk scene goes through lhat.
Chris: I've lived in Oakland longer lhan the [others] and it has always been lhat way. There has
definitely been a scene in ihe area and everyone
is friends, but it seems to me lhat the social aspects
of a music scene were always one thing but they
aren't really separated from the bands. In that
sense, people would go see their friends' bands
play, but they're always Irying to one-up them.
Molly: That kind of thing can be good, as long as
you're always Irying lo get better.
Carlos: The scene lhat me and Rob were a part of
in San Diego was dose-knit and itwas like a package deal wherever we went. It wasn't like bands
would go places, but ihe whole entourage would
go. I met a lot of people lhal way and thought it
was awesome rather than ihe competitive thing.
Playing Victoria last night was a lot like
playing San Diego a long time ago
where it was just, like, kids who
were inlo music and just were
excited to get out and see a
show on a Friday night.
Jim: When was your first
performance as the Pee
Chees?
Carlos: May 4lh.
Chris: We played a skate park
and in between bands there was a
screen they would roll down and show
videos of snowboarding and surfing and play
really fast punk rock.
Carlos: They wanted us to play while ihey were
skating but we wouldn't do it so ihey booed us.
Jim: Do any of you engage in arts other
than music?
Carlos: I am a salsero [sic]. A salsa dancer.
Jim: Is that an aspect of your stage
presence?
Carlos: Not really.
Molly: He is a karaoke performer loo.
Jim: Whafs your favourite song to perform in karaoke?
Carlos: 'Bossa Nova Baby' and 'Hard to
Handle.'
Jim: Were there any gigs you saw a long
time ago that gave you the initiative to
do it yourself?
Carlos: End of the Line from
San Diego.
Chris: For me it's Rice [band
that Molly was in], which is
kind of weird.
Erin: Isn't that the band
that only sings about
rice?
Chris: Yeah.
Carlos: Those idiots.
Paughs]
Chris: I tend to not remember ihose influential bands so
much because they're not ihe
ones lhat are really obvious.
There were the big shows
lhat I looked forward lo and
gol really excited aboul and
ihere were the olher shows
lhat I remember as magical and transcendental but
were totally unexpected.
Jim: How did you learn to play?
Carlos: I look guitar lessons in junior high school,
which was the breaking point
between me and my friends. I
don't know if it's like this here,
but where I come from there is
a major gong problem. As my
friends were putting their
skateboards away and grabbing guns, I was pulling
away and grabbing a guitar
and Dead Kennedys records.
So I learned in school and
carried my guitar around
being called a fag and stuff.
Jim: I wouldn't say that
we have a gang problem
as much as a faux-gang
problem.
Carlos: Yeah, here it is amazing. You guys don't have any
social problems compored to
completely fascinated by this
itry like this.*
San Diego. I
country; I've never been in c
Check It Out At\fir$*
TRANS AM
Surrender To The Night
MEG1ST
iimn.ni
matto • moves • multimedia- mok
ROBSON AND BURRARD 604.669.2289
VIRGIN MEGASTORE How do you interview a bunch of goons Hke the
Hansons? One misconstrued question and it's off
with the gloves, goodnight interviewer. Unlike
local nice-guy bond Nomeansno — whose checkered run-ins wih the Hansons have become almost
legendary — these guys play dirty with a
vengeance (itwas his some game ethic that propelled their cousins and the Chariestown Chiefs to
notoriety). So it wos with minor trepidation that I
set out for the Town Pump before heir Nov. 15th
show, unsure and anxious as to who heir publicist would place in front of me. Would it be
Hockey's answer to Friday the 13th, Robbie
Hanson? Their volatile leader, Johnny Hanson? The
chimpJike Tommy? The monosyllabic Kenny? Or
God forbid, some riotous combination (ihe
Hansons fight with each olher almost os much as
they do wilh their opponents). Fortunately, I wos
greeted by an unmasked and relatively articulate
Robbie Hanson, who thankfully managed to keep
the gloves on for the duration ofthe interview. So
here ya go, the results of my one-on-one wilh he
Hanson Brothers.
by Jason Stinson
The Hansons - Offside at the
Commodore Ballroom. PUCK
ROCK. Photo by Paul Clarice.
DiSCORDER: How do you guys spend
your time during the off-season? Do the
Hansons have day jobs?
Robbie Hanson: [loughs] Yeah, we work in a
brewery. We get paid in beer.
Good gig. Recently you've become affiliated  with  your  cousins,  the   'other'
Hansons. How did that come about?
Uh, ihey're Irying to get on ihe bandwagon, ihose
scumbags, they're trying to ride our coat-tails to
stardom [laughs]. That's alright, it's all in the family. We love 'em.
Any jealousy there, seeing as how
they're still playing the great game of
hockey professionally?
Well, uh, I could have been a great hockey player
too, except for the fact that I can't skate — lhat
was ihe only thing that held me back — otherwise
I'd have been a star. But I get my own back on
stage, so I don't worry too much about it.
So how's the drive to get Tiger Williams
into the Hockey Hall of Fame going?
Thousands of ballots have come back. It's zing.
Thousands of ballots. People have sent their
own petitions. People have faxed, like, 20, 30-
name petitions. People have been xeroxing their
ballots lhaf come out of the CD to get ten of
Ihem and get olher people to sign 'em. Touched
0 real nerve there, which is great. I don't know
if it'll ever amount to anything, but if the one
thing that happens out of all this ridiculousness
is that we might get Tiger considered for the
Hall of Fame, that will moke it all worth it.
That'd be great.
The majors have passed you punk rock
Hansons over, but have you ever been
approached to play by the Vancouver
Voodoos?
No, and I don't know ... There's something
candy-ass obout that, that roller-blade hockey. 1
mean, c'mon, get out there at 40 below and use
the buffalo chips for a puck ... But we're
approachable by anyone, as long as they're
willing to put up with us and pay us a lot of
money [laughs].
On that note, how's Virgin been treating
you?
Well, we're taking them for the ride of their lives
[laughs]. Their cheque book is gonna be sore by
the time ihey're finished with us. It's been fun, J
hope ihey're having fun. That's what we're in it
for, and if we can get them to pay for all the
expenses, fine. Of course, our coach, Laurie
Mercer, is into bilking ihe big boys.
What do you think of GM Place anyway?
It sucks, but it's the only ploce lo see the Canucks.
The Pocific Coliseum wos way louder, way grittier, woy better. It's like, y'know, being on an airplane, watching the movie. But, still good
hockey. Good hockey's good hockey in any
stinkin' environment.
So where's the best place in Vancouver to
watch a game?
1 will sometimes watch games at ihe local pub in
New Westminster where I live. I wish that we
would get a minor league, a WHL, or a kinda
league like  that — go back  to  the  Pacific
Coliseum or out to Queen's Park in New West
where the Bruins used to play. That would be
really neat. I mean, I love NHL hockey 'cause it's
the best, but the other stuff is even more fun. We
used to watch ihe Cougars all the time at
Memorial Arena in Victoria — and thatwas hilarious, because it went from being totally exciting to
being so bad, it was unbelievablel And you'd
have, like, 2000 people there, and it's usually
crazies who've come to every game since 1946,
right? It just went on, and the characters lhat hung
around [were] amazing.
Do you remember the first time you ever
heard a Ramones song?
I do indeed. It's when I first bought the album. I
saw a full page ad in Rolling Stone and it said
The Ramones' and there they were standing up
against ihis wall and I said. They don't look like
brothers.' [laughs] So I bought it, and I heard
'Blitzkrieg Hops,' and then kinda sat there stunned
for ihe whole album and played it again. Then I
played it about 40 times after lhat until I had no
friends in my own age group anymore. They all
thought I was insane.
Tommy does the best Dee Dee I have ever
heard. Does he have any ambition to
embark on a solo rap career?
[laughs] Only if you can get ihe dribble somehow
to come through on the vinyl. Thot would be interesting. It would be sorta like Dee Dee's rap career.
That is one of the most hilarious albums I have ever
heard. Poor Dee Dee.
Aside from renting Youngblood, what
advice can you give to youngsters who
want to toughen up?
Get out and play on every street corner. Play,
play, play. Same with musicians — you wanna
do it? Then just go out and do it. Do it really,
really hard. You may not get any good, but you'll
hove a lot of fun.
Odgick vs. Oglethorpe: who's goin'
down?
Ob, Oggie ond Odgick. I think Oggie would win
(hot one. Oggie's o classic. I'm talkin' about his
prime years. These days he might not be much of
a problem. But on a red note, the Brashear and
Odjkk combination on the Canucks — that's
lookin' good. I'm lookfn' forward to seein' diem
kick some real serious Canadiens' butt.
Predictions on score?
I don't know. It'll be a high scoring game. I'd soy,
toss up, five something for the winner [final score:
Canucks:! Canadiens: 6].
Have you had any problems with
American promoters trying to incorporate
'puck-tracking' technology into your live
[laughs] American promoters have nevef tried to
put us off the stage, ihey've never tried to help us
or abet us in any way, shape or form. We're goin'
down there ihough, so screw 'em. We're gonna
Iry and tie into the IHL, blue-collar kinda hockey
crowd, wilh the help of ihe real Hanson Brothers.
I'm hoping we hit most of the major hockey towns
in Ihe Slates.
The big news is: you guys are doing a
video?l?
I think we are, actually, but again, this depends
on someone else's ability to pay for it. I despise
videos, but the Hanson Brothers will go to any
lengths to propagate their vicious mentality. Again,
it's part of ihe fun. If we can get our noses onto
these — these stupid video programs — that
would be hilarious.
And you're doing a video project with the
'old-time' Hansons...
I hope so. They're into it. They're making a video
themselves, sort of a rock 'em sock 'em Hansons
video, that's in production and ihey're gonna get
us to do ihe soundtrack.
[Johnny Hanson walks in.]
What does the eight-ball say about the
Canucks' chances this season? [Right on
cue, Johnny pulls out a magic eight-ball
from his equipment bag.]
Johnny: Just a sec ...
The guy has an eight-ball!
Johnny: What is the specific question that you'd
like me to answer?
Uh, will the Canucks win the Stanley Cup
this season?
Johnny: Will the Canucks win the Staniby Cup
this season? pohnny shakes the magic orb and
waits for an answer]. The pressure mounts ... It's
reluctant to answer a question ... 'Most likely.' The
eigh^ball never lies.
One last question for Johnny: do you
remember the first time you ever heard
a Ramones song?
Johnny: Uh ... God. Well, the first Hme I heard a
Ramones song I hated it.
[Robbie laughs.]
Johnny: That was in my mom's living room in
probably 1978, I guess, or '77. But then I went
and saw D.O.A. and realized this wos my music,
these were my people ocoand uh, went and saw
Roclc ond Roll High School when it came to the
theatre ond knew then lhat the Ramones were the
gods of Rock ond Roll.
Robbie: But he got drunk and passed out in the
middle of it.
And with that I hightailed it outto there, feeling
pretty damn rockin' to still hove oH of my teeth.
The Hansons are a local institution for all of us
Ramones-lovin', rink rat goombahs. Not since
"Nomeansno    Clones     the    Ramones"    has
Vancouver punk been so ridiculously dumb. Viva
Los Hansons! •
Hanson Brothers Discography:
"We're Bad" (Written by the Hansons, "stolen" by
Nomeansno)
Jello  Bhfro   with   Nomeansno  LP/Alternative
Tentacles)
"My Girlfriend's a Robot" {Blobs Vol. 1 7"/Way
Out Records)
Sasquoten; ifie Man, Ae Myth, he Compilation 7"
(Kirbdog Records)
Gross Misconduct \? (Alternative Tentacles)
v/a Johnny Hanson Presents Puck Rock Vol.  1
(Wrong Records)
Sudden Deah LP (Essential Noise)
"The  Hockey  Song  b/w   "The  Enemy"     7"
(Essential Noise)
12   february 1997  DiSCORDER spoke to (K) label-chief/pop star/youthquaker/impresario/heartthrob Calvin Johnson via the miracle of telecommunica
Narcotic, Dub Narcotic Sound System, Louisville USA,' Dub Narcotic Sound System's latest remixes EP with Lois, Dub Narcotic Sow
A.J.: Can you explain the difference
between Dub Narcotic and Dub Narcotic
Sound System?
Calvin: Oh, well ... Dub Narcotic studio is
where the action is, and Dub Narcotic
Sound System is [LONG pause] more, uh ...
it's not really anything. It's more an idea.
Dub Narcotic is a place.
Whereabouts is Dub Narcotic, the studio,
located?
Here in Olympia.
I've heard rumours that it's located in a
basement below where you live — is that
correct?
[eating food] Yeah.
What was the first thing that got done
there?
The Mukilteo Fairies. Or, no, I'm sorry, not
the Mukilteo Fairies ... wait, I got confused
... goddamnit! It's the ... I'm totally spacing
out... Yeah, the Mukilteo Fairies. They were
the very first thing. Actually, they were the
first thing and I think they were the second
thing too, because they came back and did
some more. Two of the people from that
band are in Behead The Prophet No Lord
Shall Live — I think they played up there at
one of Nardwuar's shows.
So they were the first ones to christen the
studio...
I think so ... Yeah, they were great. In fact,
their set list is on my wall, still here at the
studio. So when people come here for the
first time they always look at it and then
they say. What is that?' because it has these
great song titles like 'Holy Leighton Boys,'
'We're Not Your Entertainers,' 'We're
Enough For You,' Who's Been Fornicating in
My Bed,' 'Making Plans For Confrontation'
... People are always like, 'What is that?'
Are you always behind the controls anytime something is recorded at Dub Narcotic,
or do you sometimes hand over the reins?
Sometimes other people work there.
Such as?
Diana [part of Dub Narcotic Sound System's
Soot Party crew] and Phil Eck worked on
the Halo Benders album there.
Where's he based?
Seattle ... [loud, distorted voice] SEATTLE.
What was that?
Nothing.
Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to
be transcribed too well because it's a print
interview — but it was entertaining
nonetheless ... So, Dub Narcotic Sound
System — how did it get started? Was it
started as just a hobby or did you always
realize that it would have a life of its own?
So you consider most ofthe things I do 'not
a hobby?' What do you mean? Everything I
do is a hobby.
fi OK, fair enough ... Your first release as Dub
Narcotic Sound System was just entitled
Dub Narcotic — is that correct?
[grunts] Ungh!
. Yes?
$, Uh huh.
At the time that you released that single,
was Dub Narcotic an established project at
that time?
Sure. No, I was like, 'Yeahhhhh!' I mean,
"f have you ever heard of Bo Diddley? He did
* a single called Bo Diddley, and the very first
single by Public Image [Ltd.] is called Public
Image and, urn, there's probably some
other examples ...
Yeah, there's plenty of other examples ...
Well, I thought, 'The first single I want to
be called Dub Narcotic'
Who helped you out on the first Dub
! Narcotic single?
Nobody.
14   february  1997
Was it just you?
Oh, wait, Tae [of Kicking Giant fame]
played some bongos on it.
How many different incarnations of Dub
Narcotic have there been now?
Well, a lot of different people have come
and gone.
So is Dub Narcotic Sound System always
going to be that kind of a project — constantly metamorphosing?
It seems like we've got a lot of different
things to do. A lot of stuff to work on, you
know?
What about ail the different people that
are on Boot Party — how do you know
them? How are you acquainted with them?
Urn, let's see ...
'Cause there's a lot of names I'm not
familiar with, from other K projects and
otherwise ...
So what do you want to know?
How did you hook up with, say, DJ Sayeed,
or Todd Runslow, or Larry Butler, or ...
DJ Sayeed, he's in a group called Black
Anger. They did a record on K, and they've
got another one coming out really soon
Well, I said I wanted to from the very first
time I heard any of it, but it takes a while to
get there — 'cause I don't just sit down and
say, 'Hey, let's do a reggae song!' That isn't
how I usually work. So it kind of seeps in as
you learn how to make songs in one way,
and then you realize, 'Wow, I could also
make them up this way!' And so then they
start coming out this other way — I'm not
the kind of a musician who can just play
anything, and I'm glad, because I don't
want to — and then I'm working with people like Todd and Larry and Brian who
[speak] that language. So, you know.
Heather [Lewis, of Beat Happening] lis-
ten[ed] to R&B all the time, but that wasn't
is from Stax — his name is William Brown.
He was a singer at Stax in a group called the
Mad Lads.
Who were amazing.
And he's also engineered tons — like all
the Bar-Kays albums, and tons of other
people. He's worked with everybody. He's
a really great guy, so he did both our sessions at Royal.
What sessions were those?
We did an EPthat was called Ridin' Shotgun
that was recorded there — and there's a
new EPcoming out in February called Bone
Dry.
What can we expect to see on that? /
Four songs. One of them is called/
Don t Be Shy: A Valentine s Suggestion
and he's from Taco
Well, there's this
Presidents that we
before, and they'i
Anger and Brian w
and so was Todd, sc
ma, which is where ...
group called Dead
d done a record with
e friends with Black
as in Dead Presidents
, we kind of met them
that way. And Larry, the drummer, who
plays drums and all that, he was an old
friend of theirs from high school. So, you
know, just friends, and friends of friends ...
When did you get interested in recording
in areas such as dub, and funk, and hip-hop
— all of which are part of the quilt that is
Dub Narcotic Sound System?
As soon as I heard it.
OK, but from your other projects — Beat
Happening and the Halo Benders — with
the exception of a couple of remixes, there
wasn't much of a hint that there was an
interest in those styles of music and there
never really seemed to be an attempt to
move into those areas. So, when did you
decide that you wanted a project that
would move into those areas?
[huge pause] Well, those projects are just
doing what comes naturally, the same as
this one — just because ... You're kind of
making an assumption that if we're making music that sounds like Beat Happening
then we're listening to music that sounds
like Beat Happening and there isn't any
music that sounds like Beat Happening, so
why wouldn't [the inspiration] have come
from the first Kool and the Gang album as
[much as from] the first Half Japanese, you
know? 'Cause if you listen to the first Half
Japanese, he was covering James Brown on
the very first recordings, and it seems like a
lot of people who ask those kinds of questions, they have a very naive view on music
and race. Like, 'There's 'black' music and
'white' music' — and there's a lot of music
that has lots of different kinds of backgrounds, and I don't think it's that surprising that I'm interested in something that
isn't 'white' — and I don't think that it's
that surprising that those influences might
seep into my work.
I'm not 'surprised' by it in the least; the
only thing I'm trying to get at is when you
realized that you might want to DO a project in that area.
the way that she played music, and I always
thought that that was too bad — because
that's all she listened to.
Do you think that some of it has to do with
growing familiarity with the recording
process?
[mumbles] It's your own process. Things
change ...
Yeah, but there must be things that you're
able to do in the studio that surely you
couldn't do a number of years ago — and
that must influence your work.
There's things that I can hear in the studio
that I couldn't a couple of years ago — of
course, there's a lot that I can't hear now,
that I couldn't hear ten years ago either [?],
that has more to do with damage than
learning. But the thing is, that doesnt mean
that there weren't those influences starting
from the first day, even obviously. I think we
incorporated a lot of ideas that Dub
Narcotic are doing in an obvious way, were
incorporated into Beat Happening and the
Halo Benders and the Go Team — but
maybe the style of music doesn't suggest it.
I would agree with that; in terms of categorizing music, I'm not real interested in
keeping things in neat little packages. I
have a show that's billed as a 'blues/punk
musical revue' that explicitly tries to break
down musical compartmentalization. I
think it [musical preference, in my case] has
a lot more to do with 'passion' than with
musical styles.
Yeah ... I've been reading a lot of books
about Memphis, because Memphis is home
to a whole bunch of great music that I like
— and it's somewhere that we've gone to
record a couple of times and we've been
able to meet some of the people that made
some of that music ...
Who's gone to record there?
