...your support for the scene, your kindnesses to me (& to each other), and your attentive, inquiring, and finely-contoured, sexy minds have all been registered in The Great Ledger! Blessings on you all!
Special thanks to Ejaculation Death Rattle for the best damned version of the birthday song I have ever heard, to Nathan Holiday for his thanklessly under-appreciated solo performance as things commenced (& to all other members of Tunnel Canary who made it out), to Zev Asher for flying in all the way from Montreal under somewhat adverse conditions, to Bev and Fem for taking photos & jes' being there, to Emily for babysitting the merch while I ran around, to the staff and volunteers at the Vancity Theatre, to Mack for the note, to Jude for the book loan, and to everyone who gave me gifts or incorporated a childhood toy of mine into their performance (it sounded, by the way, really damn cool - is there a recording?). Thanks also go to Al Mader for not singing "One Day Closer to Death!"
Very, very special thanks to Chris Towers. (Curry soon?).
(I'll be away from this blog for a few days while I play catchup. I'll be back before March 19th. You all know what happens on March 19th, right? More pending).
11 comments:
i'm wondering if you know what some of the other bands mentioned in the tunnel canary film were- i know merzbow, rubber o cement, torturing nurse, mutators, the haters, & whitehouse, but was unfamiliar with the rest. there was one italian band that i'm sure i really should know, they had a name like mv or mb? also there was a musician interviewed whose name was a few short letters, and during the vs. section there was someone in a furry green costume and a woman bent over a noise generator of some sort.
-alex
Alex - yeah, and thanks to you for hosting Zev! I knew I forgot someone (or two, or...).
The Mutators are a young no wavy band that since broke up. I didn't care for some of their stuff, but their LP with the blank face on it is pretty fucking cool; you can also find the Emergency Room comp. The girl from that band, Lief, was doing some really cool minimalist vocal improv stuff around town last year called Glaciers, with some of the people at Solder and Sons bookstore - Robert Pedersen and Jeffrey Allport - and I HIGHLY recommend seeing them live; but I'm a bit detached from things, living in the burbs now, and don't even know if they're still active. Drop by the bookstore and ask Robert sometime - they were great.
Mutators, alas, are RIP.
Who else? MB is one guy, not a band - Maurizio Bianchi. You'd want to hang out with Dan Kibke to talk about that dude (EDR guy with spectacles in BG w. laptop). Maybe we could arrange a night - get my proper email off Zev and let's talk. Take a look at the last email I sent him re: the Wire article, Fake Jazz and such.
That furry green stuff is a mystery to me - Ecomorti, I think was the name, but beats me where that came in, I don't think they're local.
Good to see you! (I *did* volunteer at the Blinding Light back in the day, dunno if you remember me. And yeah, I know Kev.
ah, looks like there's a bit of confusion here- i'm just the kid who showed up at the noise night, not alex from the blinding light.
thanks for the info though- i'll have a look into the glaciers stuff & ecomorti. and i had heard of mb then, only it was under his full name.
-alex
Oops! Hi, Other Alex!
Hey, if you can find it and you're curious about the history of local experimental music, there's an uber-rare LP compilation called NOWHERE TO PLAY that actually weirdly surfaced in multiple copies last year, two of which were on the wall at Dandelion at the SAME FLIPPING TIME. (I nabbed one myself, at Carson Books on Broadway). It sold in all cases at around $50, which seemed low to me; I grabbed one myself. The Haters were on it (and I think were involved in putting it out), as was MB, etc. Tunnel Canary weren't on it, but could have been based on the rest. Maybe the Mutant Sounds blog or such has put it up for download - you should look around, I think it would be useful.
hm, sounds like a cool comp- mutant sounds doesn't have it though. there seems to be close to zero info on it on the internet, apart from a discogs entry- noone's even selling it. it's the same with si monkey who appear on it, they put out a cassette ("greytest hats") around the same time nowhere to play came out. .08 & l.c.d. grey effectively never existed. there is a demo tape by xyster floating around the music blogs, but it might be a different band- it seems there's a uk thrash band by the same name.
do you know of any way aside from word of mouth to find out about local experimental music?
-alex
Well, it's kind of word of mouth, but a little more focused: talk to the clerks at record stores. The main dude at Dandelion, Jeremy and Jeff (Geoff?) at Audiopile and the guys at Zulu are probably your best bets, tho' it's too bad Josh Rose isn't around. The guys at Neptoon might have a few ideas, too, but tend to focus more on psych rock. I'd say Scratch, but Keith isn't at the new store much, and he'd be the guy to brainpick. He also put out some cool Mark Spybey stuff, under the name Propellor (Propeller? How the hell is that word spelled?)... and of course, Zev's CDs. For awhile, the Scratch label put out a fair bit of pretty weirdo stuff...