Dub Narcotic Sound System. We did some
recording in a studio called Royal Recording,
and that's a studio run by Willie Mitchell —
he worked at a label called Hi Records, and
he had a band in the '50s and '60s — he was
a band leader and played a lot of clubs and
put out a lot of records and produced ...
He worked with Al Green, didn't he?
Yeah, Al Green and Ann Peebles and lots of
other people — the engineer we work with
'Bass ... [?];' we got to work with\
some horn players in Memphis,
which was really great. We worked\
with Ben Colley who was one of the orig-v
inal Bar-Kays, he's a trumpet player
So, is that whole musical network still
going on in Memphis?
Yeah, the thing is that it's really quiet there.
I mean, things are pretty slow and pretty
dispersed — there was this quote, something like: 'Nothing ever happens here, but
it happens all the time,' or something like
that — it's just a place where it seems like
nothing is ever going on, but things are
going on all the time there. You know, we'd
go there and there'd be ten people at our
show, and people would say, 'Yeah, nobody
ever goes to shows here blah blah blah,'
and then we'd meet Luther Dickinson
whose father is Jim Dickinson, who played
on tons of records, and he'd say, 'Yeah, I'm
in five bands and I play, like, six nights a
week and ...' And I'd say. Wow, where do
you play?' You know, it's happening if you
know where to look.
I got that sensation when I passed
through there a few
years ago — it
seemed like you had
to scratch beneath the
surface a lot more than
you might have to in
some other cities.
Yeah.
But it seemed like there was
a hell of a lot going on.
Well,   if you   ever  go  there,
there's a record store [and label]
called Shangri-la and they publish
something   called   The  Low-Life
Guide to Memphis — it costs like a
buck, or something — but it tells you
all the ... historically, where everything
is that ever happened, plus it tells you
the places to go to now, that are pretty
cool.   The   woman   who   works  there,
Andrea, she set up our show, and there was
this guy called Lucky Carter, who's an old
blues guy that was on Hi Records. He's in his
70's probably, but he was playing a show
and she took us over to see him, and she's
"Like, There*.
white1 music1 -
of music t
differei
backgroun
thiniV
surprisi
inter
someti
isn't tons from his headquarters in Olympia, WA. We discussed Dub
' System's upcoming and Memphis horns-backed Bone Dry EP, etc., etc.
just pretty connected ... But, yeah, just the
whole Memphis idea of it being this crossroads where lots of different things came
together, it's really interesting to me ...
Have you read Last Train to Memphis! Is that
one of the books that you've read?
I haven't read that one yet.
Thafs that Peter Guralnick one thafs a bio —
well, ifs supposedly a bio of Elvis' early years
but...
Oh, yeah.
But ifs really sweeping, and you really get
.an amazing sense of what was going on in
^Memphis in the late '40s to late '50s.
sj've read a couple of other books by
\him: Sweet Soul Music has got a lot
settling, and coming there for different reasons, and then it was settled before the
advent of mass transportation and rapid transit you  had  really different cultures  in
Alabama than you did in Louisiana. Whereas
you get 200-300 miles away from here and it's
basically the same.
You can thank cable TV for that.
Yeah, so it's definitely got a whole different
feel to it — that area — and it still, even with
the advent of cable TV and the automobile, it
still retains a lot of that rural flavour.
So how's [the Ship to Shore EP] doing?
'Cause ifs amazing — ifs really good.
Thanks, yeah ... well, we did that song for the
album and everyone seemed to really like it
record store. But they each have a really different approach ...
Is Lois going to be the next Tracy Thome?
Um, I don't know ... she's always gotten that
comparison.
Is she going to have a 'drum-n-bass' outing
next?
I don't know. We're really excited to work
with her some more, but she's got other projects. Whenever she's ready, we're happy to
do stuff with her.
What kind of other projects does she have7
Well, thafs kind of off-topic...
She had gone off on tour for a while and
she'd been to Japan. Right now, she's the
manager of the Capitol Theatre in Olympia,
which is a venue that shows films four nights
a week and has other events.
Including gigs.
And so she's taking that over, and she's
kind of taking that on as her one big art
project, because she wants to have other
kinds of events there besides music. So I
think she's developing some ideas for that
space, and that's what she's putting all of
her energy into right now. I know she's
playing music with a bunch of people, and
I know she's going to be going out on tour
again to the East Coast for a two week
stint. So, yeah, she's got a lot of stuff going
on right now.
from Calvin Johnson of Dub Narcotic by a.i.
SYSTH.
'of Memphis in it, and so does Feel
'Like Going Home. And I have that
book Last Train to Memphis, but I
haven't read it yet.
What are the books that you've read [on
Memphis]?
I read those two Peter Guralnick books, and
there's one by Peter Gordon called It Came
From Memphis.
Thafs a pretty recent book, right?
Yeah ... It's got a forward by Peter Guralnick,
actually. This book is great, though, because
it really talks about the underground history
— it crosses over into people like Booker T,
and these people, but mostly as they relate ...
They're from Memphis, and they grew up
there. It sort of talks about native Memphis
people, and how they discover music and
how different things influence their lives. It
sort of traces the underground history from
the '40s all the way into the '90s — it's really,
really cool.
Of course it was all inextricably linked with
the politics and what was going on in society at the time — there were all kinds of reasons why Memphis
was just bubbling
over with talent and
aspiration in the '40s
and '50s — ifs really
fascinating, I think ...
Yeah, I read the book by
Carl Perkins, which is pretty
corny, but it gives you — like
what you're saying — a lot of
the social background of what
was going on then, especially in
terms of race.
And Memphis had the ability to
ted in draw people from so many differ-
, ent locations. People were coming
ig that    Up from Mississippi, and Louisiana,
"JiLViitP1"'    ant" Arkansas, and wherever, just to be
"/rme      in Memphis.
It's interesting that because that area had
been settled so early, it had a richness to it
that we don't have here in the West,
because there's nothing here that's more
than 140 years old; the culture here is pretty
homogeneous, as compared to somewhere in
the South where there's been several different groups of people coming and going, and
dack1 music and
and there's a lot
it has lots of
kinds of
and I don1t
jjfs that
that Im
— especially Larry, Todd, and Brian, because
they'd recorded that as just a bassline, with
just bass, drums, guitars — and then I said,
'Hey, Lois, wanna write a song?' and she said,
'Yeah,' so it was recorded before she even
wrote the song. She recorded that and when
they heard it — they thought it was just a
throwaway [their original bass line] — I was
like, 'No, this is a great something — I don't
know what it is, but it's great — it's going to
be something great' and they were like,
'Yeah, whatever,' but then when they heard
her voice on it they were like, 'Wow! She can
sing! This is great!' I mean, they had seen her
play before, but somehow ... I mean, they
were kind of in awe of her in a way, just
because she had records out and stuff. But
then when they heard this they were like,
'Wow! She's really good' and they wanted to
do more work with her, and so we got a tape
of her new album. Infinity Plus.
Which is also excellent.
Yeah, and so we said, 'Why don't we do one
of these songs?' and 'Rougher' seemed like a
really good choice — and so we asked her if
that would be all right and she said, 'Sure!'
So who were the people who worked on the
remixes?
Oh, the remixes? Well, we have a guy that we
work with a lot in Seattle and he was really
into that song. He said,  'You know, you
should really get some remixes going.' So he
— his name's George Orlanzic [sic] — and he's
an old friend of mine who used to work at
KAOS [Evergreen State College's radio station] down here, and stuff, and he sort of
does our distribution up there. So he was
really into the idea of getting some remixes
done. He kinda came up with the idea of getting some Seattle djs.
So they're all Seattle-based?
All three of them are, yeah — and I actually
had known Riz and Massa [sic] but I didn't
known Nathan before.
Who's 'Nathan?' Is that 'DJ Dervish?'
Yeah. I'd never met DJ Riz, but I was aware
of him — he'd done work down in Olympia
before and stuff — so I just thought, 'Hey,
that'd be an interesting experiment, let's give
it a try and see what they can do.' I'd known
Massa for a long, long time because he used
to work at Sub Pop and he used to run a
How extensively did [Dub Narcotic Sound
System tour last fall?]
Two months around the US, which is really
nothing, compared to, like. Beck who goes
on tour for six months at a time. Being on
tour for two months is really not that big of
a deal ...
How many cities did you hit?
We played every night for two months, so,
like, 60 shows.
Did you make it up to Canada at all?
Yeah, we played in Montreal, and Ottawa,
and we played Toronto.
Any chance of you coming up to Vancouver
any time soon?
Well, we're not really doing any shows for a
while. We're taking a couple of months off
and I don't know what we're going to do
after that. But the Halo Benders, we're working on a new record, which is what I've been
working on. I haven't really been working on
Dub Narcotic for a while.
OK, I've got a question for you: were you
ever a go-go dancer for Lync?
That would have been great, but I don't think
I ever made that spot.
Really? 'Cause ifs funny, I saw Lync back in
D.C. a couple of years ago and it was at the
Black Cat [club] and I was pretty far away
from the stage and there was someone
who was go-go dancing during their set,
who was just amazing and it kind of looked
like you.
Oh, it must have been somebody else [obviously lying]. I wonder who that was?
I wonder, because, honestly, he was really
talented — he was doing this whole pantomime routine as he was go-go dancing,
acting out daily routines, and stuff, and it
was very effective. So you're pretty sure it
wasn't you?
Yeah. That was in '94.
Yeah, well, think about it
I wasn't in D.C. then.
Oh, really? Not at all in '94?*r"'5r~:
Not in the summer [?]
So when Dub Narcotic wants
to really get loose, who do you guys listen
to7
Kool and the Gang, and we've got all kinds
of Donny Hathaway and Vicky Anderson and
Barbara Whitney.
Ann Peebles?
Not really. We haven't really listened to her
much in the van ... a lot of other soul and
R&B, and there's some weird jazzy shit that
I'm not that into ...
Such as what?
Oh, I don't even know.
You just block it out of your mind.
Yeah, it doesn't really interest me. So, you
know, just whatever — a lot of soul, and
we've got a lot of Memphis compilations that
we listen to. Massive Attack has also become
a favourite on tour ...
Well, thafs pretty much all I have for you, so
do you have any New Year's wishes for our
readers, or any Valentine's Day suggestions?
Valentine's Day? My only Valentine's Day suggestion is: don't be shy.
[p.s.] And do you have a regimen for maintaining your voice?
No.
You don't smoke a pack of 'Kool's a day?
Constant abuse seems to be the only regimen.
Do you have a throat lozenge of preference?
No. Do you have any suggestions?  .
Well, I hear that Jonathan Richman uses Zand
brand throat lozenges.
Yeah, but he's got a really great voice, so he's
got something worth protecting.
Ah, c'mon...
If I was Jonathan Richman, I'd be worried
about it too — he should get insurance, or
something, on that thing.
Like Mary Harf s legs, or something.
Yeah.
Well, thanks very much.
Well, thank you.*
ijj      Calvin singin1 in Beat
Happening.
15 Ei^gauisffi IT'S     STILL    NO
dull    WEAR.    H 0
1st month, Paul ( han's Punk Planet article The Kids
lAren't Alrit; ifferenee in the age
_ of multinational capitalism was presented, summarized
briefly, partially critiqued and expanded upon (predictably,
"talment picks up w^res! left off). Chan's main con-
is with examining the passible, contemporary condi-
jyailable for attempting farms of resistance to dominate
social structures (specifically, capitalism). In this respect, Chan
is particularly interested in "punk style" (although I've used
his arguments to engage a broader critique of style based sub-
cultural rebellion more generally). Chan argues that punk
"music and culture have always existed resisting and opposing virtually any and all dominant forms of ideology, culture,
and commodity production." Chan suggests that"... it is precisely that opposition or "difference" which makes Punk, under the aegis of Alternative music, marketable." With this Chan
is only examining the commodification of punk subculture
by large capitalists, citing the usual concern over co-option
of style. Curiously, Chan does not examine the internal high
level of self-commodification within punk subculture itself.
In this respect, the ease with which punk subcultural style
was (and is) taken advantage of was, in part, a result of its
existence as a marginal part of the marketplace. Although
this area of the market may promote different value systems
symbolically attached to its choice of desirable style, it is otherwise not structurally dissimilar in its operation. As such,
there is an intrinsic connection that is being under-examined
here: the exchange relations of items which display the symbolic currency of style. This connection is ultimately tied together through the commodification of style—and any style-
based subculture. This conflict introduces the argument that
the contemporary use of style as a vehicle for critical activism may no longer be a sufficient way to challenge the dynamic nature of advanced capitalism.
A similar position is argued by Tom Frank, the editor of
The Boffifer (another fine Chicago magazine). In an article titled Dark Age: why lohnny can't dissent, Frank claims that
our present popular notions of rebellion are based on outdated models. Frank warns that contemporary ideas and behaviours of exercising or displaying rebellion correspond far
too closely to the model of the ideal contemporary consumer:
social agents who seek out individuality and pleasure through
commodities and thus the marketplace. Social agents who
use, in other words, the manipulation of goods to symboli-
cally represent identity and difference through style. In this |
context, a more active, critical engagement would seem cru- :
cial, necessarily involving all "us" social agents. It would seem
that a specific examination of the growing diversity and complexity of businesses (and their technique^pfipjperation) within
the culture industry needs continued critical attention. Critical attention shostld examine the changing ways with which
the culture industry reports "our" culture b_ck# "us." It should
also investigate* trie tec hniques of encouragement for continued public participation. As well, it should examine the way
that options are limited to the degree that participation is unavoidable. Indeed, what is particularly necessary is an examination of the blurry boundaries of what constitutes the "culture industry." It would seem that a dialectical (see last month)
involvement in the culture industry is presently supported by
our participation with the market-place through our
prioritization of the expressive qualities of consumer goods
through style. Critical attention is generously paid to expressive potential and validity within style itself, but stops short
of seriously expanding into the network of connections beyond the realm of style — the structures of capitalism.
What is also important to explore is the degree to which
capitalists are increasingly focusing on the "personalized"
level of individual choice. Certainly, freedom, democracy and
consumer choice have long been confused as synonymous,
in this respect. This focus operates in tandem with a trend
towards allowing individual choices to be made to seem as
"private" as possible. That suggests that capitalists are attempting to operate at a scale of business that closely addresses
and corresponds to the personalized "needs" of the private
individual... and by helping create those needs if necessary.
This is done, in part, in order to take advantage of the choices
that are made with the attempt to establish a sense of personal identity (insofar as choice of goods is involved). This is
consciously planned for and attempted, it is standard procedure. There are many developments in information-capture
and distribution technology (for example, Pay-per-View, the
Interac system and the Internet) that help enable this type of
development to continue. Generally speaking, if culture is a
medium for self expression and exploration, then the degree
to which the commodity form establishes itself as the nature
of cultural expression, assisted by a biased technical hegemony, is the degree to which our participation has become
secured. This is not a new concern, and it is not simply a
conspiracy. It is not just being
FREE PIERCINGS
With a jewellry purchase
you receive a free piercing by
Canada's most experienced piercers
MACK'S LEATHERS
1043 GRANVILLE STREET 688-6225
THE EXPERIENCED PIERCERS
done to "us," it is something
that we are choosing to do.
Therefore, questions of priorities, responsibility and complicity ultimately arise.
Movements within style
cultures, particularly those
which push boundaries of acceptability, have helped capitalism develop into its contemporary form. The hard and important work of breaking new
ground, opening up new dialogues, etc. easily becomes further market exploration, unfortunately. This is not to suggest
a simplistic economic determinism, where all cultural developments grow out from
the structure of the economy.
Or to surrender to some helpless, self-limiting and relativis-
tic fatalism. Rather, it is to highlight the way that our relationship with style culture has be-
T    WHAT
E S T L Y
come increasingly interconnected with the market — such is
trie nature of tie-dialectic, "fftis r_lationship4iais largely disabled style as a viable option for attempting any systematic,
progressive change within any realm but the symbolic. More
is opened up in thisgiea, but the expansion hgs taken
place within capitalist relaffms, established in part tithe accepting generosity of die commodity form. Capitalism
is based on the continued exploitation of markets as th§y develop. The marketplace is significantly turning towards the
profitability of information, and especially, to culture as a basis
and medium for commercial exchange (with profit in mind).
Chan's article was useful in drawing attention to the flexibility that is found within the symbolic realm of style. It also
brings attention to the reality that a great deal of personal
value can be obtained through an active, private and self-
reflective involvement with consumer goods as they may relate to the activity of identity formation. Indeed this positive
aspect also expands into culture more generally (and has aided
in some valuable changes). Obviously, goods can be used
symbolically to creatively assert a sense of private difference
(used in what ever way) — but not without the problems stated
above. This capacity of human psychology — the abstract
and symbolic creation and manipulation of meaning — is
not the concern of the present analysis however. The real
issue is what Chan's argument proposes but incompletely attempts: a critical investigation ofthe complex interconnections that are formed within the dialectical relationship we
all share within our cultural/political/economic system (currently based on capitalist relations and harsh structured inequality). While the dialectic is responsive to movement from
many directions, a bias of economic power, technological
cost and ownership does cast some serious constraint on its
development — and therefore on us all. Yet there is enormous potential within the dialectical form, waiting to be attempted.
While it is presumptuous to assume that all subculture interest in style need be politicized, or that there is a
popular interest in critiquing capitalism, it is always useful to
examine the nature of our present culture, nonetheless. Critical attention can be insightful and potentially empowering
from whatever personal perspective it is attempted. But sides
must sometimes be drawn, and issues challenged head on
(as troublesome as it may be to fairly, accurately and comprehensively conceive of "problems"). The present analysis
is concerned about "the state of the world," with the unequal
categorization and distribution of "reasonable means of survival," and with gross, glorified consumption and over-
commodification. As such, it has attempted to illustrate that a
more thorough, popular critique, beyond the possibilities offered by style, needs to be developed and attempted for the
sake of establishing a truer participatory democracy. This critique would require a diverse and committed level of imminent critical involvement, that examines the whole of the
cultural/political/economic context and its history of development. This will not be easy, there is much to be concerned
with: culture is a hugely elusive category. Social and economic structures are abstract, minute as well as distantly removed. And history is never conclusive, it is confusingly dialectical. All this may seem a lot to demand of subcultures, or
anyone, but it is an important task to attempt, especially by
those who are dissatisfied — and angry — with the structured inequality present and encouraged by capitalism. The
positive aspects of style that were achieved, and are continuing to be developed, need also be involved — all advantages
and opportunities are encouraged — but the romantic myth
of the rebellious subculture needs to be overturned (or looked
at carefully). While collective action is ideally required for
this type of active critique, the first step, and stage, is ultimately personal. Hang on ...
Kitty Poulin
16   february BURY ME STANDING
Isabel Fonseca
(Knopf/Vintage)
"Bury me standing, I've been
on my knees all my life."
Sounds like a blues tune, and
so does much of this book.
Bury Me Standing is the story
of Europe's perpetual outsiders: the
The    book    K
■ I **•*•**
begins    by
explaining
why        the
Roma (as the
Gypsies call    n|
themselves)    m
have been ha-   ||
bitual   fringe    ||
dwellers since    I
they first drifted    f
out of the Middle
East almost a millennium ago, but
it realty begins to kick it out
when Fonseca's writing loses
its academic dust and picks up
an edge of righteous anger.
The words on the page are
raw and bloody as she describes centuries-old tragedies
that the Roma themselves have
forgotten. Her anger is as palpable for the ancient dead as
for the modern gypsies burned
out of their homes; an anger
that twists into frustration in the last part of
the book as she describes the Roma's futile attempts at unity.
A bitter reality
j emerges with the re-
I alisation that to re-
| main true to their
!| heritage is to re-
|| main true to a
j legacy of victimi-
g| sation. In light of
this realisation
the dilemma becomes clear:
how can those that define
themselves as outsiders become part of the system without destroying themselves?