Si Monkey are also, I believe, on the Vancouver Independence comp, along with the Subhumans, No Exit, and a rather poppy version of the Melodic Energy Comission. They have a Hawkwind connection, if that means anything to you...! You can get reissues at Neptoon on CD, I think; the vinyl gets a bit pricey, but can be found. The first two LPs are worthwhile (and maybe Mutant-Soundable).
You can also find Al Neil's BOOT AND FOG at Neptoon, that's pretty interesting, and a fascinating, if somewhat painful, story. His 2CD comp is probably a must-hear for you, probably still in print.
Oh, another project you want to know about it Josh Stevenson's reissue of Philip Werren's recordings. You can find that through Cast Exotic - if you're interested in analog synths and such, it's essential. Also poke around his site, I like some of his stuff a great deal. Very interesting stuff happened via SFU's music program in the 1960's, some of those guys might be willing to talk (Barry Truax...).
Finally, I dunno, find out when people are around at the Vancouver New Music office and drop by, or email them, or such. Tell'em Allan sent you! Their October festival is ALWAYS interesting.
Re: Nowhere to Play, do you have the capacity to digitize the vinyl? I won't part with my copy, but I wouldn't mind it on a digital format, so I could, like, hang out somewhere while it was being transferred to disc...
It's not exactly experimental music, but if you don't know the New Creation's TROUBLED, you should read about them on my blog; it's a pretty unusual story...
A.
...oh, and you do know about the Fake Jazz Wednesdays scene, right? No show tonight, but tomorrow at Honey, Shearing Pinx and, I think, the Homostupids are playing at Honey, near Cinemark Tinseltown/ Stadium Station. It's kind of more no-wavey, more rock oriented, but you might dig it, I've certainly loved some of what they've done, and Jeremy, the drummer (who also works at Audiopile) played with Jandek in Victoria! (So did Josh Stevenson...). That scene USED to coalesce around the Cobalt - if you're new to town, you should do some research...
We have a Braino connection in Vancouver, too, if that means anything to you! (I'm guessing, since you didn't know the Mutators, that you're not from here). Look up The Sorrow and the Pity on Myspace (I sometimes have trouble finding it, but you might find it linked through Darren R. Williams, Robots on Fire, or the Fake Jazz page...).
oh, the bands/musicians that i listed earlier were ones that i know & like- i do know the mutators, albeit not very well.
thanks for all the leads- i know a bit about fake jazz&the cobalt scene. is fake jazz basically a continuation of the emergency room scene? no wave stuff is always fun- i love teenage jesus, glenn branca, dna, & the like- unfortunately, being underage, fake jazz is probably not something i can go to.
i do have the ability to digitize vinyl, but the receiver i'm using right now has an annoying level of hum, so until i figure out what's going on with that i can't really. maybe at some point in the future i can get in touch with you to rip nowhere to play?
-alex
Yeah, no worries. Your turntable is grounded, right? (Basic, I know, but if it ain't, it'll produce a lot of hum - I know that a lot of the cheapie USB turntables out there don't even have a ground wire...).
If being underage is an issue, you should check out Solder & Sons. Jeffrey Allport, the percussionist, is one of the most interesting improvisers in town, and used to do very cool little shows there; and it's a coffeeshop/ bookstore, not a bar, so you could get in. But I don't know if it still happens - like I say, I'm a bit out of the loop.
Fake Jazz and the Emergency Room scene ran parallel tracks, as far as I know, with a lot of bleedover between them. One didn't evolve out of the other, but a lot of the same bands played both...
yeah, it's grounded. i think it's an issue w/ the preamp, since there's only hum when it's turned to phono & it's still there when the turntable's not on.
looks like stuff does still go on at solder & sons, maybe not very frequently.
thanks!
-alex
Hi Allan.
A few quick points:
Lest I look like a total cheapskate, while I did lend you a book on your birthday (gave it to you at the event because it was a convenient time) don't forget I promised to take you out for a lunch date too!
Hello Alex -- were you the guy sitting in the front row? -- saw ya. I was sitting a few rows up with my escort Colin Upton of the Haters (that was Colin wearing the hood in the documentary.)
Er, if anyone wants to buy my original copy of Nowhere To Play for $50.00 come on over!
And hello to Blinding Light Alex & his partner too.
-- Jude
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