Though this is a work of non-
fiction, Fonseca creates a new
image in attempting to dispel
the mythical gypsy and replace
the phantom with a flesh and
blood creature—one that is likely
to be as potent as the old.
With empathy and compassion, she paints a race of
antiheroes, a people that cannot save themselves and yet
cannot be saved. In Fonseca's
view, the defence of the Roma
is Europe's test — they have
begun with failure, but the
hope of redemption remains.
FUGITIVE PIECES
Anne Michaels
(McClelland    and
Stewart/Knopf)
Fugitive Pieces is a sensualist's
dream. Reading the book is
like lying naked on silk sheets
while eating Haagen-Daas.
The language is so powerfully
physical that your body responds to the imagery, sweating in the hot Greek sun, shivering in the frozen Polish mud.
UNCHAIN YOUR MIND. THINK INDEPENDENT.
With a bizarre sense of displacement, you feel as if you
have become one of the
ghosts that young Jacob is obsessed with. You follow his life
from Poland to Greece, to Toronto. You feel,  not only
Jacob's joy but the joy of his
ghosts, as he finally learns to
live the life he has been given.
Michaels' gift for language
creates the impression that the
physical world is a reflection;
each geological description is
a simile for a more tangible
emotional reality. With Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels has
captured one of those unspeakably vivid and living moments, the kind that make
your fingers tingle and has
stretched it and shaped it
into a novel of compelling
grace. When virtual reality is this good, I'll buy it.
tions. The Bone's voice-over
musings illuminate the burnt
out interior of a society where
the most that those at the bottom of the food chain can
hope for is to be ignored. An
impossible dream. His lack of
power and his ignorance are
so complete that his voice has
the objectivity of a camera. He
reports the bizarreness surrounding him in the clear, flat
tones of innocence. In brutal
detail, the story flows through
their eyes as turbulent, pounding waves, shaping and tinting the clear lenses with grinding experience. Eventually, he
loses the innocent objectivity
of the camera in exchange for
the power of judgment. The
Rule
ofthe
RULE OF THE BONE     H
^/;   o  1  d
Russell Banks            ||f
B      s t o r v
(Harper-Collins/    __H_|l
W     carbon
Vintage)                     **W8^
ated with
Rule of the Bone is      * ■ '"r'^f
If   enough
the law of the jun-         OSt
Il    modern nu-
gle. Bank's novel is              M0P
•;•'    ances and
an eyewitness ac
*    light-hearted
count of a culture
kicks      and
that eats its young in gory and
pranks to re-
terrifying rituals of self-obses
mind us
that    though
sion. The eye, in this case, be
growing
jp    may    not
longs to the Bone, poor white
change, the
world in which
trash of stereotypical propor-
it happens
is now crazy
enough to provide an entirely new twist.
ASHTRAYS
Lukas Tomin
(Twisted Spoon Press)
This book is fine. The book itself, I mean, with its textured
cover, thick, lush paper and
wonderful etchings surprisingly tucked into the margin
or at the bottom of the page.
Unexpectedly, Tomin's writing
exceeds the decadent promise of the book's production.
The novel — which could be
construed as a long prose-
poem — is unique in its vehemence and exotic rhythms.
Tomin, a Czech writer living
in Paris and writing in English,
imbues the language with a
vitality and a reality that
equals the intensity that the
best of the beat school has to
offer. Like the beats, Tomin
strives to describe the book's
events in all their living splendour, showing us the beauty
of the sweat-stained shirt or
tobacco stained teeth. The
unusual focus and stream of
consciousness prose create a
hallucinatory effect that oddly
heightens, rather than detracts
from, the unflinching realism
of the story. This book looks,
tastes and feels like 12 year old
scotch, and will have a similar
effect on your nervous system.
2742 WEST 4TH AVENUE!
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE!
LUCKY'S
CARDS MUSIC COMICS
19)4 MAIN STREET (@ 2IRD)
VANCOUVER
875-9858
Hours of Operation:
Monday-Saturday  11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sunday noon to 4:00 PM
Hello readers.  Your parents called and told us
to tell you to come to Lucky's.
Meet:  Tammy! Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Mr. Max! Tue.& Th. 2:00 to 6:00,Sundays.
Gabe! Mon.,Tue.& Th. mornings,Fri.,Sat.
You can buy stuff at Lucky's if you want to. We
sell new and used compact discs and records,
| comic books, 'zines and magazines, gaming cards
(Star Wars, Magic, etc.), and assorted novelty
items that may be of interest to you.  We have
low prices and we are simple, friendly people.
Pretty soon July Fourth Toilet will play in the
store.  You and your entire family are invited.
New music in now/coming soon: Venice Shoreline
Chris, ManorAstro-Man?, Hi-Fives, Boss Martians,
Thorsen, Trans Am, June of 44, Pavement, Lois,
DJ Spooky, Punch the Clown, and lots more. basslines
o
by dj noah (d)noah@cyberstore.ca)
Sometimes it is easier to
follow the crowd rather
than lead your own
path, and no where is this
more prevalent than in music.
It is so unique that it can unite
thousands under one roof,
and yet can also divide the
best of friends. In the last
month I have heard well-produced music, as well as songs
that bulldoze through the barriers of dance music and put
fear in the hearts of closed
minded individuals.
ECLECTRO is the title of
a compilation on Anti Static
Records that features the likes
of T. Power, Blim, Interference (Keith Le Blanc), and
others. The agenda of the Anti
Static label is to bring down
the barriers of dance music,
and the Eclectro compilation
is a perfect example of the
bonding of a plethora of
styles in "a gregarious celebration of modern musical
mayhem." Available as a
double vinyl or CD package,
this mixture is so smokin' that
you will never look at music
the same way again. The T.
Power (S.O.U.R. USA) single
bears only a slight resemblance to structures dance
music. "Symbiosis" is a powerful mix of ambient waves,
drums and bass rhythms, and
funky electro keyboards that
are enough to stimulate even
the most stubborn of minds.
On the flip side,
"Complexification" is as the
title suggests. The funk/jazz
horn stabs weave their way
through one of the fattest
breakbeats I have ever
heard, while the recurring
keyboards constantly
change octaves and pitch,
all of which combine to
form a "complex" sound
that is equal to none. Also
due out soon on S.O.U.R.
is a double CD of
Techsteppin' along with T.
Power's "Waveform."
The next four artists are all
on the Harthouse/Eye Q label. First up is "Hommage a
N o i r " by R A L F
HINDENBEUTEL. This single
is taken from the 45 minute
documentary of the same
name that Ralf wrote the
soundtrack to. It was shot in
Camaroon and focusses on
the day-today activities of the
local people. With no dialogue or plot, the music was
influenced in part by local
sounds; it is a powerful and
moving piece that won Ralf
an award at the New York
Film Festival for "Best Documentary Sountrack."
The second release for
Rich and Julie (of Los Angeles' DIMENSION 23) is on
Harthouse and it displays
their diversity. The title track,
"12 000 Ravers," is going to
make West Coast ravers go
crazy for a while, but the
dated sound will cause this
song to die out quickly. Of a
more lasting quality are the
two cuts on side B, "Mini-
mizer" and "D.D.S." These
songs are more along the
lines of trance and have a
familiar Harthouse sound that
will give them a little more
staying power with deejays.
MIR's latest 12" consists
of four distinctively different
mixes of their cover version
of The Church's "Under the
Milky Way." The Cygnus X
mix will fit in to any trance or
techno set, and the E.H.R. mix
is perfect for house fans. As
for the Space Ride and 120
BPM mixes, they are only for
the truly experimental dance
floors where only the strong
survive.
Last, the remixes of
"Beavis at Bat" by
HARDFLOOR. Dave Angel's mix is so close to the
original that it's hard to tell
them apart, but sadly the
original is better. The "funk
mix" by Patrick Lindsey is
atypical of his sound, yet is
a brilliant reworking of the
original. It's almost like he injected some soul into the otherwise mechanical original
mix. Also worth mentioning
is the Swag mix which still
maintains that "bouncy" feel,
but somehow manages to
sound more electronic and
less robotic.
In the coming months from
the Harthouse/eye Q/Recy-
cle or Die family will be releases from Freddie Fresh,
Yokota, MIR, and the first
domestically released Recycle
or Die compilation (Backlash),
which will feature some of the
artists on the ambientexperi-
mental label.*
i        i        i        i        i        i        i        iand °F course'
r      FEBRUARY     ^
DIS-CREW MOO-ZIC
• SOFTIES • SONE •
SEAM • LOW • DU
NARCOTIC • LOIS •
REBECCA WEST •
DESCENDENTS • BILL |
DIN6 • SIT *r sriN
• SUPERCONDUCTOR
ELEVENTH DREAM D Y |
• LUSH • DJ FOOD •
JALE • HEAVENLY •
MOCKET • SANRIO
MIXED TAPE (tOOD
STUFF!) • V/A PAT 0 |
COLLECTION VOL. 2 •
6THS • SMUGGLERS
• BARB'S SINGALONB |
FAVE: BIKINI KILL •
MIKO'S SIN6AL0N6
FAVE (TIL TRISTAN
KILLED IT): ZUMPANO |
• KEN'S TOE-TAPPIN",
HAND-CLAPPIN' FAVE:
V/A HERE COMES THE
SUMMER • TRISTAN
DOESN'T HAVE A FA E |
• OH, YES HE DOES:
HEOSTATICS •
TOP 103 +THREE
NEW WORLD AFRICAN MUSIC
THIS MONTH                SINGLES CHART LAST MONTH
I.R0»AAtMCH0_A1BK_ COMING AGAIN SO SOON PT I + 2 CRYSTAL ROSE 10
2. ANTHONY B FIRE PON ROME GREENSLEEVES 4
3. CIMNE WILLIAMS WCEYOU UGHH/HOPEFULY IT WON'T HAfffN YO MAMA (UK) I
4. AU OWE W00D50N PEOPLE GET READY (PAUL JACKSON JR.] BLUE NOTE 12
S.INDIA LOVE ME RMM 16
6.H0WUDXHtC0N_GRJVHY WAY'CROSS GEORGIA VERVE 31
7. SOLAR SYSTEM
S.GMUNE
9. HORACE SILVER
10. BCARDOliMVOtMAIONA 10C0 YIRI YIRI BON MOPIATA        jo
11. An*hony Hill Prayer Did II Pi. 1 + 2 k-lersound 27
l2.RayCharles Strong Love Affair/ AH She Wants To Do WB                    47
13. Phorez Whirled ADifWertKiidOflm^AnyfimAiiyvlitre Moiazz             15
14. Cocoa Tea Rastaman/Repatrialion VP(Jom)           5
15. Raymond Myies Someday VfcllAl 3. Free/learning To Is* Honey Darling 1
!6.GoryBarte And He Called HimsJf A Merger Aiantic 17
i 7. Culture I Tried/Roslaman A Come RAS 9
It. Tib Puente/Basie/k*dia What A Difference A Day Mo<W*w RMM 23
19. The Gen* Harris Quart.* Summertime Concord 73
tO. Friends From Rio Os Grilos Far Out 26
!1. Keith Sweat & Athena Cage ShowMeThe Wby/Nobody 0-Jdra 82
2. Mod Cobra Big long John EMI 54
[3. Jimmy Pender The Creator Has A Master Han Muse 62
!4. Ray BarreMo No Hoy ProkJema (No Problem) Owl                     3
15. Cutty Ranks/Barringkxi Levy MyVfcman Priority            40
10. Lee McCain Bat Yam/Someday We'll Meet Again Musianaslers 7
!7.bfc*tbria»SouVGeoi5ehK« You Can Do It Baby (Mow Mixes) Giant Step 12" 21
11. David Rudder Ues From Strange Laid/No Rrtidion on Fridion Lypsoland 36
!9. Frank Vignola Organized Conksion Concord Vista 50
». Monly Alexander Low Notes/Exodus bl. Jam. Jazz 13
-.".BobbyMntosAf. Gib. Jazz Ensb. flamenco Ain't Bad/Recuerdos Ubiquity 41
O.Jeffbiber Catherine/Cat Paws \brw 42
(3. lonnie Smi-h/Midiael Fronti Mow Your Hand (Remix) Blue Note 39
M.Negrocan African Bird/Superst-hon Deep Sou*! (UK) 22
IS.AnnNesby let Old Memories Be Perspective        70
16. Louis Hurry King Luis Icescream        5B
17. Tania Maria Bluesilian/Oxala TKM                  60
Return Of The Mack
I. Mark Morrison
I. Leroy Mafia
I. Ernest Ranglin
I. Holland Tunnel Project
'.Black/Not.
I. Ian Gogle & Globd Fusion
I. The N. F. L Homs
i. The Quiet Boys/C. Hinds
». Glenn lbmer
. Curtis Mayfield
. Rodney Mannsfield
54/46/Cone bl.Jam.J
Rescue/Feel the Way Liquid EP
Allergic Reaction/Double Indemnity Impulse!
AfroBlue Cymelob
Manwa (Subway Mix) Intanolass
Ewyt»dtl£»T_'«Hlm|0l.-O_M_) Thin Air 1
I Need A lover For Myself CDJ 12"
Back To Living Again/No One Knows... WB
NoWay/LeTMeKnaw|lMlyMix) Expansion
Barbados/Nubia
Ifs All About You /Use You r Heart
ce In My Head
_N• MUSIC • Oo^'MANkiMfc
SUNDAYS 7-9 Pn
;jv8 wmArvj
[0 •Pt^V'pGH^OU'QOH
71. Cissy Houslon
72. Joshua Redman
73. Paqu'iloD'Rrwra
74. Ch«w"eFron_yn
75. Robert Perera
76. Jason Miles
77. Colorado Mass Choir
78. George Howard
79. Chantoy Savage
HO. Monifoh
81.koUlHamio.Mt.b_ls
82. David Sea
83. Eddie Henderson
M.TodVOo
FEBRUARY  1997
BL TOPO BL PEBZ
1.MYSTB80US CARGO PHAREZ WHTTED MOJAZZ
2. JAZZIN- TITO PUENTE/INDIA/COUNT BASE OROt    RMM
3. JEREMY M/INPOCT SAME TELARC
4.SKARAVAN JAZZ JAM1ACA RYKODISC
5. THE MGHT IS STU YOUNG AU>HONSE MOUZON              TENACIOUS
MOLE DEE OLDEES
•* QUILOMBOO EL NEGRO
JOHN COLTRANE UKE SOMEONE IN LOVE
ERIC MERCURY WHATS USUAL SEEMS NATR'L
JAMES BOOKER
DERRICK MORGAN
A
92. Shirley Scolt
93. diaries Fambrough
94. NoTenshun
95. AITariq
96. Uw Tropical Fish
97. Sergio Mendes
98. PhJVfcods
99. Angela Bofill
100. W. C. dark
101.Tf.CA.ProJKlFel.RMA
102. MCLyte
103. Me'Sh J Ndegeocello
LiHle Black Samba/When Oct. Comes \
UfebReal I
Lefs Dance/Sunday [
Knighttime E
Was It Somelhing I Did?/Just In Case 1
A.C. Especiol/NM-lch The Ride [
Hot Bean Strut I
Song For Bilboa I
Dreaming Of You I
Yesterdays I
Banderas I
Samba Da Zona/Feijao Com Arroz \
Dytll 1
Horn, Is WW. He Haired Is (Prog* T.Y. Mix) I
HowSweetltls I
Hide And Seek 1
Mariana/Song To My Son <
Rub It Here, Rub ft There/From A Sister I
Place In The Sun I
Jesus Is Low/I Miss You (Remix)
HeCares/Wbnderful
My Baby
Dawning Dance/Cerulean Blue
My low b Here For You
PPark/lhe Thinker
Maw Latin Blues
NoWomanNoCrylRemix)
Ihe dock/Midnight In Memphis
Trisle
TheHunl/Delores
Capehom/Cantina
Rio De Janeiro
Dois Pro La/No da Sera Camo Antes
Soul Of Mine
Reminiscing
Past-Spaced Out Remix
Cold Rock A Party (Bad Boy Remix)
Male Me Wanna Hotr/A W & A Srri
18   february  1997 After nearly two months
of eerie silence, I have
a working record
player again. I realize how
petty and bourgeois I look
when my biggest articulated
complaint is a broken turntable, but there is no use in pretending that my priorities lie
elsewhere. I suppose I resemble Bertrand Russell's "aristocratic rebel" who, "since he
has enough to eat, must have
other causes of discontent."
Music is my primary preoccupation. When my access to
music is denied, I become restless and likely to revolt. A
steady diet of it keeps me
quiet and contented. Now that I
am hooked back up to my fix,
the rulers of the world need
quiver in their beds no longer.
PARTY OF ONE's 7"
manages to be catchy and
cute without being nauseating. The chorus of "Alanna
Ubach," a song apparently
about some obscure TV star,
is still in my head as I write
this. "Windup Machine" features violin, keyboard, and the
same weird, oscillating vocals
as its counterpart. (Prospective
Records, PO Box 6425,
MPLS, MN, 55406
'The Sal Paradise Delegation" by the LORD HIGH
FIXERS frightened me the first
time I played it. You see, that
particular song speeds up and
sbws down a few times in a
very disconcerting way. My
first thought upon hearing this
uncalled-for velocity shift was
that my beautiful new turntable was possessed by demons, and my second thought
was that my beautiful new
turntable was broken. Fortu
nately for my immortal soul
(not to mention my decidedly
mortal gear), it was just the
Lord High Fixers being silly.
"Soul Music In Action" is in a
similar vein of jumpy pop-
punk, with gravelly vocals that
remind me of a certain
Thirlwell "I Need Your
Love" is wacked-out doo-wop
complete with agonized
screams. The Fixers' single is
called Soul Parry, and it is
great energetic fun. (Scooch
Pooch Records, 323 Broadway Avenue East, #405
Seattle, WA, 98102)
Slampt is one of my favourite labels, partly because
it and the people behind it are
so spunky and independent-
minded, but mostly because
it puts out a lot of really neat
music. Slampt's 4-Track compilation is aptly named: four
bands, four songs, all recorded on four-track machines. I'M BEING GOOD
make a bizarre, sludgy mess
of "Killick Versus Pye," a song
which defies all categorization SMALL BLACK PIG,
featuring Ms. C of International Strike Force on vocals, hit a slow groove with
the very cool 'Vampire Lover."
DELICATE VOMITs contribution, "Mr. Potatohead," is not
as good as their song on the
Elastic Jet Mission compilation
LP, but it has a really neat ray-
gun keyboard solo. And
DEATHSTAR, the only band
on this 7" that I hadn't heard
of when I bought it, do sweet
and scary experimental pop.
(Slampt Underground Organization, PO Box 54 Heaton,
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE6
5YW, UK)
According to the 10 page,
3-D booklet that comes with
the,r7" VINNIEANDTHE
STARDUSTERS managed to
generate quite a bit of notoriety in their hometown of
Minneapolis. The reading material, which is full of (what I
assume to be) Minneapolis in-
jokes about (Soul Asylum's)
Dave Pirner, souped-up Archie
comics, and band history
tidbits, is amusing in that it's
so excessive. Who needs
songs when you've got 3-D
glasses and Vinnie and the
Stardusters trading cards? I
think there's a point being
made here, and I think I may
have missed it. As for the music — well, I don't know, but
the lyrics to "Quesadilla," a
deadpan rewriting of "Que
Sera Sera," made me laugh
my head off. (Ultramodern/
Prospective, 2217 Nicollet
Avenue South, Minneapolis,
MN, 55404)
"Daisy," by the BUTTERFLIES, sounds like a deranged
waltz being danced by a
pair of giant mutant slugs.
"Come On In My *g»iWi4
Kitchen," on the B-
side, is an old
Robert Johnson
tune being pummelled into the
ground by a barrage of off-key harmonica and big, $
messy guitars. (Ng Records, 622
Broadway #3A, New York, NY,
10012)
YUM YUM TREE'S vocalist, if the rather faint photograph on the sleeve of Riot Up
Your Ass is accurate, bears a
frightening resemblance to a
friend I had in elementary
school. She and the rest of the
band make pretty standard
punk with angrily wailed vocals. It's refreshing to see a
group of peopie who are
equally scornful of hypocrisy
and conformity among punks
as among "normals." My favourite lyric: "I'd rather wear
a Birkenstock/than suck the
dick of indie rock!" (Vital
Music Records, PO Box 210,
New York, NY, 10276)
ELLIOT SMITH'S mild
voice and quiet, introspective
music go quite well together.
His latest single on Kill Rock
Stars has three songs: "Speed
Trials," "Angeles," and "I
Don't Think I'm
Ever Gonna
Figure It Out."
The second
two, surprisingly, have a
slightly countrified feel to them. Elliot's appeal lies in his sincerity, a
value rare even among indie
rockers. (Kill Rock Stars, 120
NE State Avenue #418,
Olympia, WA, 98501)-
between
by"a n 3reg & cHirjsti ncj,
__H> ESftW*
93A3Rnf
After writing this column
for three months, I feel
the need to once
again state what I had felt was
an obvious fact. Seeing as
people do not seem to get the
hint, I will try to go about explaining our review policy in
a different manner. Andrea
and I are very busy people.
Andrea worb full time in a
very stressful job in order to
support herself. I go to high
school and do not even have
a lunch hour. As well as those
daily commitments, we both
spend time doing other things
like art, reading, writing, and
having social lives. As a result, we do not have all the
time in the world.
Neither of us are indie
rock kids, nor are heavily involved in punk rock. Therefore, neither of us wants to
spend our precious free time
reading indie/punk rock culture zines. We have said a
multitude of times that we will
not review such zines; however, every time we go to UBC
to check our mail, we are
swamped with the blasted
things. I will be blunt: we do
not care about whatever the
hot band du jour is. We do
not even read the music/
funzines you send us beyond
a short skim.
There are papers like
Factsheet Five and Terminal
City who relate to what you
are saying in your zines and
will gladly review them. I
would think that it would be
logical to send them to such
places where you will receive
the praise that you deserve,
rather than to us who will
in no way acknowledge
their arrival. Happy Valentine's Day.
HANDS OFF #4/ RECLAIMING MY NAME #7
(32 pages, half size)
This is a split issue of two of
my favourite zines. In both
zines, the authors are writing
about their mental health. This
zine puts a face and history
on the label "crazy," which is
lines
not a common thing. The subject of mental health carries so
much stigma, even in the supposed "open" world of zines.
Both authors describe their experiences with abuse and how
it has factored into their mental health as a means of coping. Also, the fear and emotion accompanied by mental
illness is powerfully portrayed
here — an especially important factor to this zine.
We live in a culture that
glamorizes mental illness
while stigmatizing it as well.
On one hand, it is "cool" to
be crazy — Kurt Cobain and
his depression/suicidal tendency made him an icon. On
the other hand, if you are
crazy you are treated as
though you are carrying a
plague. What seems to be
missing from our conditioned
treatment of those with mental
illness is a middle ground
where we can be equally compassionate to those with mental illness as to our fellow non-
"crazy" human beings—with
out glamorizing the issue. I feel
that the best way to work towards finding that balance is
to understand the experiences
of those who have mental illness issues as well as you can
through educating and empathizing. This is an important
resource; it gives the background, thoughts and feelings
of two women dealing with
mental health issues in an articulate, but not overly medical manner. Send $2 to PO
Box 33, 345 E. Broadway,
Vancouver, BC,V5T4G5.
SOY NOT "Oil"
(113 pages, half size)
This is a huge vegan
cookzine assembled by the
"hippycore krew" and described as including
"over 100 recipes designed to destroy the
government." This is
by far the most complete vegan
cookzine that I
have ever come
across. Although I J?
haven't yet :fj
read the entire thing, the editors seem to have found
a vegan recipe for everything.
As well as supplying a myriad
of vegan recipes, there is a
huge list of lesser known animal-derived additives, some of
which I was not previously
aware of.
I must complain, however,
about the part about vegan
beer. I do not care how DIY it
is to make your own beer, it is
not a "punk rock" thing to do.
Just because one is not directly
supporting corporations
through buying their beer, it
doesn't necessarily mean that
going out and getting drunk
is "fucking with the system
more than straight-edge kids
[and] Nancy Reagan
morals do." If
you
a re
out-of-your-
mind drunk it does n o t
matter where you got your
beer, you are still emotionally
weakened and apathetic during that time. That doesn't
seem very punk to me. I would
have to say that sXe (straightedge) bashing is a bit immature and that if you have to do
it, at least do it well. Other
than that little issue (by the
way, I am not even sXe) this
was really amazing! Even if
you are not vegan, these recipes will leave you drooling.
Send a few dollars to Profane
Existence, PO Box 8722,
Minneapolis, MN, 55408.
MY  LIFE  WITH   EVAN
DANDO POPSTAR
(36        pages,
quarter size)
Okay, so you say
that you can't find
any of Kathleen
Hanna's fanzines?
Well, look no further
because Riot Grrrl Press
Canada carries the infamous Ms. Hanna's work.
"He earns his money the
good old fashioned way. He
takes it from sexually repressed little kids ... in return
for their allowances, he fills
their heads with meaning -
popsongs. Yeah." My Life with
Evan Dando Popstar is a look
at misogyny through letters to
Evan Dando. Read and learn.
Send a buck to Riot Grrrl
Press, PO Box 33, 345 E.
Broadway, Vancouver, BC,
V5T4G5. •
19   E^g5S!E___i under
review
THE AQUAVELVETS
Nomad
(Mesa)
My enlhusiasm for rock instrumental music is often lukewarm —
current genres are too pure or
restrictive, unlike surf music of
the '50s and '60s, which had
a large vocal component. The
Aquavelvets' last CD,
Surfmania, however, grew on
me in time; carefully crafted and
full of evocative shadings inducing imagery of tiki lounges,
tropical beaches, and Mexican
rooftop sunsets, it remains a cut
above most contemporary surf releases, with perhaps the exception of the more campy Tiki
Tones' Idol Pleasures.
Nomad has not quite endeared itself to me as much as
Surfmania, despite a neat cover
and a series of intriguing song
names (for example, "Shrunken
Head" or "Surf Nouveau*). Having given Nomad time to grow
on me, Surfmania is still my flavoured effort by this band.
J. Boltd
AUTOMATIC 7
Automatic 7
(BYO)
Get out the Prozac and hide the
razor blades, 'cause this one will
depress the hell out of you. It's
great music, but every song hos
this underlying tone of failure ond
despair. So if you're feeling good
and you don't think it's justified,
pop this baby in and you'll be
feeling gloomy and confused in
no time. Other than that, it's just
straightforward punk rock in the
BYO tradition.
Dave Tolnai
THE BELMONT PLAYBOYS
Wolf Patrol
(Teen Rebel)
I saw this North Carolina outfit
perform at a British rockabilly festival a few years back. That gig
was sort of lacklustre ond uninspired (maybe they had jet-lag).
I was hoping this releose would
find them in better form and it
does, but not overly so.
Nine of Ihe 14 tracks here are
covers (which bodes ill for the
"originality" score). Some of the
covers are of Link Wray's
"Wild One" (played well here),
Boyd Bennet's "My Boy Flat
Top," the Otis Blackwell-
penned and Presley-popularized "Paralyzed," and Duke
Ellington's "Caravan" (check
out the Ventures version). Luckily the band plays these selections
in a style of their own.
The self-penned tunes here
are Fairly decent but the brand of
rockin' blues the band exhibits
leaves me a little cold. A lot of
guitar playing owes more to
Stevie Ray Vaughan than
Muddy Waters. These guys
sound like they should be playing some roadhouse stage with
one of those neon Budweiser
signs behind them.
Wolf Patrol is good, but not
essential.
Sean Law
PETER BLEGVAD
Just Woke Up
(ESD)
Once upon a time, there was
Henry Cow. This Henry Cow was
not a person. Henry was, in fact,
a group of people who made
up one of the most influential
bands in the progressive, experimental scene in the 1970s. They
combined jazz, classical, rock
and other neat things in this wonderful mishmash that was all
their own. And most importantly,
the music was the end itself, not
just a means for showing off
flashy chops.
Of course, all things must pass
and old Henry Cow was no different. Peter Blegvad was one
of these fortunate souls who
passed through the ranks, but his
album, Just Woke Up, shows he
wants to do somelhing quite different from the past. Teaming up
with former Henry Cow-hands,
John Greaves and Chris Cutler as
the rhythm section, he's put together a smart, adult-oriented
pop album. Musically, itcould fall
somewhere between XTC and
American Music Club — less
jaunty lhan the former but a bit
more up-tempo than the latter.
And while Blegvad won't
make anyone forget Cole Porter or Randy Newman's lyrics, he can turn a phrase. He
seems especially at home when
writing about very ordinary day
to-day things. In the best tune,
"Daughter," he comes up with
some very playful rhyme
schemes: "Everything I say/she
takes to heart. Everything she
takes/she lakes apart. That's my
daughter in the water/every time
she fell I caught her. Every time
she fell."
Just Woke Up isn't exactly a
classic and I doubt it's trendy
enough to merit a video on the
nation's music station. There
aren't any throwaway songs either, and the whole thing does
manage to make for a pleasant
enough hour's worlh of music.
Michael Chouinard
DOWNLOAD
The Eyes of Stanley Pain
(Nettwerk)
With Skinny Puppy cc-founder
cEvin    Key    at    the    helm.
Download inevitably draws
comparisons to thot now-defunct
group. On this disc, Key and
partner Mark Spybey create
many a dark mood, utilizing a
few trademark Puppy synth
sounds. But where Skinny Puppy
layered samples and noise over
ever-changing beats to create
dense soundscopes, Download,
for the most part, prefers a
stripped-down't-pproach, eschewing the guitars Puppy began
to favour for purely electronic
sounds. Simplicity and repetition
are key elements in Download's
aesthetic. At times, The Eyes of
Stanley Pain sounds more like a
particularly brooding techno disc
than an industrial album.
What Download succeeds at
best is the creation of moods. The
disc's tide track is a drifting, ambient piece with sampled voices
floating in and out of the mix. It's
a very quiet song but it's damn
unsettling; it sounds like the
soundtrack to a nightmare.
Genesis P. Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) contributes some detached, spoken
vocals that come across like
phone calls from another dimension. He has the uncanny ability
to make you wonder, "Did I realty hear that, or was it a hallucination?*
I just wish there was more of
that. There are plenty of interesting beats and sounds here but
what's missing, ultimately, is the
human element. Skinny Puppy
was so successful because, even
when he was completely indecipherable (which was most of the
Hme) Ogre's vocals provided the
band with a focal point. With
Download, there's very little for
the listener to connect wilh.
Overall, ihough, I would call
The Eyes of Stanley Pain a success, if for no other reason lhan
the fact lhat it scares ihe bejeezus
out of me.
John Lucas
ELVEZ
G.I. Ay Ayl Blues
(Big Pop)
"If there is any hope for a Revolution, it lies in Elvis Presley
becoming Che Guevara." Viva
la Revolution! El Vex is back in
full effect, ripping off tunes of
many (Queen, Elvis, BTO,
Andrew Lloyd Webber ...)
and twisting them to further the
cause of the common people. Join
the revolution as well as get some
real fun music with G.I. Ay, Ayl
Blues. El Vez is he hope! Missing out would be a bummer.
Rev. Norman
THE FLAMINGOES
Plastic Jewels
(Big Pop/Pandemonium)
Never having heard ihem before,
my first thought when I opened
The Flamingoes' (yes, with an
"e") CD jacket was, "Well... ihey
credited Echobelly, ihey can't
be hat bad." And truly, I can't
say that they are.
They really Iry.
Two of the three boys, Jude
and James, have an adult-con temporary-cheese meets British-pop
look about them. Neither of them
seems to possess a last name,
but what is unclear is whether
they aspire to follow in the footsteps of Morrissey or Madonna. Their drummer, Kevin
Matthews, has satisfactory talent, but apparently serves the
sole purpose of boosting the
band's image. Methinks he
would be happier hanging out
in Suede's "Trash" video.
And while I'm on subject, really, I think these guys could benefit from a Brett Anderson-esque
vocalist. James' voice is closer to
the generic nasal Brit sound that
they seem to be striving for, but
he and Kevin should slop humouring Jude by letting his dry husk
lake up half of ihe album. It simply doesn't match ihe music. Although some of the tracks spiral
into unquestionably cheesy guitar solos, and the ballads leave
a bit to be desired, the foster
songs show great potential for the
Flamingoes to become yet another British pop band. "Disappointed," "Teenage Emergency,"
and "Scenester" are undoubtedly
the highlights of the album. Their
attempt at clever lyrics is cute, but
they could benefit from reading
a book or two before they embark on their next project.
While Plastic Jewels is mediocre at best, there were times when
I couldn't help bobbing my
head up and down in a muppet-
like fashion. Definitely a good
sign. Claps to the Flamingoes
for the effort.
Alia Hussey
FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON
Dead Cities
(Astralwerks)
The new FSOL starts off wilh a
funky, apocalyptic recreation of
a Run/DMC song that'll make
even the most gloomy of butts
start shakin', and the album goes
off into superfreaked space from
then on. If you thought iheir album ISDN blew your mind, ond
Lifeforms screwed it, then you'll
probably think Dead Cities is
good enough to buy. I wouldn't
say lhat this one is quite as much
of a mindfuck, but it's fun. You
could even spend an extra 20
bucks or so and get the deluxe
package with even more of their
amateurish computer graphics if
you so desired.
The hit song, "My Kingdom,"
is FSOL doing dub with weird
Middle Eastern samples and is a
good accompaniment to your
next hit of acid. "Max," with its
sleepy piano, will make you feel
like you're floating in milk.
"Quagmire" is FSOL's try at doing the jungle thing, which won't
work on fhe dance floor, but
might make sweeping your
kitchen a whole lot more fun. On
the downside, the song "Dead
Cities" sounds like a bad Renegade Soundwave song, and
"In a State of Permanent Abyss"
would have sounded good on a
Jean Michel Jarre album in
1982, but now it sounds a bit ste-
pid. And the final track, "First
Death in the Family," sounds like
music for David Lynch's Dune,
but lhat was more than ten years
ago! Retro electronic music? I
don't know.
lee Henderson
HAYDEN
Moving Careful
(Hardwood/Sonic Unyon)
The new album from this ever-touring Ontario 23 year old boasts
distinctive, musically and emotionally catchy tunes. Like fellow
one-man-band Beck, Hayden
is experimental and original without forgetting the past. The sardonic "Old Fashioned Way" criticizes modern society's frustrating
paranoia. It "was written the day
I was refused a wet shave ... because of AIDS."
These classic songs initially
sound depressing, but once
delved into (easily done) they
encaptivate wilh their ironic humour. Simple but poignant lines
like in "Stride" ("You and I Rely
on Little Things to Get By") are
reminiscent of Sebadoh. Like
Lou Barlow, Hayden relates specific events and their effect on
him. "Half For Me" bemoans his
girlfriend being pinched by his
best friend: "They were the only
smokers so they'd meet outside
every 20 minutes when we all
used to hang out." Simple, but
effective, and very true to life.
James Bainbridge
HEAVENLY
Operation Heavenly
(K)
My immediate reaction to hearing this album was to start dancing. I'm serious. I couldn't help
myself. This was one of the best
albums of '96. It is consistently
good and 100% Heavenly. If
you like ihe way Lush has gotten
out of their sad, ambient rut, or
you wish that Elastica would just
mellow out a bit more, then this
album is probably for you. Sadly,
before the album was released,
their drummer committed suicide. All we can hope for is
that they will be able to recover from the loss and continue to record, because right
now they are one of the most
talented bands in the pop
scene. Plus, ihey have a song
called "Space Manatee."
Mr. Chris
LOIS
Infinity Plus
(K)
For some reason, I'd never really
loved Lois Maffeo's songwriting
— I liked it, admired it, respected
it. It's that weird state of knowing
how you want to feel, how you
think you should be feeling, but
not being able to do a thing to
achieve it. And goddammit, I
wanted to love it— honest— but
there was something missing for
Her songs are always lovely,
full of simple (but not boring),
catchy (but not familiar), and intelligent (but not pretentious) folk-
punk elements. I own much of her
material, including solo albums,
her work in Courtney Love
with Yo Yo studioman  Pat
Maley, and her more current
work in her band, The Lois. This
new album continues her progression towards fuller, lusher, more
complicated song structures, with
musical and production help from
mega-stars Alan Sparhawk
(Low), Heather Dunn (Tiger
Trap), Brendan Canty (Fugazi),
Elliot Smith, Ryan Boldoz, and
Steve Fisk.
"Not Funny, Ha-Ha," which
is perhaps ihe best song on Infinity Plus, is also on her previous
EP, Snapshot Radio, but as a different version. This one is even
more slow and melancholic and
beautiful, as are the words "you
don't make me feel funny
anymore ..." There are more upbeat numbers on here as well —
if you ain't tappin' yer toes to
"Sunrise Semester" and "Capital
A," there might be something
wrong with you.
In the Olympia, WA punk
rock scene, Lois is legendary —
her place in ihe (next to D.C.) DIY
capital of America is ultimately
move me every time I listen.
Maybe before, I just didn't listen
miko
99
Ninety -Nine
(Endearing/Patsy)
99 is Laura (formerly Lora)
MacFarlane, ex-drummer of
Sleater-Kinney (she was their
first). Recorded mainly in Melbourne, Australia (her home),
wilh Iwo cuts recorded in Portland, Oregon (one of Sleater-
Kinney's stomping grounds),
Ninety-Nine shows off Laura's
talents as a multi-instrumentalist
(drums, guitar, keyboards, viola,
xylophone) and singer/song-
Writer.
Laura had her moments wilh
Sleater-Kinney as a singer/songwriter as well as a formidable
drummer ("Lora's Song" is at
times Sleater-Kinney's highlight
for me), but 99 expands upon
those songs she penned for her
former band. 99 is looser and
more diverse than Sleater-
Kinney's work thusfar, but consequently it's also not as focussed
and intense. Laura's vocals aren't
nearly as confrontational as
Corin's and her material tends to
avoid those kinds of extremes and
searches for clever hooks and
turns of phrases instead — nonetheless, there's a similarly gripping affinity with turbulence (emo
tional and otherwise), and 99 is
similarly infectious.
pepe le moko
NEOTROPIC
15 Levels of Magnification
(ntone)
Riz Maslen, the mastermind behind Nootropic (also Phreak
and Small Fish with Spine),
presents ihe most interesting material yet to rise from the
NinjaTune stables. Beating the
Coldcut/DJ Food/Hex boys
at their own game, / 5 Levels of
Magnification is soaked to the
gills with electro-jazziness, hazy
ambiance, and funky beats. From
the   hyper-kinetic   rhythmic
20   february 1997 wonkiness of the tide Irack to ihe
spooky olher-worldly atmosphere
of "It's Your Turn to Wash Up"
and "CCTV," Riz provides a
soundtrack for an open mind.
Obviously so full of ideas, she
never lets any of the 16 tracks
run on for very long and that's a
shame. Just as the music is about
to absorb you, she hits stop and
moves onto something else. As
such, 15 Levels... may take a few
listens to fully appreciate.
Jovian Froncey
THE NEW GRAND
The New Grand
(Sonic Unyon)
This disc reminds me of a show I
once attended at the Anza Club.
I don't know why. It might be
because it sounds like some generic, well-tuned, welfoiled, boy
pop. Kinda Local Rabbit-ish, in
a good manner, that is. Having
all 12 Iracks repeat in a 24 hour
fashion (eg. #13=#1,#14=#2,
et cetera) on the CD version
causes the listener to become fatigued by Irack 15 (wilh the impression lhat I've already heard
this before). Then again, having
a CD cramped full of two minute
tracks would drive people insane
... So it's at least a way of fillin'
the unused portion of the 74-
minute media.
twinch
OVAL
94diskont
(Thrill Jockey)
Difficult to categorize, Oval's
latest release is a sublimely fascinating album. This electro-instrumental music is a relaxing melange of randomness and repetition — almost ambient, but
not in the soundscape sense of
the word.
There are no overwhelming
intensities or schizophrenic
changes here, yet the music retains a completely unpredictable
nature. Sometimes sounding like
a radio flickering between overlapping channels, this album has
its own built-in multi-linear phase
shifter. 94diskont bleeps blamelessly and it will make you very
smart if you listen to it.
Kevin Dimples
RAILROAD JERK
The Third Rail
(Matador)
The Third Rail is another fine release from those New York Cily
boys, Railroad Jerk. The always suave Marcellus Hall provides his fine illustrations far each
of the album's songs. BassistTony
Lee and guitarist Alec Stephen
take lead vocal duty on a song
each. The Third Rail has no real
stinkers, just good ol' down home
rock V roll. Maximum listening
pleasure for those who like to get
dirty once in a while: "I wanna
see your anatomy, baby!"
Miss 'LaLa" Little Twin Stars
REX
C
WALTZ iP
(Southern)
"Please use this record for long
drives, lazy Saturday afternoons
and reminiscing about your past*
(liner notes, c).
Rex is Curtis Harvey (guitar/
vocals), Phil Spirito (bass/vocals)
and Doug Scharin (drums). A^
though technically they've been
in existence since the late '80s,
they were more or less defunct
for a number of years, mainly due
to the fact lhat Doug Scharin was
a part of Codeine. Since Codeine's demise, Rex has been
back in action, in full-swing. As
indicated above, the Rex experience is meditative in nature. Unlike drone specialists like Bardo
Pond, th' Faith Healers
(r.i.p.), Stereolab and others,
Rex opts for a somewhat less driv-
ing, linear sound and instead
deals mainly in the undulations
of sonic swells, sometimes gentle, other times crashing. Rex
tends towards the lengthy (nine
min. songs are nof uncommon,
and c "weighs in" at nearly 70
mins.), but their material never
gets dull (on c, at least).
Waltz is a four-song EP lhat
was apparently inspired by someone's suggestion lhat ihey record
a collection of songs in 4/4 waltz
time. It comes in a lovely faux-
78rpm binding — appropriately
enough, with a lovely letter-
pressed cover. "High School
Dance Hit" (the opener) is the first
"sour note" that I've heard from
Rex, but the remaining three
songs are all very strong — particularly their version of the standard "Willow Garden" ond side
B's "Sorry, Blue Eyes You're Not."
Not Surprisingly, the 4/4 time restricts Dough Scharin's playing,
but the songs (wilh one exception)
hold up nicely in spite of this.
eddie, he plague
SCREECHING WEASEL
Bark Uke a Dog
(Fat Wreck Chords)
That's it. I've had enough of your
shit, Ben Weasel. I accepted your
last (and supposedly final) breakup. I laughed at your stupid "I'm
a punk and this is how j act, so
should you" columns. I stuck up
for you when people called you
a sellout. I looked forward to
hearing your new album. And
what do you do? You create a
pile of shit. You stick this piece of
crap album in front of me and
expect me to buy it just because
it has the Screeching Weasel
name on it, just so you can afford to live your dreamy Punk
Rock lifestyle. You surround four
or five good songs wilh a bunch
of cheesy knockoffs about girls
and summer and shit like lhat. You
should have ended it. How to
Make Enemies and Irritate People was good. This is not.
Dove Tolnai
SEEFEEL
(CH-VOX)
(Rephlex)
In this city, you hove to really like
Seefeel to buy their albums,
because they cost more lhan cold
caps for your teeth. I thought
Seefeel had called it quits and
Mark Clifford had gone on to do
Disjecta, but Seefeel are back
with this new album. Maybe it's
post-humous, I don't know. It's a
short album, ihough (just over 30
minutes), and very sombre. It is
in some ways quite a departure
from where Seefeel hod ended
up on the last album Succour, ond
then again, not really.
The album starts off, in fact,
with "Ulreat," which is on Succour, but now in its complete farm
on (CH-VOX). The album ignores
the word "song" completely and
opts instead to slowly go through
different acoustic tone bursts, as
though the listener is walking in
the basement of a giant hospital
listening to a lunatic who is 400
feet away, but getting closer,
while banging and running on
big iron pipes. The effect is rather
disturbing, and makes these rainy
days seem that much more oppressive. If you're into really minimal ambient stuff, like Sulpher
or Zoviet France, then you'll
like the whole thing enough to
skip getting your buck teeth gold-
plated.
lee Henderson
MATTHEW SHIPP
Symbol Systems
(No More)
A reviewer for the jazz journal
Cadence recently referred to pianist Matthew Shipp as a
master of his generation. This
kind of praise from the jazz intelligentsia usually makes me
skeptical because I could rattle
off a list of at least a dozen
young geniuses whose music
betrays a desire to do nothing
more than revive the sounds of
the old Blue Note or Prestige
classics of the '50s.
Shipp, however, is a definite
exception among young players. As his first solo recital. Symbol Systems, shows, he has developed a very personal voice
on his instrument that even a layman like me can distinguish and
appreciate.
He credits Andrew Hill,
Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley,
Thelonious Monk and Bud
Powell as his major influences.
And it's Taylor who seems, at first,
to have the biggest hold on
Shipp. But for too many pianists
who play any atonal music get
pigeonholed as Taylor imitators;
the late Don Pullen rightfully
fought the tag for years. Certainly, on pieces like "Harmonic
Oscillator," Shipp's style is coolly
abstract like Taylor's. Sometimes
he seems to pound at the lower
register keys with enough intensity to move the Richter scale.
He has a flair for contrast and
space without cluttering his play
ing at all. Instead, he prefers to
sustain notes, giving the listener
time to let them all sink in. A
composition like "Frame" is
rather bluesy, yet it is executed
with a refinement suited to chamber music. The Bley influence is
clear here.
On other pieces, like "Bop
Abyss," Shipp deconstructs the
sound of older jazz as the title
should indicate. It starts out like
it should be a Monk tune, but it
quickly stops, gets up, does a little dance and takes off in a direction Thelonious probably
couldn't even have foreseen.
In short, Shipp makes every
note count. He creates new music, rather lhan solo through jazz
standards. And ihough his influences are clear, his playing and
composing sound like Matthew
Shipp, not anyone else. I might
even call him a master.
Michael Chouinard
BOB WISEMAN
Accidentally Acquired Beliefs
(WEA)
I've said it before, and I'll say it
again: Bob Wiseman is one
of Canada's most inventive and
talented musicians. His live shows
are overwhelming and his previous albums have been marvellous. Unfortunately, I just don't
find that his Accidentally Acquired Beliefs inspires such glowing superlatives.
It's not lhat the songs on the
album aren'tgood — Wiseman's
live performances of "10 000
Miles" and "Stay Untraceable"
are great. This album is simply
not as adventurous os previous
triumphs such as "Lake Michigan
Soda" or "City of Wood." The
songs are overproduced, excessively mixed — curiously, by
Wiseman himself. The album is
slick and radio-friendly, ond
maybe ihis is the central problem,
i'd like to Ihink lhat this all
happened because Wseman has
opted for major label distribution
and was compelled to temper his
creativity by some dull corporate
automaton. Certainly, WEA's lawyers refused to sanction the inclusion on Ihe album of ihe full version of "My Cousin Dave," a hilariously acerbic song in which
Wiseman lambastes David
Geffen for his unethical business
practices all the while asking for
a major label deal. He has performed this song to an enthusiastic reception every time I've seen
him live — and yet only the first
half-chorus makes it onto this album. Oh well.
Adam Monahan
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Crookfyn Dub Consortium
(Wordsound)
I find great pleasure in listening
to the very sweet tracks on this
CD. This is it, an album to acquire and keep dose. This is the
premium dope!
As is said by ihe Lord Gimp
Order of the Crooked Knights,
"We present Certified Dope Vol.
2, lhat exotic, erotic, raw-type shit
ripe from the rotting corpse (the
Rotten Apple) of an empire."
All the pieces are good by
those who give themselves ihe
labels of Spectre vs. Scoldy
Ward, Unitone HiFi, Dr. Israel, The Mystic, Bill
Laswell, No Seeka, Scarab,
Torture, OHM Megabyte,
The Count of Monte Cristo
and Him!
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Electronic Phunk Phone
Presents: Phuturistic Phunk
(Tekhed/LIquid       Sky/
Caroline)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Cup of Tea: a Compilation
(Cup of Tea/Quango/Island)
Bolh of these albums might be
described as dance music compilations, but doing so would onfy
turn the page for
more reviews "...underground culture is something
most people would rather not think
about. Space is confined, it's black, it
stinks, and it can be dangerous."
«DIGCINC CHTHONIC CULTURE: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF
THE UNDERGROUND, CA. I997»
PRESENTS
R  NIGHT OF  UNDERGROUND
PROGRAM #1 (7:30):
LOST BOOK FOUND by JEM COHEN
EASTERN AVENUE by PETER METTLER
INSTALL and RED SHIFTby MIKE HOOLROOM
PROGRAM #2 (9:30):
HALF-COCKED by M. GAUNSKY and S. HAWLEY
(featuring music by Smog, The Grifters, Freakwater,
Rodan, Slant 6, Retsin, Kicking Giant, etc.)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14th, 1997
THEATRE E
254 E. HASTINGS
TICKETS:  $4 each/ $6 both
&
I NIGHT OF UNDERGROUND POP & PERFORMANCE
MECCA NORMAL
[MATADOR/K]
LOIS
[K]
REFECT/REFECT
[KILL ROCK STARS]
MOCKET
[PUNK IN VOUR VITAMINS]
GAZE
[THE RECORD]
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1997
THE ANZA CLUB
3 W. 8th AVE.
DOORS-8 P.M./SHOW--8:30 P.M.
(NO ONE UNDER 19 ADMITTED--BRING YOUR I.D.)
TICKETS:   $8
(AVAILABLE AT SCRATCH, TRACK & ZULU)
demonstrate how broad the definition of dance music has become. One album is full of vocals, dubby bass, and sampled
beats. The other is almost exclusively electronic, embracing a
starkly minimalist, machine-bred
aesthetic.
Phulurstik Phunk is, unfortunately, not a collection of break-
dancing tracks as I'd hoped. It
is, instead, a very smooth collection of music from Germany
paying homage to (impersonating?) dear old Kraftwerk and
their proteges in Detroit.
"Aufraumenl" by Triple R &
Walker perfectly captures the
old "Autobahn" vibe, while any
motor city pioneer would be
proud to have written Silent
Movie's "Silent Movie — Part
2." Even if it is too trance-inducing to moonwalk to, this is a
quirky album of new music for
fans of things retro-electro.
Cup of Tea draws its influences from jazz, hip-hop and
reggae, but mostly it's the kind
of album you want to call trip
hop ('cause it's, you know, from
Bristol). All the elements are in
place, even down to the helium-
infused Tricky impersonation on
Monk & Cantapella's "This
Time is Different." Apart from the
opening track by Barcode,
which has a dull, warmed-over
early Massive Attack feel,
there are no other duds on this
album. Some of the off-key vocals might not be appreciated by
less adventurous listeners, but
dissonance adds just the right
amount of bitterness to the brew.
It's surprising how good both
these compilations are. The trocks
have been chosen for quality
rather than name recognition and
this makes for albums lhat can be
listened to indefinitely without
worrying about the invisible expiration date stamped on "hit"
compilations.
Jovian Froncey
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Incursions Into lllblent
(Asphodel)
Wilh a Kile like lhat, I assumed
that this was a feoturelte for ambient industrial bands, music for
those who like it clanky and
rainy, perfect for kung-fu video
game soundtracks or movies by
early '80s, Ridley Scott
wannabees. But noi Featuring
Sub Dub, (everyone's flav of
the month) DJ Spooky, We
and Byzar, this is an album that
feature artists into the "almost
trance=ambient yet borderline
gabba-reggae" genre that Bill
Laswell so clearly defined.
At the first listen, you're probably thinking: "Wait, what is this?
Is this Mad Professor gone
psycho or has Scorn cheered
up? Whatever it is, it's time to get
more wattage for my speakers,
for they've been blown out nowl"
And that's a fact, so if you're not
too fond of your fillings, listen to
this one. Brought to you by the
archfriend of SpaceHme Continuum, Naut Humon (oh, what
a clever name), and published by
those who think the Cleopatra
label has class. The standout
would actually be Sub Dub.
Byzar Iry to sound like Autechre
loo much. And, hey man, no one
is allowed to sound like Autechre
except Autechre!
This is cool for those nights
when the lights are down, the
streets are quiet, the mood is lazy
and yet sensual, and you just realized lhat, hey, you forgot to pay
your eleclric bill.
Christian
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Papernet One
(Independent)
This very DIY cassette compilation is put together by a guy
named James who appears to be
based in Porksville, BC. I, for one,
would like to express how glad I
am lhat experimental and electronic artists are networking and
promoting one another — it's
about bloody time. There's lots of
great, surreal stuff on this tape:
Hermit and Puc's spacey guitar noodling, M.O.T.U.'s freaky
electro splicing of He-Man samples and video game noises, and
Al Barrett's long hypnotic "Ask
Yourself...," whose muttered vocals and creepy noises bring to
mind 7wenry Jazz Funk Greats-
era Throbbing Gristle.
If you're interested in getting
hold of a copy of Papernet One,
or if you want to submit some of
your own music for the next issue, you can write to James
Volen, c/o Papernet, 465 Craig
Street, Parksville, BC, V9P 1L2.
Barbara
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Patio Collection, Vol. 2
(Smilex)
Indie pop heaven from California. You got yer Pavement-
powered Old Hickory,
Timonium and The Snow
Queen (speaking of which, are
the boys behind Smilex
Records). Add in the essential
girl guitar-governed Sissy
Bar, Longstocking and
Sweetcream USA. Throw in
a little nebulous noise,
rockabilly rooted riffs, bluesy
bits and a creepy conversation,
and you've got the perfect mix
of lo-fi (most of the time) musical
genres for any finicky fellow.
arabraB
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Roots, Branch and Stem
(Stubborn)
When's the last time you heard a
compilation and didn't have to
skip past any Iracks? R,B & S takes
the best of what ska is from what ska
was from its beginnings. Comprised
mostly of US bands, (and two Canadian! — The Skanksters and
Venice Shoreline Chris) and
one from Holland (The Regulators) this disc will keep traditional fans smiling and new
listeners wanting more. My favourites include Oregon's
Franceska, NY's Dunia &
Django with the Stable
Boys, and of course The
Slackers!
SkaJ
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Shreds Vol. 3
(Shredder)
Here's the third volume of Shredder Records' favourite 7"ers of
'95, and interestingly enough, the
Canadian content has grown
since the last compilation. Five
bands get ihe nod, including Victoria's (now defunct) M-Blanket, Glengarry, Ontario's the
Stand GT and Vancouver's own,
The McRackins and Gob.
Other standouts are Kentucky's
pop-punk heroes. The Connie
Dungs, The Parasites,
Tullycraft, mod-punks The
Strike, and the short V sweet
ska sound of Round Nine. A
worthwhile venture for those who
don'l want to spend the lime or
the money searching for the individual bands themselves or for
those adventurous enough to
check out loads of new talent.
Bryce Dunn
VARIOUS ARTISTS
YAKUZA *8 (zine)
Why We Came Together: A
Yak'ux'a Compilation
This is the first zine lhat I have
ever owned. You know what? I
kinda like it. Yak'uz'a is a mish
mash of "dumb" stories, diary
excerpts, true stories, health tips
and loads more.
One of the best "dumb" stories has to do with Andy Duvall,
the drummer of Zen Guerilla.
In the form of a letter, Duvall explains to a friend how he barfed
up a black substance whilst receiving back surgery. He also
describes his dream-come-true
encounter with Howard Stern in
a Virgin Megastore which is
also accompanied with a blurry
snapshot of himself waving near
a bored looking Stern. Duvall's
story is so dumb that it has to
be funny.
Lee Ranaldo's journal is one
of the Iwo diary excerpts in this
zine. I'm usually a patient reader.
but Lee Ranaldo's journal excerpts
were super boring. Ranaldo describes his journey to Morocco
with such intense detail that it becomes hard to read. After a while,
I didn't care about the colour of
bricks and the taste of Moroccan
joints which he raved about so
much. The only good parts of his
journal were those dealing wilh
ancient Moroccan music.
On Ihe serious side, Nicole
Panler (former manager of The
Germs) writes about her days
of being a reckless and pregnant
teenager. Her honesty is very refreshing.
Finally, Yak'uz'a also offers
advice on making inexpensive
films and health tips for asthma
sufferers (lhat's me!) So, yeah,
check Ihis out. (PO Box 26039,
Wilmington, DE, 19899-6039)
I have mixed feelings about
the CD which accompanies the
zine. There are some nifty tunes
and some stinky tunes.
First of all, unlike Andy
Duvall's story, Zen Guerilla is
not at all entertaining. The
hardcore song "Lipstick" is glued
together wilh indecipherable lyrics and noisy guitars — not my
cup of lea. The Refrigerator
track, "Misguided Airplanes," is
a big disappointment. I was expecting somelhing cool and energetic, like stuff from their
Shrimper tapes, but this song just
dragged on for too long without
any real direction.
On the other hand, Cobra
Verde's "Never My Love" is a
lovely song with austere guitar
work and drumming. Caterpillar's "Nappy" also wins my
heart with its catchiness and
poppiness.
There is also spoken word by
Nicole Panter. 'Fuck You Punk
Rock/1977" is a powerful piece
about her escape from pain
through finding punk rock. Lee
Ranaldo's "Enroule" and "Loose
Heat" and Loren MazzaCane
Connors' "Why We Came Together" also point in the direction of spoken word. These
songs have spoken word overlapped wilh the sound of guitars
and other little noises. Connors'
piece is for more creative than
Ranaldo's because his piece is
actually a conversation between
a man and a woman.
Other artists worth checking
out on this compilation include
The Matthew Shipp Trio
and Cotillion. The rest is not
so good.
Marlene realliveaction
ROCK FOR CHOICE
Friday, November 15,1996
Vancouver East Cultural
Centre
Rock For Choice is an annual
musical event in its third year of
operation, organized to raise
funds to help maintain the right
for women to control their own
bodies. The vast majority of people in Canada believe that a
woman has the right to an abortion, but such support is passive
— Ihe battle is still being fought
on the front lines. Women need
legal and safe access to abortion
clinics, which keeps pro-life protesters at bay; oftentimes, a
Four performances already
and barely a dent in the evening.
Who else? Vancouver's veterans
Mecca Normal performed an
energetic and haunting set in a
way only Mecca Normal can.
Backed by ihe most close-to-perfect guitar around, Jean Smith's
lyrics of empowerment were
memorably reinforced by a vocal and literal circumnavigation
of bolh floors of ihe Vancouver
East Cultural Centre: 'I walk
alone/lhis city's my home/I'm not
done. "An evening favourite for sure.
Next up was Sparkmarker,
introduced as Meegan's favourite Vancouver bond. In addition
always liked their noisy and intense tunes. At this gig they
seemed a lot tighter lhan they
were before.
Behead the Prophet is a
scary bond from somewhere in
Washington slate. Basically, they
were psychotic. The singer some--
how managed to blow out the
microphone three or four times
wilh his screaming and gyrating.
They had a fiddler in their band
who looked to be at least 100
years old. The audience seemed
to enjoy (hem, or at least laugh
at their antics.
I'd heard good things about
The Pee Chees but
crying after being forced to wear
Ihe red vest. Okay, maybe I lied
about the kid crying, but all the
rest was true.
Chris C.
MUSCLE BITCHES
FACEPULLER
DAK ATTACK
Friday, December 6, 1996
Magick Theatre
Enter the first band of the night,
Dak Attack, a local four piece
band with a lot of kick to their
noise. Dak were originally
scheduled to play with their
grassroots counterparts The
Mandelbrot Set for the opening show acts, but were forced
to go it alone after a last-
minute emergency cancellation by The Mandelbrots.
Actually, all things considered. Dak Attack made good use
of their lime in ihe limelight. I
noticed for the first time just how
intricate and layered their music
is, and how well it all blends together, be it guitars, bass or lead
singer Clay'
clarinet j '
seven?!?) piece band didn'tseem
to care. No wonder ihey were
so wonderfully chaotic.
Jomes Mayer
JONATHAN RICHMAN
Wednesday, December 11,
1996
St. James Hall
First heard him a few years back
when I started listening to The
Modern Lovers. I love that
band. Jonathan's laughably honest song writing style and the
group's Velvet Underground-
getting-CHiiceiackrub-from-that-
gorgeous-flamencc-dancerwho-
can-stuff-a-full-sized-dishrag-in-
each-cheek jam-out flavour, made
them kings of the early good-
noise movement. Well, now Jon
is at lhat age lhat seems to destroy so many rock heroes, reducing them and their music to a state
that reminds me of processed
cheese — not Kraft, but the discount variety, bright orange and
pungent after a few weeks under
the couch. But praise the Maker,
Where ihe pulpit might hove
once been sits a five-piece rock
drum kit, the glitter job throwing
tight beams of orange and lime
coloured light in a million directions. And in place of the altar
is a big vintage tube amp and
a sunburst Gretzch-style
hollowbody leaning casually.
Enter Jon and ex-Modern Lovers drummer Johnny Avila; instantly the hall bursts in ta a 90
decibel eruption of applause.
And the two slam right into ihe
first number. And the applause
dies, and we all hold our breath,
straining to hear the music.
They're quiet. So damn quiet.
People are giggling. Not in contempt ihough. Jon and John are
rocking the hardest, yet are
barely audible, and one can't
help but feel giddy and happily
nervous. "... He's such a little rock
'n' roll drummer, so skinny ond
frail ..." Yeah, buddy plays the
treats. And he's always played
the blues. For the younger among
us, it is somewhat disturbing ta
woman faces ihe heckling, intimidation, imposition of beliefs and violent actions which
all act as barriers to choice.
And that's what this night was
all about: active support for all
the brave people who work to
keep abortion legal and safe
in Canada.
The evening began with a
nervous Nathan Dilon on
acoustic guitar, whose sweet
voice and acoustic charm overpowered his stage fright. Dilon
then joined the second act,
Puncture, with the admittedly
tired but ever-inspirational
Meegan Maultsaid on vocals.
Meegan was also a major organizer of the event and we'd just
like to take this moment to say
lhat she is just so fucking wicked.
Puncture's politics are reflected in
their lyrics and energy: "I will
fight back ... Fuck you, hands off
... I will fight for my beliefs,"
matched by an energetic stage
presence.
Unfortunately, a long evening
required a falafel break for us,
which resulted in sacrificing seeing Joe Keithley from DOA But
who belter to digest to lhan Kinnie
Starr — her poetry which spoke
of her own personal experience
with abortion added an interesting
and important perspective to the
evening. Alone on guitar and her
jazzy voice, she took us on her
sometimes heavy, sometimes funny
trip trough recovery.
to flooding the tiny dance floor
with bouncing bodies for a
rock-out set, Sparkmarker's
presence at the event was a
reassuring reminder of the need
for male allies in ihe fight to
keep abortion safe and legal
in Canada. A reminder that
men, too, have mothers, sisters
and girlfriends.
And the moment we'd all
been waiting for ... Team
Dresch, all the way from Portland, Oregon. The hilarious lead
singer Jodi ond the kick-ass music were a fine cap to a solid
evening. The brash and irreverent "politits" (lhat's Jodi's word)
of Team Dresch were complemented by such moments as the
reading of a lovely haiku written
in the van on the long trek to Vancouver: I a leaf/ You a droplet/ I
cupped the waiting/ For your
round wet kisses.
If you didn't come to Rock For
Choice '96, you ere silly because it
was so much km, itwas exhausting.
Sydney ond Heaher Hermant
THE EVAPORATORS
THE PEE CHEES
BEHEAD THE PROPHET
SUBMISSION HOLD
Saturday, November 30th,
1996
St. James Community
Square
Up first at this show was Submission Hold. I've seen them
quite a few times now, and I've
ally heard them before this show.
By the time iheir set was finished,
Iwas officially a fan. They kind
of reminded me of Rocket
from the Crypt (only without
the horns) because of the fleshy
guitar sound, but at any rate,
they shook up the crowd into
a garage rock frenzy and left
us all gasping for air. Brilliant,
I say. Brilliant.
Next came a surprise appear-
once by the mysterious organ and
drums duo. Thee Goblins. They
played a couple of tunes, and
then brought out a hom and guitar, who proclaimed themselves
Thee SkabRns. Who are fcese
masked men? Will we ever know?
Moments later, The Evaporators took to the stage. Everyone at this show got into the action of their set because of the
amount of audience participation
lhat Nardwuar required of us.
The Human Serviette has obviously done a few too many glam
rock band interviews because a
tacky, vinyl leather vest was his
clothing accessory of the
evening. Nardwuar brought
crowd members on stage a
number of times during songs to
don the vest—sometimes against
their will. By the time they were
done, the St. James Community
Square was left in a mess. Nardwuar's organ-stand was destroyed, a large rock was
smashed on the floor by a
drunken man, and a little boy was
Nice job, boys;  [
get a stage act
together, and you'll kick some
serious butt.
Facepuller was the next
band to take ihe stage, and from
momenta uno ihey demonstrated
what if is lhat makes ihem o great
band. From iheir trashy but audible set, featuring "dassic" hits like
"Homey* and "B.O.R.N.," to
Brent's suave comments ("looks
like a gathering of the intelligent
punks here tonight"), right down
to the way ihey can adapt themselves to any venue they're playing in, they're awesome. However, Facepuller's extensive
ten-plus years of experience
shine through live in the most
important of ways: no matter
where they play, with whom,
or however big a crowd, they
always have fun.
The Muscle Bitches were
the grand finale of the evening.
Sporting every kind of stage attire imaginable, (from the barest
jockstrap only to the funkiest of
glam metal outfits) the Bitches
proceeded to teach the crowd a
iesson on how to make the most
of limited space in a venue.
Never mind what they were singing about; most people were diving for cover as they came teor-
ing into the audience flailing their
miniature instruments at whoever
happened to be in the way. Who
says the Magick Theatre has a
limited stage size? The six (or
our boy has managed to do
things with class once again.
Thanks to an unusual venue,
mixed-nub crowd, and Jonathan's
gentle sense of humour and wisdom, most of us walked away
quite satisfied. So it should be for
$20 a ticket.
Walk into the St. James Hall,
an ex-church about the size of an
elementary school gym. Sit down
on highly uncomfortable church
benches, especially designed to
keep the congregation alert and
focused. The middle-aged
M.O.R./A.OR. crowd, many
sportin' baseball caps and toddlers and a healthy attitude, mull
about. The candlelightcasts playful shadows, drawing the eye
straight ahead to the sanctuary,
the stage area of a church.
hear his lyrics now modified ta
include the words "ex-wife* and
"middle-age,* but to be honest,
one would have to be within
arm's reach for him to appear a
day over 25. The rhythm is a locomotive, the rumble echoing
from a distant valley. And the
guitar is a juicy papaya, a little
overripe perhaps, but only
enough to make a taste really
sweet.
On the down side, we hear
a few classic JR anecdotes, recycled word for word, (*... I'd go
up to BU; Boston Un'iversily; BU,
to look at the Cezannes ...")
taking a bit away from the
spontaneous atmosphere. Bul
this is nof a complaint. Merely
an attempt at objectivity.
Andrew
Hey kids!
Turn the
page for
more real
live action!
23 ®(£&£aK___. LOLA MACLAUGHLIN
DANCE
Thin Cities
Thursday, December 12,
1996
Vancouver E. Cultural Centre
Dancers: Delia Brett, Ann*
Cooper, Susan Elliott, Martha
Leonard, Kathleen McDonagh,
Fiona MacDonald.
Unclaimed Treasures: Essie,
Eno ond Maude was commissioned for the 1995 Kiss Project.
gangs in West Side Story and
Solos and Duets, emphasizing
the more light-hearted, mirthful
aspects of MacLaughlin's choreography and highlighting each
individual dancer's slrenglhs and
personality.
The music by John
Korsrud, especially commissioned for this piece, provides
the perfect structure from which
the piece flows from incident to
incident. Lola MacLaughlin has
once again shown lhat Vancouver dance has matured greatly
over the past decades. It remains
of eilher zealous fans or personal
friends. Though I found Mr. Destroyer's voice grating at first, I
really began to appreciate his
lax-tempo vocals ond guitar
work later in the set. My friend
mentioned that he must listen
to a lot of Chris Knox, and
seeing as how I haven't heard
his material, lhat will have to suffice as a comparison.
Citroen, (best band name
I've heard in oges) were up second, complete wilh super-8 film
loops. Though they did get self-
conscious two songs in and
GOLDFINGER
REEL BIG FISH
PSYCHOMANIA
11
PitP
The keyboard player for the
Skeletones, the original opening act for ihis night, has a warrant out for his arrest in Colorado,
so ihey were unable to attend. Filling in on a mere hours' notice was
Psychomania. Their drummer's
bass drum said The Fiends on
it, ond I thought, "Ah ... le surf-
rock. J'aime ca." But, no ...
miming along. A friend of mine
who came to see Goldfinger noted,
"I realized that they only have
about 15 minutes of cod songs and
they have to play covers to fill ihe
rest of the space." How true. The
only original song I liked was "Fuck
L.A." As for covers, they brutally
murdered The Specials' 'Nile
Klub" before turning the gun on
Bad Religion. It's a shame that
Goldfinger claims to be the Offspring, so to speak, of those
bands.
frank?
THE LEMONHEADS
POU.YANNA
EVEN
Sunday, January 12
The Narabeen Sands
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Even is a minor three-member
supergroup whose major star is
one Wally Meanie and whose
singer is the sartorially confused
Ashley Naylor. Punk rock roots
aside, they sound like a good
You Am l-style band. Their
playing was more impressive
than expected; they were tight,
It is a worm tribute to
MacLaughlin's three spinster
aunts. What begins as three prim
and proper todies enjoying a spot
of tea soon gives way to ihe most
vigorous Irish step-dancing a tea
drinker could perform. Soon the
dancers break out into rolls and
falls wilh on ecstatic joy that belies the myths of the dour lives of
the unwed.
While I Wait [] 996) reminded
me of very early film footage of
dance performances from the
1920's. The stylised choreography, the sheath dresses, and the
use of music by Edward Grieg,
sung by Anne Sophie Mutter,
gave this piece the feeling of
somelhing archival. This effect
could have been played up even
more, had the visuals — slides
of the German romantic era
painter Kaspar David Friedrich -
been dearer and more integrated
into the performance.
MacLaughlin deveriy counters the
historical feel with periodic interruptions in which the dancers stop
and separate only to reform ond
begin again.
The premiere piece of the
evening was Thin Cities, which
drew inspiration from Halo
Calvino's Invisible Cities.
Cafvino's mystic urbanism, however, is far different from
MacLaughlin's more hard-
edgedness. The piece begins
with a starkly lit and foggy set.
The dancers, clad in store-pipe
pants, white undershirts and
cropped, zippered jackets make
their entrances one by one, performing what could be interpreted as their signature moves.
Kathleen McDonough subverts
this by performing a dance move
of such great geekiness that the
audience dissolves into giggles.
The piece continues to sway
back and forth between a swaggering and serious bravado,
reminiscent of the choreographed fighting between the
24   february 1997
to be seen when local audi
will begin to appreciate this fact
wilh better attendance.
PCS
STARFISH STARTING POINT
Tuesday, December 17,1996
Starfish Room
The evening was an exciting one
for three UBC students. Geoff
Pugen, a fine arts student;
Gabriel Ducharme, a second
year law student, and Joe
Hidegh, a fourth year psychology student, spun up an exhilarating mixture of trip hop, trance
and progressive house at ihe Starfish Room on this night. Cheered
on by a loyal group of fans, the
DJs wound the crowd into a virtual frenzy.
This event wos the first big appearance by the three, but they
were each up to the challenge,
and performed brilliantly before
the eager crowd. Vancouver DJ
James Brown was the featured
performer on this particular night.
Having to follow the stellar tracks
played by the three-man tag
team, James had his work cut out
for him, but his set was not disappointing.
Fortunately for UBC students
who appreciate this genre of
music, Joe intimated lhat his trio
and others will soon be spinning
on campus in the not-sodistant
future, provided lhat his idea can
achieve AMS club status.
Brock Carscollen
THE BEANS
CITROEN
PIPEDREAM
DESTROYER
Wednesday, January 8
Starfish Room
In a city where the local acts live
in the shadow of the big name
outof-town bands, it's heartening
to see shows which demonstrate
the diversity and talent of our local musicians. Destroyer
started the evening off to a crowd
turned off the projector, Citroen
played a wholly admirable set. I
can't quite pin down their style,
despite being aware of their
ploce somewhere in the melodic
noise-rock genre.
Pipedream had me captivated from the moment they began unloading their gear, all their
geor. They have more analog
goodies than Yes. I counted at
least six massive synths, organs
and assorted drum machines and
echo-chambers, all of the impossible-to-find variety. It's a true
shame I couldn't get into their set
half as much as I could their
equipment; ihough I am a fon of
space/prog rock, I err more towards The Spacemen 3 lhan
to Pink Floyd. SHll, a technically
deft set with plenty of filter-sweep
soundscapes to keep the audience happy.
Headlining the evening was
The Beans, whose exact number
eludes me — I place it somewhere
between a conservative four and
a possible seven, if you include the
modem dancer and whoever was
doing drum machines/mixing ot
one point. A devout follower of experimental pap myself, I found The
Beans a little too campy in the beginning. They toyed around with
spoken-word, accordions and
grou p-huddles for a while, but eventually found their stride when the
line-up stabilized with two guitarists and two drummers. After thot,
the Beans had me transfixed. Their
soundtrack-like melancholia and
full drum sound played with country, blues, and rock, though none
so overtly os to be obvious or cliche. They played a ridiculously
long set which I only noted because
my backside was asleep from sitting on the Starfish Room's floor.
To avoid possibly damaging their
reputation, I'll hold off the "soundtrack for a..." handles and say that
you should, in fact, see them, as
they are wonderful.
JL Stuart
Psychomania was tepid Fox-rock.
The good moments came when
the singer sounded like (The Violent Femmes*) Gordon Gano
and when they played half a surf
tune. The bod moments were all
the other moments.
But no matter! They were almost forgotten when Reel Big
Fish took ihe stage. Horns as big
as 747's filled the room with hot
melodies. They were even more
gooder than last time ... Aaron
climbed up the Marshall stacks
and did a cheezeball Van
Halen tapping solo. Dan the
trombonist spun his huge, shiny
instrument around and leaped
and yelled during the high speed
chorus chases. Their glom-sko-
punk cover of "Take On Me' excelled live, possessed wilh an anarchistic vibrancy that the 7" just
doesn't have. Almost everyone
around me sang along to their
final tune, 'Sell Out," for
which I believe there is a video
coming soon.
Goldfinger if I may paraphrase Sloan, "it's not the fans I
hate, it's the band." Hate may be
a strong word, but so is suck. Although I don't pretend to be a
punk, I believe that one of the few
identifiable tenets of "punk ethics" is that "punk" bands are supposed to be "different" from
"cock-rock" bands on major "lo-
bels." The first Hme that Pit Pub
security tried to throw a guy out
for being a little too violent, ihe
bald, tattooed guitarist ran out
and dragged the guy back on
stage to dance wilh ihem in order to show how much they love
their fans. "This is my (expletive
deleted) party," he growled.
The most obnoxious thing was
that Goldfinger kept saying, "Hey
dudes, I mean, grabbing a girl's
tits when she's in a mosh pit is,
like, not cool," and ihen singing
about grabbing a girl's His, and
MARILYN MANSON
L7
Wednesday, January 15
PNE Forum
L7, a seemingly incongruous
opening act and yet quite a fitting one, rocked as best they
could (yes, they played
"Shitlist"), despite the muddy Forum sound and the knowledge
that this was indeed a Marilyn
Manson crowd. That is, the majority of people who are gonna
pay 30 bucks to enter a cold,
cavernous venue to see a show
are probably too giddy with anticipation of the headliner to
even take notice of the opener.
However, that is not to say fhe
audience was hostile or inattentive ... as usual, even the
roadies received rabid cheers.
The sold-out crowd, a harmonious blend of textbook examples
of metalheads, goths, punkers,
and jocks were in fine spirit. It
should be noted that L7 bassist
Gail Greenwood has hooked up
with a group considerably
closer to her own metalness
than her last (Belly), but
y'know, she's still even more
metal than L7.
For weeks prior to this show,
I'd read previews and reviews
proclaiming the chaos and mayhem of a Marilyn Manson
show, as well os attacks criticizing the band for being nothing
more than Trent Reznor proteges, an Alice Cooper rip-off,
all image and no substance. And
yet, I'd also read numerous interviews from which I perceived
Marilyn Manson lo be a most
charismatic, articulate, and intelligent individual. What he
said made sense to me. Amazing, this is what's on the charts
these days alongside No
Doubt, Bush X and Celine
Dion. Wow.
Olive Weshock
they were loud, and they were
most enjoyable.
Pollyanna has enjoyed
quite a bit of popularity, garnered mostly because of singer/
guitarist Matt Handley's
songwriting. Live, ihey are good
if a little "staHc," as one of my
fellow gig-goers put it. They
don't move around and they
don't really chat, but they do
their songs (usually melon-
cholic tunes with either super-
catchy or hauntingly lovely
melodies) justice and the
crowd loves 'em. And isn't that
what counts?
Former Lemonheads
bassist Nic Dalton was once
asked what the best thing was
about The Lemonheads and he
replied that it was Evan
Dando's voice. Thankfully, that
voice was in its best form ever
and Dando appeared before
the microphone as the laconic,
velvet-toned icon that he is.
Dalton has been replaced by
Bill Gibson and drummer Dave
Ryan (Dinosaur Jr.). The
Lemonheads have never
sounded so cohesive; this may
be due to the fact that Dando
has toned down his offstage antics or to the fact that his band
just dicks. Either way, it's only
a bonus for the punters.
The set comprised mostly of
tracks off Car Button Cloth with
a couple of Roy and Come on
Feel ... songs thrown in. It
wasn't a remarkable gig, but
it did exemplify Dando's
amazing gift for melody and,
of course, that voice. Perhaps
I've seen them too often, so I
knew what to expect and
therefore wasn't wildly engaged by the spectacle; the
people I went with had never
seen them before and thought
they were fantastic.
Sophie Hamley february'9
7   LONG
VINYL
1 the evaporators
united empire loyalists   nardwuar
2 various artists
team mint
mint
3 descendents
everything sucks
epitaph
4 jon spencer b\uee exp
now i got worry
matador
5 the molestics
tropic of hokum
blue lizard
6 veda hille
spine
independent
7 huevos rancheros
get outta dodge
mint
6 rheostatics
the blue hysteria
raise a little
9 various arti6t6
hard core logo soundtrack      bmg
10 heavenly
operation heavenly
k
11 various artists
smooth and wild vol.
blue lizard
12 go sailor
go sailor
lookout
13 team dresch
captain my captain
chainsaw
14 snfu
fyulaba
epitaph
15 elvez
gi ay, ayl blues
big pop
16 various artiste
yo yo a go go
yoyo
17 phono-comb
fresh gasoline
e*uarterstick
16 yo la tengo
genius + bve
matador
19 wesley Willie
feel the power
american
20 the hi fives
and a whole lotta youi        lookout
21 sit'n'spin
pappys corn squeezi
'planet pimp
22 the poumons
by 6urpri&e
independent
23 lu6ciou6 jackson
fever in fever out
grand royal
24 various artists
helde sez
lookout
25 the apples In stereo
science falre
spina rt
26 the inbreds
It6 sydney or the bush         pf/tag
\Z7 dino martinis
...collector's lounge
independent
26 dub narcotic wl lois
6hlp to 6hore
k
29 zumpano
goin' through changes       sub pop
pO mr. cjulntron
the first two records
bulb
31 space kid
cereal
humongous
B2 dbs
if the music's loud enough      nefer
B3 oval
94 diskont
Caroline
B4 michelle shocked
kind hearted woman
bmg
B5 various artists
jabberjaw: ...sweet hell    mammoth
1   various artists
voximpopuli                                          vox   I
2  kinnie Starr's bk lounge
learning to cook                      violent inch
3 todd steve davis
sun and moon ...          tertium non data
4 various artists
pacific rhythm: the first wave      eye-Q
5  various artists
united states of poetry    mouth almighty
6 hydropods
sinus                                                    vox
7  various artists
radio freedom                              rounder
6 ralph
olympia   66                        bongo  beat
9 dj conquest
conquest 3                         rez erection
110 radio free vestibule
sketches, songs and shoes               borpo   |
february'97
SHORT
VINYL
february'97
INDIE HOME JOBS
1 the hanson brothers
the hockey song
essentia] noise
1   kinnie starr
devil's claw
2 mecca normal
paris in april
k
2 submission hold
ed anger
3 killdozer
sonnet '96
ismist
3  10 ft. henry
oh oh
4 guided by voices
plantations of pale pink     matador
4 the colorifics
747 {now i see heaven)
5 violent nine
punkabilly rules, ok?
little boy
5  gaze
jellybeans
6 hayden
carry-on mentality
landspeed
6  stratochief
she shoots, she scores!
7 teen titans
more songs, less mi
sic   peek a boo
7 euphonix
let's get out of these monkey suits
& suicide kings
she's dead
intensive
6  celestial magenta
the first one
9 elevator to hell
backwards may
sub pop
9 the stupes
deveiina
10 kitty craft
its stupid
soda girl
10 jackass
reality bites In santa barbara
11 starlight conspiracy
big beautiful drive-in
catapult
11   Isd49
vitamin k
12 dj food
sonic soup
mlo
12  hlssyfit
s.h.e.
13 sebadoh
princess
sub pop
13  the hounds of buskerville                                                &orry
14 kactus
summer vacation
sonorama
14 tickertape parade
audience with the pope
15 squirrel nut zippers
hell
mammoth
15  spm
justify/glory to god
16 the dictators
i am right
norton
16 trapazoid
garden of eden
17 elliot
1995
fresh bread
17 destroyer
karen is in rome
16 bill ding
make it pretty
hefty
16 thee pirates
the pirate song
19 tricky woo
the claw
mag wheel
19  preston
planetra
20 poledo/hayden
split
squirtgun
20  something ska
mr. roustabout
21 cheeseburger
happy hill
scooch pooch
21   universal lounge act
supercar
22 maroon cardigan
no science of a conscience         loaf
22  nsc
she knows
23 white trash deb's
my guy's name is rudolf    two-o-six
23 captain bloody america                                     what i6 blue?
24 placebo4
sailor boy
6hip& anchor
24  violet
i 6tep on all the cracks
25 the detroit cobras
aintitashame
scooch pooch
25  mizmo
tarantino cringe
26 atomic boy
I wanna destroy
hipnotic
26  dave land
monkeys in the zoo
27 scenic
sage
ipr
27 michelle wong
hop
26 duotang
the message
mint
26  daddy's hands
statistic wigs
29 the flies
teen challenge
empty
29 1000 stamps
poster child
30 trixie belden/egghead
split
dizzy
30 jp5
fuzzyhead pills
31 bust
spin up
radiopaque
31  fishburger
big ass burger
32 the kent 3
basketball medics
super electro
32   petrolia
sweet industry
33 junior varsity
gol to the Ice cream
peekaboo
33 the molestics
now's the time
34 yum yum tree
riot up your ass
vital
34  readymade
first base is sleeping
35 ugly beauty
rotten
lux
35  back room shag
the back of your head
hearsay  spoken  word  top  10
Ku_CiIR-
charts
SKA_T S   TOP   10   SKA-KIN   TUNES   bitch bitch bitch ... bitch bitch bitch ... bitch bitch bitch .
1   bruce lee band
honga la mato
you
dill
2 venice shoreline chris
esdarling
moon
3 slackers
runaway
moon
4 unsteady
what   kind   of
foul
5 skaghoblins
salsa   IM
raj
6 kingpins
beatgirl
stomp
7  hands of busterville
sorry
indie
6 planet smashers
SO bus
jumpstart
9 toasters/laurel aitken
speak your mind
moon
|l0 let's go  bowling
el cumbiodelso
moon
11    it seems that no one can pronouns 'febRuar/
2  SOMEONE changed the clocks in the office to the correct time
and miko is always late
3  tristan learned that sobbing like a sissy will get you nowhere w
th the SUB proctor
5  tristan started night classes
6 so did miko
7  barb got the blues
fl so did miko
9  tristan became depressed by miko getting depressed about ba
rb being depressed
110 we found out that discorders should never be brought to citr p
arties (see pg 22)
25   S^gSSPSffi SUNDAYS
ARE YOU SERIOUS? MUSK 8:00AM-
12:00PM All of time is measured by its
art. This show presents the most recent
new music iron around the wrld. Ears open.
THE ROCKERS SHOW 12:00-3:00PM
Reggae inna all styles and Fashion.
RADIO BLUE WARSAW 5KXJ-6-00PM Join
kirn & helen (or another month of travels.
Bring Confetti!
QUEER FM 6:OO-8:0OPM Dedicated to
the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transsexual communities of
Vancouver and listened to by
everyone. Lots of human interest
features, background on current
issues and great music from musicians
of all sexual preferences and gender
identities.
GEETANJAU 9:O0-10:O0PM Geetanjali
features a wide range of music from
India, including classical music, both
Hindustani andCarnatic, popularmu-
sic from Indian movies from the
1930's to the 1990'$, Semi-classical
music such as Ghazals and Bhajans,
and alsoQuawwalis, Folk Songs, etc.
RADIO FREE AMERia 10:00PM-12:00AM
Join host Dave Emory and colleague Nip
Tuck for some extraordinary po1"' il
research guaranteed lo make you think
twice. Bring your tape deck and Iwo C-
90s. Originally broadcast on KFJC (Los
Altai, California).
M THE GRIP OF INCOHERENCY 12:00-
4:00AM Drop yer gear and stay up late.
Naked radio for naked people. Get bent.
Love Dave.
MONDAYS
BREAKFAST WITH THE BROWNS 8:15-
11:00AM Your favourite brown-sters,
James and Peter, offer a savouty blend
of the familiar and exotic in a blend of
aural delights! Tune in and enjoy each
weekly brown plate special.
THE STUPID RADIO SHOW 11:00 AM-
1-00 PM With your hosts the Gourd of
Ignorance. What will we play today?
Rog will put it away.
MEKANIKAL BUFFOONERY 1:00-3:00PM
Two shows became one! An hour of
Mekanikal Object Noize (industrial/
nois/techno) and an hour of Skintight
Buffoonery (lounge, jazz, britpop]
June scudeler@mindlink.bc.ca.
THE MEAT-EATING VEGAN 3:00-4:00PM
I endeavour to feature dead dr, verbal
flatulence (only when I speak), a work of
music by a twenlieth-centuty composer
— can you say minimalist? — and
whatever else appeals to me. Fag and
dyke positive. Moil in your requests,
because I am not a human-answering
machine. Got a quarter ihen call someone
who cares.
TO CANUCX STOPS FBE al 700-9-OOPM
listen (oral Canodkn, mostly independent
tunes.
KJAZZSHOW 9dCPM120WM VtroWs
bngerfr\nTiingprirrefcnTe|u^pi^ciiLncflteo
by^e«riuawGoii WJar. Fedumat 11.
Feb. 3: Randy Weston and his sextet
Feb. 10: Guitarist Ralph Towner and double
bassist Gary Peacock w/ "Oracle'
Feb. 17: Lee Morgan (trumpet) aid quintet
Feb. 24: Cannonball Adderfy & Bill Evans
DRUM'N'SPACE ol. 12:0O-2:0OPM Jazz,
breaks <& the silence in between 0
160bpm.
TUESDAYS
LADY DEATHSTRIKE'S LUNCHBOX11:30 -
1:00PM ak. Join forces with a samurai
warrior-ess gone wrong. Power politics,
she-rock, and morel
UCORKE AllSORTS 11:30-1:00PM ol. An
eclectic music show. Phone in and
request!
RADIO FREE WOMEN 3:00-5:00PM
IQRA   5:3O-6:00PM   News, issues, and
concerns facing Muslims throughout the
worid.
THE UNHEARD MUSK   7:00-9:00PM
Meat the unherd where the unheard
and the hordes of hardly herd are
heard, courtesy of host and demo
director Dale Sawyer. Herd up!
RITMO LATINO 9:00-10:00PM Get on
board Vancouver's only tropical fiesta
express with your loco hosts Rolando,
Romy, and Paulo as they shake it and
wiggle it to the latest in Salsa,
Merengue, Cumbia and other fiery
fiesta favourites. Latin music so hot
it'll give you a lanl (-RADIO
SABROSAH
NAKED RADIO ah. 10:00PM- 12:00AM
From Thelonious Monk to Meridith Monk
... we'll play it. Genre-busting, cutting-
edge jazz and other experimental
sounds, plus informative label/artist
features. Join Mike and Sean.
WITCHDOCTOR HIGHBALL ak. 1060PM-
12:00AM Noise, ambient, electronic,
hip hop, free jazz, christian better living
Ip's, the occasional amateur radio play,
AURAL TENTACLES 12:00AM-VERY LATE
Warning: This show is moody and unpredictable. It encourages insomnia and
may prove to be hazardous to your
health. Listener discretion is advised.
WEDNESDAYS
LOVE SUCKS   12£0PM-2:00PM  If you
can't make sense of it, and lhat bothers
you, go somewhere else.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW 2.O0-
3:00PM 'belter a brat than a beauty
MOTORDADDY 3*O0-5O0PM 'Let those
who ride decide!"
ESOTERIK olt. 6:00-7:30PM   Ambient/
electronic/industrial/ethnic/
experimental music for those of us who
know aboul the illithids.
SOUD STATE ah. 6:007:30PM Featuring
the latest in techno, trance, acid and
progressive house. Spotlights on local
artists, ticket giveaways, & live
performances. Hosted by M-Path.
AND SOMETIMES WHY 7:3O-9:0OPM gastr
del sol, movietone, miranda July, blonde
redhead... these are a few of our fave-
oh-writ things, la la la!
TROPICAL DAIQUIRI 9:00-10:OOPM Zouk,
Soukous, Samba, Salsa. Yes! Even Soca.
Enjoy this Tropica! Daiquiri with El Doctor
del Ritmo.
STRAIGHTOUTTAJAiLUNDHAR 10:00PM-
12:00AM Let DJ's Jindwa and Bindwa
immerse you
"Chakkh de phutay." Listen to all our
favourite Punjabi tunes — remixes and
THURSDAYS
FlUBUSTERal. 10:00-11:30AM Bod hill
blood, spy music and an accordion fetish.
Caution: high in fibre!
MUSK FOR ROBOTS ah. 10O0-11:30AM
The Robotic Revolution is coming, be
prepared: vote robot. Psychotronic
excitement w/ female automan Fem-bot.
CANADIAN LUNCH 11:30AM-1 OOPM
From Tofino to Gander, Baffin Island to
Portage La Prairie. The all-Canadian
soundtrack for your midday snack!
STEVE J, MIKE 1O0-2O0PM Crashing the
boys' club in the pit. Hard and fast,
heavy and slow. Usten lo il, baby.
JUSTIN'S TIME 2:0O-3:0OPM For some
cool jazz by some swingin1 singers and
boppin' players, tune in and don't miss
out on some happy times!
OUT FOR KICKS 6:00-7:30PM No
Birkenslocks, nothing politically correct.
We don't get paid so you're damn right
we have fun with it. Hosted by Chris B.
ON AK WITH GREASED HAIR 7:30-9O0PM
Roots of rock & roll.
UVE FROM THUNDERBIRD RADIO HELL
900-11 OOPM Local muzak from 9.
Live bandzfrom 10-11. Feb 13: the
Wind-ups.
DISTORT© CIRCUITRY IO0-4O0AM DJ
Morgan le Fay brings you the latest info
and tunes in the realm of electro/
industrial & synthcore. Hard beats to
invigorate your late night angst.
FRIDAYS
VENUS FLYTRAP'S LOVE DEN 8:30-
10:00AM Join Greg in the love den
for a cocktail. We'll hear retro staff,
groovy jazz, ond thicker stuff too. See
you here... and bring some ice. XOXX
TELESIS 10O0-11O0AM Tune in for
discussions, interviews & information
relating to people who live with physical
& mental challenges.
SKATS SCENE-IK DRIVE! 11:00AM-
12O0PM Featuring Ihe death-defying
sounds of ska — old and new — with
Julie and Scotty.
KNBTUNE'S ROOM 12:00PM - 1:00PM
As Charlie Brown once said to Schroeder.
"plink, pink, plink, all day long! Good
Grief!"
LUCKY SCRATCH 100-200 PM Swing on
the gallows pole and git yer dose of
blues in the afternoon. Hosts Anna and
Andy.
LITTLE TWIN STARS 200-3:30 PM Kiki Liki
NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE
PRESENTS... 3:30-4:00PM Have a
good brunch!
NATION 2 NATION ah. 6:00-9:OOPM
Underground sound system-style
mastermix radio.
AFRICAN RHYTHMS ak. 6:O0-9:O0PM
David "Love" Jones brings you the best
new and old Jazz, soul, latin, samba,
bossa & African Music around the world.
are you
serious
music?
ROCKERS
SHOW
WIRELESS/
BLOOD OnTHE
SADDLE
Breakfast
with the
Browns
THE
STUPID
RADIO SHOW
MEKANIKAL
BUFFOONERY
Meat-Eating
Vegan
third time's
the charm
Polyfiller
RADIO
FREE
WOMEN
Punker than you.'
DIGITAL
ALARM
motor
dAddy
musical
interludes
CANADIAN
LUNCH
Steve and
	
kustin's time
FLEX YOUR
HEAD
Venus Flytrap's
Love Den
THE
|SATURDAY
EDGE
LUCKY SCRATCH
POWER
CHORD
AFRICAN
SHOW/
THE LAST DESK
QUEER
FM
ONE STEP
BEYOND:
RADIO FREE
AMERICA
IN THE
GRIP OF
INCOHERENCY
Flaming
Caterpillar
Tki C-siidc ilofi nut
/hip hop habit
THE
JAZZ
SHOW
SOMAN
ANIMAL/
DHUM'N'SPACE
UNHEARD
MUSIC
RITMO LATINO
NAKED
RADIO/
witchdocotor
highbaU
AURAL
TENTACLE
ESOTERIK/
SOLID STATE
and sometimes
why
strfi outta
jallundar
PPEDREAMS/
OPEN
SEASON/
RADIO FREE
BABYLON
Out For
Kicks
LIVE FROM
THUNDERBIRD
RADIO  HELL
Sector 7/
Groove
Jumping
DISTORTED
CIRCUITRY
nation to
nation /
African
fchytUs
HOME
BASS
Limp Sink
Ijj cid Soul
THE
SHOW
(hiphop)
SOMETHING
FOR THE RECORD 6:30-6:45PM Excerpts from Dave Emory's Radio fret
America Series.
HOMEBASS   9:00PM-12:00AM   The
original lire mixed dance program in
Vancouver. Hosted by DJ Noah, the
main focus of the show is techno, but
also includes some trance, acid, tribal,
etc... Guest DJ's, interviews,
retrospectives, giveaways, and more
are part of the flavour of homebass.
UMP SINK 12:00-2:30AM Hosted by the
G42 players. 'The show that doesn't
hate you." wilh your friendly pals Friar
Fritter Abfackeln and Postman Pat.
Alternating with Dr. Killdare
Contachlimpsink6broten.ranch.org
LUCID SOU 2:304:00AM Dr. Killdare
plunders even further into the wee hour
doing what he can to keep securityguards
and 7-11 clerks awake. Waywayway
deep dance stuff and other ha II ucinafying
fucked-up-ness.
SATURDAYS
THE SATURDAY EDGE 8:00 AM-12:00PM
Music you won't hear anywhere else,
studio guesls, new releases, British
comedy sketches, folk music calendar,
ticket giveaways, plus World Cup
teporhi 11:30AM. 8-9 AM: African/
World roots. 9-12 noon: Celtic music
and performances.
POWERCHORD 12:00-3:00PM
Vancouver's only true metal show; local
demo tapes, imports and olher rarities.
Gerald Raltlehead and Metal Ron do the
damage.
THE SHOW 6:OO-8:0OPM Strictly Hip
Hop — Strictly Undergound — Strictly
Vinyl With your hosts Mr. Checka, Flip
Out & J Swing on the 1 &2's.
UVE AT THE HI-HAT 11-0OPM-1:00AM
"Live! — shows and bands — mission
$6.00 — Performers are subject to
change.'
(~    HEYYOU!YAYOUr\
HELP OUT WITH
INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN'S DAYI WE
NEED PEOPLE TO PLAY
MUSIC, DISCUSS
ISSUES, AND JUST BE
AROUND SO WE
NEVER EVER GET
LONESOME AGAIN! !
JUST CALL 822.1242
I    FOR MORE INFO.   J
W_H_OIV€
HOW
Arts Kiley Frithen
Board Chair Harry Hertscheg
Current Affairs Michael Gumey
Demos/Cassettes Dal* Sawyer
Engineer Richard Anderson
Entertainment Chris Allison
Mobile Sound Ken Orchard
Music Megan Mallett
President Ryan    Ogg
Production Sobhan McCracken
Programming Namiko Kunimoto
Record Librarian Tristan Winch
Secretary Heather Hermant
Sports Slavlco   Bucifal
Station Manager Linda Scholten
Student Engineer Fern Webb
Traffic Sarah Stacy
Vice President Justin  Ho
26   february  1997 february
datebook
FRI JAN 31 Veda Hille-Railway...Tricky/A Guy Called Gerald
(sold out)-Richard's on Richard's...Black Market Babies/Mach
lirs-Niagara...Skaville/Hounds of Buskerville-Town Pump...Sal
Ferreras (part of Kiss Projectj-Performance Works...Basquiat/I
Shot Andy Warhol-Ridge...
SAT 1 Stephen Fearing (part of Kiss Projectj-Performance
Works...Veda Hille-Railway...Local H-Town Pump...Coco Love
Alcorn-Cafe Deux Soleil...Fear of Drinking-South Hill Candy
Shop...Basquiat/I Shot Andy Warhol-Ridge...
SUN 2 Guttermouth/Assorted Jelly Beans-Seyllyn Hall (all
ages!)...Vancouver New Music Ensemble-Vancouver East Cultural Centre...Greg Keelor/John Borra-Arts Club Theatre...Young
Artists Showcase (part of Kiss Projectj-Performance Works...Simon
Fisk Duo-Anderson's...Basquiat/I Shot Andy Warhol-Ridge...
MON 3 Hype/This is Spinal Tap-Ridge...Made (showcase)-
Gate...
TUE 4 Hype/This is Spinal Tap-Ridge...Ross Barrett-South Hill
Candy Shop...
WED 5 Eating Disorder Week Benefit feat. Dirty Harriets/Work
to Rule/Dak Attack/The Liminals/The Mandelbrot Set-
Starfish... Death In Venice-Pac. Cinematheque...Swingers/Trees
Lounge-Ridge...
THU 6 Cannibal Corpse/Brutal Truth/lmmolation-Slarfish...Beck/
Olivia Tremor Control (sold out)-UBC Rec. Centre...2% Cherry/
Mizmo-Raihvay...Swingers/Trees Lounge-Ridge...
FRI 7 CiTR PRESENTS LUSCIOUS JACKSON Rage The
Beans w/ guests-Sugar Refinery...Rheostatics/lnbreds-
Vogue...Dan Bern-Starfish (early show!)...Hard Core Logo/Highway 61-Ridge...
SAT 8 CiTR PRESENTS WAILING SOUL&Graceland ..Speed
Buggy/Bossanova/Gaze-Van. Press Club...New Wave-Aoke-
Railway..Soul Coughing/Rasputina (sold out)-Starfish...Ronnie
Hayward Trio-South Hill Candy Shop...Hard Core Logo/Highway 61-Ridge...
SUN 9 Glass Slipper benefit feat. Gypsalero/Sal Ferraras/Celso
Machado/Coco Love Alcorn/Christine Duncan & more-
Vogue... Celebrating Black History Month (films & videos by and
about black lesbians and gays)-Pac. Cinematheque...Soul Cough-
ing/Rasputina-Starfish...Hard Core Logo/Highway 61-Ridge...
MON 10 Big Sugar/Big Rude Jake-Rage...Celebrating Black
History MontfhPac. Cinematheque...Microcosmos/Angels and
Insects-Ridge...
TUE 11 Microcosmos/Angels and Insects-Ridge...
WED 12 Real McKenzies-Thunderbird Entertainment Centre (N.
Van)..Aberration/Mordor/TheGathering-Starfish ...Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media-Ridge...
THU 13 Dead Head Miles/Sleeve/Sir Hedgehog-Starfish...The
Man with a Movie Camera/Strike-Pac. Cinematheque ... Manufacturing Consent-Ridge...
FRI 14 YouthCo AIDS Society benefit feat. Puncture/Stickshift/
Plains of Abraham/Nineironspitfire/Trial/DBS-Hjorth Rood Hall
(104th Ave & 148th St., Surrey - ALL AGES!)..CiTR PRESENTS
screening of Ha/r'-CockedJheatre E (7:30pm).. Jazzmanian
Devils-Railway...
SAT 15 CiTR PRESENTS DIGGING CHTHONIC CULTURE
- A night of underground pop and performance with
MECCA NORMAL, LOIS, REFECT REFECT, MOCKET, gaze)-
Anza Club ...Squirrel Nut Zippers-Gate...Thrill Squad/Volumizer/
BMX-Columbia...Queazy/Boxcutter/Flux-Starfish...Time Waits-
South Hill Candy Shop...Punkaoke-Railway...
SUN 16 Rob Hamilton Duo-Anderson's...Nicolai Church/Naked Among Wolves-Pac. Cinematheque...
MON  17 Nicolai Church/Naked Among Wolves-Pac.
Cinematheque...Michael Collins/The Crying Game-Ridge...
TUE 18 Roswells-Railway...Michael Collins/The Crying Game-
Ridge...
WED 19 His Names Is Alive-Starfish...Roswells-Railway...Looking
For RichardAwelfth Night-Ridge...
THU 20 Helen Gone-South Hill Candy Shop...Veal/Brundlefly-
Raihvay...Looking For Richard/Twelfth Night-Ridge...
FRI 21 Easy Big Fella CD release w The Malchiks/Hounds of
Buskerville-Niagara...Mollies Revenge-Railway...Krista Jeanne
Sheffield-South Hill Candy Shop...
SAT 22 The Molestics-South Hill Candy Shop...Mollies Revenge-
Railway..Easy Big Fella/Trenchant/Skavengers-venue tba (ALL
AGES!)...Thrill Squad/Eugene Ripper-Van. Press Club...
SUN 23 Type O Negative/Sister Machine Gun/Drain-Starfish...
MON 24 Grrrls with Guitars-Railway...Romeo and Juliet/Slricrry
Ballroom-Ridge...
TUE 25 The Emptys-Railway...Romeo and Juliet/Striclly Ballroom-
Ridge...
WED 26 DJ Spooky/Ben NeilChameleon...Withnail and I/Delicatessen-Ridge...
THU 27 Dal Dii Dog-Railway...Wilhnail and I/Delicatessen-Ridge...
FRI 28 Dal Dii Dog-Railway...Synthetic Pleasures/1 am Cuba ('Hi
Mar. 6)-Ridge...
events
GLASS SLIPPER FIRE BENEFIT at Vogue
Theatre. Feb. 9, 6pm. Gvpsalero, Sal Ferraras.
Celso Machado. Brad Turner Quartet. Coco
Alcorn. Christine Duncan & more! Tix $25/15.
DIGGING CHTHONIC CULTURE: AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE UNDERGROUND,
CA. 1997. Feb. 14-16. Interdisciplinary conference, featuring panels on musk, image appropriation, sex. etc. Addresses by Dr. Will Straw (McGill
IL) & Thomas Frank (The Baffler) at CBC. film
screening [Half-Cocked, Lost Book Found, etc.)
at Theatre E (254 E. Hastings @ Main). & concert (Mecca Normal, Lois. Sue P. Fox, Mocket.
gaze) at Anza Club. For more info: 876.4241.
YVETSPAC E PERFORMANCE SERIES: Fri.
Feb. 7 - Part III: "Six Gun Sufi." "A sinnin'.
singin' Cowboy/Indian plucks and yodels tunes
of love and death in the lawless West." Sat. Feb.
15 - Part IV "Radio Hades." "The Orpheus myth
retold..." All events at the Havana Gallery (1212
Commercial Dr.), 8pm. tix $10.
KISS PROJECT: Feb. 11-23 at Performance
Works, Granville Island. 15 performances each
night, all 5 minute creations with a kiss and a
moment of silence or stillness. 8pm. some matinees. Tix $20. info: 606.6425.
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ
ORCHESTRA WORKSHOP: over 20 pkners
will perform Feb. 17-23 at three separate venues
(Hot Jazz Club, St. Andrews Weslej Church.
Vancouver ( ommunit) College Theatre).
WOMEN IN MEW FESTIVAL: Feb. 20-23.
various venues. 9th annual performing arts festival, showcasing all the coolest female folk
around! Theatre, dance, reading writers,
playreadings. music, cabaret, networking sessions, plus First Nations perfoi
eveiyth^jg^ n0PA tn jmow
about...
everywhercyuu ]
_•_• • • • •
I to go
The Abyss 315 E. Broadway [side entrance) 488 6219
AndeiWi Restaurant (jozz on ihe Creek) 684 3777
Anza Club 3 W. 8lh (Mount Pleasant) 876 7128
Art. Hotline 684 2787
Basiix 217 W. Hastings  (at Cambie) 689 7734
Backstage Lounge  1585 Johnston  (Granville Island) 687 1354
Block Sheep Books 2742 W. 4th (al MacDonald) 732 5087
Cale Deux Soleils 2096 Commercial (the Drive) 254 1195
Cafe Vieux Montreal 317 E. Broadway (Mount Pleosont) 873 1331
Caprice Theatre 965 Gronville (Granville Moll) 683 6099
Celebrities  1022 Dovie (al Burrard) 689 3180
CN Imax Theatre 999 Canado Ploce 682 4629
Columbia Hotel 303 Columbia (ol Cordova) 683 3757
Commodore lones 838 Gronville (Granville Moll) 681 1531
Cordova Cafe 307 Cordova (Gastown) 683 5637
Crosstown Traffic 316 W. Hastings (downtown) 669 7573
Denman Ploce Cinema  1030 Denman (West End) 683 2201
DV8 515 Davie (downtown) 682 4388
Edison Electric Gallery/Cafe 916 Commerciol (the Driv**-' 255 4162
Firehall Arts Centre 80 E. Cordovo (at Main) 689 0926
Food Not Bombs Vancouver 872 6719
Frederic Wood Theotre (UBC) 822 2678
Garage Pub 2889 E. Hastings (downtown) 822 9364
Gastown Music Hall 6 Powell (Gostown) 689 0649
Gastown Theatre 36 Powell (Gastown) 684 MASK
The Gate 1176 Gronville (downtown) 688 8701
Graceland  1250 Richards  (downtown) 688 2648
Greg's Place 45844 Yole Rd. (Chilliwack) 795 3334
The Grind Gallery 4124 Moin (Ml. Pleasant) 322 6057
Hemp B.C. 324 W. Hastings (downtown) 6814620
Hollywood Theatre 3123 W. Broodwoy (Kitsilano) 738 3211
Hot Jozz Society 2120 Main (Mt. Pleasant)
Jericho Arts Centre  1600 Discovery (Pt. Grey)
la Quena   1111 Commercial  (the Drive)
The lotus Club 455 Abbolt (Gastown)
lucky's 3934 Main
luv-A-Foir  1275 Seymour (downtown)
Malcolm lowry Room 4125 E. Hastings  (N. Burnaby)
Mars  1320 Richords  (downtown)
Maximum Blues Pub  1176 Granville (downtown)
Niagara Hotel Pub 435 W. Pender (downtown)
Odyssey Imports 534 Seymour (downtown)
Old American Pub 928 Main (downtown)
Orpheum Theotre Smilhe & Seymour (downlown)
Pocific Cinemaiheque  1131 Howe (downtown)
Porodise 27 Church (New West)
Porodise Cinema 919 Gronville  (Granville Mali]
Park Theatre 3440 Combie (South Vancouver)
Picadilly Pub 630 W. Pender (at Seymour)
Pit Pub basement, Student Union Building (UBC)
Pitt Gallery 317 W. Hostings  (downtown)
Plaza Theatre 881 Gronville (Gronville Mall)
Raffels Lounge 1221 Granville (downtown)
The Rage 750 Pocific Blvd. South (Plaza of Nations)
Roilwoy Club 579 Dunsmuir (at Seymour)
Richard's On Richards   1036 Richards  (downtown)
Ridge Cinema  3131 Arbutus  (at 16th Ave.)
Russian Hall 600 Campbell  (Chinatown)
Scratch Records  109 VV. Cordova  (Gastown)
Southhill Candy Shop 4198 Main (at 26lh)
Slarfish Room   1055 Homer (downlown)
Starlight Cinema 935 Denman  (West End!
Station Street Arts Centre 930 Station  (off Main)
Si. Regis Hotel 602 Dunsmiur (downlown)
Sugor Refinery  1115 Granville (downtown)
Theatre E 254 E. Hastings (Chinatown)
Thunderbird Entertainment Centre 120 W. 16th St. (N. Van)
The Tower 339 W. Hastings (downlown)
Town Pump 66 Water (Gastown)
Track Records 552 Seymour (downtown)
Twilight Zone 7 Alexander (Gastown)
UBC CINEMA (located in the SUB)
UBC Grad Centre Gale 4 (UBC)
The Underground   1082 Gronville (downtown)
Vancouver East Cultural Centre  1895 Venables (at Victoria)
Voncouver Little Theotre 3102 Main (Ml. Pleasant)
Voncouver Press Club 2215 Granville (S.Granville)
Varsity Theatre 4375 W. 10th (Point Grey)
Vert/Washout 2412 Main  (Mt Pleasont)
Video In Studios   1965 Main  (Mt. ' feasant)
Vogue Theatre 918 Granville (Granville Moll)
Waterfront Theatre  1405 Anderson (Gronville Is.)
Western Fronl (303 E. 8th Ave)
873 4131
224 8007
251 6626
685 7777
875 9858
685 3288
685 0143
230 MARS
688 8701
688 7574
669 6644
682 3291
665 3050
688 3456
525 0371
681 1732
876 2747
682 3221
822 6273
681 6740
685 7050
473 1593
685 5585
681 1625
687 6794
738 6311
874 6200
687 6355
876 7463
682 4171
689 0096
688 3312
683 6695
682 7976
682 8550
822 3697
822 0999
254 9578
876 4165
738 7015
222 2235
872 2999
872 8337
331 7909
685 6217
876 9343
1882Adonoc (Ihe Drive) 254 5858
Women In Print 3566 W. 4th (Kitsilano) 732 4128
Yale Blues Pub  1300 Gronville (downtown) 6819253
Zulu Records 1869 W. 4th (Kitsilano) 738 3232
SUBMISSIONS TO DATEBOOK ARE FREE! TO
HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED, FAX ALL THE RELEVANT
INFO (WHO, WHERE, WHEN) TO 822 9364,
ATTENTION "DATEBOOK." DEADLINE FOR
THE MARCH ISSUE IS FEBRUARY 19TH!
27 nm&ssmm .r
1869 W 4th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
V6J1M4
tel 738.3232
STORE HOURS
MontoWed 10:30-7:00
Thurs and Fri 10:30-9:00
Sat 9:30-6:30
Sun 12:00-6:00
The Zulu Makeover!
"Hew S<My& "po* *76e "Hectt 'face!
•.Mr***
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Time Machine: The History of
Canadian '60s Garage Punk
and Surf
(1985-95) co
Hop inlo H.G.Wells'Time
Alodiine, set the dials to rock   j
and let's jump back to I960,
when a barely known
company in london, England
unleashed the impressive
Vox line of tubolo amplifiers! Rock and Roll
would be indebted for years to come, and who would hove
gandered to think what a psyched-out rumble washed up on our
own Canadian shores. Updale your history books with this concise testament of stinging tunes, fuzzed up hooks for the
freaking and peaking new breed, let's do the time warp again
with the likes of The Gruesomes, The Fiends,
The Smugg
RAMON JURAD0
Waters Avenue Sco
Everyone knows Sub Pop's stable
hos depth, but just how much'
demonstrated on this new
orchestrated pop long-player by
ex-Coologe guy Damon
Jurado. A gem in the 7-inch
bins, Mr. Jurado now adapts
his solo quill with fine breath
to the full length format,
delivering a knock-out record wi
balanced tone and emotion. Surprise yourself with a walk down
Waters Avenue S, it soon becomes beautiful Kubla-khan!
ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
The 8th CD
Aoah yes... it's a cool, musty February night ond you keep
pacing through your apartment, trying ond trying to find thot
piece of music to fuel the yearning within you. Enter stage
left one of the most anticipated records of the year from a
band that consistently produces creative, inspiring music. All
hoil the new Eleventh Dream Day record... produced by
John McEntire, and played by a group of Chicago's finest
musicians, this latest full length builds on everything that
made 1995's Ursa Major such a phenomenal recording.
The search is over my friend. Available Feb. 11th.
14" CD
CID0 MATTO
Super Relax co-ep
In the zero gravity room, sound bits swirl, chunks of breathy
words froth, and the New York delicacy lhat is Cibo Matto
pierces your atmosphere, busting your bad-ass bubble with
grooves lo move yo! Cibo Matto have two turntables ond
a microphone too, and Super-Relax is where it's at!
IB88 CD
BETH
Touch Me With Your Love cd-ep
Hot on the heels of her ambitiously delicious 1996 long player
Trailer Park, Beth Orton continues to corve out her
initials in the only tree left standing in the trip hop amusement
pork. Avoid ihe lineup at the water slides, choosing instead to
let the leaves of Beth Orton's folklore cover you in their
crisp melodies.
9M CD-EP
PAVEMENT
Brighten the Cnrners
CD/LP/Cassette
Still slanted and enchanted, Pavement are the sharp cut
cornerstone of archways ond viaducts carrying pop's sweet waters
to the city ploce. Transcending their Fall/Sonic Youth hybrid
roots, Pavement have long mustered iheir own "pavementy"
currency, paying out brother, paying out - Brighten the
Corners pays out blue chip dividends with eoch listen, each
critical moment, each loving embrace... Oh Pavement!
9" CD-EP
le Feb. 11th.
IB98 CD 10" LP 10" Cassette
ii
^_____5__5__5
IB58 CD
J0NE0F44
Anatomy of Sharks
CD-EP/12"
June of 44 like to rock, but
theydosoperspicaciously,
without resorting to tried and
true conventions. They get in
there, feel around, and follow
the progression of the music
as it happens, as it works
itself out. Carefully balancing '
precision with flexibility, allowing th
players to jam around within a structure without losing focus
of the main theme. June of 44 continue to develop in skill
and resourcefulness, and this new EP is the latest document.
So far, so good.
10" CD-EP D"12"
AOTECHRE
Envane cd-ep
Electronic music is a rapidly developing genre growing in
depth, size and diversity The better artists are rising to the
lop, defining ond conditioning the style and movement of
direction, establishing new conditions for innovation.
Autechre have actively participated in the forefront of
this movement with cool, well-structured and intelligent
works. Envane does the job.
0" CD-EP
TRANSAM
Surrender to the Night co/lp
The contemporary currents of
exploration and (re)discovery
pop music are well exemplified by
Trans Am. They effortlessly
combine rock and electronica
wilh eguol wit, enthusiasm and
competence on this sophomore
long player. Trans Am are
less interested in revivalism as
they are in defining a sound
thot works for them - one that still
recognizes previous work by others, yet without falling into
kitsch or cliche. This is the record thot will push 'post-rock' into
general recognition - and rightfully (righteously) so; this
excellent record deserves to be heard by all (really, it's good).
If hybridization, variety ond eclecticism are common, popular
adjectives describing lifestyles ond more, then friend, Trans
Am have got it going on.
14" CD 10" LP
SOILT TO SPILL
Perfect From Now On co
Lost on the freeway as dusk approaches, a single guitar can
be heard off in the distance. Drawn lo the sound, you kill the
engine and get out of the cor. The single sound builds to a
crescendo. Sweeping blasts of mellotron ond keyboards posh
the sun under the horizon just os an unlikely voice from the sky
tells you everything will be Perfect From Now On. You
realize then that you were never lost at oil and like everyone
else under the disappearing sun you've been Built To Spill.
IB" CD
SI
*7H&ie Suave 7ifi& ?4t %cdcc(
BLUR   Beetlebum CD-EP Pts. 1 & 2 WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY
Used
| Cassettes
with this coupon.
Valid'til February 28th, 1997.
Oven a t6ou&z*td t£tte&
\
FAUST - You Know Faust CD
WEDDING PRESENT - Montreal CD-EP
SUEDE - Saturday Night CD-EP Pis. 1 & 2
GENE - We Could Be Kings CD-EP
MARIANNE FAITHFULL
2()th Century Blues CD
PAVEMENT - Stereo CD-EP
THE ORB - Toxygene CD-EP
TONY CONRAD - Four Violins LP
ORBITAL - Satan CD-EP Pts. 1 & 2 & 3 / 2\
SPOON,- Soft Effects CD-EP / 12"
- CD-EP
764-HERO - Salt Sinks,
Sugar Floats CD
LOCUST/MICK HARRIS/
DAVID TOOP/LILITH
- The Unfinished CD/LP
LAIKA - Breather CD-EP =
CHROME - Anthology 3CD
COLDCUT - Crash the System 2x12"
UNITONEHIFI - Boomshot CD / LP
PIGEONHEAD - The Full Sentence CD
Prices in
effect until
February 28th, 1997